100th Carp of the Year

Today I headed out to my favorite carp spot. Temperatures fell 20 degrees overnight and it was cloudy most of the day, but the rain held off until late in the day. The session started slowly, but did build some momentum later on.

When I started fishing in March I set a goal to catch 50 carp before the end of the year. I topped that goal and then some. Today I caught my 100th carp of the year!

Rod pod at sunrise

The first fish today was a good sized catfish.

Catfish weighing in at approximately 3 - 4 pounds

First carp of the day

I didn't weigh this one, but I'd estimate the weight at 10 pounds or so.

This nice carp fell for a pink pop up dumbbell

I hooked another carp shortly after this one and fought it for a while. The fish took out a massive amount of line, so taming the run took some work. As a result I ended up losing the fish to a hook pull before I could get it in the net.

It was quiet for several hours after that and I packed up everything but the nets, landing mat, sling and the rods and pod. I was stalling, trying to delay the inevitable, hoping to catch another fish before leaving. I was putting the cooler back in the Explorer when I got a screaming run on my left rod.

This carp had some spots. I can only assume it was some kind of growth or disease.

I didn't pose this carp because of the spots, but it was in the range of 5 pounds or so.

Never being one to throw in the towel easily, I fished another hour hoping to catch "just one more", but luck wasn't on my side this afternoon. The clouds moved in and the sun was no where to be found. As I was packing up for good it started sprinkling, but overall it was a good day on the bank.