January 13, 2024 South Minneapolis Unlike most people on that frigid Saturday, I spent my morning outside. And unlike most people, I know of a spot with open water. I know that this spot gets packed with fish in the winter--fish that are trying to escape that icy cold--and so I usually only ever go out to this spot then. I have come out to this spot only once before this trip and I was really hoping to catch something different, so I had brought worms and minnows. I fished everything below a bobber, but even with the use of minnows, the sunfishes would pick off the minnows. Although I was feeling defeated in the blistering cold, which had a low of -5°F and a windchill of -18°F, I was determined to catch something different; and this is when I notice a stickleback in the minnow bucket. (Sticklebacks are known for staying on the hook significantly longer than minnows because of their hard-bodied structures.) I placed the stickleback on the hook and dropped it down to the water. The sunfishes began to pick at the stickleback, but the stickleback stayed on. The bobber I had helped signal to me whether a sunfish was picking at it versus a bigger fish, so that was nice and easy. After 20 minutes of waiting, which began to feel like hell to my face and hands, my bobber went under and I set the hook. All of a sudden, I had a fish. I fought the fish for a few moments before the fish weakened and I saw a Common Carp on the end of my line. I stumble down towards the water, almost slipping in, and tried to grab the fish. I realized in this moment that I had forgot my net on the other side of the water and there was no shot that I'd be able to grab it. Upon my final succession to grabbing the fish, I held its body close to mine, but the carp's slippery slime coat helped send the fish falling through my arms. I quickly grab my pole vertically and before I knew it, the rod snaps in half and the fish plummets back into the water. Somehow, however, the fish was still hooked...the fish was still on! I quickly reach in to the water and pull the fish up and before the fish could make any sudden moves, I swung it over to my tackle box which I climbed back up to. Despite the broken rod, I managed this 19-inch Common Carp, which, in weight terms, is my largest fish of the year. This carp marks my first ever fish caught in negative degree weather, the first carp I have ever caught in winter, and the biggest fish that I have caught so far this 2024 fishing year. I quickly and gently released the fish and it swam off strong.

3 Redbreast Sunfish 5 Green Sunfish 2 Largemouth Bass