The First Carp of 2016

Fish tend to follow a strict schedule in relation to air and water temperature, pressure systems, and rain. Carp tend to be very specific in their timing... as soon as the ice is gone something turns on in their small brains that says... hey! It's time to eat! Once the water gets into the mid thirties carp will start showing up in the shallows, especially on sunny days. When the water is about 38-45 degrees it is time to hit some of the small to mid sized carp ponds. It seemed like the perfect day to do so today, so I did. I could see fish all over the place from a ways back in the woods where I rigged up my rod. By the time I got ready a wind had started up from the South and made the water a bit choppy. I got out on a small rocky point and started looking. I couldn't see clearly enough out in front of me to make any clear shots, but when I look up the shoreline to my right there was a good fish tailing about four feet from the shore. It was facing directly away from me. That is not a good shot. If I had the option I would have moved around in front of it, but that wasn't going to happen here so I made my shot from the crappy angle I was presented. I messed up and the fly went to the right of the fish with the line going across it's back. I got lucky. The fish didn't spook, it moved to the fly and on instinct I set the hook

The fight was awesome. I missed the game of wit that comes with battling a big fish. This was really fun because I had decided to ditch my normal carp outfit because right now it has a sinking line on it and was using the 10 ft 5 wt. It was fun but a little light and I felt uncomfortable with it. The fish didn't really run and I thought it would be a short battle. The first three photos were within a minute of hooking the fish. But I should have known better, the close handed fights are always obnoxiously long. I got the fish that close ten times before tailing it, all told it took 15 minutes. I've named this one Shadow Face because of the dark coloration on its head. She is the only fish of the day, and that is more than enough! Woo hoo! I LOVE CARP!!!

Carp ponds are not always clean.