fish tried to steal my rod and reel

[NJ219bands]

Yesterday afternoon I went fishing in the 74 degree Millstone River in my poison ivy spot in the rain. After I threw out a can of corn for chum, I cast out my carp rod, a 7' Ugly Stick, old Mitchell #300 spinning reel that I bought from a guy in Michigan on EBay in April, 12 lb Cabela's fluorocarbon line, and my homemade corn meal bait on a #8 treble hook with a burr missing. I put my carp outfit in a forked stick and on a rock 4' from shore. When I turned around to get my jigging rod, I heard a splash. My carp setup was gone. I saw it underwater and moving away from me very fast. I got very lucky and grabbed the end of the rod butt just before it would have been out of reach. A 28.5" 10 lb milt leaking male carp was on the end of the line. After it made a run across the river, it fought long and hard until I beached it. Then I caught its twin and a 5.5 pounder. I took a pic of the 2 big ones. That's 52 carp that I caught in the Carnegie/Millstone this year with my homemade corn meal bait. http://s865.photobucket.com/user/NJ2...ffe6f.jpg.html

[gnuisance]

You are killing em! Nicely done. Do you keep the carp?

[kcritch]

Cool pic.....That's a sweet old time reel. Good report.

[cmoran719]

Awesome stuff man. First time I went carp fishing my rod almost went in the water too. Then the second time I went carp fishing my friend actually had to run into the water to grab his lol... But that was simply because neither of us loosened our drags enough the first times (we didn't have bait runners)

[thefishermanmechanic]

Launched like a bottle rocket ! Had this happen to a friend on the Passaic but never to be seen again! Another time on the big D in a boat he was able to grab the butt just in time and he tried to open the bail but the bail wouldn't seat open and the fish was pulling so hard the bail was flapping, it was the funniest thing I saw!

[NJ219bands]

Originally Posted by gnuisance

You are killing em! Nicely done. Do you keep the carp?

I don't release carp because they are a non-native invasive species. I give all of the carp that I catch to people from Eastern Europe, Asia and Africa. Last year I caught and removed 686 carp from one spot.

[saxmatt]

Common carp are not on the invasive species list, Asian carp and grass carp are which are a completely different species. Carp like largemouth bass and brown trout are not native to NJ and were stocked as a food fish, often to replenish fish populations in locations that were fished out. In most places carp have been around for over 100 years and they are found in some of the best fisheries in the US. They are able to coexist with other species and baby carp are actually a great food source for any predators. Unfortunately a lot of people dislike carp, often due to false information they learned from others. If you have any questions about carp feel free to ask.

Saxmatt,

Interesting thanks for sharing. Didn't think carp were invasive but it's good to know the 686 fish didn't go to waste. Carp are great fighting fish. Used to fish for them around the Delaware Water Gap and caught some monsters. Nothing on the order of what you have but 30 maybe even 40 + pound fish. Usually released ours but did keep a few to give to people less fortunate who did eat them. Carp do get a bad rap but fishing for carp was something I always loved. I'm sure if they were no longer around, many people who complain about them would wish they hadn't. I compare it for those of you who might fish salt water. Blue fish are the main stay of the party boat fleet during the summer and like carp get a bad rap from many people. This summer for some reason bluefish are almost non-existant (hanging 60 plus miles off shore) and everyone is crying the blues, no pun intended! I guess all I'm saying is be careful what you ask for because as the saying goes it might just come true. In my opinion, carp fishing can be just as enjoyable as many other types of fishing depending on where you're fishing and pound for pound they put up a pretty good fight. In many countries they are help in high esteem but for some reason that doesn't seem to have ever caught on in the states.

Dakota

[GetANet]

Well Said!!!!!