panther martin trophy fish of the week contest

so i have submitted a few fish to panther martin's trophy fish contest they do every week. each week one winner is awarded  the title of trophy fish of the week along with 50 dollars worth of panther martin tackle for their submissions. a few weeks back to my surprise a bowfin i submitted won the contest. my 50 dollars worth of spinners has arrived and i cant wait to get out and use them.

could i be having a better winter?

usually winter for me consists of fishing warm water discharges for carp and muskies with the occasional trout outings. i still can't wait for summer but this year winter has been going so well i haven't been feeling as down about the cold weather as i usually am. the discharge fishing this year has been very slow only producing one shad and a decent sized musky.

the trout and pike fishing on the other hand has been absolutely incredible this year. i caught multiple personal best brown trout this year

so we have had a very mild winter this year and i began noticing there seemed to still be many carp hanging around in areas they normally would not be this time of year. distracted by trout fishing i didn't take time to target them but was always tempted when i would walk up to one of the pools and see a dozen large carp cruising through. i finally couldn't take it anymore and had to get out and try for these fish. i tried crawlers first and although i had no carp take the bait i did catch a white sucker.

i continued fishing the spot over the next few days trying corn. the fish were active but barely. they would almost suck on the bait for a second then swim away. i hooked a few and had many takes but no fish landed. finally on valentines day i got my cold water carp.