Elia and I hooked 4 fish today, but she is quick to point out that she caught two, and I only caught one. I somehow managed to lose #4. It was a great morning, despite a major allergy attack that had me sitting in the car for 20 minutes waiting for my eyes to stop swelling so that I could see again. Eventually we found a spot where the allergies weren't killing me. The water was unbelievably murky, but if we focussed on fish that were cruising near the surface, we could see them. Tailers were impossible to see, just muddy water even a foot or two from shore. All 4 fish reminded me why carp fishing is so challenging at times. Several of the fish simply veered slightly from their cruising path and slowed just enough to make me suspicious. In those instances I set the hook despite never seeing the mouth open or the gills flare, and each time I was rewarded with a hookup and the fly planted firmly in the upper lip of the carp. No big fish, but they were big enough to put a bend in my 7 wt, and Elia was just a few wraps of flyline away from being taken to the backing with a fish she was fighting. Elia is still pretty little to fight fish on the big rod and I have to reel for her, but she holds onto the rod with a death grip and pulls back everytime a fish makes a run. The 4th and final fish hooked on the day (and 3rd landed) was a nearly invisible tailing fish. I dropped the fly into position (size 12 carp wooley) and waited. A moment later I knew the fish was on top of the fly, but again, could not see any reason to set the hook in the murky water. I set the hook anyway, and the fly was right in the top of the fish's lip. I've learned this lesson a hundred times by now...if the fly is on the fish's dinner plate and the fish does not spook, he probably ate it.

Great day out with Elia. She's quite the little fisher girl!