The Hunt for a Home State Thirty…

by

Chris Matthews

Sometimes being goal driven when it comes to fishing can take away from the enjoyment of it, a few years ago I came to that realization myself. I found myself continually doing the same thing and getting the same results, or lack thereof, the drive to achieve a certain goal still being there, but the results just not being where I wanted them to be at, something had to change.

Back in 2019 I really wanted to check one off the list, and that was to catch a 30lb carp from my home state of Illinois. By this time, I had visited Dale Hollow in TN multiple times and had multiple 30’s to my name with one going close to 40lb. As great as that is I just felt that I needed a little validation to myself and I guess to some extent, my angling abilities that I can catch bigger fish closer to home.

Illinois isn’t really known for it’s wealth of big fish waters especially outside of the Chicagoland area. One local park lake close to home for me had been my focus for years, a known tough park lake. This particular venue while only 15-20 acres in size I knew housed carp to 30lbs +. I was there in the mornings, before work, after work, basically at any time I had free time and it just started to wear on me. While I got through a decent amount of the smaller fish for a few years the big one still eluded me and at the time of writing this, still has. That will hopefully be a story for another time when I finally land that fish from there!

My current biggest carp from miller park at 26+lb, caught April 2022

Anyway, the point was I had to start looking elsewhere if I really wanted to make this goal a reality, I made trips up to the Chicagoland area and went close multiple times, 3 times actually with carp up to 29.14oz. So close yet so far. What else do I need to do here!?

Chicago river and Lincoln park lagoon captures

A few years ago, I started fishing somewhere else, a few visits here and there in the spring and summer yielded some promising results, nothing massive, but of size to keep me coming back to see what else was there…

When I fish for these sorts of goals, I guess you could say I’ve found I like to do it solo, for anyone that knows me (and read my piece in the 4th volume of the American Carp Society’s “American Carper” books) knows I’m a social angler. But getting to this goal I found I was just going to have to get my head on straight and just focus on myself and my fishing.

October of 2021, I set off on a weekend away by myself, not really knowing what to expect, if I’m honest I was expecting to catch a few fish here and there maybe in to the mid 20’s or so and be happy with my efforts. But I’d be lying if I didn’t say the ‘what if’ thought had crossed my mind about catching that elusive Illinois 30 which by this time had been a goal wearing on me heavy for a few years. I got setup there mid Friday afternoon on a cool fall October day, went about my business getting camp setup first, finding my spots, then applying some bait then last but not least getting the rods out right about dark. Once done it was time to relax, get some music going and pop a beer while I waited to see what the night brought in.

The first few hours I found myself wading through some catfish, and some decent channels at that up to around 10lbs or so.

The first carp run came around 9-10pm, not one worth weighing but a sign that the carp were hopefully moving through and getting on the bait. A few more catfish later and then another carp, this one was if I remember correctly right around 25/26lb but could be wrong. It was definitely the biggest I’d had from this venue to date and was a sure fire sign, there may well be some big ones in here yet.

An hour or so went by with no more action so decided to get my head down…

Around 1 or 2 am, Igot woken up by the receiver making a couple of beeps, now I’m not sure about anyone else but I’m a really light sleeper when I go fishing, one beep on my receiver and I’m typically up like a shot. I sleep with my head torch around my neck so faffed around with it getting it on my head, by this time the beeps had stopped, so I sat there in the pitch black staring at the receiver for what felt like probably longer than what it was cursing at the thought it was another catfish as so many of us do. Then, all of a sudden, the receiver lit up and it was no longer beeping, just going in to a one tone meltdown, headlamp switched on, trying frantically to get my wellies on and then find the zip to open the dreaded bivvy door at night. Anyone that fishes for carp at night can probably relate to all of this…

Anyway, by the time I got to my rod which was a good 20 yards away the carp probably had taken an extra 30-40 yards on top of the 80 yards i was fishing at to begin with. I got myself situated and noticed it had luckily kited over the top of my other two rods and was well down the bank.

At this time my spool was still spinning so I tightened up the drag to put some pressure on the carp and to let the ACS Mark III Century do some of the work. As soon as I pulled back I immediately knew I was on to a better fish. This one just felt different to the others from here.

This battle went on for quite a while simply because of how much line it had taken from the outset of the take. I knew where I was at there were a few snags to my left from losing fish there in the warmer months, so the goal was to stop it going any further left than it already had. Once I finally got the fish in closer, my hopes were confirmed. I could easily see I had my first IL 30 on the end of my line.

I’m not going to lie here, when you have been waiting years for a fish like this, albeit not the biggest I have caught, the legs kind of go to jello just because I had put so much work in for it over the years! I was on my own out there in the early morning hours in the cold and the result I’d been working towards for so long was just a net scoop away. Once that net cord went up, there was a fist pump, a Ric Falir ‘WOOO’ and a major sigh of relief.

I took a look at the fish in the net trying to take it all in, I knew this was over 30lbs, the big question was, just how much over was it going to go? I unhooked the fish in the net, took it over to the cradle and got the retention sling out, slipped the fish in that to rest and went back up to grab myself a beer and gather my thoughts. I sat there for a good 30 minutes or so decompressing only to be interrupted by a rustling outside, shone the headlamp out there to see a raccoon going about his business in my bait.

I didn’t want to keep the fish in the sling over night as sunlight is short in October, so I got everything ready to weigh the fish and snap a few shots and send her on her way. She went 34lbs and 12oz, a new personal best for the state of Illinois and the end of a years long quest for a home state 30, YES!

The rest of the night was pretty quiet only having to get up a few more times for a few catfish, I got up the next morning and got back to some spodding. As they say, just like buses, once one comes along the next isn’t far behind. A late morning take resulted in another large common going 34lb 8oz, this one much longer and leaner than the one I had the night before.

I moved to Illinois in 2004, granted I didn’t fish for carp like I do now, but I still targeted them. 17 years without one over 30 then 2 in 12 hours. While I believe carp fishing takes a lot of application in landing big fish, I’m also a firm believer in right time right place, maybe that’s become more prevalent over the years as my craft to targeting larger fish has improved and there’s less left up to chance on my end with getting it right?

In the couple of years since that session I’ve gone on to land a good few more 30’s from my home state from that venue and added one from the Chicago River also. The biggest one going to 38lbs 10oz back in 2021 which is my current Illinois personal best and the largest carp I have caught behind the Dale hollow mirror.

Having goals isn’t for everyone when fishing, but for me as an angler I feel it’s a necessary evil to get motivated. It can be a driving force to take you out of your comfort zone and put in the extra effort, it can also become an obsession which can take away from your enjoyment of doing what you love to do. Being able to find the balance and know when you need to step back and reassess the situation can go along way.

Thanks for reading and best of luck on the upcoming year!

Chris.