Yesterday at the Swap n Shop, @clarkman and I discussed how getting out for a sunny day on the boat would be a really, really good idea. So after I got my chores done last night and this morning, I hooked the boat up and took it down to the local ditch for the first "poling the carp/capr flats" trip of the season.
Things started off typically - we passed by a ton of great looking water that NEVER has any fish while on our way to where I knew they'd be stacked. I mostly use that stretch to slow myself down if I end up on the water too early. Getting to the prime spot before the carp are awake is a rookie mistake I try to not make anymore no matter how eager I get. But once we rounded the corner we were immediately met with a LOT of jumbo carp making their rounds. Unfortunately, none were particularly interested in doing much of anything other than giving us the middle fin-ger.
We were probably 50+ carp sightings into our journey when we spotted the first tailing, happy fish. @clarkman took his shot which didn't convert, so I took a couple. Got a sniff, and he honestly probably sucked it in and spit it out, but he didn't end up playing our game and went on his way. We continued to helplessly put flies in the face of disinterested carp after disinterested capr. Mostly jumbos.
I'll be the first to say on every trip "cruisers are tempting but they don't bite," but I plop the fly at them anyways. I finally got my validation for doing so with one particular one meandering his way near a tree line. I pulled the fly across about 4-5' in front of him and stopped. He did a 90deg turn and bolted at it with gusto, giving me my first bent rod of the day. He came in after a few minutes of solid partying.
The next hour or so was more of the same disinterest among the many. As we started to make our way out of this particular zone into a stretch I explained "never really has any fish despite looking good," I spotted a happy tail waving around on the opposite side of a small patch of weeds. It was a bit of a long shot so I botched the cast, but got interest. I pulled away too early but the fish kept rooting around. I got it back to him and got the immediate turn and grab. Fish on again!
After landing this one, I reeled up and said we're off to the next spot. Right off the bat we started seeing a lot of much more comfortable fish. Yet none really seemed to pay much attention to the fly. I kept my rod stowed after starting to feel like a bit of a jerk, so ran the push pole and Minn Kota while @clarkman took his shots and changed flies every 5mins
FINALLY - off on the "deeper" side of the boat away from the marshy bank. a dust plume with a big, flag-waving, head-down carp. He took his shot and got the classic eat.
As the fight settled in, it was apparent this was not a small fish. As it got closer to the boat, it was apparent this was a VERY not small fish. We got it boat-side multiple times, so got very good looks at it. I also kind of got it in my net at one point.
This was an easy 20+lb class fish. Unfortunately, one of our eager attempts to get it landed resulted in a snapped leader
While we were both a little bummed we couldn't get it to the boat and see how truly massive it was, he got the cool eat, brutal fight, and all the funnest parts of the carping experience, so it was all good.
As we were about 90% of the way through fishing the first bank in this zone, I had us just stationary in one spot as he continued to present to disinterested fish. Since I didn't have any poling or motoring to do, and he had view of plenty of fish, I grabbed my rod and decided to cast to some meandering cruisers again... well, a bit of a mistake from the "not trying to feel like a jerk" standpoint I'd taken as I immediately hooked into another fish. This one partied pretty dang hard and took us for quite a ride.
Now he gets to do product endorsement.
The next stretch was quite frustrating - quite a few disinterested fish, but also a lot more happy feeders... Only they for whatever reason kept suddenly appearing right in front of us as we almost ran over them in the boat. Didn't matter where I put the boat, we just kept seeming to run over fish and saw few if any off either side. All we could do was laugh as we pushed along.
We got to the last little alcove in the trees which felt suuuuuuuuuper fishy, yet didn't seem to have anybody home until two cruisers and one happy feeder popped up right at the end. @clarkman took his shot and it charged ahead, mouth open, and inhaled. Felt like we were going to end the day on a high note finally getting him a fish to hand, and the stupid thing came unhooked after a few hard runs. (I do believe he gave me grief for not debarbing my hooks an hour or so before... mayhaps this was payback for that).
