Surprise Bass while carp fishing

[gman]

Hope all is well. I am new to this forum but have frequented many others in the past primarily in the offshore fishing sections. This summer I rekindled freshwater fishing with my 7 year old son Tyler and we had quite a summer together. I haven't fished freshwater in decades but we had a blast.

Yesterday we went to a local park in Staten Island that holds a lot of carp. I started my routine that works when carp fishing or cat fishing for Tyler. I get the carp rods out baited. Then i give him quantum xlite rod for bluegills or bass depending on where we are to pass the time until we hook up. He is start to finish all him, zero help.

Well ...

Last night, Tyler was having a blast catching some bluegills, then some really massive shiners on these Gulp fake maggots. He is reeling in one then I heard a huge splash and his reel screaming. Fish went under the carp rods and along this rock ledge we were standing on when i saw it was a massive bass. I jumped down to a rock that was out of the water and was able to net it after it just missed a downed branch in the water. That little tiny bluegill hook somehow stayed connected to it's lower jaw. I couldn't believe the size of the bass for downtown Staten Island. On the scale it fluctuated between 6.1 and 6.2 pounds. I'm not a bass guy but this was a pretty big bass. Took a couple pictures and watched it swim away.

Five minutes later the carp rod went off and he was able to land a nice carp. Headed home all smiles. I plan on posting a bunch of our trips as we had a really fun summer together.

https://i.postimg.cc/hPyR5txM/IMG-2191-2.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/htNWKZ2d/IMG-2184.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/8P7sw-5nB/IMG-2197.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/bwZfcf9P/IMG-2206.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/VNMyv9hH/IMG-2212.jpg

[bigfishy]

Bass of a lifetime @ 7 !!! Well done tyler!! He may spend many more yrs tryin to top that one

[RAMMFISH66]

Nice catch Tyler. Keep on fishing at a young age and it will last a lifetime!!!

[cruiser1234]

Awesome! Especially in SI wow!

[thmyorke1]

Lunkers! Great teamwork! :cool:

[saxmatt]

That’s actually a ghost carp which is a carp/koi hybrid. You can tell by the dark mask on it’s head. Those aren’t very common, cool catch!

[gman]

Bass of a lifetime @ 7 !!! Well done tyler!! He may spend many more yrs tryin to top that one

Yeah I told him it's all downhill from here lol

[gman]

Nice catch Tyler. Keep on fishing at a young age and it will last a lifetime!!!

Thanks my other two boys have grown up fishing but this one is obsessed which is great

[gman]

That’s actually a ghost carp which is a carp/koi hybrid. You can tell by the dark mask on it’s head. Those aren’t very common, cool catch!

He is absolutely obsessed with Carp fishing, we have been fishing non stop for them all over NY/NJ. This particular park has a lot of these ghost carp. He has caught a bunch of them this year I didn't realize it was a different type of carp. I'm trying to get him a mirror so we have been spending a lot of time in Central Park.

[FASTEDDIE29]

Wow! That thing is a toad! Well done and great catch. Awesome catching on the Carp as well. Man they sure do put up a crazy fight! Fish of a lifetime. :D

[AndyS]

Love to see younger anglers actually handling fish and not using Boga Grips.

Impressive bass to say the least !

[dakota560]

Tyler congratulations on a fish and story of a lifetime! It's usually a good thing when the fish you're holding is almost as large as you are! Golden shiners are such a great bait and to catch a bass that size in a pond in Staten Island is a pretty remarkable feat. Nice carp as well, pound for pound they're great fighting fish and don't get the respect they deserve. Congratulations to you and your dad for a great day on the water! Smiles speaks volumes!