Rookie Mistake

Finally the conditions are good for morning carp fishing. This morning was just right. I found fish too, but conveniently they were mostly feeding on private beaches. I have permission to fish a lot of the private shoreline, but not where many of these fish were. In one spot I could cast to a fish right from the sidewalk, but I knew perfectly well I wasn't going to be able to land it. So I cast to it just to see if I could fool it, then I gave it the full brunt of my drag, buckling down and pointing the rod right at it. The hook pulled free. I wasn't even upset... I don't need to touch every fish, fooling them is often times enough.

The next fish I found was in a public spot, but this bluegill decided my fly should be eaten before sinking down in front of the carp.

Eventually I found a few fish making bubbles in a spot where I have never seen carp before. I got two to take and missed both before I got a really good, clear shot. The fish was a freaking giant. It was in about three feet of water, tailing, and was probably at about a 40 degree angle. You do the math. This fish was in the magical once in a lifetime 38-44 lb class, and there I stood with a 10 foot 5 weight and 4x tippet. What could go wrong?

Honestly, I should have been able to catch that fish. But I made a rookie mistake. When I hooked it, I waited for it to nearly finish its run before going to grab my camera. That left it a little bit of time, unchecked, in which to get itself into an advantageous position. In this fishes case, it found some sort of snag. When I got done with my photo session (no regrets, the photo of the reel screaming is pretty awesome) I felt as though the line were being held tight and let go in short bursts. Then the tippet snapped. I had to reel in 150 yards of line knowing that my rookie mistake had just cost me a potential record sized carp. And you know what? I'm not upset about that.