{Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders} Re: Biggest Wild Freshwater Fish You Have Encountered

I grew up outside of Philadelphia in a little town called Gladwyne, which abuts the Schuylkill river. When I was around 9 years old, my father and I snuck into the gated portion of river at Flat Rock Dam, figuring that, since the current was so strong, the fish must be as well. There were two noteworthy catches that day. The first was by far the largest bluegill I've ever seen, taken above the damn, which measured 13 1/2 inches. The second, however, was the monster, taken below. My father was using a thick, almost no flex rod, which nevertheless became quite bowed during the encounter. After fighting this fish for a good 40 minutes, coaxing it in and out of various holes, struggling all the while to maintain our footings in the gushing dam ejaculate, we finally brought to sight an enormous carp which, when laid out next to me on the bank, was longer than I was tall; probably in the neighborhood of 4 feet. It was an incredible rush. I regret that we didn't have a camera to capture it on film.

Lane

On Wednesday, September 9, 2020 at 10:55:31 AM UTC-4 r...@robsnowhite.com wrote:

I spent the holiday weekend in Ohio chasing fish in the small urban creeks around Columbus. I fished below one dam (got a smallmouth on a black bugger under a bridge). About .25 mile below the dam I encounter a school of common carp, catfish, and buffalo. One of the carp was the BIGGEST WILD FRESHWATER FISH I HAVE ENCOUNTERED. This carp was massive. It looked like a feed lot hog with fins. I've seen some big carp before. The ones at Rio in Gaithersburg but nothing like these. I've seen some torpedo size grass carp in Florida but none had the girth of this fish. 

None of the fish in this spot would eat a fly. 

What is the biggest freshwater fish you have encountered? Where were you? Did you catch it? Did someone else catch it? 

Rob Snowhite

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