I had a few hours this morning to fish. My wife is feeling a bit under the weather, so I knew I had to be back early. And I am. Here's what happened...
The cicadas are out thick. Although there are a LOT of bugs on the water, the fish aren't really onto them as much as I'd hoped. Maybe its the screwed up weather - storm front after strom front has blown out most of the creeks. To the lake I went. That said, I worked the shoreline looking for feeding fish. I was searching for bluegills but I presented to 4 carp and one really big bright orange koi, hooked the koi and 2 carp and only landed one. I really wanted to land that orange fellow! It certainly would have been a first for me! I managed one decent bluegill - I don't know where they are today. They are probably holding deep after yesterday's thunderstorms chased them out of the shallow bedding water.
I hooked the big carp just to the right of the dead timber in the middle of this pic. This is about half way through the fight. I was solo in my canoe, so the pics are a bit iffy... You can see the tight line to the left center of the pic...
I was fishing a Browning Silaflex 222960 - 6' 5wt with 7lb test 3x tippet. Maybe I was undergunned? I love how this rod just bends to the cork. I think graphite would have come home in a dozen pieces. I really leaned into this little rod today. It's a keeper - Jim, I'll write you a check!
You should never "lend" a glass rod to a glass rod fanatic,
even if he's a friend. You might end up with money instead of your stick!
Fifteen minutes later... still bent in half. I was beginning to believe the rod would retain this shape forever.
It took a long while to win the fight. The carp would hang about 15 feet down under the canoe, just suspended and shaking her head. I think she was using the
boat for overhead cover, because it was a stand-offf in the deep water. I couldn't move her and she wasn't working. I had to paddle away from her to
make her run - otherwise I'd still be there! She showed me my backing twice. The first run was about 75 yards straight to the deep water, thankfully. The
second long run was about 50 yards. Then there was lot's of back and forth from leader only to 40 feet or so. Maybe 20 times she played that game.
I'm glad my knots were well tied and didn't hang in the guides - I was using a 7' leader and 2' of tippet. I had the end of the fly line
inside the guides at least a couple dozen times. She was one tough fish...
It took all of 40 minutes by my watch to tire this fish. I had no idea how I was going to land her. My net, as you see, was way too small. Somehow I got her
head in there and managed to bring her over the gunwhale of the canoe without swamping! I didn't have a tape measure, but my boat is 33 1/2" wide and
she was just about that, solid and heavy. I'm guessing 31 or 32" and probably 14 or 15lbs.
She was fair hooked...
I watched her come to the fly. Three times she tried to eat before she finally got the topwater fly into her mouth. Then I had to wait before setting the hook
while she turned away. These are fish that will test your metal and your nerves...
The glass rod managed the task, but I could have used an 8wt! A few boats had gathered to watch the fight. One fellow asked if I had a fish or if I was just
snagged! Sure, I was snagged in 30 feet of water, sitting in a canoe and just staying there - it could happen... One of the guys in a pontoon boat was kind
enough to come over after I landed her to take a pic for me (have you hugged your fish today?)
And another as I released her - maybe we'll have a rematch some day!
Not a bad way to spend the morning!
Joe C.
