Redemption

As fishermen we all have those days where nothing goes right.  Whether it be from poor conditions or mental lapses it is going to happen.  Sunday night (6/28) was just one of those evenings.  I spotted several carp and I was able to cast to three of them effectively. They all swam up to take the fly and on every occasion I got twitchy and set the hook early.  Of course I missed every fish and they all swam off to find less intrusive water.  People relaxing in the park were probably contemplating calling the police to report some lunatic fisherman that was walking around and cursing, rather loudly, at himself.

The following night I sought redemption.  I know better than to get to anxious and to wait for the fly to disappear.  If I can still see the fly that means the carp didn’t eat it and I shouldn’t be setting the hook.  I repeated this to myself as I ventured off to my happy fishing grounds.  With the high water I went to a spot that floods out and it gives me a pretty shady and advantageous view of the river.  I climbed up on a log and leaned up against the tree and waited.  It didn’t take long and several fish moved into the area.  When one got close enough I dropped my fly ahead of him and he immediately charged it.  I thought he ate it but apparently he didn’t.  When i set the hook he was gone and my fly was in the tree.  He took off along with a couple of the fish that came with him.  While I scanned the area another fish had moved in and was feeding just out of range.  He had his back to me so I worked my way a little closer.  I tossed my fly out ahead of him and to the right.  He moved towards the fly and I waited. Once I saw the puff of silt I lifted up, felt the weight and drove the hook home.  At this point my main concern was keeping him from diving under the log I was standing on.  I jumped in the water and kept him away.  A few minutes later he was in the net and I was redeemed.

After that the area was pretty trashed so I just headed for home.  The humidity was terrible and I was dripping with sweat.  Not a bad way to end June and I still have about 4 months left to go.

 

Father’s Day Mixed Bag Weekend.

It’s not like I need a holiday for an excuse to go fishing.  I can pretty much go whenever I want, wherever I want.  I didn’t have anything planned with the kids anyways so off I went.

Knowing that the levels on The Huron River were still going to be low I decided to try out Pte. Mouille.  It had been awhile since I was out there last.  I took my 6 wt and 8 wt rods, the 6 wt was set up with an SA Sonar sink tip line and a Mini Game Changer fly.  The 8 wt was rigged with my standard carp fishing set up, floating line and one of my burnt orange OCD flies.  I made the journey out to my usual fishing spot along a very dry and dusty road.  That didn’t help my asthma much but at least it wasn’t windy.  Just unbearably hot and humid.  Water clarity was good up close but I couldn’t see more than a couple of feet out past the rocks.  These same rocks were covered in that slimy green moss and and weeds growing up in between them.  About 20 yards further out were even more weeds.  This would prove to be my undoing today.

As I worked my way along the road I would stop and make a couple of casts here and there with the game changer.  On my first stop I hooked a fish and to my surprise it was a bluegill.  I was not expecting this.  Maybe some smaller bass but not a gill.  They aren’t exactly known to chase down and grab 4 inch streamers.

As I worked my way down I spotted a pair of bowfin in close.  They were just lying about so I dropped my carp fly near them to see what would happen.  They really didn’t seem to care so I just moved on.  A few minutes later I spotted another one feeding so I snuck up and dropped the fly next to him.  I could see him move suddenly towards the fly so I lifted up and he was on.  I let him run and that was my first mistake.  Into the taller weeds he went and I couldn’t get him out of there.  Eventually he came off.  This scenario would repeat itself throughout the day.  I had two choices.  Fight the fish close among the rocks and hope the leader doesn’t get frayed and break or let him run and try and keep him out of the taller weeds.  Throughout the course of the day I would go through this 3 more times.  Twice on the carp fly and twice with the game changer.  I have to admit that watching a bowfin charge a streamer from 5 feet away and inhale it is pretty cool.  Watching him keep on going and into the weeds is not.

For the next few hours I continued to catch bass and even a small pike, my first for this area.

Eventually I started to head back but at a slower pace.  I was determined to land a bowfin so I was taking my time and watching for any movement.  Eventually I spotted the tail of another feeding bowfin.  I worked my way down to the shoreline and laid the fly on the downward slope of a rock he was feeding next to.  As the fly slid down he saw it and came up and grabbed it.  This time I kept the fish close and hoped for the best.  A few minutes later I was able to get a hold of him for a pic and then sent him on his way.

I must have see two dozen of these today, the most I had ever seen here.  I don’t know if they were in close to spawn or because the habitat is so weedy they prefer to be there now.  I’ll go back in a few weeks and find out.

