Mike Jackson: Don't overlook Great Lakes carp

There are a lot of heavily muscled freshwater fish swimming in our lakes and rivers.

You have the mighty sturgeon, a prehistoric remnant that when brought to the market can fetch a pretty penny.

It's always a spectacle watching someone trying to land an alligator gar weighing over 200 pounds from some southern Texas river.

Or let's say you're casting a jumbo plastic rainbow-like lure that sinks 80 feet down on some California reservoir when a 19-pound largemouth bass decides to inhale it.

Each piscatorial battle presents a range of high energy, long-lasting power surges that stresses your line, the rod and reel, as well as human frailties such as the nervous and muscular systems.

A closer-to-home option for getting this kind of encounter is the supersonic brown bomber or, as some would call it, the "aquatic tank on steroids."

I humbly refer to Mr. and Mrs. Bugle Mouth, the rarely loved carp.

Without a doubt, in my estimation, the freshwater carp is the best fighter of all times in both lakes and streams.

My first knuckle-busting encounter was on a smallmouth stream in northern Indiana. A spinning rod equipped with 8-pound mono, a No. 6 hook, and a fat nightcrawler was the setup for smallies.

The strike was subtle, but the line appeared to race off the reel's spool. I set the hook by rearing back. The rod was almost jerked from my hands.

Twenty minutes later I scaled a 4½-pound carp. I couldn't believe the fight it gave me - until I caught another brownie an hour later from the same stream.

Push the clock up 25 years and a 30-pounder came to the net during a night fishing expedition on the Minnesota River. That semi-trailer-like, muscle-bound fish towed my boat around for the good part of an hour.

In all my years of outdoor reporting, I have rarely encountered an American fisherman who had a high regard for carp. I say rarely because there are some anglers who do nothing but try to outsmart a carp with high-tech approaches.

And then there are fly fishermen who voluntarily take a roller-coaster ride with wand-like rods flinging small crablike creatures festooned with a feather or two, all in an effort to perform a kind of underwater burlesque act aimed at convincing a carp to eat.

Fly rod pro Paul Melchior (Chicago Fly Fishing Outfitters) searches up and down our Lake Michigan shoreline, eyeballing spots where monster carp scrounge for their next meal.

"It's not uncommon to see a 30- or 40-pound fish swimming in the shallows," Melchior reported. "The tough part is getting these fish to take a fly."

He told me his fly rod-best carp went over 20 pounds.

I've said this for decades. A carp demonstrates pure locomotive power. And a Great Lakes species didn't get to be a jumbo size just by falling for some angler's magic act.

If you want heavy-duty, local action, I suggest you head for the harbors and suburban beaches. Sight-fish these beasts because it's easy to do, and believe me, that's half the fun. Then prepare yourself for an all-time, heavy-duty wrestling match.

• Contact Mike Jackson at angler88@comcast.net, catch his radio show 7-9 a.m. Sundays on WGCO 1590-AM (live-streamed at www.1590WCGO.com) and get more content at mikejacksonoutdoors.com.