That one’s gotta hurt…
Sometimes when you fight a fish, the fish fights back. The bigger they are the crazier it gets.
We’ve seen the salmon take a leap at the fisherman and marlin come flying right into the boat. Hell, giant spotted eagle rays that weigh a couple hundred pounds have been known to fly into the boat and knock people out.
It happens, these fish understand that it could be a life or death situation so naturally, they fight for their lives.
Carp can grow to be pretty huge. Many can weigh up to 25 pounds, with the largest being upwards of 80-100 pounds. It’s a fish that is relatively easy to catch, but with that kind of size, they can pack a good punch.
This man learned that the hard way. He was wrestling in a big carp that his family just caught, but as fish tend to do when they’re out of the water, the fish kept flopping all around. He straddles the fish to gain some leverage, and BOOM… it kicks up with perfect timing and catches him right in the sweet spot, right between the wickets, right in the family jewels.
Down he goes… straight to his knees, folded like a cheap lawn chair as his whole family, included the kids, bend over laughing.
That’s a fishing memory no one will ever forget.
And a lesson learned for this fella, don’t put a big ol’ fish between your legs.
Chicago Man Catches Illinois State Record Bighead Carp In Public Park Lagoon
Talk about a lake monster… or rather, a lagoon monster.
With his girlfriend out of town, Chicago resident Jarrett Knize strolled on down to the local public park to wet a line in the Humboldt Park Lagoon this past Saturday.
Little did he know, that casual afternoon of fishing would lead to record breaking catch.
According to the Chicago Sun Times, Knize caught an Illinois state record, 72-pound, nine oz. bighead carp, a notorious invasive species in Illinois.
He responded to the catch:
“I just hope they don’t drain the lagoon or anything drastic.”
Why would he say that after such a catch, you may ask?
Because the Illinois Department of Natural Resources always investigates when huge carp, like bigheads, are caught in unusual places like a public city lagoon.
He continued:
“The (largemouth bass) I caught in 45 minutes earlier was deeper than I normally catch them. If I hadn’t caught that one, I would not have made the cast that caught the fish.
I told my neighbor, ‘I’ve got to put the screws to her a little bit because we’re toast if she goes that way.’ It was a major relief when she turned back north.”
After a half-hour, they had almost landed the huge carp, but Knize didn’t have a net so he told his neighbor to run to his place and grab a big salmon net.
“At some point on shore, I determined that we had to weigh it. It was an invasive; I couldn’t put it back.”
Head then grabbed a shopping cart Knize had in his possession, and they wheeled the carp in the cart across North Avenue, back to his house (I bet that would’ve been a sight).
Knize then called Fish Tech in Morton Grove, but they didn’t have a certified scale. He then took the fish to Montrose Harbor, and then later Bridgeport, to Henry’s Sports and Bait. They officially weighed it there at 72 pounds, 9 oz., breaking the previous record of 69 pounds back in 2010.
Biologist Frank Jakubicek certified the weight this past Monday at Henry’s.
You don’t see that every day…
