| Largest Fish Caught
From A PDRacer
Michael Storer of PDRacer.info and StorerBoatPlans.com
recently suggested that we add a fishing world record
for size and weight. I live in the desert, so there
aren't a lot of fish here, and the typical big bass
is heavily hunted, so I suspect that they get caught
and removed often. Thought about going after Bluegill
or Texas Cichlid, my daughter caught a 10" one once
which would be worthy of recognition. Then it struck
me that back at the last cardboard boat race, we saw
what looked like a 3 foot
long carp. I have never fished for those,
so emailed my friend Boyd and he sent me this link
to the CarpAnglersGroup.com
After a bit of reading, it sounds like carp aren't
fished for very much in the USA, and they grow fairly
big, like up to the 4 foot / 30 lb range. Just what
I am looking for, and the fishing technique is more
kid friendly - you are supposed to chum the water
and attract the fish to you.
 |
The breeze picked
up a bit so we sailed around while waiting for
the chum to attract the carp. |
First I did a little experimentation - my kids wouldn't
eat some brown sugar oatmeal that I bought for them,
so I mixed some of that into a dough ball and tried
feeding it to my pet
goldfish. They gobbled it up, so I figured
that I was heading in the right direction. But then
again, those fish gobble up cat foot, lunch meat,
my kid's boogers, and just about everything else I
toss in there.
Decided to head down to the lake in the evening,
we found a nice spot near a boat tie up where my wife
sat, we chummed the water with bits of the dough ball
& corn. The breeze picked up a bit so we sailed
around while waiting for the chum to attract the carp.
 |
Ate the dinner
we brought in a cooler, and it was time to try
and catch some carp. |
Originally we were going to anchor underneath one
of the bridges, but since my wife was here, we tied
up near where she sat. Ate the dinner we brought in
a cooler, and it was time to try and catch some carp.
Darby is the younger of my daughters, and she is
a real fidgeter. She couldn't hold still for 10 seconds
if she had to. From the carp website, the tip is to
just leave it on the bottom and don't mess with it.
So she would drop the line in the water, do a few
cranks, yank on it and say that she thinks the fish
were looking at her bait, and she wanted to check
it. Also with the big weight on the end of the line,
if she would gently tug at it, it would feel like
something was nibbling on it so she had about a dozen
false alarms.
 |
This is the
carp she landed, I forgot my measure tape, so
we used her arm as a reference. |
Then on the umpteenth time she was telling me she
had another bite, and I was thinking that the website
I read was either pulling my leg, or I was doing something
wrong... her pink barbie rod went ZZZZZTTTT ZZZTTTTT
(the clicking sound of her drag pulling out). She
had a carp on and it was running !!
 |
My line was
the second to snag something, wasn't as big
as Darby's, but still was good size. |
She held on for dear life and cranked when she could.
This is the carp she landed, I forgot my measure tape,
so we used her arm as a reference. Measured the arm
when we got home, and this fish came in at 15".
My line was the second to snag something, wasn't
as big as Darby's, but still was good size.
 |
Morgan has a
Scooby rod and that thing bent WAY over as she
fought it. |
My older daugher Morgan was kinda bummed and thinking
that she might never catch anything. We chummed the
water some more, and a few minutes later she said
"Uhhh... I think I have one". She did a
crank and the drag started ticking off "yep,
I have one". She has a Scooby rod and that thing
bent WAY over as she fought it. This one ended up
being 19" long.
 |
This one ended
up being 19" long. |
Other articles by David
"Shorty" Routh:
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