# Awesome Day/The 20 lb barrier comes down!



## GMR_Guy (Apr 10, 2004)

Today was my best day ever when it came to carp fishing. I caught the most carp ever in a single session along with my new PB of 33", 21 lb!!! The local gravel pit produced 13 carp with a total weight of between 125 and 150 lbs in 4.5 hours of fishing. 

I had planned on fishing at daylight after I got done working midnight shift, but it was raining and my body was tired. After 6 hours of much-needed sleep it was time to do some fishing. The rain looked like it had stopped an hour or two before I woke up. A robin was having a field day picking the worms off of the wet pavement. As it turned out, my day would be just as good as the robin's. The clock was ticking. The females were due to be dropping their eggs within a week or two. Time was running short on the oppurtunity to catch a carp at its heaviest of the year. The local gravel pit is where I caught my PB at last year - a 32", 19 lber that took some bread off of the top. The pit had skunked me on many occasions. It was a place of feast and famine with the result being either a skunk or at leat half a dozen carp. When I arrived, I catapulted out some maize, sweetcorn, and bread balls. Not long after placing my baits out I saw a couple of carp roll 50 feet downwind of the area I had chummed. After 45 minutes, I started getting line bites. The carp had arrived. The first one of the day was the smallest and it weighed 8 lbs. The events after that are somewhat hazy as the carp started biting left and right. A few carp later, I caught my longest carp ever at 32.25". He had a curved spine and was skinnier than most of the other carp and weighed only 14.75lbs. Two carp later the big one finally came. I knew it was a good fish not long after I hooked it. When it came within 25 feet of the shore, it did the best of it's fighting. As it got closer, I was not surprised to see that it was probably my biggest carp ever. Those last minute runs close to shore had cost me many times in the past, so I gave it some extra time to wear down. It was a great thing when I got its head out of the water and slid over the net. Yes!!! The fish appeared to be an egg-laden female. It had taken a long time to break the 20 lb barrier and I was happier than a kid on Christmans morning. A guy fishing for crappie was nice enough to come over and photograph the fish for me. I would have took more than two photos of it, but I only brought one floppy disk for my camera. It was nice to watch carp swim slowly out of the weigh sling into the deep, clear water. The action continued hot and heavy. Maybe I caught 12. Or was it 14? I'll settle for 13. 

12 of the 13 carp were caught on breadballs using my hairless hair rig. The Kamasan hooks did an excellent job as evidenced by the fact that I landed every single fish that I hooked. One thing that I did differently today was to press a piece of bread around my 3 oz disc sinker. I'm sure that this made my bait a very visible target. I think I learned this from a tip in an issue of NACA. I also chummed a little and often. Every half hour, more chum flew into the water.

I actually talked to two crappie fishermen today. Both of them got to watch me land some carp. The first of the two showed great interest in my rod pods and rigs. I told him EXACTLY how I was catching the fish. In return he told me of a place where he sometimes fishes for carp. It seems that most of the carp he catches in this spot are under 10 lbs, but he swears that he lost one that was about 40 lbs. He correctly judged the weight of my first carp at 8 lbs, so I'm going to have to go to the spot he told me about. I guess there are rewards for sharing information.

One last thing, I dedicate this 21 lber to Buckeye Bob Bernowski who was instrumental in getting me addicted to carp fishing as well as educating me with his numerous replies to my posts on GoFishOhio.com. I've come a long way in the last three years and have a long way to go. Thanks Bob for getting me started. 

Now it's time to break the 25 lb barrier.

Here's a pic of my new PB on the unhooking mat.


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## GMR_Guy (Apr 10, 2004)

File size too large! It must be because the carp was so big. Here's the pic, I hope.


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## PAYARA (Apr 7, 2004)

NICE!,man you will hit 25lb soon with that kind of catching  i remember
it was a BIG deal for me when i finally caught a 20lb common.i thought i
would never get one  all you need to do is break the ice,which you did,
and now you WILL catch more and more 20's.its just how it goes,seriously.


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## Carpless (Apr 12, 2004)

Good show, very nice pig.


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## flathunter (Apr 5, 2004)

great day, sounds like a blast!


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## tpet96 (Apr 6, 2004)

Nice fish. Thanks for the story!


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## Buckeye Bob (Apr 5, 2004)

Great post and Great fish GMR....a *BIG CONGRATS !!!!* to ya. Here's to many more.


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## catking (Apr 5, 2004)

Very nice GMR !!! That's a heck of a day. Congratulations on your PB  DA KING !!!


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## Fishman (Apr 5, 2004)

Sounds like ya had a great day, and congrats on the new PB!


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## crappielooker (Apr 5, 2004)

wow..look at the belly on that fish..  hehee..looks like i may have to head to that state up north soon..


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## cwcarper (Apr 5, 2004)

Great job!! That's a nice looking fish and one to be proud of...also, as usual, your writeup of the day's events was a very interesting read.


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## RiverRat (Apr 5, 2004)

CONGRATS..now on to the next level...30 lbs....after that i think the 40 lb. level is going to be hard to get, seeing as even our own "pro" Bob B. has'nt reached that here in Ohio(just jokin Bob).

Scott


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## Tornichio (Apr 14, 2004)

GREAT JOB ON THE FISH. Thanks for posting the pictures and story


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