Monster Carp in South Africa

A few years back while visiting Grandpa in South Africa, I had my first chance to catch the common carp.  The location was a little town called Prieska on the banks of the murky Orange River.

Like in many other countries, the common carp is an invasive species in South Africa.  The mirror carp and grass carp are two other members of the family that also roam these waters.  My Dad and Grandpa caught hundreds of these South African carp throughout the years.

Although not a real monster carp, this foot-and-half long fish was certainly a monster to me.  For bait, we used rolled-up whole grain bread.  

Unfortunately the sun was hot and time was short and we only had a few hours to fish.  The day also yielded a small catfish (called a barber down there). 

My first (monster) common carp!!!