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John and pal Chris Tarrant pose with JW's new personal
best grass carp at 41lbs
GONE FISHING by TV's John Wilson - extract from the Daily Express
Last week I recalled how Chris Tarrant and I, along with Martin Founds of Anglers World Holidays enjoyed the striped bass fishing on massive Lake Ouachita in the mid-southern state of Arkansas.
Our actual target species, however, were common carp which top 50 lbs and are present in vast numbers in most lake and river systems. The largest river of the lot is the Arkansas River, where we caught the strange-looking small mouth buffalo carp.
Common carp, strangely, were conspicious by their absence, though I did catch a couple of extremely hard-battling doubles from a swim that had been pre-baited by our guide Jerry Bean in a quiet bay on Ouachita Lake.
It mattered not, however, because eventually we got stuck into a most welcome surprise in the form of turbo-powered grass carp to close on 20 lbs, in no fewer than four different lakes.
Then, from a shallow, off-lake lagoon on picturesque Hamilton Lake, we literally hit the jackpot with several beautiful grass carp averaging close to 30 lbs. All came to four to five kernels of hard maize, hair-rigged to a size 6 hook and presented on in-line bolt rigs over a pre-baited area in depths between four and eight feet.
In water temperatures upward of 80 degrees Fahrenheit, these American grassies fought with amazing stamina, power and speed, often making sizzling 20 to 30 yard runs against a firm clutch setting and 15 lbs reel line. My holiday was rounded off superbly when after losing a nice fish within inches of the net, I landed my largest grassie ever, a superly proportioned 41-pounder getting on for four feet long.
Was I a happy bunny or what? Yes Arkansas, we'll certainly be back soon.
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Adventure holidays and
world-class fly fishing.
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