First

Ice on. Ice off. Ice on again. Ice off again.

That is how the first fifty days of 2013 began in Delaware. I found myself checking local retention ponds on my way to work in the morning or randomly going fishing after work to find the ducks and geese walking on the water. When the sun was out and I had the time, the ponds would be covered in ice. When it was warm out, and there wasn't any ice, it would be pouring rain outside. My opportunity came on a day with a high of fifty degrees where I found a clear pond and actively feeding carp.

Having no hat and the fish feeding in an area that put the sun shining directly into my face, I had to make the best of my opening day of carp season. As I geared up on the bank, a helicopter ended up flying overhead at a low altitude. The entire pond erupted in a boil of water as every single carp flipped out from the ensuing noise and vibration. That reaction is one of the reasons why carp are so awesome.

After things settled down, I was able to target a few carp that left the safety of a vast mud plume and roamed into clear water. With the water being shallow and consisting of a very soft deep muddy bottom, I had small sucker spawn imitations dotting their projected paths. After a few agonizing refusals, errant casts, and missed hook sets, I had my first carp of 2013.