Carp #1

Around 11:00 this morning something came over me. We are a bit more then halfway through 2014 and I had yet to get my first carp of the year. I prepared bait, flies, and gear, put on my hat, and hit the water. I hunted around for bubble makers before setting up in one of my favorite swims to fish for carp from. It is a weedy shallow portion of a shallow pond It has a good brush background to hide from fish from, but also to catch and loose flies in. It was not long after spreading the first ground bait when the pond cows came in to suck in oats and corn meal.

It was about an hour before I got the first take, and Although I managed to get what felt like a firm hooking, he came of fairly quickly. The soft mouths of Common Carp are frequently the cause of frustration. Luckily the fish recovered from  fright quickly enough and at least three came back. It was probably another two hours when I got my second chance. A barely discernible twitch and a gathering of slack signaled the take. I tightened up and the water boiled. The fish wasn't by any means big when Its comrades are pushing the twenty and thirty pound marks, but on light line even this four to five pound carp put up a good fight. In the lilies there were a few moments when I feared he had me beat. Eventually I got the fish in and was able to admire and photograph it.

The fish was released, and his fight had been enough to prevent the return of any more. I moved elsewhere, but being unable to find any fish a fly was cast blindly. One o the beauties of carp flies is that almost anything will eat then. Here is one of the Bluegills that did so today:

I eventually gave up on getting a tailing fish on the fly. When I get the chance to get my kayak in there I should be able to get some takers on flies.