A photo of Joe Bateman's catch

Caught By

Joe Bateman
10/1/2018 6:38:48 PM

One hour and 7 minutes. I know that’s how long it took to land this guy, ‘cause my wife rung me on my cell at the exact moment I had the fish on (ain’t that the way it always goes? didn’t answer of course) & I checked my watch when I had him safely hauled ashore. That’s the longest it has ever taken me to land a fish, & that includes some big saltwater fish. ‘Course, saltwater, I used heavy gear. I had 6 lb. mono as a tippit, on a 10’ fly rod, with a Pistol Pete Black Stripper #10 at the business end, to catch this guy. I was determined to wear him down enough to safely land. He made repeated runs and simply refused to tire. I wasn’t going to lose him, trying to horse him in. So, it took a little over an hour. Wow. I was shaking. How, How, am I ever going to go back to catching the 10”-12” Rainbow fingerlings they stock the “real”, neighborhood ponds with?

Catch Details

Common Carp

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Pistol Pete Black Stripper #10
2 ft. 4 in. in.
12 lb. 4 oz.
2 ft.
Everyone

Comments
2K+

    1. Joe Bateman 1
      There's a unique approach! Wouldn't want to try it in the retention pond. Or anywhere, myself. But, yeah... I subscribed... look forward to seeing what poundage ...more correlates with what length.
    2. Charles DeGroot 0
      https://youtu.be/2GuoprIzVaU look at the carp near the end of that video. I'll be making a video of spearing them soon, subscribe and you will get notified when ...more I do
    3. Joe Bateman 0
      Just to elaborate (I know, big mouth)--there's no way to "bum rush" a guy like this, 12 pounder. In the pic, see that pincher/grabber tool... that's ...more how. I waded ankle-deep into the shallows, tired him, brought him close enough, at risk of broken rod & sudden surge of fish and away, to latch onto him with that, and drag him up the bank. Even then...
    4. Charles DeGroot 0
      Here we shoot them with bows and full garbage cans with them. My favorite way to hunt them is underwater with a speargun and scuba gear
    5. Joe Bateman 0
      Just to elaborate--no gaff is why it takes so long to land a big fish. I have to "bum rush" them up onto the bank. You know... grab the line and back pedal ...more fast. I've lost many fish that I impatiently tried this on that weren't worn down enough. And sheer weight becomes a factor at around 9 lb. on a 6 lb. test line.
    6. Joe Bateman 0
      That has troubled me as well. The Utah DWR has universal regulations - for instance gaff's aren't allowed anywhere; that gives me trouble landing carp - ...more as well as regulations that vary greatly from each body of water, i.e., mountain lakes and streams, reservoirs, low lakes and local ponds. Carp, however, are universally unwelcome, anywhere. They don't want catch and release unharmed for carp. Some places they spell it out, like WI... kill 'em, don't leave 'em on the bank, though. Kinda vague what to do with them then. They'd prefer you eat them, or dispose of them in a landfill, etc., but I think the unspoken but acceptable way to be rid of them is to fatally wound them, puncture their air bladder for example, & toss 'em back. But I'm not fishing "real" waters. I'm fishing a retention pond for irrigation and city street runoff. Nasty. No game fish could survive. So, I don't know. If it was good waters, I'd definitely not return them. In the waters I catch 'em in... what difference does it make? A gaff sure would make things easier though.
    7. Charles DeGroot 0
      What did you do with it? Here in wi you are not allowed to return them to the water or leave them at the bank, you have to take them and dispose of them, usually ...more in a farmers field.
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