Trying Out New Fishing Spots

I like to fish new spots every now and then, but it's not without a few risks in the process. But how do you know whether or not it's better than another spot unless you try it out?

This morning we tried a new spot at Sterling State Park. It's in the same lagoon we usually fish, but farther west. The plan was to fish a spot just off the walking trail, but finding a spot with room enough for two people proved difficult. That part of the shoreline is not maintained/mowed like the areas around the east parking lot, so we headed farther west and crossed the walking bridge to a floating fishing pier.

A view from the pier looking west

A view from the pier facing south

My spot fishing from the pier

We fished here until 10:45 a.m. and then decided to pack up and try another spot. I had no bites, no runs and no fish. My fishing partner caught 2 small carp below 5 pounds fishing from the opposite side of the pier.

The best part of fishing here was a very nice bald eagle that flew overhead around mid-morning real slow and slow cruising the lagoon looking for a few tasty morsels.

We walked more than a 1/2 mile back to the east parking lot and got set up a little before noon.

It doesn't look like much, but it's been a very successful spot for me this year.
I've caught more than 30 carp from this particular spot.

18 pounds

After 3 1/2 hours of silence at the new location, I landed this nice specimen within 20 minutes of putting my lines in the water at my normal spot. This one was a strong swimmer. I knew right away that it was a nice fish. It made three separate strong runs, but ultimately land in my net.

I caught another smaller carp later in the day, but didn't get a picture.

My lucky red carp fishing shirt was good for a quality fish today, but I can only imagine what might have been if we'd stuck to the original location early on in the morning instead of trying something new. But you know what they say, "Nothing ventured, nothing gained."