My dad and I had planned to spend Friday chasing Coho Salmon on a local river. One look at the weather report added to sheer addiction of carp on the flats and we changes out plans in a heartbeat. We got up Friday morning and headed for the Columbia River in search of big carp.

My dad has caught a few carp, but our destination was the big leagues of carping, previously he had only fished in the minors.

Our first stop did a great job of getting him excited. We saw several fish in the teens feeding on the flats, but they were extremely spooky, and we just couldn't get any flies to them without sending the targeted fish rocketing out of the shallow water. Still, it gave my dad a chance to see some nice fish and to get a taste of the required stealth and casting accuracy.

Our next locale proved much more successful. We stalked the flats like herons, pausing to squint into the glare before each footfall. We managed to sneak up on several fish, and my dad hooked several, but just couldn't seem to hang onto them. I fished as well, and managed to land four fish, all in the 6-8 lb range. As we walked back out later that day my dad was treated to the sight of 2 big grass carp cruising along 200 ft away. One was a true monster. We also spotted one massive common I would put in the 30 lb range, but by the time we got into position to make a cast, the fish was onto us and moved away. Dad had plenty of opportunities and despite not landing a carp, he was excited about the day. In a lot of ways he and I are alike...We are both as much hunters as fisherman. I put away the rifle and bow, but still love to hunt and carping gives me a great outlet. The highlight of the day for me was taking a video as my dad made a great 45-50 ft cast to a big carp. The fish turned on the fly and my dad set the hook just a split second late. He was rewarded with a big boil as the fish narrowly escaped. It made for a great video!

Always good to fish with my dad!