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| My biggest fish of the year so far came from freshwater. This behemoth carp weighed 38 lbs., 12 oz. It would have smashed the official state record by OVER 6 lbs. I chose to release it! |
It's been a good (though not great) first third of the striper season. No question, there are fewer big ones around than the last couple of years. There are also a lot fewer small ones which is more of a problem for the future. My biggest stripers have been in the low to middle twenty pound range. Last year at this point I had many thirties, particularly from the kayak.
Many of you will be surprised to learn that my biggest fish this spring have come from freshwater. As many of you know, I am also an avid carp fishermen, and I do this quite a lot in the morning and mid day. In the last two months I have been competing in the CAG National Big 4 Tournament. In that event, you enter your four biggest fish, along with photos and documentation. This year I was able to land two whoppers of 38 lbs., 12 oz. and 36 lbs., 4 ounces. I also got a couple of twenty nine pounders bringing my four fish total to 133 lbs., 12 oz. Those fish landed me a third place finish in the national tournament! All four fish beat the weights of any stripers I have landed thus far. Those 38 and 36 lb. carp would have smashed the RI state record for carp by a lot. Instead of killing the fish and bringing them down to have weighed for the official record, I chose to release these two monsters. Most carp fishermen are very conservative and release everything they catch.
Carp are some of the most underutilized fish in southern New England. However, make no mistake about it- the biggest ones are hard to catch. They tend to be moody feeders, and the fishing for them is vastly different than traditional fishing. I've been fortunate to fish with and learn from some of the best European carp fishermen in the world who live in nearby MA.
