Strangest day on the water !!

[David Lee]

Since the American has been a dog as of late , thought I'd try something different .

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 . 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 .

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]

All right! Carp on a fly, too cool! Can't wait to see the pictures, congratulations David! Any more details on the fight? Did it make your reel sing?

[David Lee]

Fought like the devil , mike !!

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 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]

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. . . . Awesome!! I have GOT to hook one of those one of these days.

[David Lee]

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

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]

Carp(e) diem, David.

Sometimes it just all comes together.

[SullyTM]

...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]

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]

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.