Lake Erie

Update 12/4/17: After some additional research online, I'm beginning to think the fish in the picture below is not 100% small mouth buffalo. It looks to be a hybrid of some type. Black buffalo / Small-Mouth, Big Mouth / Small-Mouth, or something like that. Either way it's still a cool fish.

My favorite carp fishing spot over the years, which is near my home, easily accessed and a consistent producer did not let me down last weekend. I fished 7 1/2 hours with two bites and nothing landed, but as I started to pack up and head home I heard a few "beeps" on the alarm.

I picked up the rod and reeled gently and soon realized "fish on".

Very careful not to lose the fish, I kept the drag fairly loose. The fish started far right and ended up far left with the loose drag. I loosened it even more as the fish neared the net to be doubly sure there wouldn't be a hook pull once I say it was a very nigh small-mouth buffalo.

It turned out not to be a new personal best for me, but does rank 3rd on my largest small-mouth buffalo catches in the last 3 years.

This rig did not catch anything for me this time out,
but many people catch carp on similar rigs.

My personal best small-mouth buffalo is just over 21 pounds. This one was 20 pounds and a few ounces. It's a fish I am very
proud of. It saved a "blank" on a tough day of fishing and although you can't tell from the picture....it added a big smile
on my face when this fish was secured safely in the net.