I think it's kind of funny to start here, as I've met so many folks who disparage the lowly carp, and yet they're SO much fun to catch, and so many folks get out and chase them like they're NUTS!
Also - there's a bit of irony somehow to me that the Czechs, who I have a close connection with due to my military service, have a great love of the carp, and in fact in the past (and to a lesser degree today) it was treasured table fare.
My quick story takes us to my grandfather's farm house - well, more his retirement house. He and grandma moved into a place right along the Chippewa river, so when I was a young teen I was able to fish there. Sadly, on one particular visit there, the rods had all been misplaced or something, so I was baffled what I was going to do with myself, as I wanted to get down to the river and fish.
Well, being the resourceful Minnesota Norwegian that I am, I browsed around until I found:
- a hook
- a length of yellow carpenter string
- a nut (for a weight)
- a 10' piece of 1"x2"
And off I went - into the garden to dig up a worm (got a couple in fact) and off I went to sit on "The Magic Rocks" - which were a pair of rocks situated out slightly into the river, and set up so you could lean back on one very comfortably and brace your feet perfectly on the other one. It was a bit like a stone recliner.
Now, I suppose I was down there for about 45 minutes, with only a bullhead or two to my name, when things got REALLY exciting. Something almost ripped that 10 foot piece of pine out of my hand, and the fight was on. Let me tell you something - catching a fish on something other than a rod hurts. That piece of pine didn't give a bit, and that carp really could jerk the heck out of it.
Naturally, I managed to land it - and then had to carry it up the hill (which was both steep and sandy, so getting up was tricky). That sucker weighed close to 10 pounds - and was one of the most rewarding fish of my entire life. :)
So - that's my tale - true every last word of it.
Got one to share? :)
b