The Gentle Giant
by
Cody Gales
Hello my name is Cody Gales, I'm an avid carp angler out of New Hampshire and I’d like to share my experiences from a session that produced my first 40lb common.
It was mid September when I finally made the decision on where I was going to start my fall baiting campaign. It was a stretch of river I’d been interested in for most of the previous year and this was probably going to be the best time of year to bait and fish it. I was both very hopeful and excited about it’s prospects…
I found a small pocket whirlpool at the base of a bridge pylon, and planned to start baiting right on the edge of some decent moving current.
With my spot now picked, leaded, depth checked and searched for snags, I began pre-baiting for what was soon to be, the session of a lifetime for me.
It had still been getting fairly hot during the day but thankfully the nights were starting to cool off and the water Temps were slowly starting to decrease. I kept the bait flowing into the swim daily to give the fish plenty of good food to feast on and gain confidence in while I waited for the temperatures to continue dropping.
While in the midst of pre-baiting my river swim, I managed to make trips out to three other States. They were quick weekend sessions to New York (see photos below).
Connecticut...
and Massachusetts where I managed a new mirror personal best all while waiting for the right tempatures back home in New Hampshire... I love the Fall season!
Another week or two had passed and finally it was starting to look good with a solid week of day temperatures in the high 60s low 70s with night time temps continuing to drop down into the mid to high 50s. I knew this this was the time, so a few days before starting my week long session I ramped up the baiting. I picked the afternoon of September 24th to start the session on the baited river swim.
Both rods went out beautifully, both landing with a very satisfying thud showing me that the fish were in the area and they had been keeping the soft silty bottom completely cleaned.
It wasn't long before I had my first take and it resulted in a great looking common. After a few photos, I released him and got the rod back out on the spot. It felt really good to have caught my 1st fish so early into the session and this was backed up not 5 minutes later when that same rod was off again. This time landing a little slightly bigger common.
With two runs coming one right after the other, I was sitting on the edge of my seat waiting for the next one to come but with all the commotion in such a short amount of time, the fish had pushed off for a bit… They were showing all over the place but I had to wait until the sun started to set before my alarm screamed again.
This take that was different then the first two, it was a little slower and not as crazy. When I lifted the rod into the fish, it was pulling hard and staying on the bottom, I knew it was a good fish.
After a few minutes of some back and forth battling, it finally surfaced and graced the back of my net. Peering into the net, I was pretty happy with my efforts!
It was a beast, a very thick common weighing 33.2lbs
I had just bested my previous river pb of 29lbs and I was on cloud nine.
The rest of the night was quiet on the fish front, I just lay there listening to passing cars and the distant chirps of insects for hours… Large fish were crashing across the river and my mind was racing but I finally managed to fall asleep after a few hours.
Waking at first light, I decided to re-cast and as quietly as I could, top up the baited area with some freebies… I just sat there and watched the show of fish boiling and breaching all over the area as the sun rose. I was excited for what the next few days would bring, I knew I had picked the right area.
Even with all the shows and fizzing, I didn’t have a single take all morning and that situation didn’t change any all day... So I just sat back, relaxed, watched the river flow by and enjoyed the view.
I finally manage two runs during the night with a chesty brace of commons before getting a few hours of catch-up sleep.
Waking the next morning to a screaming run, taking all the blankets on the way out with me, I got to my rods and knew I’m in for an early morning fight! The fish took so much line, it managed to go up river and around the bridge pylon that was just across from me. I managed to slowly work the fish back down and around the pylon. When she came to the surface I could she was visibly tired, I knew I had her and when she finally graced my net, I was absolutely blown away at how wide she was across the shoulders! This beauty weighed 32.5lbs with a big ol, double gut.
The rest of the morning and most of the afternoon was slow again and like previous days, I wasn't really expecting anything to happen until after the sun had set… but boy was I wrong.
Later that afternoon, I got an absolutely screaming take and when I picked the rod up, I immediately realized that I was playing a fish of a much larger size!
I played it softly and very carefully, letting it take as much line as needed… I eventually tired the giant out and when finally netted, I was not ready for what I just had landed. Wow! They just keep on getting bigger!!
With a new all around personal best of 37.3lbs, I was jumping for joy, hooting, hollering and I was just on top of the world, but little did I know there was even more to come, much more...
The next day and night were extremely slow with no bites or fish really showing in the area. I took advantage of the time to catch up on some sleep. Just after sun-up, I got took for another good walk up and down the bankside by another fish over the 30lb mark that weighed in at 32lbs.
Going into the last night with no bites and waking the next morning with no bites, I wasn't having a good feeling about this last day. I felt very happy and contented about how the session had gone but at the same time, absolutely drained from the days on the bank.
I slowly started packing things up when mid morning, I got a good take and I landed another good common that weighed 28lb.
That 28lber gave me some hope for the rest of the day, and sure enough about an hour later, yet another 28lb common was in the net…
Realizing that the bite time was different from any of the other days, I decided to add a little bait out to the spots and recast the rods out onto it… Maybe I could tempt one more fish before I wrapped this incredible session and headed for home.
To my surprise, a few hours later around mid afternoon I got a take that was unlike any others that I've had.
The run was slow and steady as I lifted the rod off the bank stick and felt a power and weight of the fish… It was totally unlike anything I had ever felt before! Knowing that this could be something very special, I babied and played this fish with every tip and technique that I had learned over the past year of my carp fishing adventure.
As the fish got closer, I have to admit that my knees were a little shaky lol… I readied my net and gave her the last good pull that I needed to slip the net under what I could already see, was a magnificent giant!
I scooped her up and opened the net. There was no doubt about it, I was now looking at the biggest fish I have ever seen or caught in my entire life! I dropped down to one knee shed a few tears of joy… Finally collecting myself, I brought her to the cradle and wasted no time getting her in the sling to be weighed. She came in at a magnificent 40.69lb.
I had finally made my dream come true and reached my biggest goal of the year.
With all the pictures taken and having weighed the fish a couple of times to confirm, I released the gentle giant back into the river to grow and hopefully give someone else the joy end pleasure that I had fighting and successfully landing a true river giant…
Thank you for taking the time to read about my session of a lifetime. I have to thank Lorenzo at Carp Baits USA for all his support and of course, the American Carp Society for this opportunity to tell my story.
Until next time, tight lines all, Cody…