The next morning I decided to stay close.  I probably logged about 4 or 5 miles the day before and I was still a little tired.  I headed back to The Huron and as expected, levels were still low and clear.  I saw carp at the first few spots but I couldn’t get any of them to cooperate.  The next place was more of the same.  Low clear water and no fish, at first.  Eventually I found them, multiple fish in the middle of the river casually feeding on the gravel.  I tried casting several different flies at them but they ignored everything.  While I was taking a break Jesse, from Schultz Outfitter’s (My local fly shop), showed up as well.  He was getting a few hours in before he had to go to work.  He started casting to the same carp I was seeing but to no avail.  While we talked I saw one moving in closer to shore.  I pointed him out to Jesse and let him take a crack at it.  A few minutes later I spotted another one moving in and he started feeding in the nearby shade of a tree.  I worked my way in, laid the fly down to his left and he spun around and ate it.  I set the hook and off he went.  With the tree in the way I jumped into the water to keep him under control.  I worked my way upstream where I could beach him and without hesitation Jesse waded in and landed him for me.  I quick pic later and he was on his way.

While Jesse and I talked another fish moved in and Jesse laid his fly out in front of him.  I watched the carp swim up and take it and Jesse drove the hook home.  I worked my way back into the water to return the favor but the leader busted before I ever got a chance to help out.  After that I told Jesse good luck, wished him a happy Father’s Day and headed home.  I had chores to get too and fresh waffles that my daughter was making for me.

I Got Wet.

Thing is though, I knew it was going to happen.

A front had moved through our area the night before, knocking down the heat and humidity and making conditions more bearable.  After dinner I packed up and headed to the river.  When I arrived there was someone fishing in my usual starting point so I just moved up stream.  I snuck into a shaded area and scanned the water for a feeding carp.  Eventually I spotted some movement and I got into position.  He was about 20 feet away and looking straight at me.  Fortunately for me he hadn’t spotted me yet so I cast my fly out and carefully dropped it just inches from his nose.  As soon as it landed in front of him he stopped feeding.  I gave the line a small strip and made the fly jump about 3 inches.  He moved up on it and I thought for sure he was going to take it.  Instead he just swam right on by it, turned and headed back out into the main river.  This is the most frustrating thing about fly fishing for carp.  Just when I think i have one dead to rights the fish goes and does something like that.

After that I moved on to the next spot.  With the river being low the weeds were getting thick and flowing downstream with the current.  As I worked my way along I could see several carp in the weeds mouthing them, looking for nymphs.  I kept a close eye on them as they moved their way in and out of the weeds, sometimes out in the open and at other times disappearing completely.  I was about to change my fly to a damsel fly nymph when I spotted a carp moving into and opening and grubbing along a log.  I figured if I could drop my fly on the log he might grab it.  Problem was the fish had 3 options once he was hooked.  Bury himself into the weeds, take off under the log or head downstream into open water.  I figured I would worry about all of that later, first I had to get him to eat.  I flipped the fly out in front of him and by some miracle I got it to land on the log.  He spotted it right away and took it.  I set the hook and he dove right into all the weeds.  I tried everything I could think of to get him out of there but they were just to thick.  I realized I only had one option and that was to wade in after him.  I took my phone and wallet out of my pockets and waded in.  I cleared all the weeds away and was finally able to get him into the net.  A quick pic on shore and he was back in the water.

After that I headed back to the car.  My knee boots were full of water and I was soaked all the way to my belt.  There will be other days and next time I’ll have enough sense to bring my long handled net along.

Game On.

Well it looks like things are getting back to normal on my river.  I had some free time after dinner so I decided to make a quick trip Monday evening.  Temps are supposed to be in the 90’s on Tuesday and they are calling for high winds and rain on Wednesday so this was my best shot.

I started off at my honey hole thinking there might be a few hanging out in the shade.  I could see a couple of carp feeding out towards the main river so I just hung around for a bit.  During that time there were a quite a few Largemouth Bass in the area so I started casting towards them.  I hooked one who went tear assing all over the place and stirred everything up.  I eventually lost him so I just waited for things to calm down.  The first carp I saw were still out on the edge of the slack water so I climbed up on a nearby picnic table to see if I could get a little extra distance.  I was next to a tree and well shaded so I figured they couldn’t see me.  I still couldn’t reach them so I just waited.  While I waited a pair of more respectable size bass moved in so once again I started casting my little crayfish fly their way.  They looked at it, bumped it but never really committed to it.  While this was all going on a carp had moved into range right below and started rooting around in the leaf packs underwater.  I slid my fly right in front of his nose and he immediately chased it down and hoovered it up.  I set the hook and the splashing soon started.  It took me awhile to get him under control.  Every time I was about to net him he’d take off again.  By the time I finally got him in the net he was covered in leaves, weeds and sticks.  I cleaned him up, set my camera on the picnic table for a pic and then sent him on his way.

