Carp are frustrating fish. The worst thing that can happen for someone fishing for carp is to catch one on your first attempt. This will give you the impression that fishing for them is easy. It is anything but. I wouldn't think it was wrong to say carp are one of the hardest fish to fly fish for. The fish are very selective and spook at the slightest sense that something is wrong. When bank fishing for them, you need nerves of steel. A sudden stumble, false cast or splash can ruin any attempt at catching a fish. Just casting for a carp can be a challenge. I decided to take a video of some of the carp at a pond I frequently fish. I'm not sure how big these carp were but I'm thinking easily over 10lbs.
Showing posts with label Carp. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Carp. Show all posts
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Finally Landed One
After the Triangle Fly Fishers Haw River Cleanup I decided to do a little fishing. Not really expecting much I tossed my black bead head wooly bugger under a tree. Gave it a few strips and felt some tension. The fish didn't tug hard at first but then it was like it woke up and started to peel off line.
The water was brown and the visibility was horrible. All I could see was my line pointing at the water and zigzagging as the fish headed to deeper water. I knew it was either a carp or a catfish. I let the fish run then remembered how I"ve lost plenty of fish before by letting them run too far. They eventually get caught on a tree or some log and you have to snap the line. After about 100ft of running I grabbed the line and tested the Orvis 8wt. It held fine and the the fish did some interesting things. Went straight towards the bank so fast I thought it was gonna fly out of the water and land on shore. Stopped like a dime about 6inches away then headed for deep water again. It kept doing this over and over and each time it inched closer. The fish rolled about a foot away and I could see from the mustard shimmer that it was a carp.
I finally horsed it towards me and like all of my other carp landing attempts the fish made a last ditch effort run right as my hand was grabbing for it. Usually this is about the same time my tippet or knot snaps.
Luckily it held and the fish came to hand.
Sorry no glory photos, I just removed the bugger and the fish had enough in him to splash me and swim off on his own. I have to thank my buddy for taking the pics while the whole thing was going on. Usually when I'm fishing I never have any pictures of "me" actually fishing. =)
The water was brown and the visibility was horrible. All I could see was my line pointing at the water and zigzagging as the fish headed to deeper water. I knew it was either a carp or a catfish. I let the fish run then remembered how I"ve lost plenty of fish before by letting them run too far. They eventually get caught on a tree or some log and you have to snap the line. After about 100ft of running I grabbed the line and tested the Orvis 8wt. It held fine and the the fish did some interesting things. Went straight towards the bank so fast I thought it was gonna fly out of the water and land on shore. Stopped like a dime about 6inches away then headed for deep water again. It kept doing this over and over and each time it inched closer. The fish rolled about a foot away and I could see from the mustard shimmer that it was a carp.
I finally horsed it towards me and like all of my other carp landing attempts the fish made a last ditch effort run right as my hand was grabbing for it. Usually this is about the same time my tippet or knot snaps.
Luckily it held and the fish came to hand.
Sorry no glory photos, I just removed the bugger and the fish had enough in him to splash me and swim off on his own. I have to thank my buddy for taking the pics while the whole thing was going on. Usually when I'm fishing I never have any pictures of "me" actually fishing. =)
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Carp For Lunch
I decided to try the pond near work again today. I didn't expect much because we've had recent storms. I decided to stop by Bojangles before heading over. Preston called me while I was waiting to get my food and said two carp were feeding in the shallows. I quickly made my order to go and scarfed down my cajun filet biscuit on the ride back. When I went to the pond the water looked calm and I couldn't see any activity.
Preston said he thought the carp may be gone. I rigged up a nice olive wooly bugger making good use of the Orvis $10 20fly selection I bought recently. There was a nice film of pollen on the water which made the clarity horrible. I could see what looked to be a carp in the shadows but couldn't make out which way it was facing. Finally it showed itself in the sun. I made a decent cast but it didn't seem interested. While trying to make another cast my line got tangled in a tree behind me. While getting it loose I saw another carp swim right by me close to shore. I held still and watched as the beast came into the shallows and slowly disappeared in the murky water. The pollen seemed to be disguising me and these carp seemed hungry. I made several casts to the looming shadows that would show themselves here and there. Preston saw a fish in the shade and I made my cast in that direction.
