"New" State Record!

[BaitWrangler]

Hijack away Trophy! You won't offend me - nobody is up for discussion more than I am!!

By the way I am going to post a few pictures on rigging, etc. I am trying to make them simple.  I swear I have a pamphlet from back when I joined the CAG which details some really easy ways to make rigs - but I don't know if I can find them. To be honest, I just used trial and error.  Regardless, the way I do it and the the way I could set you up doing it to get you going is different. The latter is very easy. 

There are a million different rigs and its up to the beholder to chose which. Here in RI we go with the most basic with minute variations.  "Paylakers" (You pay money, fish in essentially a huge puddle filled with big fish, and the winners take home everyones cash, minus entry fees) however, they are much more dauntier with their rigs and go to much lengthier measures to tag any fish that comes in their range.  You've got to have the knowledge to seperate though whats a paylake rig and whats a wild rig - as of course the two types of fishing are immensely different.  Thats a big part of the confusion, and one of the pains in the royal a** that got me when I started.

[TrophyHunter]

I'll throw up a few pics from last year of some channels I caught with my uncle on a day trip to the red river that day we caught 30 cats 20 of which were 34" and up to 39"
A few average cats for this river.






And the big girl of the day a solid 39"


Caught all these on fresh cut goldeye on an in line rig.
Here's a few manitoba carp I caught this one on a jig and berkley realistic plastic minnow fishing for freshwater drum.

another early spring carp same set up


This is the mirror I caught a few years ago

All the carp were incidental catches while fishing for other species I really want to target them specifically the largest specimens!!  I want to set myself up so that when I hook into a monster carp it wont blow up my reel and snap my rod (this actually happened to me  ) I'm looking forward to learning from you BW and I want to thank you for being so willing to help me out!!! 

[lavaman]

wow i wish we had cats like that around here. thanks for sharing.
what time should i meet you at the ramp?

just curious. what do you use for bait?

[halfhooked]

nice cat

[BaitWrangler]

Wow TrophyHunter those are some darn fine Cats! You have no idea how jealous that makes me!  I will take even just one of your smallest posted fish there and be happy.

Up there is a whole different world.  The landscape and the under water life.

Those Carp are fantastic - especially caught on jigs!  I made the post of the big fish the other day where I had been bass fishing earlier in the day as well. Secretly I was hoping to hook up with a Carp. You've got to be a fine angler to do so!   That mirror is bar none! And that is a TRUE mirror none the less. Down here we are spoiled and I can fish places and specfically target them. Theres few places in North America where you can do that.

Awesome all around.   

[TrophyHunter]

Bw that mirror was a total fluke we were drifting jigs and crawlers for big drum and she hit. Great fight pulled three of us around in that little jon boat  I have been targeting trophy cats for at least 15 years now  If you ever want to get into some of those cats bud just let me know I'd gladly take you out and get you into them they are a blast!! Lavaman you were asking what I got the cats on they were all caught on freshly caught goldeye's. We use BIG pieces of cut bait I'll cut the goldeye just behind the head and I put a 5/0 octopus gammy through it's lips and toss that out works great!! People look at me like I'm crazy when i show up at the river and start tossing out these huge peices of cutbait until my rod bends in half and the clickers starts screaming  For cats anyways it seems big baits = big fish I hear of alot of guys using chicken livers and worms I would be willing to bet that if they switched to fresh cutbait like suckers or goldeyes or mooneyes if you have em in your river (bait caught out of the same river seems to work best) you would catch the biggest cats in the system. I could go on forever about cats