"Carp"e Diem!

Carpe Diem... Seize the Day!  Er... more like "seize the fish" in this case!

As per usual on the nice summer evenings, Connor and Eric went fishing from our dock last night.  Lately, they've been catching white bass, a few bluegill, a plethora of bullheads, and walleye that are too small to keep.  None of these fish fought hard enough to cause much exhilaration.

Last night around 9:00, Connor came bounding up the deck stairs, rapped on the sliding glass door excitedly, and had news for us.  He hadn't caught another yucky bullhead, but a large carp instead! 

Connor was fishing with a small jig when he felt the pound of this forceful fish.   For the way it fought, it could easily have been a Proud Angler Walleye.  Taking about fifteen minutes to land, it stripped a ton of drag and made several long runs.  Connor had to fight to keep it from running to the neighbor's dock and under our dock and boat lift! 

Eric estimated that the carp weighed 12 to 13 pounds.  It was the largest fish Connor has caught to date.

After its catch, journey to the house to be proudly shown off, picture-time, and return to the dock, Ms. Carp was successfully released into the lake... alive.  

Maybe we'll have to buy a smoker one of these days; I hear smoked carp is actually quite tasty.  :-)