A few quick strips later my line jerked and severe tension was put on my 5wt. Here was my next dilemma my 5wt has a broken crank on the reel. So I have no way to play the fish on the reel. I tried using my palm but watched helplessly as my line descended further and further down my rod. It took less than a minute to get to my backing and within another minute the backing STOPPED! I had nothing left, I tried feverishly to wind the reel slapping it with my palm since there was no crank to wind the line back in. Eventually I was like screw it and started stripping line with my hand. I was able to find a happy medium of stripping line and letting it slide threw my hand and the rod. I saw my backing come through the guides then my line. I breathed a sigh of relief but I still had to get this monster over to the bank. The rest of the fight that in sued is in the video below.
Preston said he thought the carp may be gone. I rigged up a nice olive wooly bugger making good use of the Orvis $10 20fly selection I bought recently. There was a nice film of pollen on the water which made the clarity horrible. I could see what looked to be a carp in the shadows but couldn't make out which way it was facing. Finally it showed itself in the sun. I made a decent cast but it didn't seem interested. While trying to make another cast my line got tangled in a tree behind me. While getting it loose I saw another carp swim right by me close to shore. I held still and watched as the beast came into the shallows and slowly disappeared in the murky water. The pollen seemed to be disguising me and these carp seemed hungry. I made several casts to the looming shadows that would show themselves here and there. Preston saw a fish in the shade and I made my cast in that direction.
A few quick strips later my line jerked and severe tension was put on my 5wt. Here was my next dilemma my 5wt has a broken crank on the reel. So I have no way to play the fish on the reel. I tried using my palm but watched helplessly as my line descended further and further down my rod. It took less than a minute to get to my backing and within another minute the backing STOPPED! I had nothing left, I tried feverishly to wind the reel slapping it with my palm since there was no crank to wind the line back in. Eventually I was like screw it and started stripping line with my hand. I was able to find a happy medium of stripping line and letting it slide threw my hand and the rod. I saw my backing come through the guides then my line. I breathed a sigh of relief but I still had to get this monster over to the bank. The rest of the fight that in sued is in the video below.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Hooked My First Carp
Today was not going that great for me. I wasn't too enthused that the weekend was over and work was kind of busy. The only thing to look forward too was fishing with Preston at lunch. For some reason I was starving and tried to go by the cafe to get a pizza before meeting at the pond. The cafe doesn't take cash so I had to stop by the ATM first. I walk over, put my card in, then notice on the screen, sorry for the inconvenience....... CRAP!!!! I was so hungry but I decided the fishing would take my mind off things. I arrived at the pond, a little grumpy. Preston hadn't showed up yet. It was time for a new leader. For some reason I was having a really hard time tying on the new leader. I finally just tied a Dave Maeda knot at the end of the fly line. The carp weren't showing themselves the last time I visited the pond. I looked in my fly box and figured, the fishing sucked last time, and it will probably suck today. I'm just going with a big black bead head bugger. Preston showed up just as I was tying it on. He showed me some killer spoon flies he tied. They were for the Red Drum trip we were going on this Thursday. We went down to the pond and it looked great but there wasn't that many fish to be seen, no carp. We cast a few, Preston showed me the action of the spoon flies. They were amazing, I'm interested to see how they work on the trip. We stopped fishing for awhile and talked about the details of our fishing trip. Then as we paused for awhile and looked out towards the pond, Preston spotted some fish. They were small bluegill and bass. I knew some more lurked on the corner of the pond and I had him follow me over to see if they were there. On our way around a big tree I saw in the spot where usually bass school a good size carp. I said to Preston "is that a carp?" At first he was like no, then saw the tail slowly moving.."Yeah that is one!" So he told me to get'm and I attempted too.
The shade of the tree was perfect to hide my shadow. The carp was maybe 15-20ft off shore. I knew I had maybe one cast. As I moved closer I spooked some small bass from the shore line, surely they'd spook the carp. I was lucky and the carp didn't seem to even care. It was definitely keeping it's eyes glued to the bottom. I decided I needed a cast right in front of the carp, so I pulled out about 20ft of line and started to cast. I wanted the distance to be perfect, so I went with two false casts. One, two, cast. The cast landed to the right of the carp the bugger slowly drifted down to the bottom. The carp turned towards the bugger. I gave it a slight twitch and the next few seconds are kind of a blur. I remember the carp move towards the bugger, a huge mud cloud, my line jerk, then me pulling setting the hook. The carp made a steady mud trail from the shallow water and headed for the deep part of the lake. I was in disbelief as I saw the carp swim away from shore and my line with it. The carp was just as surprised as I was. It didn't fight that hard, and I figured I was gonna land this thing easy.
