A Few Hours Before Work...

Carp.  Some call them bonefish of the freshwater world.  I got several reports from various sources about a good population of them very close to home.  So I took a few hours before work to check it out.  Bonefish, known for their unrelenting drag smoking runs on the flats of the tropics, have always interested me.  Thus, when people start comparing carp to bonefish, I naturally had to try it out.  Disclaimer; I didn't try with the flyrod, which is the way most people catch bonefish, but one day...   I was short on time so, I used the traditional dough-type bait on a small hook instead.

I started off catching a few small catfish, but shortly there after, I hooked into something very different.  I immediately knew and felt the difference.  Using light tackle, the high pitched music of my spinning reel drag instantly brought a smile to my face.  And then the bright fire of it's beautiful tail flashing under water, made my eyes happy.

25" Carp

In the short amount of time I had available, I ended up with a 23" and a 25" carp.  I also had one hookup to a much bigger one that really pulled like a freight train, but a minute into it, it came off.  I also saw a couple roll that had to have been pushing three feet.

I've never actually caught a bonefish before, but from the stories I hear, I imagine they're really quite amazing.  And I'm sure the diehard bonefish fishermen will say there really is no comparison, but from someone who's never caught one, and probably won't have a chance to any time soon, my sweetwater bone will have to do.