Minnesota Carping: it just doesn’t stand up…

June 4, 2011: paddled with Danny Boy up to some backwaters I’d been eyeing via Google Earth. They are not accessible via road or wading. The weather conditions were favorable: pretty good sun all day, little wind (good for paddling). We found two flats that were full of carp. I stood in the stern, Bahamas style, and pushed us along slowly with my paddle. It was exceedingly good feeling: easy control, easy casting, no wind. Kid in front, paddling and doing general inquisitive duties and chores. But the vibe was cut off at the pass by turbidity: it was prohibitive. It quickly became comical. We’d move along deathly quiet, and push in front of us a wake of silt plumes and fish scattering about. Couldn’t see the bodies of the fish but could see their calling cards. The only consolation was that it was likely that these fish were stationary, because the water was only 1.5-2.0 feet deep, and we never saw any tails, nervous water or feeding plumes. And so the CQS (see previous post) would be this:
150 – 10 – 0 – 150 – 6 = -16. Tough to deal with. We finally found one group of 4-5 carp feeding in some cattails. Still really turbid, but we could make out their dorsals and general positions. We crept by and dapped on them… no takes. Recognizing this would be our only decent shot, we looped back and did it again. This time a fish seemed to move to the LOD; I wasn’t sure so I slowly picked it up, thinking I’d replace it… but found resistance and a fly in a carp mouth. The only notable events that followed were Danny’s reactions to the splashes, fight, and size of the fish. I estimate: 9 lbs. Kind of drab and pasty. This fish took all the line at my feet in short order, but didn’t run much beyond that. I was hoping maybe for a canoe tow. And speaking of canoe: I believe this is first carp I’ve ever caught from a such a craft. And so marginal carping. That aside, this day was top-notch due to presence of son. We were out for 6+ hours. Stopping on sand bars to poke around. Eat. Drink. Paddle. He almost fell asleep and tilted over into the water before I urged him to lay down in the bow. Highly memorable.

June 5, 2011: the carp are stacked up near my house. Sunning and staging for spawn. I had about 1.5 hours and I was presenting various flies to carp that entire time. 50% of the fish I put flies on spat on the offering and turned away. 49% of them didn’t notice or ignored the fly. I changed to John Montana’s super small SJW and the first offering was eaten by the remaining 1%. Small fish. Very little fight. Cleared off the flat so I went home.

Classic MN carping, as compared to Columbia River: work your ass for marginal opportunities at smaller fish that don’t fight as hard. A guy could do this every day. The question though becomes: would you want to do this every day? That’s why I’ve been tilted toward trout a bit more lately. This also confirms that more carp exploration must be planned and executed: need flats with feeding fish. Bigger fish too.

June 4, 2011











June 5, 2011