Surfing Ducks and Tailing Carp

A little rubber duck holding a surfboard lead the way from the front of the canoe as I polled through a central CT woodland. Just behind the duck, in the hot seat, was Tom Rosenbauer, legend of the fly fishing world and carp fiend. Behind Tom, patiently waiting for his next turn, was my good friend and guy who was very happy to have caught a big fantail earlier in the day, Drew Price. It was his first time back on his former vessel since I bought it from him. And then there was me, standing on the rear platform and scanning the shallows for muds, bubbles, and waving tails. We'd seen plenty of that already and would see plenty more. In fact, there was a bit of that going on within sight and I was just slowly making my way in that direction and trying to assure that I didn't run over some less visible fish first. Being overzealous and quickly heading toward a fish I can see 50 feet away often results at blown opportunities, I've learned to be patient and slow. 

In fact, just moment later I looked down and within a rod length was a big mudding fish. Head invisible in a cloud of its own making, this fish was blissfully unaware of the three anglers now just feet away. Though I'm not certain why, carp in the woods allow a much closer approach than in many other scenarios. I think this is owed to the broken up, shadowy, complex background, but other factors could be at play as well.

I directed Tom to the fish's location, denoted by a tail waving a foot below the surface and a plume of bubbled suggesting where her head was. Tom's first presentation crossed the fish's body, and as he lifted the rod the fly caught on the carp's dorsal fin. Though not actually hooked, the pressure was enough the Tom pulled that fish up to the surface. For a moment its tail sloshed, then the hook was free. This isn't a terribly uncommon thing when you can't see the fish well, and we're pretty good at preventing these snagged fish from staying stuck when we know that's what has happened. But surely this fish was now done and spooked, Rosenbauer had lifted it a good foot off the bottom. 

I was dead wrong, and to this day it makes me shake my head- that fish went right back to eating. I was ready to move on but Drew watched it happen and stopped me. Tom's next cast was on point and he effectively used the force, striking without a notable visual cue.  He lifted and firmly lodged his fuzzy niblet in the fish's lip, and off she went. Maybe you've seen the brief clip of the beginning of this fight, with Tom chuckling deep and jolly and the carp bending his Helios to the cork. We were all pretty thrilled with that one, it was just such a weird way for the bite to happen. Unfortunately that fish would be one of the few that would make the best of us in a snag, but it was such a fun fight while it lasted. There'd already been so many great fish in the net and there'd be so many more. In a spring of guiding full of highlights, that was a pretty tremendous day. The little surfing duck, grimy with age but still in good shape otherwise, now splits its time between the cooler and the bow, coming out on days where I need a little moral support. 

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