( Edit - Five Years Later. Sadly the old pics have been gone for a few years, the server I hosted them on no longer exists. I'll have to dig out the photos on an older comp and maybe re-upload them. )

Alright! I've been up a real long time on only a few hours of sleep, but let's see if I can't pull together a few coherent thoughts about the awesome day fishing I had with DHFisher.

The short story is that we caught 12 or 13 carp between us in just a few hours of fishing. We'd counted 12, but as I went back over the pictures I found one I couldn't place, and I think we forgot to count the tiny little 2 and a half pounder. The biggest fish was about 11.5 pounds, it was DH's, second biggest was mine, just a hair over 10 pounds, and first fish of the day. Most were between 6-8 pounds, with a few smaller. I think I got 9, and he got 4, plus at least one that he had on for a while but spit the hook out.

And, if you want the long, and hopefully interesting story, read on. (If you just wanna see the pics, skip ahead lol. )

With the success I'd been having at Grapevine, I wanted to try getting out there early in the morning, and DH mentioned he was wanting to try and get into some carp as well, so we decided to meet out at the lake early this morning around dawn.

Well, dawn was the idea, by the time I got there it was like 7:30, partly because halfway to the lake I realized I forgot my sunscreen. I decided to swing back around and get it, because I knew if I got into any fish I wouldn't be leaving just to avoid a nasty sunburn. So after a bit of looping around, and a bit more light outside then I wanted, I made it to the lake.

When I got to Murrel park I saw it was already fairly populated. The spot I'd been fishing lately was already taken, so I drove a little bit further and found a place to park. As I got out, I started to walk down to the shore, and heard someone call my name. DH was on his way over, so I went and introduced myself, and we talked a little. He'd already been there 15-20 minutes and had been fishing a rooster tail if I remember correctly, got a sandie on it, but it wrapped him around some brush and busted him off. Bummer. After a little while, we decided on the next big rock outcropping since my usual spot was taken. I went to get my gear out of the car and take it down to the shore while he moved his car, and before long I had a few lines out, and soon so did he.

We both baited the area with a few handfuls of corn. I showed him things like that way I rigged my egg sinker and split shot set up, the kind of hook I was using, (#6 Gakamatsu Octopus Circle), how I strung the corn on, and so on.

While we waited we noticed how many shad there were schooling right along the bank, it was insane. The water was literally grey and silver with them, and every wave that came in washed a good handful up onto the rocks. We could have easily harvested dozens and dozens. We did take a few and put them out, but never got anything on them.

Perhaps 15 minutes after we'd set up, an asian man and his son showed up and proceeded to literally set up 5 feet from us. His first cast went right over both of DH's lines. Real nice. After DH explained what had happened as best as he could (We don't think he spoke much english. ), he pulled his line in, untangled it...and moved to the other side of us...by about 5 feet. ANd once again, he cast out over a couple of lines, this time, mine. This actually went on for quite a while before he finally set up all his rods far enough away that he wasn't constanting tangling us.

A little while after that, Rudy showed up. It was really cool getting to meet him, he's a really cool guy, as is DH. Both great guys. Rudy fished with us with some artificials for a little while, then went to check out some other areas.

While he was gone we started getting a few small hits. They might have been bluegill picking up the corn, or they might have been what we call "signal taps." That's when the carp pick up the bait and spit it back out. We got quite a few of those, and even got a few slow, gradual pulls that we tried setting the hook on. Nothing. Probably perch, possibly buffalo.

Either way, we didn't get them, so we kept baiting the area. I was a little worried we might not catch anything. I didn't know the bottom like I did at the area I've been catching them, wasn't sure they'd come in or not, and I even suggested that if we spent a few hours here and didn't get anything, there were a few other places we could try. DH had only caught one carp before, so I was hoping to get him into some!

Finally we saw some carp jumping way out in the distace, that gradually got closer and closer. One jumped fairly close by, and I tossed out another handful of corn there and threw a line out. As I was talking with DH, and paying exactly no attention, something took it, and my pole started bouncing. I had it weighted down at the time, cause it was far away, but when I grabbed it and set the hook, nothing. I reeled it in, only to find that my hook was gone, and the line was cut. I don't know if a gar decided to taste some corn, or if he ran into the line or what.

Not long after that Rudy got back, and he set up a carp line too. Shorty after he put it out, his clicker went off, but the fish dropped it or spit it out before he could get a hook set.

Aaah, now they were coming in....

It took a bit longer then last time, over an hour from the time we started baiting till the time we first hooked a fish.

But once they came in, I caught 3 carp in 30 minutes! Not bad!

