Got to my spot shortly after 10:00 AM, set got my lines set up. Plan was to test some newer braided lines I picked up over the off season to see how they would fair as far as hookup ratio and abrasion resistance. Also tried my chocolate boilies versus the vanilla/hazelnut, despite the chocolate being primarily a summer bait.
Didn't take long, got our first hit in about 1/2 hour, right in my most treacherous spot. The 50 lbs Kanzen superbraid cut within 5 seconds into the fight... 15 minutes later, another run on the same line, same story. So much for this overpriced line (2-3 times the price). I quickly added about 75 feet Power Pro 50 lbs line as a shock leader.
Next hit came about 1/2 hour later, first one on a chocolate/cinnamon boilie, as well as the first one on my 50 lbs test Cajun Braid line. As Eli has never caught a carp yet, I handed him the rod, and helped him fight and land the fish. A nice 15.5 lbs, his first carp ever at 7 years old:
I noticed a large nick in the Cajun mainline after releasing the carp, seems like it just held up by a thin strand. Not too impressed, but it was less than 1/2 the price of the Kanzen line.
Things got quiet after that, took nearly 2.5 hours for the next hit. The kids spent time catching small sunfish, rock bass, and gobies while waiting for the carp to start biting again. The gobies were in full spawn. Avi managed to catch a gobie fry by hand in a school right up on the rocks, and Levi eviscerated a fat female, as they are forbidden to be released. Good riddance...
The Kanzen line with the Power Pro shock leader went off, I handed Avi the rod. As h'es fought a decent number of carp, he had a relatively easier time fighting and landing the fish. Weighed in at 18 lbs:
Took about 20 minutes, and my heavier 65 lbs Suffix 832 line went off. I handed Levi the rod. He managed to pulled to big carp out of the treacherous spot that had snapped the other runs, but was having trouble controlling the fish, as it put up quite a fight. It ended up running into the pilings of a low bridge we were fishing close to. Levi held on, and somehow managed to horse the fish out of the pilings despite it being wrapped up tight. By some miracle, the Suffix line held, and the fish was still on. Just as the fish came up, it darted in front of an oncoming motorboat. I screamed, and luckily they were going slow enough to hear me. They move out of the way just in the nick of time, and I had the big carp in the net a couple minutes later. Weighed in at 20.5 lbs, biggest carp Levi has ever landed, not too shabby for a 10 year old:
Thing died down again, I eventually lost another one to a line cut on the Cajun Braid line, again in my treacherous hotspot.
Both Vanilla/Hazelnut and Chocloate Cinnamon boilies performed evenly throughout the outing, didn't have any garlic/cayenne on hand to test.
My next step will be trying a 50 lbs mono shock leader versus the 65 lbs Suffix 832 superbraid, will post results as they come.
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