It's been about 6 months since I hauled in a carp. So, today, I went out on my own and hauled. This was one of the best sessions I've ever had (behind the haul at Emma, of course). Here are some pics...

A nice little 8 lber I caught as soon as I released a 10 lber...




I was talking to Donny on the phone while I fought this 20 lb, 2 oz lump...




So, the day was winding down, and I had just caught a 17. I had my line in the water for less than 5 minutes when I had another run. When it was about 30 yards out, I saw a flash of orange at the surface, and knew I had to get this one in the net. When it got really close, I got really excited. This is one of the coolest fish I've caught, and it gives Justin's a run for the money...

Glad to see you catching again, Congrats!

That's a beautiful koi!

gorgeous Koi! Good to hear you caught...sometimes you just need that one good fish or one good trip to break a dry spell and get your blood goin' again.

Great looking fish - congrats.

Thanks, Paul.

Here's my 10.



It's funny how different fish look bigger and smaller, according to the way the pic was taken. Oh well...I didn't have the professional photog in Mark to take my fish pics. I'm just glad people nearby were willing to help me out. One guy even helped me net a fish!

Oh, and Justin and Bret...all my fish were caught on strawberry Pescaviva with an imitation sweetcorn pop-up. So, Pescaviva is not cr@p. Well, maybe the Tuitti Fruitty, but the strawberry hauled.

hot damn that's a sexy fish!

Please tell me you go more photos of the koi!? Sweet fish but I wanna see more!!

Too bad you weren't using standard sweetcorn, you would have caught twice as many!

Of course I got more pics of the koi, Mark. You don't think I'd miss out on my "signature" shot, right?

Give me a sec to upload them, and I'll post...

Ok, you'll have to wait until tomorrow. My internet is acting up and I'm having uploading issues.

Krista,
Great looking Koi. Congrats.
Were you fishing local?

Wow Krista is holding something other than a catfish! Now I really want to know who caught those and was kind enough to let you take your picture with them .

Nice fish, esp. the Koi. Now that I have all my equipment back I can get back out and fishing and maybe actually see you catch one .

Looks like Joe Pool

More Koi pictures? Let's see 'em!

Here you go...

Showing the other side...



My signature shot...



One side...



The other side...

That's probably a $50,000 fish right there. You kept it, didn't you?

Although I DID think about taking it to work, I couldn't bring myself to do it. I released it, much to the relief of the people in the neighborhood.

Great shots, beautiful fish!

Lol Krista, did you have much of an audience for that fish?

Yeah, I had quite a few people migrate over to watch me net it. You know, it gave a good first run, but I managed to get it up, and then it came in relatively easy. It fought more like a buff and a carp.

Anyway, since it was a neighborhood pond, a lot of the locals were concerned about what I was going to do with it. When I said I was putting it back, everybody was happy. I got the impression that they don't want people taking fish from the pond, but, hey, that's cool with me.

That's good! That means they will make it hard for anyone to take the carp out!

Oh, Krista, you oughta give that fish a name, cause if its caught again we'll recognize it!

How about spot.

That tail is incredible. Great catch Krista. I wonder if we could encourage the locals to apply for "Catch and Release" status and put up some signs since they seem concerned.

Excellent idea! I wondered about that myself. Is it possible?

You never know. There's got to be a neighborhood association there...

Hmmm...give the fish a name, eh? I'll have to think about it and come up with something good. I'm thinking something along the lines of "Sixer" or something, since my last fish was 6 months ago. I'll have to come up with something better, though.

How about "Sunrise"? I mean, it was a long and dark "night" of carping for me, and this was a nice wake-up fish! Plus, look at the color!

Ok, I'm just throwing out ideas, now...