After a while of talking with them, and no one getting anything, my line finally shot out, so I grabbed my pole and set the hook.

Instant screaming drag. Ah, yes. That's what I wanted to show people about carp. The fish immediately took off on a parrallel bank run, just tearing through the water along the bank, pulling off drag like crazy. As I was trying to keep the fish from tangling up in his line, Rudy asked me if that was what I meant when I said the fish take off down the bank, and I had to follow them....I said yes as I was following the fish down the bank, struggling to keep a little line on my spool. After that big buffalo a few days ago I had to take some mangled line off, and now had even less.

Before long, the carp turned away from the bank and headed for open water. Soon enough he had literally stripped every loop of line off my reel, and was trying to take more. I had to try and ease him up a bit and guide him back towards shore to get just enough slack so that I could get some line back on my spool without letting him get off the hook, or break me off.

I did, eventually, only to have him come straight back towards the shore, leaving me reeling frantically until this carp came up and thrashed around the brush near shore. Carp will try to hang you up on every bit of brush and obstacle they can, and sure enough he got me hung up on some brush, so I had to wade out into the water to get my line off it. Meanwhile, the previously mentioned asian mad had taken it open himself to take my net, and net my fish before it was even close to ready to come in, lol. He kept saying "Good fish! Good fish! Biiiig!" and following it through the water with my net, lol. Pretty funny. Eventually I was able to guide the carp towards him, and he netted it for me, and I'd landed the first fish of the day.

We got it weighed, and it came out to 10 pounds. Not a bad start! DH was kind enough to get a picture for me, and here it is.


That was the first fish of the day, a ten pound carp. You can just make out Rudy on the left side, and see the brush the fish got my hung up in in the background.

So! After all that fun, I told the guys that carp often travelend in pods, or schools. And that as I'd posted about my last trip, when you get one, you're often likely to get another. And as if to prove my point, within ten minutes at most, my line shot out again, and a little while later I had landed the second carp of the day.



Not quite as big. Earlier in the day I could have told you the order of weight for all the fish, but I've forgotten most of them now. I think I caught 7 carp that were between 6-9, one that was 4, and one that was 10. This one is in there...somewhere. Lol.

After that fish, I baited again, put my corn back out, and decided to put some sunscreen one while I waited. I said to DH "You know while I put this on, a fish is gonna hit." So I started putting on the sunscreen, paying no attention, and suddenly DH shouts "Your pole!"

Sure enough my pole is already being pulled over the top of my cooler, so I grab it, set the hook, and have the 3rd carp in 30 minutes. That one went up the opposite side of the bank, I had to try and keep him from getting tangled in DH's lines, then I had to ninja my way through the maze of fishing lines the asian man had set out, and eventually get this carp back in too shore. When I did, he looked something like this:

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A little while after that, Rudy had to leave to do some yard work, so we bid him farewell for now, and kept at it. We waited about 20 minutes, and had the chance to exchange some fishing stories.

And of course, we got quite distracted by the fishing stories, and didn't pay enough attention to our rods....and suddenly, one of mine got hit so hard it knocked my tackle box down over the rocks as the pole shot out into the water. And of course, I followed it.

I took a literal flying leap out into the lake, and ended up submerged up to my chest as I landed in the water, and plunged my hands down to the bottom to grasp my pole, yank it back up out of the water and set the hook. And since it was a carp on light gear, drag instantly started screaming as I was nothing more then a head, and a hand holding a pole above the surface of the lake. I managed to climb back out of the water, and in between his laughter, DH managed to snap this picture of me soaking wet and fighting the fish.



Of course as luck would have it, shortly after he snapped that picture, my OTHER line shot out. The carp were obviously not the least bit bothered by some idiot leaping into the water! I'd already told DH that if I had a fish on one line, and my other one went, he was more then welcome to catch it, and as soon as it was going I told him to grab it. He set the hook, drag started screaming, and we had the day's first double.

My fish looked like this. I landed and snapped the pic while he was still fighting.



And as he fought his carp, I got this pic of him. Check out the bend in that pole!



Actually, that might have come later, I forget the order of the pics. Uploaded them early this afternoon, but just now got around to posting this monster tale. Lol. DH eventually landed his first carp of the day, here it is.



After that it quieted down for the requisite 20 minutes or so, before we got into what was almost a triple!

One of my lines shot out again. I grabbed it, set the hook and started fighting it...And then, one of DH's lines shot out..He grabbed it and set the hook as well, and his carp starting following mine up the bank...We fought them both for a bit, then sadly DH's carp spit the hook. But almost as soon as that happened, my other line went out, and DH was able to grab that and set the hook on another fish!

