Record fish for me on Ultra Light spinning

[aznboi3644]

Today my cousin and I went to a new small lake.  While bluegill fishing I noticed something big in the shallows 50 yards away...I went to investigate and saw this giant carp wallowing around in the shallows...I saw me 20 yards away and took off.

I baited it back in with some bread tossed out while I was sitting in a crouched position 15 yards from the bank...pinched some whole wheat on the hook and tossed it out.  I saw a slurp and my breadball was gone...waited one second and set the hook...well as much as you can set the hook on a 4ft long 40lb fish with an ultraight rod lol.  The dang fish didn't know it was hooked until I dragged it for a few feet and then the fight was on!!

9 minutes of me getting him close to just take off again I landed this monster in the shallows.  Best fishing day of my life.  The sound of the drag screaming repeatedly was music to my ears.

Tackle was a cheap 5'6'' Shakespeare Micrographite Ultra Light rod and Shakespeare Microspin spinning reel.  Loaded with normal(cheapest, quality) 8lb test line.

This 40lb monster is the biggest fish I have ever caught...record for me.  I just wanted to share my experience with you guys...thanks for tuning in.

[bubby]

congrat's, sounds like fun, i used to have a rod that was the top 5 ft of a fenwick fly rod blank, thru a cork handle on it and taped on a reel, then proceded to hook a 12# blue cat, that was fun man, Bub

[soy]

Congratulations, that thing is huge!!! On lite tackle ...awsome...i hear that carp makes for good bow skins

[Pappy]

Now that'e a fish,congrats,well done,nice bow backing. and no holes,well only
in the lips.
   Pappy

[cracker]

Congratulations it's always fun to catch something that big on way light tackle. Ron

[HoBow]

Wow    Congrats on the catchd.  Did you skin it or toss it back?

[bowtarist]

Evansville, Indiana!!  That's where me wife is from, we take trips down there every so often.  We'll have to get together someday.  Nice fish, what didja do w/ it?  dp

[Parnell]

THAT IS AWESOME!  What a great picture, that one will be worth a million dollars when your an old guy.
I've got the same rod and reel, got it about 13 years ago, and it's seen the most action of any rod I've ever had.

[aznboi3644]

Thanks guys...I let this big boy back into the lake...Grass carp are beneficial to lakes and ponds.  They eat vegetation but don't uproot it and destroy the aquatic plants like the common carp.  They just nibble.  Without them there would be algae and weeds from the bank to 10 feet out all around the lake.  Now if I had caught big common carp I would have killed it on the spot and skinned it.

These grass carp are federally regulated and cost 15-20 dollars per 6"-12" fish and have to be bought and released by a licensed fishery.  These aren't fish to just catch and kill for their skin.

I'd guess there are less than 10 of these in the lake.  Beautiful majestic fish.

Bowtarist just email/message me next time ur in town and we and shoot some guns and bows and go fishing.  I'm bout the most hillbilly asian dude around here haha.

Simple whole wheat bread is what I got this guy on.

[YosemiteBen]

Herein lies the problem - Grass carp, Big head carp and silver carp were all introduced in the US by fish farmers hoping to clear the algae from thier ponds. I just saw a program  on Nat Geo Wild on the Illinois river and how those carp have begun invading lake Michigan! Even had two wheelie bowyers shooting the things out of the air! They are out competing native game fish for the basic building blocks of the river food chain. Ever read a book about trees becoming fish? I will try to find the exact title. They may keep your small lake clean but the are wreaking havoc in other places.  BTW - very nice fish for small gear!

[aznboi3644]

Yes asian carp are the ones that jump...these big boys like the ones I caught don't wreak havoc.  They don't disturb the sediment nor uproot vegetation.

Pretty much they just keep the lake clean from overgrown algae and plant matter.  Other carp I have no problem bow fishing.

I understand the other types of carp are very invasive...I have friends that go bowfishing down by the Ohio River after the water goes up and kill 30-40 big carp per visit...Just toss em on the bank to die.  Those are the carp I'd take for skins.

[JW_Halverson]

The grass carp that were introduced for grazing canals and lakes initially were "triploid" fish.  Instead of having the normal two sets of chromosomes, they mixed the sperm and eggs under about 10,000 lbs of pressure so that the normal fertilization was screwed up.  They end up with three sets of chromosomes and breed about as well as a plaster yard gnome.  THOSE carp are very expensive to produce and once you lose 'em you gotta buy replacements.  That's when unscrupulous s.o.b.'s imported the parent stock and bred naturally so that they could make a fast buck at the expense of our environment.