Had the pleasure of meeting up with Mike Saxon at Lake Worth today to see if we could catch some carp, buffs, and cats. And we'll...... we succeeded Here are some pics and a lil play by play


Not long after we get there Mike hooks his first carp. Carp blew it out the gills so it made the bait table



Ten mins later the same rod goes down, as he was reeling his in a cat rod goes down and we double up. about a 12 lb blue and a nice LW carp. Record "was" only 9 and change







Not long there after Mike hooks a nice buff but yet again another rod takes a dip and we have doubles again











Soon after that we get another take down and Mike is all over it. It was a very big LW buff prob 25+. But after what seemed like several mins and not being able to do ANYTHING with it, the hook finally pulled



Mike had to leave and I decided to stay till the warden aka wife called, watched the sun set and I got a nice take down on a carp rod. While reeling it in true to form I had a big take down on a cat rod and banked a 33 lb blue and stepped on my other rod til I brought in a healthy 7 lb channel

Had a blast Mike we'll have to do it again! Maybe I'll come down and fish Austin with ya for the big buffs and carp

Gill rakers, ouch

Nice fish though

Clifton, thanks again for a great time. Folks, this gentleman is a fish catching machine. Best trip I have been on since moving to this area.

Mike

No prob, it was my pleasure. It's always a treat to fish with someone that enjoys the sport as much as you. Glad we got to fish once before you moved but glad you are getting back to Austin with a healthy wife and your family. Very cool, Congrats again

Whatd u chum with Clifton?

A bag and a half of Range cubes, 3/4 a bag of deer corn, another carper was there mid week and threw out 20 lbs of feed and a bunch of old boilies. We loaded it up and they are stacked in there now. Those 15 lb carp should be 20 lbs by mon lol

What's a gill raker?

Nice Catch. Thanks for sharing.

Nice outing guys. Way to get in on some of those bigger ones Mike .

I may head down.there Sat and do me.some gill raking.......

Great fish. I can tell you it will upset some that you hold them under the gills instead of cradling them with two hands for pictures and the release as it can harm the fish to hold them this way. I think it makes the fish look bigger and makes for a better picture too! Most of us here are big into CPR and want to release the fish with the best chance of survival. I can tell you'd like that as well when you release them.

http://www.bishfish.co.nz/articles/general/releaserules.htm

Regardless, you guys did awesome and thanks for the pics. Looks like a great time. I hope you're always that successful from here on out.

good work guys. I think what Ted meant was when holding fish by the gills it tears their gills and breaks their backs if they are too heavy. Believe me, most of us did the same thing when we started fishing for carp. I know i did. But after fishing for bigger fish you grow an appreciation of preserving them since there really isnt as many as people think. All of the recaptures wouldnt be possible if we didnt do our best to assure they are healthy when going back. I am not condemning anyone here(cept bow killers ) and would love to fish with Mike when he moves down here to Austin and show him the ropes of Austin fishing.

Thanks guys, I figured and even joked with Mike on how some guys would cry about it I'm not saying ya'll are the ones crying, the ones it truely bothers prob arent posting on this thread to behonest. I know about holding them by the gills been fishing for them for years but these buff are not to heavy to hold like that. I have picked much larger buffs up like that in the past and you can feel the cartilage breaking. That was NOT the case here.

As you can see in our other pics if they were not doubles they were held up to ya'lls standards out of plain respect for ya'll while posting here. Figured that would be enough and you guys would be happy enough that a catfisherman actually released them instead of chopping them all up and doing some much needed population control

My threads are for the 25% of carpers that are chill and don't get all nazi on me

Wow, wow and WOW!!

You guys are truly GIANTS among the "lesser scaup" of fishing wannabees!

Thanks for the inspiring pics and detail!!