I couldn't have been more wrong. Once I started to put serious pressure on the fish it freaked and headed towards the opposite side of the pond. I'm probably exaggerating but I swore in 5 seconds the fish had pulled about 100ft of line and for the first time in my life, I was staring at my backing. My drag was a joke, I had to keep palming the reel to stop it from giving line. Now my adrenaline shot into over drive. This was gonna be a fight. The fish had it's way with my 8wt. It would relax and come towards me then I'd try to really pressure it and it would decide to take off again. Each time I gained line, the fish would make a run and take off again. The fish kept zig zagging and tested every direction possible to get away from shore. Preston was having a fun time watching me and trying to coach me into which way I should pressure the fish. We started running down the bank trying to get the fish into shallow water. This carp had to be at least 15lbs. It would not give in. Then in the midst of our battle I remembered something horrible. I'm at lunch, how long can I really be out here? Will my boss understand if I'm 20min late from lunch because I was fighting a huge fish? Most likely he won't. I said that to Preston, and he was like screw it, you're gonna be late from lunch. I agreed and tried to focus more attention on the fish, then I remembered I had my phone in my pocket and it has a camera function. I tried to hold the fish in one hand and get the phone out with the other. I was able to get it out and I went to hand it to Preston. He was like how do I do the... He didn't even have to finish, I looked at the phone set the options to record faster than anyone has in the history of cell phones and handed it to him. Preston was happy to be the camera man and got the footage below.
That was the biggest fish I've ever had on a fly rod. I couldn't believe how strong it was. You can hear me in the video grunting. I was pulling as hard as I thought possible without breaking the rod. I think that might be the first time that carp has ever been hooked. It ran several times. I had the fish hooked for at least 6min. The run that broke the line clean, I figured was probably its last run. It figures, I didn't have any pliers anyways. I was just happy to have the experience. Next time, I will have the confidence that I can catch one of these beasts.
The shade of the tree was perfect to hide my shadow. The carp was maybe 15-20ft off shore. I knew I had maybe one cast. As I moved closer I spooked some small bass from the shore line, surely they'd spook the carp. I was lucky and the carp didn't seem to even care. It was definitely keeping it's eyes glued to the bottom. I decided I needed a cast right in front of the carp, so I pulled out about 20ft of line and started to cast. I wanted the distance to be perfect, so I went with two false casts. One, two, cast. The cast landed to the right of the carp the bugger slowly drifted down to the bottom. The carp turned towards the bugger. I gave it a slight twitch and the next few seconds are kind of a blur. I remember the carp move towards the bugger, a huge mud cloud, my line jerk, then me pulling setting the hook. The carp made a steady mud trail from the shallow water and headed for the deep part of the lake. I was in disbelief as I saw the carp swim away from shore and my line with it. The carp was just as surprised as I was. It didn't fight that hard, and I figured I was gonna land this thing easy.
I couldn't have been more wrong. Once I started to put serious pressure on the fish it freaked and headed towards the opposite side of the pond. I'm probably exaggerating but I swore in 5 seconds the fish had pulled about 100ft of line and for the first time in my life, I was staring at my backing. My drag was a joke, I had to keep palming the reel to stop it from giving line. Now my adrenaline shot into over drive. This was gonna be a fight. The fish had it's way with my 8wt. It would relax and come towards me then I'd try to really pressure it and it would decide to take off again. Each time I gained line, the fish would make a run and take off again. The fish kept zig zagging and tested every direction possible to get away from shore. Preston was having a fun time watching me and trying to coach me into which way I should pressure the fish. We started running down the bank trying to get the fish into shallow water. This carp had to be at least 15lbs. It would not give in. Then in the midst of our battle I remembered something horrible. I'm at lunch, how long can I really be out here? Will my boss understand if I'm 20min late from lunch because I was fighting a huge fish? Most likely he won't. I said that to Preston, and he was like screw it, you're gonna be late from lunch. I agreed and tried to focus more attention on the fish, then I remembered I had my phone in my pocket and it has a camera function. I tried to hold the fish in one hand and get the phone out with the other. I was able to get it out and I went to hand it to Preston. He was like how do I do the... He didn't even have to finish, I looked at the phone set the options to record faster than anyone has in the history of cell phones and handed it to him. Preston was happy to be the camera man and got the footage below.
That was the biggest fish I've ever had on a fly rod. I couldn't believe how strong it was. You can hear me in the video grunting. I was pulling as hard as I thought possible without breaking the rod. I think that might be the first time that carp has ever been hooked. It ran several times. I had the fish hooked for at least 6min. The run that broke the line clean, I figured was probably its last run. It figures, I didn't have any pliers anyways. I was just happy to have the experience. Next time, I will have the confidence that I can catch one of these beasts.
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