OCTOBER GIANTS

It comes as no surprise to me that my friend Bob and I are catching some of our biggest carp of the year as the weather cools and the thermals come out from the dresser. Bob has graciously allowed me to fish with him, as he is a serious carp angler who has banked over 270 fish this year. Our results from this year and last fall/early winter bear this out. Big fish in cold weather...nothing new.

Nice looking thick carp took tutti-frutti corn.

Bob and I have been chumming a particular area that is a little tough to get to...hence...not much fishing pressure there either. Bob's best effort is 19 carp in one 4 hour session, with fish topping out at 21 pounds.

Bob hangs on as the rain sets in.

Bob likes to use lighter line than most carpers...10 pound test in most cases, and as a result, I have scaled back as well to 12 pound test to capture the spooky carp. You just have to be patient and play fish out on the lighter gear.

Our fish are running bigger now!

Most guys are scaling back, while we hope to ramp it up in the carp department. November was a 'big fish' month last year. Check some of these guys out...

Back-to-back 35 inchers! Cool!

My PR from last October at 37.5 inches...about 25 lbs.

Twenty plus...

And another on right behind it.

This one could eat a golf ball...easily!

Bob's 22 pounder in the cold.

Modest sized carp on method feeder and corn.

Carp fishing actually held up well all last fall until the water temps got down to the mid to low fortys. Then, it was maybe 1 or 2 runs in a 4-5 hour session. On a nice day that's doable, but if snow and rain come, we might sit home and watch sports. It's still worth a shot at a big fish while most everybody else is sitting home getting fat. Bob catches a lot of carp because he works at it, and puts in the time to chum, scout new spots and make adjustments when the fish don't seem to cooperate. For the time he is on the water, he catches a tremendous amount of fish. It's his reward.

In much the same sense, our reward from God, if we accept His free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ, is to spend an eternity with the King. But unlike carp fishing, or anything else, we do not have to, and cannot, work for it to 'deserve it'. Our debt is already paid in full from the moment we turn our lives over to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Grace, forgiveness and love are the strongholds of Christ. No one ever has, or ever will, 'earn' an eternity in heaven...it is a gift!

John 3:16 says this...'For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, so that whosoever would believe in Him would not perish, but have life everlasting."
                                         
NOT THAT IS A GIFT!