Lately I've been suffering from a kind of carpy inferiority complex. I hadn't caught more than one carp in a session since sometime in July. I hadn't approached my rather attainable PB since I caught it in February (I caught one other fish in late May that I think was a 20 but didn't have my scale on me). Then I didn't get a single carpish run at Whiterock the other day even as my comrades just down the bankside caught and caught some more.
So when Dad surprised me by asking if I wanted to fish today, I jumped at the chance. We were originally going to go to the cliffs but with severe weather forecast we decided to go somewhere where we could get back to the car quickly if heavy rain and lightning occured. So where do I go when I need a shot of self-confidence?
You guessed it: Ghostie!
We had barely set up when I got a screamer on the freeline rod that turned into the most epic carp battle I've ever had. This fish took at least 10 drag-burning runs of 5-10 seconds or more. For the first time ever, I really feared getting spooled as my freeline rod has a bass-style low-profile baitcaster...not exactly a lot of line capacity there.
After 20 solid minutes of battle, I finally got it to the net. It weighed 20.25 lbs., only my third 20 ever, and just the second confirmed (i.e., weighed and photoed).
Just a short time later, my other rod went off and this one was brought to the net, at 17lb.
After that, it slowed down and about an hour later, the storms blew in. We waited it out in the car until it quit raining, then set up again, but the fish were having none of it. We didn't get a decent bite the rest of the evening.
I don't know if I've said this before, but I freaking love this place (that's a joke, as anyone who's ever fished with me knows I'm practically obsessed with this pond). When I can't catch anywhere else, I always seem to break through at Ghostie.
Also, the fish are definitely getting thick again. Could it be that the fall fishing season is finally upon us?
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