A Young Man's Love of Carp Fishing

by

Glenn & Tyler Kross

I would tell myself, "Just stop thinking, Glenn, you have a big day tomorrow; just close your eyes and get to bed." It was like the night before Christmas before every offshore fishing trip. But, like most anglers desperately searching for that trophy fish or the adrenalin that comes with it, I would always struggle to sleep the night before due to my excitement level. Whether landing a giant bluefin tuna or losing one 10' below, I enjoyed all of the thrills, good or bad, and couldn't get enough of it. I was part of a group of anglers that targeted large tuna and other pelagics on light tackle for many years. Fast forward 15 years, and those feelings are still there, but instead of me being the leading angler, I am now the mentor to my youngest son Tyler, and instead of chasing tuna, we are chasing carp.

Not much has changed, I still lay awake the night before a trip, but now all I can think about is making my son Tyler smile ear to ear on our next adventure. Tyler is my third and youngest son, and he is obsessed with carp fishing. He is a gentle soul, which is perfect for carp fishing as he is very engaged in taking proper care of the fish and releasing them happy and unharmed. On most occasions, you can hear him saying, "goodbye carp, see you again soon," as he releases them.

Tyler is only seven years old, and although you may not notice it, he is also special needs. However, this small detail doesn't stop him from excelling in the sport he loves like his brothers and father before him. Unlike other sports like football, wrestling, or lacrosse, fishing rewards those who put in the time, and it rewards anglers with great technique regardless of stature or athletic ability. Like most other children on the spectrum, Tyler struggled with eye contact, communicating, and even taking simple photos at an early age but that’s all changed now. But his mother and I have always pushed him to achieve his highest potential in everything he does, and the results have been amazing.

Fishing has helped him in countless ways. He is much more inquisitive as I involve him in unboxing gear, spooling reels, packing, making rigs & baiting. He asks questions about everything we do. We find new swims on google earth together while we plan the next new adventure. Instead of shying away from photographs, he now requests pictures with every fish proudly showing his excitement. His confidence level has grown exponentially, so much that he now lips large catfish and bass by hand, along with holding carp half his weight.

Carp fishing has given us an outlet to expand his horizon without judgment; it also gives him a platform to work hard for something. It has taught him how to deal with life's unexpected challenges, adversity, and disappointments head-on, which is a challenge for all children. I discovered that he loves to travel and explore new places through our carp fishing adventures. Most of all, carp fishing has given me another way to spend real quality time with my son and share a passion that will create a lifetime of memories for him.

Getting a young angler into this sport requires attention to detail on gear, as the process must be enjoyable. Many people ask me how a 7-year-old boy who barely weighs 46 pounds can catch these hard-fighting fish all by himself with no help. We work diligently on proper angling techniques coupled with utilizing advancements in gear. Instead of making him struggle with the typical 9’-12' carp rods, I bought him a whole set up of Nash 6' 2lb T.C. Dwarf Stalking Rods. These rods are perfect for his height and allow him to fight fish using proper leverage. We also use Diawa Black Widow reels as they are light and help get the maximum amount of line gained per crank. Utilizing a rod pod with bite alarms allows him to hear the bite and react quicker than visually seeing or feeling the bite. There is nothing like watching him run back to the rods excited as the alarm screams.

Passing the time between bites is easy because Tyler is incredibly patient; he would be happy just collecting rocks, exploring the area, or hanging out in a chair with dad while we wait. In his words, he loves fishing for carp because "they are super big, they pull hard and are friendly" because they don't have teeth, so he loves holding them. In my opinion, they are the freshwater tuna, the ultimate fighter.

We have learned a lot through trial and error, especially about locations, while having a lot of fun along the way. We are lucky to live in the NY/NJ region, so we have a plethora of significant waterways like the Delaware River, which offer us the best chance at larger trophy fish. From a baiting perspective, we utilize everything from boilies, pop-ups, tiger nuts, corn, and artificials, depending on where we are fishing. We are fishing pack baits in some locations and PVA bags and sticks in others.

We spend a lot of time online learning from this great community to help maximize our success rate as there is no shortage of content. We hope to travel this year to do some tournaments together, constantly pushing the envelope and expanding our horizons. As he would say, he wants to catch a "huge" carp, so we are trying to get him a 30 pounder one day soon.

To his credit, Tyler has been very successful with several carp in the 20-pound range, including a gorgeous 17.5 mirror, a beautiful ghost carp, a 21 pound common, a 19-pound channel cat, and even once in a lifetime 6.4-pound largemouth bass. He says he wants his own fishing show one day like and who am I to tell him any different. Shoot for the stars.

It's funny how life works; all this time, I thought I was just teaching him how to fish until I realized he was teaching me how valuable these tiny moments are in today's crazy world. He is my hero, and I am more proud of him than words could explain.