Common Carp in Southern MD

Type: Nontidal
Region: Southern
Location: Lake Collusion

Growing up in Salisbury, MD, I would take a small push button Zebco reel and rod down to City Park and catch loads of bluegill and pumpkinseed. I could see carp swimming in the river, but I couldn’t ever catch one. Fast forward, 45 years or so, I’m living in Calvert County. Again I’ve seen carp rolling in the Patuxent but never caught one. But Friday, May 3rd, I was on my kayak on Lake Collusion, in the Chesapeake Ranch Estates, fishing for white perch and panfish. I was using a 1/16 oz jig with a small shad style soft plastic bait and hooked into this guy. Took me 16 minutes to get it to shore. My trough is 25 inches long and this guy’s tail looks like it is 3 or 4 inches beyond that. It was a real knot tester!