Carpe Diem

Seize the day.

Back in the states, I could only think of doing one thing: resting my weary eyes. Meanwhile, Adam immediately returned to the carp waters he fishes almost every day. That is until one day, I decided to head back into the fray.

The transition was a little overwhelming at first. I went from crystal clear flats and sandy bottoms to a partially flooded pond with zero visibility. Golden ghosts have a habit of disappearing in most water, especially when its the chocolate variety. I was rusty, to say the least.

Adam struck first with a perfect stalk along the bank, his fly line never touching the water. Sixteen feet of fluorocarbon laid stretched over foliage, rocks, and goose shit and a fly touched down on a dinner plate, where it slowly descended and met its target. Line peeled off his reel and his Superfine trout bum bent in half.

I was next on deck and found a bank muncher near a pipe pumping runoff from the city. The cast had to be on his nose. Thankfully, I was granted a 2nd and 3rd cast without him spooking before I finally hooked up.

After that fish, we went our separate ways. Adam fished on one side of the lake, while I was on the other end and side. I found a pod of feeding fish that had moved into a very shallow flat that they normally do not feed on.

I was casting to shadows, bubbles, and the occasional tail protruding through the murk. It was a guessing game, reading the body language of the fish. I got two. 

As the fog ascended into the air and evaporated before our very eyes, the fishing slowed to a hault. Our morning glory fading, we transitioned to another spot, where the fish are even tougher to coax on fly. Adam hooked a good fishing, pushing 20 lbs. on his 4 wt. Superfine. He was in his second layer of backing before he knew it, before the fish broke him off on some unseen structure.

We ended our day, on a series of ponds near Adam's house. I spooked several nice fish before I resigned to fooling around in the 90 degree heat. Adam landed several small fish, the nicest of which was landed in the only spot I couldn't get a picture.

It was nice to get back out into some freshwater after a month of salt kicking my butt.

We are back in business.