Slimy Carp!

[Pasquatch]

How the hell do you guys land these things after you bring them to shore if you don't have a net with you? I caught at 28 incher, my first and only carp, on a nightcrawler in the Missouri River, near Bismarck, where the shore is extremely steep, so its hard to move around. I kinda dragged the thing up onto a rock, and unhooked it, got the measurement, then tried to pick him up like a bass (bad idea) but he had a slippery mouth, and..woosh, back into the river...

[ChenBassHead]

Pasq.- I personally like to tail grab them, like someone would with a large trout or salmon. After I get them under control, I'll place my other hand under the belly, and hoist from there. A 20 lber. can be a handful to tail grab, so be patient. This seems to be the most efficient and effective method which I have found for landing them without a net.

-Zach

[reubenpa]

I grab gills and hoist got a 31 lber last spring.  I couldn't reach the gills so I grabbe the lips... teh big lips made it easy to pull toward me then the gills and lift

[Pasquatch]

Their mouth is alot like ours, its weird, they bleed alot and don't have teethlike structures. Cool fish, but we don't have them right near me!