After that I headed for home.  I was a sweaty mess and a cold shower sounded pretty good.  Hopefully we will get some rain Wednesday since some of my ambush points are to shallow now for the fish to get into.  If not I’ll go to some other spots.  I have all summer and Fall now.

 

Weekend Report

Well now that the flood waters have receded, temps have stabilized and the Carp are now in their post spawn let’s eat status it was time to get back down to business.  Of course with all the rain came the next plague….Mosquitoes.

 

I first discovered how bad they were when I went out Friday night.  Everything was fine until I got to the river and then the swarm surrounded me.  I was about to say screw this and head home but I saw a carp feeding along the shore.  I got into range and just as I was about to make my cast I swallowed a mosquito and started coughing.  Of course, that spooked the fish.  After that I said screw this and went home.

The next day I was better prepared.

The last few weeks had been very unproductive for me.  I couldn’t buy an eat if my life depended on it.  Spooky fish with no interest in any fly I presented to them.  Of course I was questioning everything I was doing.  It didn’t help that I was seeing tons of posts from other carp anglers and the fish they were catching.  Before I even started the day I decided to go back to what worked so well for me before.  The Kung Fu Carp Fishing handbook says you can use any color to catch carp, as long as it is orange.  So that’s what I did.  I tied on one of my orange crayfish patterns and headed out.  The first section of river I stopped at had someone already fishing right in the middle.  I moved farther upstream to my honey hole to see if any fish had started to show up yet.  There were carp in there but they were all just resting.  Probably regaining their strength after spawning season and staying out of the current.  It was obvious I wasn’t going to get any of them to eat so I just moved on.

The next spot was a pool that had formed downstream of a blow down.  As I snuck up I saw one carp with his nose buried in the roots of the blow down.  I assessed the situation and realized that the only way he could get out was if he backed up or turned to his right.  I carefully dropped the fly on his right side and back towards his tail.  I figured if he turned or backed up I could give the fly a short strip and hopefully he would commit.  After a few second he slowly backed up and turned.  Once I saw he would be able to see the fly I gave it a twitch and he pounced on it.  I set the hook and off he went.  This was a small are with more logs downstream so I had to keep him close.  I had lost one last week that went under a log and I wasn’t going to let them happen again.  After a few minutes I was able to corral him close to shore and take a quick pic.

After that I was feeling a lot better about the rest of the season.  The last few weeks had me re-thinking everything I was doing and wondering if the success I had last Fall was a fluke.  After I got myself all organized I walked back to my car and drove to the next section of the river.  As I was walking to my starting point I let my cockiness get the best of me.  I took a straight shot to the river instead of going downstream and working my way up using the cover to conceal me.  Sure enough there were two feeding right along the edge and when I popped up they took off.  After mentally yelling at myself for being such a bonehead I regrouped and worked my way up.  For about the 1st quarter mile I didn’t see anything but small largemouth bass and the occasional smallmouth.  There is more current in this section and I was beginning to wonder if the carp were purposely avoiding it.  As I was sneaking along I saw another fishermen set up ahead of me.  I walked around him and worked my back to the river about 20 yards upstream of him.  Just as I got to the edge I spotted a lone carp feeding in the current.  He was nose down, tail up and not going anywhere.  I slowly worked my way up into casting distance, staying in his blind side at all times.  Once I got into range I made a cast up ahead of him and let the fly drift down.  The first cast caused no reaction.  The next one was spot on, as it drifted down I saw him make a sudden move to his left.  I lifted up, felt the weight and drove the hook home.  He took off downstream and I put the brakes on him before he could get to the tree in the water.  I kept him out in front of me as much as possible while I tried to figure out how I was going to land him.  The bank was higher here and there really wasn’t a shallow area I could step into to land him.  I worked him upstream until I found a spot I could work with and landed him.  Another pic and he was soon on his way.

By now the sun was well above the trees and the humidity was rising with it.  Time to head for home and a shower.  I got a lot muddier than I had intended but I really didn’t care.  The carp were getting back into their old habits and Found a few that would cooperate.  I also found a few smallmouth with this one be the largest.

Not to bad of a morning.  The forecast is calling for rain later this week from the Tropical Storm that is working it’s way up from the Gulf.  That should change things up a bit for the weekend.