dc410
Well-known member
I took a few hours on Saturday morning to hit one of my favorite stretches of a small local WW stream. This was the first that I fished this section of stream this season. I arrived there very early in the AM and as I expected most of the carp I spotted were cruising or chasing deeply engrained in the spawning process. I was feeling like this was going to be more of a scouting venture than anything else. As I slowly moved along the bank I also noticed many Green Sunfish setting up in the shallows and along the banks. These fish were very aggressive and had no problem sucking in a size 6 carp fly and they provided some good entertainment. I also caught a few smallies that looked to be very healthy. Good to see the SMB showing up already in the smaller WW streams. In a few weeks it will be game on!
As I continued to scout through to the end of my normal stretch that I fish I ran into a few pods of big suspended carp cruising around and appeared to occasionally feeding on something. I thought I may just have a shot at some of these fish. They were working the opposite side of the stream from me so I had to false cast and lay out a lot of line. It is rare when I lay out 40' of fly line when carpin' but this was going to be one of those times. I layed the fly right in front of a big fish and it moved directly toward the fly. A slight hesitation in the fly line/leader connection and ..... strip set. Game on as I was hooked into a really good fish! He immediately took a hard run almost pulling the rod out of my hand. I frantically went to loosening up my drag, which for whatever reason seemed to be totally tight. I cranked off the drag ad still it didn't work! POP!!! It was over as quick as it started. I immediately went to my reel to determine what the issue was and I realized that in the attempt to lay out all that line my fly line got wrapped around the back of my reel seat. Oh, those darn details!
A little further down the creek I saw another good fish and presented my fly just off to the side of it. The carp turned toward the fly and sucked it in! Three or four serious runs and about 10 minutes later I brought my first 30"+ carp to the net. It was a great couple of hours on my local WW stream. As I walked back to my truck soaked in sweat, carp slime and boots caked with cow crap I reflected on the morning's outing and was feeling real good about the upcoming WW season getting cranked up.
As I continued to scout through to the end of my normal stretch that I fish I ran into a few pods of big suspended carp cruising around and appeared to occasionally feeding on something. I thought I may just have a shot at some of these fish. They were working the opposite side of the stream from me so I had to false cast and lay out a lot of line. It is rare when I lay out 40' of fly line when carpin' but this was going to be one of those times. I layed the fly right in front of a big fish and it moved directly toward the fly. A slight hesitation in the fly line/leader connection and ..... strip set. Game on as I was hooked into a really good fish! He immediately took a hard run almost pulling the rod out of my hand. I frantically went to loosening up my drag, which for whatever reason seemed to be totally tight. I cranked off the drag ad still it didn't work! POP!!! It was over as quick as it started. I immediately went to my reel to determine what the issue was and I realized that in the attempt to lay out all that line my fly line got wrapped around the back of my reel seat. Oh, those darn details!
A little further down the creek I saw another good fish and presented my fly just off to the side of it. The carp turned toward the fly and sucked it in! Three or four serious runs and about 10 minutes later I brought my first 30"+ carp to the net. It was a great couple of hours on my local WW stream. As I walked back to my truck soaked in sweat, carp slime and boots caked with cow crap I reflected on the morning's outing and was feeling real good about the upcoming WW season getting cranked up.
