Big Carp in Small Water

In an 18 hour window, on the evening of the 6th and the morning of the 7th, my spring carping season went from one of my least productive in four years to at least average and probably a little above. Kayak fishing "The Bell Pond", targeting bass, carp tailing inside the mouth of the creek that feeds the pond caught my attention and I very quickly changed gears. 

I beached the kayak and approached the feeding carp, of which there were five, moving about inside the creek. Using the tall grasses as my cover I got close enough to get a few mediocre photos.

Then I made my move. A white mop fly, a short cast, and a very blatant move to the fly by an average sized male common carp made my evening. The fight was long, with the fish and me doing a dance around the mouth of the creek, each trying to maintain an advantageous downstream position on the other. As I reached down to grab the fish finally, the hook, well used and a little rusty after dozens of carp caught on it, gave way. But I already had him firmly by the causal peduncle.

This fish was clearly very prepared to spawn. His entire body was covered with little tubercles, making it feel almost like sandpaper

The next morning I went out before sunrise to seek the same species in bigger water. What I found was a bunch of unwilling participants. So I left. I went to the pond again, and found the most unique carp fishing scenario I've ever encountered. With water pumping out of the feeder creek from the lake above, there were dozens of carp well up the creek, seemingly in the early stages of the spawn but also just cowing down like the fish I'd seen the night before, except this time almost all females. Some looked to already have spawned, being long and lean. Some were about ready to burst with eggs. The males that were around were being frisky, but the females weren't even a little bit interested. The were feeding as fervently as any carp I'd ever seen. I thought some might be eating the eggs of carp that had either spawning in the lake above or that some fish may have spawned in the creek on one of the previous nights. There didn't seem to be much else around to eat, but there were some variety of fish eggs all over the place. The stuck to my shoes and socks as I waded.

The first fish fell to an orange sparkle bugger. It was a long, thin fish, but full of fight. She took me out of the creek in short order, forcing me to feed the rod through various snags and practically swim under some others. With a very long initial run out of the way the rest of the fight went very quickly.

The next fish took the same fly but was very much the polar opposite of the previous in every way. It was short a fat, and had no interest in leaving the creek. It was a grueling battle, really, close quarters the whole time. But I did beat her, eventually.

 A third fish of similar proportions and similar fight fell to the orange bugger, but the hook broke when I removed it so I switched to a very simple crayfish imitation, which ended up fooling two more fish. I'd also switched down to 4x, as I'd started to get more refusals and I suspected the beefy tipped I'd been using was responsible. The first fish was large, dark, and handsome, the kind of fish I am always seeking when I target carp. A really good fish. The next was about the same size but made the most defiant moves I'd ever had a carp do, leaving the creek in a very direct path through every log jam in the way, all of which I managed to keep it pinned through, then straight out into the pond and into the pads, where it successfully dislodged the fly. Having just caught its twin sister, I wasn't that disappointed.

That evening and subsequent morning bite were exactly what I needed to boost my confidence. I just wish I could pin down bites like that more often in this pond. I got five carp in 18 hours through this bite... normally I can expect few than that here in an entire season.

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