Personal best fish comes from the Riviere aux Canots

I had 1.5 hours to fish on Saturday, and I wavered because I like to be efficient with my time. I decided to go to a location only 20 minutes or so down the road… that way I could minimize drive time and max out fishing time. Heck, just to look down the rock wall at all the carp hanging out in the river is worth the trip… To catch a few is even better though, so I tried a couple flies. I could see the fish, but not well enough to see takes… so all I could do was put the fly in a group of fish and keep in contact with it. Any time I felt resistance I set the hook. I know it sounds like a formula for snagging, and I did foul-hook a few… but I also landed three fish that were all caught on/by the mouth. I was actually a little surprised myself. After hooking the fish, I had to walk them along a high stone wall for about 80 yards, then scramble down a somewhat treacherous rubble to get to the river to land the fish. The third and final fish of the outing took 16 minutes of battling before it would come in (7 wt fly rod, 3x tippet). It was funny because I kept wavering on how big it was: I’d see one flash or splash and I’d think “wow, it’s huge,” but then I’d see another angle and I’d think “aw, it’s nice but not that big.” Turns out it was pretty big. I don’t carry a net or a scale, but my initial estimate was mid to high teens. I forwarded a pic onto a carp on the fly guru and he suggested around 18 lbs, maybe approaching 20 but hard to say. Either way, it’s my biggest fish on a fly no doubt, and it was quite an experience. Given the cold weather, it didn’t run far, but it did bull and pull for quite a while. I was very thankful to have a fighting butt on the rod. I love the Cannon River. And to anyone who would say “it’s big but it’s just a carp” – go catch a few and then report back.