Saturday, June 6, 2015

A New Haunt, Pumpkinseeds, and BAK

I have a whole new area to explore now. About two weekends a month I will be spending some time in and around Essex. One of the best parts about this is the proximity to world class striped bass fishing, new trout streams, and innumerable other opportunities for fishing. Today I explored a new stream, which proved nearly devoid of fish, and a pond that proved to be rich with finned swimmy things!



A little bucktail produced some pretty little bass. The strikes were vicious and frequent. I changed to a beetle to catch as many bluegills as I could before getting sick of them, and then went to an Ausable Ugly to catch big pumpkinseeds off the beds. They were, as usual, gorgeous. Suddenly, I heard a commotion and new acquaintance and local young fisherman Dan informed me he and his friend had just spotted a giant orange fish. It turned out to be a BAK (big ass koi). I wandered around to the other side and eventually a koi, probably the same one, meandered past. Without really paying attention to what I was doing I put my fly in front of him. Sure enough, he ate, and I realized what I was doing. A 3 weight fly rod and 6x tippet just aren't capable of handling big carp. Perhaps luckily, the fly came free. I kept fishing for a little while with more bass and bluegills taking the fly, but I'll have to go back later for the koi.





9 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. They're not common around here, that's for sure.

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  2. New opportunities ! Sounds like you will be making the most of them. Wonder how that BAK got into the pond? Outgrew an ornamental pool, perhaps?

    - G.

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    1. Thank you.
      That is probably exactly what happened. Koi do not spread as easily as do some other species.

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  3. RM
    Isn't is rewarding to find those hidden treasures no one has touched with a fishing rod? Thanks for sharing

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    1. Bill, it's one of the best rewards of the sport!

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  4. Those were some good looking blue gills! What did you use for the koi? Would like a big bugger work? I have some in a nearby pond I have been wanting to target. And one more thing: do they spook easy like carp?

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    1. Than you,
      I was using an Ausable Ugly. A smaller bugger would probably work better. Koi are actually the same species as common carp, and yes, they spook. Good luck though, and send me some pictures when you land one!

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    2. I will probably throw a size 10 black bugger at em and see what happens. Hopefully I don't spook them, and I figured they were related didn't know they were the same species as common carp. I appreciate the confidence in my skills and hopefully I have something to send.

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