Man Reels In 64 Lb. Soulmate In Town Lake

[Wally Pryor 5410]

Divulges 3-1/2 months later.

Turns out to be temporary soulmate. Releases it for future hookups.

 

 

https://www.kxan.com/news/local/man-catches-record-breaking-64-pound-fish-on-lady-bird-lake/

[ztejas 44227]

[TwiceHorn 32079]

I got a thing on my google feed from Outdoor Life talking about how game wardens had cited some fishermen for a shit ton of undersized (not Asian) carp.  Tens of thousands of dollars in fines.

I find sportfishing carp to be kind of amusing, but cool.  it takes some technique and the carp anglers are as dedicated as any other, maybe moreso.

I did kind of react to the notion of being cited for overfishing carp.

ETA: buffalo are not carp, and don't have quite the same game fish protection, but it's kind of cool that you can get recognized for a record catch.  They are among the longest-lived freshwater fish.

 

Edited May 31, 2022 by TwiceHorn

[StruggleBus 3922]

Why even keep that?

[hornbri 1511]

4 minutes ago, StruggleBus said:

Why even keep that?

He didn’t 

[Cajun 11777]

19 minutes ago, StruggleBus said:

Why even keep that?

Maybe he owns cats.

[Bill Brasky 1622]

not very good to eat, I would throw back as well 

[Bateshorn 9991]

Don’t carp just suck the bait off your hook?  I don’t even know how you catch those things. 
 

also; I hate fishing and haven’t done it since I was a child. 

[Cajun 11777]

If you’re bottom fishing you can snag one.  They’ll eat anything dead & stinky.

Just like most Surly posters.

[Cajun 11777]

Obligatory…

 

[Sawbonz 28222]

I thought carp were invasive in texas

[TwiceHorn 32079]

42 minutes ago, Cajun said:

Maybe he owns cats.

Funny story.  My aunt, uncle, and cousin used to own a little rancho on the Clay/Wichita County line where they ran some cattle as a tax shelter for oil.  They had a good sized "tank" that was an irrigation reservoir.  Eventually, it got a sizable carp population and in the early morning they would be lined up along the shore with their backs out of the water, all parallel like ships at a pier, a half-dozen or more all in a row.

I'd take my autoloading .22 and plink as many as I could.  One time my Mom waded out there and grabbed a good-sized one, took it home, and cooked it up for our cat.

[TwiceHorn 32079]

4 minutes ago, Sawbonz said:

I thought carp were invasive in texas

Carp are not native to American waters, so, in that sense, they are invasive.  Silver or Asian carp are the really invasive ones that are a problem have bounties on them by the pound and jump in boats on the Illinois and Upper Mississippi among other places.

 

Grass and Common carp are a slight pain in the ass by comparison.

That fish above is a buffalo, which, while similar to carp is a native American fish.

[TwiceHorn 32079]

40 minutes ago, Bateshorn said:

Don’t carp just suck the bait off your hook?  I don’t even know how you catch those things. 
 

also; I hate fishing and haven’t done it since I was a child. 

Carp apparently are mostly "suckers," yes.  They're mostly vegan, I believe.  And they have soft mouths, so it's fairly easy to rip the hook out.  But they routinely get big and fight like hell, apparently.

Serious carp anglers make these things called "boilies" that are like wheaties and Big Red and some other shit kind of like catfish stink bait.  But they don't generally let it rot.  They ball it up on the hook and it covers the barb and everything.  One of their prime concerns is keeping the ball together so the carp will suck it in along with the hook.

[crash_davis 23470]

cool story time.

I hooked onto a buffalo bigger than that fish at Lake Grapevine. I was throwing a tiny crankbait on a 6 ft kids spinning rod and reel set with 4 lb test. The fish jumped out of the water like a giant mullet. Everyone in the little swimming area yelled in excitement at how big the fish was. Broke me off when I tried to keep him from spoiling me and tightened the drag.

There used to be, may still be, a big ass buffalo and carp fishing tourney on Town Lake. People all over the world came/come for that tourney with most from UK and Germany as tournament carp fishing is a huge thing in Europe. I was in my kayak trolling a crankbait paddling in the middle of the lake. I hear some alarm beeping thing from shore. Dudes start yelling thinking they caught a big ass carp. My crankbait snagged one of their lines and took it for a ride. They were not happy. 

