Carp from my Old Stomping Grounds.

I grew up on the banks of the Haw  River just north of Burlington, NC.  The Haw is where I learned to fish and where I caught my first carp. 9lbs? if I remember correctly( I will get that picture and have it scanned and post it one day).   Just north of my parents house is a tributary of the Haw that has a millpond on it.   I sometimes would split my time fishing the Haw around my parents house and then sometimes I would hop on my bike and go after some nice bass and White Bass that this old millpond has.
It was a big adventure back when I was 14 and biking those 2 miles to the millpond. 2 miles back then was like a 100 today.    I never did purposely fish for carp in that old millpond but I did catch some by accident while pursuing other species.  One memory I have of that pond is a couple of older gentlemen who fished that  millpond religiously for carp. They used packbait and I remember seeing that and thinking how could a carp eat that??   I do remember that I saw them catch some huge carp some probably 30 lbs plus.
So fast forward to this year(Oct 28, 2016) and I decided to go there and  purposely fish for carp.  I only had 2 hours so I was not sure I could catch one.  I used my normal rig and pack bait of oatmeal, cream corn and vanilla with 3 or 4 kernels of corn on the hook.   I caught a small bullhead about an hour in and at about an hour and a half in one reel starts screaming!  Fish on!  .    After a brief battle I pulled in a
4lb carp give or take.  Not a big carp but I was very proud of this one as it was my first at this childhood spot on purpose.    A very  good day.

The rods and reels.   Shimano 3500 Baitrunner w/15 lb test on an  8' Ugly Stik , and a Daiwa 2600SS w/12lb test  on a Pinnacle Rod.

The Bait.....there is a 1 oz weight under there

The result......

Like I said, not a  huge carp but a very special one.   Now I just need to pull one of those 30 lbers out.

Mack

"Carp fishing North Carolina"