FANTASTIC FFF

My biggest carp in today's FFF was 20 lbs. This was the biggest
carp I have ever caught on Jan.1 in the FFF. I had 7 other decent
size ones to boot!

If today is any indication of what 2019 fishing will be like, I'm in for a real big year.
I fished today in CAG's FFF (First Fishing Folly).  This is a nationwide event in which anglers from all over the country go out and try to catch a carp on Jan. 1, a feat that is not easy to do. Some guys will hit the shores in tents at 12 midnight while others will go out at daybreak.  Some will sleep in and head out throughout the day. We have guys and gals doing this in New England, Texas, California, around the Great Lakes and in the Midwest just to name a few locations.  In all, 76 members signed up to fish this event this year.
I do this every year, and I go with the hopes of catching just one carp to start the year off. The best I have ever done was a few fish.  Most of the fish I have caught in the past have been small, under 10 lbs.
But, we never had a New Year's Day like this one.  It was a perfect set up.  It rained last night with quickly warming temperatures with near record temps around 57 degrees.  Now, that is carp weather in January. And, yes, the fish were ACTIVE.  After blanking at one location, I moved and took a chance and fished a spot in which I have never caught a carp in January. Call it luck.  I ended up with a whopping 8 fish with the biggest going 20 lbs. In fact, those 8 fish I landed were all decent with the total weight going 92 lbs., 4 oz. (average was over 11 lbs. a fish!).
All these fish were taken on sweet corn right from the can (bought at a supermarket) and fished on a hair rig on a small #10 hook.  I packed a method ball around my homemade 1 oz. no roll sinker.  That did it. I might also add that the carp were most active the last hour of the day, something I have seen a lot of in the past in the winter.