First Draw of 2009

We got a good visit from Joe and Jadon last weekend. On the list of things to do: fish a bit. When asked about what specie to pursue, his reply was My heart says carp. Well you really can't beat that. I remember days and months and years ago on the Riviere aux Canots getting into big cyprinids as a duo... standing there on a platform and chucking twister tails up and across... bringing them back fast and occasionally finding a double-digit dog on the far side of the rig. So he's hooked and landed carp before. Not with flies though. I suggested he could bring his spinning gear if he wanted... and the reply was I'd like to get one with a fly. Can't really beat that either.

We had only a few hours, and there are only a few viable possibilities right now for carp. We swung through DB for some coffee and then pedaled north. Pedaled a bit we did, and then we came to one of the great rivers of the southeast and we proceeded to ply a while. Ply we did and right away we were bumping and nicking and upsetting carp. It wasn't sight fishing, nor was it blind nymphing... but rather "strip and feel" deal. Bouncing crayfish-like patterns on the substrate. Hooked THREE in the first five minutes, but two were foul. Either way, we could sense them in there and I figured we were in for a solid few hours. Not to be though. They disappeared. Dis-appeared. I figure the battles of the first three (which were not dramatic) maybe spooked them a bit.

Failure as carp guide. Again... bad rep there, to this point. Still a fun time though. Must have touched 60 F air temp, and the sun shone down pretty well on the two of us.

Joe put up a pic here.

The presentation.

Tell me you wouldn't eat this. The hell you wouldn't.

Three fish were played. Because we are honest folks I will tell you that two were foul hooked. One was for sure by the mouth (smallish though). This one, while bigger, was a genuine ass-hooking.

Nice outing. Need to do it again when fish are active and see-able. We were blind casting at hidden biomass and it didn't work out that well. Need more time too.


The fish pictured above was scaled. I know the weight.