We faced a pretty stiff test today. The fish were flat out weird. The normally passive Columbia River carp were downright lethargic today, and getting a definitive movement toward your fly was incredibly tough. Plus, in addition to the most subtle takes I have ever seen, the fish were ejecting the fly in a heartbeat. I had the fly in at least 5 different carp mouths at one point, and hooked none of the five. Crazy tough today.
Still, we managed some fish. I think I landed 8 and Travis had 3 or 4, but it was the misses that really hurt. Travis had a 20 plus lb fish on briefly, and we missed two or three other fish in that size range. We simply couldn't get the big boys on a clean take. We had to be content with little guys today.
Most of the fish came to the normal green soft hackle with Travis's additional worm tail. Adding that worm tail was flat out genius, and it makes the already deadly soft hackle even more versatile. I did catch three or four on an egg/worm combo fly. It cracks me up that they eat that goofy thing, but they do! I had one nice "cat pounce" take on the egg/worm that was by far the most aggressive take of the day.
As always, great fishing with Travis. I am blessed with a family that lets me fish frequently, and great friends with whom to spend time on the water. Even on a day when the big carp remind me who is the boss...I feel lucky.
The season is winding down. Pretty soon I will have to start chasing a few salmon and steelhead.
Posted with Blogsy
7 comments:
Man, even your bad days are pretty darn good. Nice report.
What Ty said.
Good job you guys.
Yes. It was tough but a lot of fun. I gotta fish again before seasons end.
Nice guys! 2 of the best after the best almost cancel each other out but you seem to come oy winning, in my mind.
Gregg
The takes were even harder than usual? I find that unlikely and hard to believe!
It was brutal Trevor. I landed 8 and saw what I would term a "definitive" move to the fly on 2. The rest were faith based guesses and imagining a reason to set the hook.
The funny thing is...the best take of the day resulted in a clean whiff. I heron stalked a nice one from behind a bush and switched it eat the egg/worm combo, but when I set the hook I came up empty. That fish spat the fly so fast I had no chance.
They wouldn't be fun if they were easy. Well, not as much fun anyway.
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