Thursday, October 7, 2010

Late Season Carpin.

It is early October in Delaware and the first signs of fall are finally showing on the trees and in the air. Sleeping in on a brisk Sunday morning, I had made up my mind that I was going to go trout fishing. After finally getting ready, driving the half hour to the best water around, and gearing up, I reached for my reel case. Opening it, my heart sank, as the realized I grabbed a 8/10 wt. reel armed with a skagit line instead of the 4wt. I drove back, grabbed the right reel case, a few carp flies and decided that carping would be a great solution to get me out of the wonderful mood I was now in.


Stepping In.


Wind and Cloud Cover.




                       

Weeds Ruining Chances.


Fly, Rod, & Reel.


Letting the Cat Out of the Bag.


The Hopper Juan.

Arriving at my Delaware carping grounds, I knew that it was going to be a tough outing. The pond is stuffed full of weeds making any attempt at hooking and landing a carp (of any size) quite the challenge. The wind was up and for most of the time the sun was behind the clouds. Terrible conditions for a fly angler wet wading through muck and weeds letting every carp in the vicinity know that danger is coming. I bushwhacked through what was let of the trail from the spring time and rigged up the rod in the middle of a thicket. After my eyes adjusted to the brown water, the first carp came cruising along the shoreline weaving in, out, over, and around weeds. I waited, hidden in the vegetation before dapping my fly down in front of his face and slowly undulating it up and down. Spotting the easy meal, he meandered over and scooped it up. For the first few seconds the carp didn't even know he was hooked and I kept him on top of the weeds, his body contorting like a snake dancing on top of them. He then realized that he was hooked and plowed under the thicket creating a right angle in my fly line. After scooping off several pounds of weeds, I cradled an October carp in my hand.


Osprey Contemplating a Plunge.


Another Fellow Fisher.


Taking Off.


Numero Uno.


Small Four Pounder.


Beats a 10 Inch Stocked Trout Any Day.

For the next hour, I worked the shore line keeping the wind and sun at my back. They can be your allies wet wading for carp in skinny water. I plowed through the muck spotting carp munching down along the reeds and the occasional tailer. I fooled two more carp, landing one of them. The whole outing, all I could think about was bonefishing and how similar the two species are. I yearned for a stand up kayak or paddleboard for a higher perspective. It would then open up several acres of the pond for sight fishing for carp rather than being relegated to a thin hundred yard stretch along the banks. When the first frost hits, hopefully the weeds will begin clearing out and I can come back in November and put a hurting on them.


Nervous Water.


Tail.


Skinny Water Culture.


Hard Work.


Average for Delaware.

On the way out, I worked a small piece of open water and decided to throw a new streamer for some bass. On the first cast, I hooked a lunker largemouth that I played for a short while before he threw the articulated sculpin back into my chest. A few casts later, a much smaller bass inhaled the offering. I was quite pleased with the results and will be concocting several more.


Prototype.
Trout Version.


Engulfed.


A Little Guy.

2 comments:

Ryan said...

Looks like you made the best out of your situation. I can relate to forgetting an important piece of the gear. I wrote about it a few posts ago. Nice job.

The Average Joe Fisherman
http://averagejoefisherman.blogspot.com/

JMP said...

I loved how you incorporated the rubber legs in to your carp fly...Try it in crayfish orange as well...Great post as usual...