Short, but rewarding outing today with the Godfather...I was fortunate enough to fish today with none other than Andy "AP Emerger." Andy is one of the pioneers of flyfishing for carp in OR, and helped me find and succumb to the addiction several years ago. As usualy, I had a last minute green light, but this time I dialed Andy's number as I hit the road. A few minutes later and we were chatting carp and heading to some water. Andy is the ultimate urban carp angler, and knows all the hot spots downtown, but today we hit one of my main haunts on the big C. I think Andy had a pretty good time!

Conditions were pretty tough. The water has come up and was extremely high. High water can be difficult, but combine that with a serious murk factor, and I thought we were going to be in for a couple of long, fishless hours. We found a way though. Somehow, we walked into a ton of fish. If we just stood there, we would see them as the cruised right up to our legs. We dropped heavy wiggle flies and carrot flies on their heads, set the hook when we'd see a shape turn, stop or do anything, and were rewarded with enough fish to make us happy.

The big fish of the day was about 18.5 lbs. Andy landed another fish that hit the 18 lb mark, but the 20s eluded us today. I did have one really big fish pop off nearly at my feet. 20 lbs? Maybe...we'll never know with that one. We saw plenty of big dark shapes, but with the murk, we just couldn't target the really big fish until it was too late. I was hoping Andy would get into a 20 lber, but we'll have to give that another shot later in the year.

Andy and I had been talking about getting out after carp together for a couple of seasons now, and we've never been able to put it together. While I wish we had better visibility today and lower water, it was still great to get out after carp with the guy who really helped me get started. Thanks again Andy!