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View Full Version : Strangest day on the water !!



David Lee
05-15-2005, 01:46 PM
Since the American has been a dog as of late , thought I'd try something different :idea: .

I fished a canal (off Truxel , behind Wal-Mart) - some people from the Fishsniffer site said it was good . I started at the Truxel bridge ....using my 7 wt. Fenwick and a dry line ......

Broke off a fly near the bridge , and then started walkin' . Water was the warmest I've seen this year , 10 inches vis. , soild overcast w/ the odd sunny patch every now and again :) .

Saw a large fish splash against the far (50 feet away) bank .... Good sign of life !! I continued on "upstream" ... Had a "one-off" fly tyed on , a #6 Black Ghost Zonker (figured the fish could see the contrast pretty well in the murk) - 11 foot leader to 8 lb. Fluro .

So ....... I'm walking on down on the high levee , glance down ...... FISH - yellow , copper , carmel ..... Carp :twisted: . Maybe 2 feet off the bank . Without thinking too much , I un-hook the fly from the stripping guide , and flick it out just downstream from the Carp (who SHOULD have spooked and bolted off in the murk) .

The Zonker lands and darts forward from the weight of the line hanging above it .... then , it settles onto a rock against the bank ... in 6 inches of water .

The Carp makes a half-circle into the bank ...... and then .... heads for that stupid fly :shock: .

The Carp then , very calmly , noses up and sucks in the fly :!: .

I have seen many strange things in the bush - more than most people I know ...... But I couldn't believe what that Carp did .

After one hell of a fight , I released my first Carp ever landed (6 lbs.) , shot 3 photos on the new roll of film I had (will post when the rest of the roll is shot up) . At the end of the "Home-Depot" parking lot , I also landed a 7 inch Largemouth . The wind was up by then , so I beat-feet back to the car .
All I can say is ..... Thank God for the Village Idiot !!!!!

David

Hairstacker
05-15-2005, 01:58 PM
All right! Carp on a fly, too cool! 8) Can't wait to see the pictures, congratulations David! Any more details on the fight? Did it make your reel sing?

David Lee
05-15-2005, 02:13 PM
Fought like the devil , mike :twisted: !!

The old 1495 don't sing , it just kills the big ones . On 8 lb. , w/ no trees around , said Carp couldn't wreck me as easy as his brothers in the past have .... Beat on him for well over 10 minutes :shock: and , while trying to land that critter , I slipped into the drink (up to the ankle) , that devil managed to break the tippet when I got his head out of the water . I leaped onto the low bank and pinned him w/ my hand , then yanked him out for the photos .

UnGodly strong fish - it fought like a 15 lb. Stripe . I had the good sense not to let him go very far , but it was touch and go for a while untill the fish tired . Funny thing .... The sun made an appearance just before I spotted him - I can't tell ya about the hundreds , or thousands I have cast to ..... Only to spook the shit out of them , or have them ignore my fly . That Zonker would have been my very last choice for a Carp fly , go figure .

No excuse for lack of skill ..... but I will take INSANE LUCK any time !!

david

Hairstacker
05-15-2005, 02:58 PM
Wow, more epic than I imagined. . . you had to actually physically wrestle him to the ground. And this after a 10 minute battle with both of you ending up in the water. . . . :shock: Awesome!! I have GOT to hook one of those one of these days.

David Lee
05-15-2005, 05:20 PM
I almost screamed like Aunt Jemima w/ no pancakes ..... no kidding .

The power of the fish was something else - I just kept a HARD bend in the little Fenwick , and changed angles a lot .

Every Carp I've ever met was spooky like mad . They are very aware animals and usually laugh at my flies . To have one like that eat something it shouldn't have eaten , with the sun up ....... That just dosen't happen very often .

Needless to say .... I have a new hunting ground now . If the water in there ever gets clear , I'm going to use the 4 wt. Eagle and small stuff - THAT should be interesting :!:

David

05-15-2005, 08:03 PM
David
When the weather warms a little and you use that 4 wt. try that gurgler I gave you in a little smaller size.( 8089 size 10). You won't believe the results.
Sturm

LostInTheFog
05-15-2005, 10:08 PM
Carp(e) diem, David.

Sometimes it just all comes together. :lol:

SullyTM
05-16-2005, 11:18 AM
...just got back from my carp capades! SKUNKED! You must have been excited to have "seen" everything leading up to the strike! How cool! By changing angles do you mean walking/running with the carp as it took off and changing rod angles...up, sown, side to side! Thanx David.

JPY
05-16-2005, 07:33 PM
That's a great post.

With the American river being so high, I have been trying to target some carps in a nearby cement lake near the house. No luck yet. However, with your inspirational story, I'll keep trying.

John

Adam Grace
05-16-2005, 10:08 PM
Cool story David, I'm still not sure if I want to touch one of those freaky looking overgrown goldfish!

Fight of a 15lb striper makes me recondsider though.

Good luck with any more carp fishing.

Blake
05-25-2005, 04:36 PM
I too have been bummed that the American has been virtually unfishable. But today I found a couple ponds close to home in which I spotted a couple carp. They all looked to be about 2-5 pounds. I'm going back Friday morning after them.

David Lee
05-25-2005, 09:22 PM
Great to see ya here , Blake - you have a VERY cool website !!!!!

Toss a Dragon or Damsel nymph at those critters .... if that don't get 'em , use worms - :shock:

or ...... Go drink Beer :idea: :D

David -----

Jay Murakoshi
05-26-2005, 10:54 PM
David,

Great fish. I've been checking out the local lakes around here for the feeding carp. The water is still way too high but it's dropping.
Like I mentioned at my tying session, carp are definitly on the top of my list. They are spookier than a bone, better sensing ability and will get you the fight of your life. My biggest has been 14lbs on a 5 wt.
Sounds like I might have to take a trip to the ditch. I need a few more shots of Mr. Golden Lips for my new slide show. I want to get a close up shot of the lateral line and a good shot of their head structure.

I just love it when people snub their noses up to the carp. One less person I will see on the banks of the lake

Jay

JPY
05-27-2005, 09:41 AM
After David's great adventure, I decided to visit the local cement pond to fish for some carp. It was like a carp super highway on the pond today. Carps were everywere, just cruising back and forth and rolling around. In fact, they were not spooked by my presence at all or cared that I was there. I tried about 10 different flies and they just ignored it. A very frustrating situation. Finally decided to give up and go fish for blue gills and bass.

Gills and bass seem to be a lot easier to catch than those carps. I think I am going to tie on some cheerios next time to see if prefer cheerios over flies.

John

David Lee
05-27-2005, 02:04 PM
Stick w/ your flies , JPY ... It only takes one "happy" Carp to get ya going !! Try a Dragon or Damsel nymph .... and hang on for dear life :twisted: .

David

Jay Murakoshi
05-27-2005, 02:45 PM
Hey JPY

Is there any of that cotton seeds blowing around. Carp just love sipping on those litttle white balls of fluff. Take some CDC and tie it to a TMC 2487 and cast to "sipping" carp, not a crusier. Or maybe fish a dragon fly nymph on an intermediate line. I've had excellent results using a bead head zug bugs tied on a 200R in size 4 & 6's

Gotta start checking out the local ponds now that the weather has been in the 90's for two weeks

Bugle Lips arisen

Jay

JPY
05-27-2005, 11:01 PM
I tried a dragonfly nymph but not the zug bug. Need to try that next. Fishing for carp is definitely interesting in that you are actually trying to target a specific fish that you see. Just need to keep telling myself to be patient.

John