Great first day out on the boat doing my goldfish program.
Things started off typically - we passed by a ton of great looking water that NEVER has any fish while on our way to where I knew they'd be stacked. I mostly use that stretch to slow myself down if I end up on the water too early. Getting to the prime spot before the carp are awake is a rookie mistake I try to not make anymore no matter how eager I get. But once we rounded the corner we were immediately met with a LOT of jumbo carp making their rounds. Unfortunately, none were particularly interested in doing much of anything other than giving us the middle fin-ger.
We were probably 50+ carp sightings into our journey when we spotted the first tailing, happy fish. @clarkman took his shot which didn't convert, so I took a couple. Got a sniff, and he honestly probably sucked it in and spit it out, but he didn't end up playing our game and went on his way. We continued to helplessly put flies in the face of disinterested carp after disinterested capr. Mostly jumbos.
I'll be the first to say on every trip "cruisers are tempting but they don't bite," but I plop the fly at them anyways. I finally got my validation for doing so with one particular one meandering his way near a tree line. I pulled the fly across about 4-5' in front of him and stopped. He did a 90deg turn and bolted at it with gusto, giving me my first bent rod of the day. He came in after a few minutes of solid partying.
The next hour or so was more of the same disinterest among the many. As we started to make our way out of this particular zone into a stretch I explained "never really has any fish despite looking good," I spotted a happy tail waving around on the opposite side of a small patch of weeds. It was a bit of a long shot so I botched the cast, but got interest. I pulled away too early but the fish kept rooting around. I got it back to him and got the immediate turn and grab. Fish on again!
After landing this one, I reeled up and said we're off to the next spot. Right off the bat we started seeing a lot of much more comfortable fish. Yet none really seemed to pay much attention to the fly. I kept my rod stowed after starting to feel like a bit of a jerk, so ran the push pole and Minn Kota while @clarkman took his shots and changed flies every 5mins
FINALLY - off on the "deeper" side of the boat away from the marshy bank. a dust plume with a big, flag-waving, head-down carp. He took his shot and got the classic eat. As the fight settled in, it was apparent this was not a small fish. As it got closer to the boat, it was apparent this was a VERY not small fish. We got it boat-side multiple times, so got very good looks at it. I also kind of got it in my net at one point.
This was an easy 20+lb class fish. Unfortunately, one of our eager attempts to get it landed resulted in a snapped leader
While we were both a little bummed we couldn't get it to the boat and see how truly massive it was, he got the cool eat, brutal fight, and all the funnest parts of the carping experience, so it was all good.As we were about 90% of the way through fishing the first bank in this zone, I had us just stationary in one spot as he continued to present to disinterested fish. Since I didn't have any poling or motoring to do, and he had view of plenty of fish, I grabbed my rod and decided to cast to some meandering cruisers again... well, a bit of a mistake from the "not trying to feel like a jerk" standpoint I'd taken as I immediately hooked into another fish. This one partied pretty dang hard and took us for quite a ride.
Now he gets to do product endorsement.
The next stretch was quite frustrating - quite a few disinterested fish, but also a lot more happy feeders... Only they for whatever reason kept suddenly appearing right in front of us as we almost ran over them in the boat. Didn't matter where I put the boat, we just kept seeming to run over fish and saw few if any off either side. All we could do was laugh as we pushed along.
We got to the last little alcove in the trees which felt suuuuuuuuuper fishy, yet didn't seem to have anybody home until two cruisers and one happy feeder popped up right at the end. @clarkman took his shot and it charged ahead, mouth open, and inhaled. Felt like we were going to end the day on a high note finally getting him a fish to hand, and the stupid thing came unhooked after a few hard runs. (I do believe he gave me grief for not debarbing my hooks an hour or so before... mayhaps this was payback for that).
Great first day out on the boat doing my goldfish program.
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