The Desired Ones...
by Martin Columbo
Since June of 2016, I have been on a mission to capture some of the most beautiful scaly mirror carp that the east coast has ever seen! Not an easy task by any means, especially on the venue in question but I was determined.
I don't want to name the water due to preservation reasons but for a few CPR anglers in the area who know, it has both a reputation as being a very difficult water and for holding some absolutely gorgeous fish.
At about 800 acres long, I have to admit that I didn't know where to begin. My first session there had me driving around for about an hour before finally making up my mind on where to setup. With having had no time to pre-bait, I was prepared for a blank but still hopeful, so I got the rods out. At the very least, I'd learn more information about the water from the session for the future…
I felt that corn rigs, and method balls was the best way to start off and just maybe, I could persuade a fish to take a nibble... After about two hours of silent alarms the sky quickly and ominously darkened unleashing a torrential downpour! The rain drops were literally bouncing back up off the surface of the lake! I was cursing, of course this just had to be the one day I decided to travel lite and didn't have my brolly with me! lol... I wanted one of those beautiful scaly carp more than anything! I had no choice but to duke it out, I was here to do a job and wasn't going to give up that easy.
Most new comers to this venue usually blank multiple times before striking gold but I got lucky! Much to my surprise within minutes of the rain subsiding, my alarm was absolutely screaming! I fought that fish so carefully, and was so relieved when she finally slid into the net.
I just can't find the words here to describe the joy I felt at this moment! I’d got that ‘first fish pressure’ off my back much sooner that I expected, I couldn’t believe it!
After taking pictures, I got him back into the water and just sat there for a few minutes with a huge, crazy and dumbfounded grin on my face.
Before I'd even got that rod back on the spot, my other rod went off and after a short but spirited battle, I soon had my 2nd stunner of the day laying on my mat waiting to have it’s photo taken. I just couldn't believe my luck here today… Thinking back, I should have gone straight to Las Vegas after this session…lol!!
From this point on, I did not want to fish anywhere else and this place quickly become a second home to me. Myself and a few trusted buddies had put numerous beautiful, quality fish on the mat that 1st year but nothing huge had appeared yet. Not that size really matters at all but I knew that there was some massive stunners in there and I wanted one! I fished it until mid November when the weather closed things down and forced us to put things on hold until spring of the next year.
The following Spring didn't come quickly enough at all... When I finally got the weather break I’d been waiting for to get back out to that special place that I now call 'Home,' it took quite a few frustrating blanks before I would start catching again. I’d definitely been spoilt during the previous season.
I like my fishing schedule to run on a fairly tight routine; I go out multiple times every single week getting bait out and then fish a few overnights at the end of the week...The results eventually started to show and the catch rate per session slowly started rising.
By this time, I was averaging about two to four fish per night. Now to some, that may not sound like a lot at all, but for this venue, it was more than I would have ever expected. So I was feeling very good about the whole scenario...
For the next few months I stuck to it religiously and pulled some awesome fish out. Yet still in the back of my mind, I was wondering when the beast was coming!? I knew all my hard work would pay off sooner or later but by the tail end of that 2nd year with the hard winter months fast approaching, my time was quickly coming to an end for the year too.
So being honest here, overall I was very pleased and contented with how my season was going but I was starting to doubt that the big one was going to happen for me this year…
It was the end of November when I did my last overnight, it was raining and extremely cold. I showed up to my spot and did my usual routine of getting the rods out, setting up my brolly and watching the water for signs... A few hours into the session, I was laying down and thinking about getting a few hours shut-eye when my rod completely screamed off! This fish was just tearing line off my reel and as soon as I picked it up, I knew it was something special!
I fought this fish for about fifteen minutes, left to right, right to left and back and forth a few times; a real warrior, it just did not want to give up. Even when I finally got some control over the fish and she was starting to inch closer to my waiting net, she still had a few really powerful lunges that tested both me and my tackle....
I eventually got a pretty good glimpse of my reward with the help of my head-lamp shining through the rain and into the crystal clear water, I was fairly certain it was a good sized fish. Nothing could have properly prepared me at the time for my shock and elation when I finally slid her into the net and she rolled over revealing the shear size and girth of her flanks…At this very moment I knew the hard work had paid off and my time had come…that gorgeous beast was finally mine!
I'd had an amazing season on that venue and look forward to even better follow-ups in the coming years...
I will continue on my quest as I'm sure my mission will never end....
Keep an eye out!