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Report: Austin Texas 20th June 09

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Went for a quick explore down to a local pond called 'Mills Pond'. This place is about 2 minutes drive from my house and houses a ton of ducks, geese and turtles. It's quite small and you could run a loop around it in about 20 minutes. I'm told it was stocked with a small number of Catfish ( haha, yes local stocking associations purposefully release catfish! ) and a small number of rainbow trout a few years ago.

Personally I think it's too hot here for the trout, so they're probably died off, or at least sitting at the coldest part of the pond.

Not expecting to catch anything I left my camera at home ... This turned out to be a bit of a mistake. Thankfully the Iphone takes a half decent fish.

I took down two light rods, one of them bring the custom rod I won at the hinze dam comp loaded with 4 pound line. I threw this out with some unweighted bread on a small circle hook. My other rod I played around with some lures ( including the tazzie-devils I brought with me, but it was kinda weedy for them ).

After a few casts on a daiwa shiner I got a nudge and a hookup and brought it a small fish with very pretty colours. On my next cast I'm winding in and I hear a ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.

I looked across and my other rod, and it was losing line fast. Dropped my rod mid retrieve and went and grabbed it. Turned the drag up a notch and still ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ, had to turn it up a few more times before I could turn him, was getting worried I was going to get down to the mono backing.

Slowly started to bring him in, but it was 2 steps forwards, 3 step backwards for a good 10 minutes before I started to really get some line back from him.

Finally got it close enough for a flash of colour, and I was amazed at the sheer size of the thing. Every time I got it back to near the pontoon I was standing on, it would tear off again. A few times it looked like it was going to go under the pontoon, which would have almost certainly snapped me off on such light line.

There was a guy fishing not far away who I called over and he managed to get the lip grips in it's mouth and then pass him up the railing so I could bring him over. It's a beautiful coloured carp, and the guy tells me he's never heard of anyone catching a carp in the pond before, and it would have to be the biggest fish ever pulled out of there.

I thanked him profusely for helping me, as there was no way I was going to lift it on my own, too many variables at play for such light line.

Snapped a few photos with my iphone and measured him against my rod as I didn't have a ruler on me.

When I got home I measured the spot I marked on the rod, and he came out to be a healthy 83cm! Looking up some size charts, that makes him 4.8kg! 2.5x the rating of the line :)

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Just after taking the photos I suddenly realised I had no idea what to do with the fish. Back home I'd take it away from the water and bury it, but here I wasn't so sure. After a bit of thinking I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and sent him back home to catch again, but not before naming him General Sherman.

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Brian D Newbie

Brian D

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Great report UT. Terrific fish, huge (83 wow) and pretty. the way you described the fight brings back memories of our local carp. You did well to get it to the deck as they weigh heaps.

Have you figured if it is OK to return it yet. If not OK you better go back and get it! :laugh:

If fishing for carp was my only option I would be happy with that especially at 80 plus models.

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