St. Carptrick's Day

Last year the warm water scene was still pretty sloppy around St. Patrick's Day. This year it is basically April in March. I went out this evening looking for my second carp of the year. Unlike my first outing I screwed up some shots before I got what I was looking for. It was the typical series of disappointments. Two takes on a drag-and-drop presentation that felt like bluegills: that means the crap is twitching its lips to get the fly off, no good. A few lined cruisers. A few perch hookups. If one wants to dance with the golden ghost, he needs to put in the time.

When I finally got a really good shot I new exactly what was going to happen. The fish wasn't particularly big,  and I couldn't actually see it. The mud it was kicking up gave it's position away. It was angled perpendicular to me. I would do a drag-and-drop, the fly would sink in front of the fish's face, I would have a few seconds to notice it, and if all things went well I would hook up and it would go nuts. That's just what happened. I came tight and the fish jumped clean out of the air. It wasn't very big, but even a three or four pound carp can be a task to land. This one would have beaten the piss out of a smallmouth! It just wouldn't give up!