DH got his in first, as it was a little smaller, and he was able to snap this picture of it while I was still fighting mine.



His hook got stuck in the net, so he was working to untangle it, so I decided to go mano a mano with my carp, and land it without a net! I got him good and tired, eased him up into the shallows, then grabbed his tail with one hand, set my pole down on the bank and slipped my other hand under his belly to hoist him up. He looked like this:

Actually, that'll have to go to the next post, lol, maximum images allowed is 8...Which I just found out when I accidentally clicked the add post button and it erased my whole story, told me I had too many images. Luckily I'd saved it in case such a thing happened. So, to be continued!

Continuing, here's the fish I pulled out of the water with my bare hands! Lol. DH got his hook back and snapped this pic for me.



I had a bit more written here, but the site at it, and I'm getting really tired, so I think I may curtail some of my long winded nature, and just explain the pics.


After those last fish, we waited about another 20 minutes until those pesky carp decided to interupt our fishing stories, lol. My pole started going out, I grabbed it, set the hook on a nice fish, and in short order, DH set the hook on a fish too. He ended up with the smallest fish of the day, only 2.5 pounds lol. He decided against a picture with it, but after I'd landed mine which went about 8, we put them together to actually get a picture of the "Double" for once lol.



After that, we waited the now standard 15-20 minutes, till my line went out again and I set the hook on another lovely carp brute. I fought him for a while, and after landing him, we got pictures and all, and he looked something like this:



I think that was him anyway, my memory is getting hazier by the moment as I get more tired lol, and I'm not sure on the order of these pics. If I leave any out, or if you can fix the order DH, let me know!

I believe it was as I was releasing that fish that I took my second flying leap. I was already down in the water, on the rocks for some reason, I think I was easing that fish back into the deeper water after he got stuck in the shallows or something. Or it might have been after netting one of DH's fish. But I suddenly see my other pole shoot off the rock and into the water, a good ways ahead of me.

DH yells "Your Pole!" and I think I yelled something like "I"m going in!". Then I made this crazy forward horizontal Superman leap, landing full on in the water, and plunging my hands down towards the bottom to grasp my rapidly dissapearing pole. Even as my whole body is once more submerged in the water, I'm able to jerk my hand up and lift the pole, setting the hook. And once more, I'm sitting in the lake as drag is screaming out.

Ah. What a lifestyle. I actually have a HUGE, dark purple and red bruise on my forearm from banging a rock somewhere in the water, and another on my shin, much larger. It pretty much covers my entire shin and hurts to walk, lol. It banged it first going into the lake on Friday, and managed to bang it again today, lol. Oh well, the price we pay for carp!

As I believe DH put it, I'm VERY dedicated.

SO, eventually I did manage to catch that fish. And he looked like this.



After that, it was back to the sunny shoreline to dry off! Another 20 minute wait gave us time to finish up some stories, before the "climax" of the day lol.

I had another nice one hit, and hit hard. By this time, after seeing my Superman it into the lake not once, but twice, DH hunted down a HUGE, heavy log, and set it on both his poles to make sure the fish wouldn't take them.

Good thing, too because something finally took his huge hook on his heavier rig, and as soon as it did, his short stocky pole bent double and his drag started screaming. Great fun. He picked it up and set, and we both had a nice carp on. For a while they ran in opposite directions, then they ran towards each other, and we had to work to keep them from tangling each other. I got mine in first, netted it myself, and then quickly got back to the shore to net DHs...well, once it was in, lol.

He ended up with the biggest fish of the day, a nice, hefty 11.5 pound carp.

Here's him with it.



And here's his hefty big fish of the day sitting beneath mine, our best double of the day. Mine was 7 or 8 I think.



Nice!

About 20 minutes later I got one more, a "cute" little 4-5 pounder lol, that fought really weird. Rather then run like nearly all carp do, he came up to the surface and boiled...fairly common...only he kept diving down to the bottom, boiling, diving, boiling, in the same place, didn't hardly run at all, or pull drag other then to dive until he saw the net lol. Then once I netted him he rolled like a big cat.

Weird looking fish, long and thin. We think the fat ones may have been females preparing to spawn, and the thinner either males or spawned females. Here's the last fish of the day.



After that, the wind reeaaally picked up, and the fishing died off completely, no more carp at all after that.

All in all, I had an absolute blast. And while we didn't get any absolute monsters, 10 and 11 pound carp are a hell of a lot of fun to catch! And still a pretty hefty fish! Also it was the most carp I've caught in one time in many years. Great day. DH said he had a blast as well and I was really glad to hear it, as I was to hear that he's now addicted to carp fishing.