[Sbbruin 22144]

[TwiceHorn 32079]

6 minutes ago, crash_davis said:

cool story time.

I hooked onto a buffalo bigger than that fish at Lake Grapevine. I was throwing a tiny crankbait on a 6 ft kids spinning rod and reel set with 4 lb test. The fish jumped out of the water like a giant mullet. Everyone in the little swimming area yelled in excitement at how big the fish was. Broke me off when I tried to keep him from spoiling me and tightened the drag.

There used to be, may still be, a big ass buffalo and carp fishing tourney on Town Lake. People all over the world came/come for that tourney with most from UK and Germany as tournament carp fishing is a huge thing in Europe. I was in my kayak trolling a crankbait paddling in the middle of the lake. I hear some alarm beeping thing from shore. Dudes start yelling thinking they caught a big ass carp. My crankbait snagged one of their lines and took it for a ride. They were not happy. 

Yeah, I got on a bank-fishing binge about 15-20 years ago and scoured a lot of the fishing fora for spots and tips.

They were just starting to have carp sub-forums and they were among the most active, particularly for bank fishing, and I got kind of sucked in to reading about it.  It's quite a thing.

Grapevine and Town Lake are two of the bigger carp fishing lakes in Texas, but I imagine you can do it just about anywhere.

[crash_davis 23470]

18 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

Carp apparently are mostly "suckers," yes.  They're mostly vegan, I believe.  And they have soft mouths, so it's fairly easy to rip the hook out.  But they routinely get big and fight like hell, apparently.

Serious carp anglers make these things called "boilies" that are like wheaties and Big Red and some other shit kind of like catfish stink bait.  But they don't generally let it rot.  They ball it up on the hook and it covers the barb and everything.  One of their prime concerns is keeping the ball together so the carp will suck it in along with the hook.

It surprised me that a buffalo, albeit a big ass one, hit that small crankbait. I don't think I foul hooked it. I think the fucker ate the crankbait. It was pretty shallow and sandy. The crankbait was definitely bottoming out kicking up sand. Maybe that had something to do with it.

Edited May 31, 2022 by crash_davis

[TwiceHorn 32079]

21 minutes ago, crash_davis said:

It surprised me that a buffalo, albeit a big ass one, hit that small crankbait. I don't think I foul hooked it. I think the fucker ate the crankbait. It was pretty shallow and sandy. The crankbait was definitely bottoming out kicking up sand. Maybe that had something to do with it.

Yeah, that sounds like a plausible theory.  They are apparently quite a bit harder to line-catch than carp.

According to my Mom, her father really liked buffalo and people used to sell fresh-caught on the side of the road like tomatoes or watermelon.  He also liked squirrel a lot.  But his other favorite fish was fried bluegill, so he didn't have bad taste.

Edited May 31, 2022 by TwiceHorn

[MadBurgerMaker 404]

3 hours ago, Bateshorn said:

I don’t even know how you catch those things. 

Explosives.

 

3 hours ago, Bateshorn said:

also; I hate fishing and haven’t done it since I was a child. 

See above for a more entertaining option.

[Deej 77830]

10 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

Carp apparently are mostly "suckers," yes....And they have soft mouths

Seems like something aggy would be "studying". 

[DDD Dad 14650]

9 minutes ago, Deej said:

Seems like something aggy would be "studying". 

 

[Shoxthemonkey 1994]

Sport fishing is stupid. There are much better ways to make your hands stink.

[crash_davis 23470]

4 hours ago, Shoxthemonkey said:

Sport fishing is stupid. There are much better ways to make your hands stink.

yup, people shouldn't have hobbies or play sports for fun. 

[956 Worldwide 35594]

Carp is a traditional Christmas dish in Central Europe, real hard core traditionalists keep it alive and swimming in the bathtub for a few days.  It never occurred to me to eat one, last year I bought some filets and fried them up traditional style to see. Will never do it again, it turns out that carp is just shitty. 

