In a West Point tournament a few years back, early in the morning at the first place we fished, I felt a tap on my Carolina rigged Finesse worm. When I set the hook I immediately called for the net due to the bend in my rod. I was a little worried since the fish stayed deep rather than coming to the top, but I had caught big spotted bass on this hump, and that is how they fought. I just knew I had a five pound plus spot on my line.
My partner netted the fish for me, but it was an eight pound carp. The blue flash worm was in its mouth. What a disappointment! Visions of first place and big fish vanished.
During another tournament, this time at Sinclair, I was running a spinnerbait in very shallow water, buzzing it by stumps. After passing one stump, it stopped and then started going sideways. The water was so shallow I saw orange soon after the fish hit and lost my excitement. That five pound carp had the white spinnerbait in its mouth so it had tried to eat it. It was the only fish I caught that day!
About 20 years ago in a Sinclair tournament, I was fishing out of the back of Bob Pierce's boat and hooked another carp. We were catching keeper bass on crankbaits off a clay bank in March, and Bob was beating me. When I set the hook on a bigger fish, I thought I would catch up with him. I guess I got over excited while fighting it and took a step back - right off the raised deck.
I landed on my back in the bottom of the boat, still fighting the fish. My feelings as well as my back were hurt when the fish I never quit fighting turned out to be a five pound carp, hooked in the top fin. Bob made several comments about my fishing skill and style, and he still beat me.
I have caught three more carp while bass fishing at Sinclair. It seems to be the place for them. Two of the others were hooked by crankbaits in their fins. Fish can really put up a fight when hooked in the back or tail. The third hit a Texas rigged plastic worm. I think it had scent in it, and probably seemed like something edible to the bottom feeding rubber lipped mudsucker.
Carp are fun to catch. My parents and I caught 37 weighing 175 pounds several years back when a school came in to feed on catfish food we put out around our dock. For three days we had a ball catching them on canned corn.
Some people fish for carp on purpose all the time. Visit the links in my carp fishing category for more info.