I guess I really rambled on, huh? Ah well, a good day deserves a good story. I'm sure I left out quite a lot of good things, like the time one of my fish cut hard left and got tangled in DH's line, and he had to bring his in, and try to untangle it from my line all while the carp was taking out drag. Good times.

I'm sure DH can fill in any thing he remembers, I'd be happy to hear his side of things as well! Rudy as well if he's got anything to add. Sorry you didnt' get into any carp, Rudy! Hopefully next time.

Hope you enjoy the pics. DH, let me know if there's anything I'm missing or out of order lol.

I think you got just about everything. I'm just looking forward to Thursday now... I'm thinkin maybe we should try by the marina. We'll figure it out though. In the mean time, I gotta get some hooks and I think I'll invest in a couple rod holders so as not to lose my poles! I'll let you know when I'll be out there by Wednesday.

Sounds good to me. If we're out there long enough we could always try multiple spots. Start off in the picnic area again, then move to the marina or something. I've never been to that marina before. But if we could get carp coming up to the surface to feed there that would be great. Bring some bread along with corn. Put some bread out first to get them feeding, then fish the bread on the surface, and some corn under a bobber. Be a fun way to get some carp. Ever seen any bigger carp out there, double digits?

I need to stock up too. Need more hooks and weights, and I'm gonna get my poles re-lined so I don't get spooled by fish under 15 LOL.

I've seen some jumping that had to be double digits. I know for a fact they are there cause people are always gathered around the walk way to the marina feeding them and are totally amazed at their size. If we can get them feeding on the surface, which I think we can...I'm throwin out a fly... I need to get some backing first cause I know they will take all that line.

By the way, I'm thinkin this could be an all day affair... I'll know by Wednesday

Just made my appointment for scheduled maintenance on my car...Thrusday 7am... I'll be out there by 9. Same area as yesterday and we'll go from there.

I have had commons to 29lbs near the marina and buffalo to 36lbs this time of year you want to stick to the coves and shelfs

Dh - Sounds good. Depending on how much sleep I get, I may be out there before 9. Getting there early on a thursday should make it easy to get our pick of spots. I will probably take my usual spot, as opposed to the one we had last time, though they are so close we can easily walk back and forth if we want. But that way I can have the area baited, and hopefully have the fish in by the time you arrive. That is, assuming they are still feeding!

Awesome Zack. I'm sure you know those are lake records lol. Is there any way for you to get a lake record certified and also release the fish? As far as coves and shelves, I think we've been getting all this fish off a shelf along the picnic shoreline in murrel park. I could be wrong, it's just a guess I made based on how the bottom seems to be, the structure, and the way the water "flows" over it. I think the area I caught the big one is near the start of this shelf, and it continues along down the length of the shore a ways. Yesterday they jumping really far out, and after we baited they gradually got closer, till they were jumping right near shore, then they stopped jumping all together. Also, almost all the fish we got were probably within 10 yards from shore at the most, maybe less.

DH - If we try the marina sometime, and get the fish feeding on the surface...I won't have to jump in, cause I'll only need to use one pole and will hold it while I wait for the fish to come up and take my bait, lol.

And I checked the updated records also. The current lake record carp is 28 pounds, 36 inches. While the lake record buffalo is 30 pounds, 32 inches.

Starless Dragon

TPWD has a link on their website if you get someone to certify the catch and sign as a witness and take a photo to go along with it you can get a certified catch and release award.

Check out the site and look for the awards information.

Lake records really arent that big of a deal to me I would rather just catch'em and let them go dwaynez idea sounds like it would work

Good show guys! Looks like y'all had a blast.

I got the supplies... I'm half tempted to go out tonight and try under the lights at the marina...

Whoa, lights at the Marina? Interesting! I don't really know how to get out there, I haven't been yet. Do you follow the signs to that restaurant, or what? Let me know if you're gonna head out there tonight, hehe, and maybe I'll join you. Nightfishing for carp sounds like tons of fun!

I'm actually showing my gf these pictures right now as she's been out of town, and it makes me want to get back out there lol. I went out and got a bunch of supplies too, and got new line on my two primary carp rods. So I'm all set for Saturday...and Thursday, and maybe tonight. Someone else new to the forum (Texascarper) wants to join me out there sometime too. He has tomorrow off but I don't know if I'll make it then or not yet.

Yeah, Lester, we definitely had a blast! Hopefully this bodes well for the 23rd!