Kicking off the 2016 Carpin' season

[dc410]

I was tying up some tungsten beadhead mink nymphs on jig hooks last evening mainly for tight line nymphing for trout. As I was tying I got to wondering how these size 14 barbless jig hooks would hold up against a good carp.

I decided to try the mink nymph out this morning on one of my early morning carp spots. At about 6:15 AM I hooked this 24" carp on one of the beadhead mink nymphs and the size 14 barbless jig hook performed flawlessly. The tungsten bead is a bit on the heavy side for carp but if dappling or gently flipping in front of a close range mudding carp it worked great.

 

[dc410]

One of my favorite, quick hitting morning carp spots was ravaged by bowfishermen Monday evening. Not a feeding fish to be found within fly rod range this morning and multiple dead carp laying around. It is always disheartening when this happens. It will eventually come back and the fish will settle down and get back to their normal routine but it will take a while. It's good to have other options when this kind of stuff happens.

 

[dc410]

After relocating my carpin' efforts in the wake of the recent bowfishing activity I found some decent areas with some really good fish in them but they are very tough. I've been focusing my efforts at first light over the past week to beat the heat and have found a lot of early morning feeding fish that are prime targets. I had a whole lot of shots at carp this week but besides my best stealthy approaches I flat out spooked many, many fish.

I did manage to fool a few of them. Some of them were pretty, some of them were rather ugly, but they all posed a great challenge which is what I enjoy most about chasing carp on the fly. This stretch of stream also has a very healthy population of large snapping turtles as can be seen by the damage to the tail of the one fish that I brought to the net. The weather during the dog days of August can be very tough and this past week is a prime example, but the carpin' can also be very hot! Tight lines and reels screamin'.