Reaping the Benefits of Discovery

This fish was one of many taken from a spot reached only by
kayak.  It was featured in my discovery story.

The national CAG organization was running a contest called "Discovery Month".  For the month of September the idea was to go out and discovery a new spot and write about it.  After the contest ended members would vote for the best story.  I had never entered this contest before, but I had a good idea this year to go out in a kayak and explore an area of the Blackstone River that was completely off limits to shore fishing. Well, it worked like a charm, the story came out great and I caught a lot of good size fish in my newly discovered location.  I also ended up winning second place in the contest.  That amounted to prizes and gift certificates worth about $75.
After this contest I decided to continue with my discovery quest.  I began fishing some new spots I  had never fished before in the fall, basically places that NO ONE fished that were off the beaten paths.  That has lead to a fabulous fall for me with loads of fish on the bank.  In the month of October alone I landed 175 carp, unheard of numbers for fall fishing.  Most of those fish came from newly discovered locations.
If there is any advice I could  give to new carpers, I would say don't be afraid to explore and discover new spots.  Most newbies take the approach of going to spots that others mention or write about.  These spots will produce, but it is often the leftovers that others did not catch or fussy fish that have been caught recently. When you think about the Blackstone River, for instance, I know that most fishermen are crowded into a few easy access locations.  Realize there are parts of the river loaded with carp that have never seen a bait before.  If you can get in on these spots first or discover them, you can have some phenomenal fishing.
Give discovery a try.  You might end up blanking in some spots, but then again, you might just discover some unbelievable fishing that you will have all to yourself.