[crash_davis 23470]

7 minutes ago, 956 Worldwide said:

Carp is a traditional Christmas dish in Central Europe, real hard core traditionalists keep it alive and swimming in the bathtub for a few days.  It never occurred to me to eat one, last year I bought some filets and fried them up traditional style to see. Will never do it again, it turns out that carp is just shitty. 

not all fish are fillet worthy but that doesn't mean they can't make good table fair. just need to know how to cook them. there are a few channels on youtube which show how to process and cook carp. 

no such thing as bad fish. only bad cooks who don't know how to cook them.

[justhookit 4206]

5 hours ago, Shoxthemonkey said:

Sport fishing is stupid. There are much better ways to make your hands stink.

Yeah, doing stuff like this is no fun at all

 

[Born to Run 6601]

not all fish are fillet worthy but that doesn't mean they can't make good table fair. just need to know how to cook them. there are a few channels on youtube which show how to process and cook carp. 
no such thing as bad fish. only bad cooks who don't know how to cook them.

Jack Crevalle?
Lady Fish?

[ATexanAbroad 627]

28 minutes ago, crash_davis said:

not all fish are fillet worthy but that doesn't mean they can't make good table fair. just need to know how to cook them. there are a few channels on youtube which show how to process and cook carp. 

no such thing as bad fish. only bad cooks who don't know how to cook them.

this isnt 1500, there are definitely bad fish and stupid people try to cook them because they are poor or again, stupid. 

Edited May 31, 2022 by ATexanAbroad

[Caponata 151]

21 hours ago, Cajun said:

Obligatory…

 

What do they taste like? Are they really that bad?

[Cajun 11777]

6 minutes ago, Caponata said:

What do they taste like? Are they really that bad?

I will never know.

Ever.

[Matuka 1320]

3 hours ago, Born to Run said:

Jack Crevalle?
Lady Fish?

Dog (chum) salmon?

[Willfully Horn 8264]

On 5/30/2022 at 9:25 PM, Sawbonz said:

I thought carp were invasive in texas

I think some are native and the city introduced a ‘sterile,’ non-native soecies.  At least my youngest’s first catch was a carp in the Colorado headwaters a decade ago. We made quenelles. Not the best tasting freshwater fish.

There was a slacker, longer ago, who dropped out of school and fished Town Lake for carp. Don’t laugh, he caught a state recird carp during a tournament, and won a quarter million from whoever insures Cabella’s.

https://americancarpsociety.com/additional-announcements-and-news-articles/2018/6/11/texas-carp-challenge-tcc-introduced?format=amp

 

7 hours ago, ATexanAbroad said:

this isnt 1500, there are definitely bad fish and stupid people try to cook them because they are poor or again, stupid. 

Or, teaching their kids how to eat their catch. You do you.

Edited June 1, 2022 by Willfully Horn

[ATexanAbroad 627]

2 minutes ago, Willfully Horn said:

I think some are native and the country ty introduced a ‘sterile’,’ non-native soecies.  At least my youngest’s first catch was a carp in the Folorado headwaters a decade ago. Ee made quenelles.

There was a slacker, longer ago, who dropped out if school and fished Town Lake fir carp Don’t laugh, he caught a state recird carp during a tournament, snd won a quarter  million from whoever insures Cabella’s.

https://americancarpsociety.com/additional-announcements-and-news-articles/2018/6/11/texas-carp-challenge-tcc-introduced?format=amp

 

Or, teaching their kids how to eat their catch. 

dont be so poor you habe to teach your kids how to catch carp, what do you stupid trailer trash mother fuckers not get

[Willfully Horn 8264]

5 minutes ago, ATexanAbroad said:

dont be so poor you habe to teach your kids how to catch carp, what do you stupid trailer trash mother fuckers not get

How to take a fish off a seven year old’s hook before she lands it, Tarzan.

[52-80 19377]

13 hours ago, 956 Worldwide said:

Carp is a traditional Christmas dish in Central Europe, real hard core traditionalists keep it alive and swimming in the bathtub for a few days.  It never occurred to me to eat one, last year I bought some filets and fried them up traditional style to see. Will never do it again, it turns out that carp is just shitty. 

theyre the most common sport fish in the region, and not much choice other than river trout.  theyre just ugly things and full of bones. 

easy to catch though using a feeder cage rig