The Unthinkable Happens....RI 40 lb. Carp!

I am on a roll right now, having landed many fish from 13 to 31 lbs. in the last few days.  But, in one  sudden screech of the alarm, the unthinkable happened today.  I landed my first 40 lb. carp in RI waters, a feat many sharpies doubted was possible.  Every year there are a smattering of low 30 lb. carp landed from RI waters.  Some years see no 30 lbers., so 40 lbs. is off the charts. My biggest RI carp up until now was a 36 lb. common that I landed 8 years ago, a fish that was thought to be the biggest ever landed in RI.
Today's fish hit a combo bait of maize and a white artificial corn fished on a hair rig along with a method ball packed around the sinker. When I initially hooked the fish, I knew it was big.  It did its fighting right along the bottom, steadily peeling line from my Shimano Baitrunner reel. When I got the beast near the net, the challenge began.  I used my 42 inch Fox Euro carp net to make several stabs at the fish. The first two times missed as the fish rushed off when the net was near and smoked the drag.  On the third stab, I got her into the net.
Once on the shore and onto the unhooking mat, I knew I had a monster. I weighed the fish and with  the weight of the sling subtracted, the certified  Rueben Heaton scale showed the fish was exactly 40 lbs.  The fish measured a whopping 40 inches.  I also had a witness to the weighing and measuring.
This fish would have shattered the RI record, but in order to claim a record here in RI you have to bring the fish to a weigh station.  No way I was going to kill this fish.  This fish would be capable of producing eggs that could produce offspring that could potentially grow to enormous sizes. After a few photos, I got the beast down to the water, swished it around a bit and with a mighty swoosh of its tail, it was gone.  I'm hoping we will meet up again some day!

40 lbs., biggest carp ever taken in RI!