Today was national "Take you backing out for a walk day." I only know of one sure fire way to make that happen, so David and I headed out and found a few of these:


We took a shot and headed to one of our favorite carp holes, with our attitudes rapidly waning from optimism to indifference to pessimism with each mile we drove. Fortunately, the carp were they, and they were hungry.

David landed this 19 lb bruiser just minutes after I put an 18 lb bruiser on the bank. Both were big fish, and far from our first of the day. We found fish anywhere that we could find dark sand/mud bottom that would warm quickly. While we didn't see hundreds of fish, and not all of the fish we did see were in an eating mood, we kept busy casting to tailers and slow cruisers. The San Juan was deadly once again.

Most of the fish were a little bit lethargic, but I managed to get my backing out for a walk and a tan twice...one fish in particular (just a little average 9 lber) took me DEEP into my backing. Always a good day when you get to test your knots.

All told, I landed 16 carp today...in April. To me, that is a pretty astounding number. David put another 8 carp on the bank, and together we managed three "big" fish. The aformentioned 18 and 19 lbers, and this 20 lb brute that we spotted from about 150 feet away because he kept sticking his tail completely out of the water. A short stalk later and he sucked in the worm without hesitation.

Honestly, I couldn't have asked for a better day. it is always a pleasure to fish with David. He knows his stuff and is good company. We both had been in need of a good fishing fix, and I feel completely re-energized after today. Getting out on the water in general does me a lot of good, and putting a few of those "sixth sense set the hook" moments together heightens the overall experience greatly. What a day!