Sunday, April 13, 2008

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!

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

This makes my weekend look like carp.
Beautiful fish. The water sure looks clear and a little lower than I remember. Nice report.

Kim

Wendy Berrell said...

Great pics and great report. Love that shot of the swirling waterscape. I'm glad you guys got out... weekly work will be a heck of a lot easier to deal with as brows should now be unknit and subconscious fishing self will be resting in peace... for a while anyway.

Unknown said...

well done sir! you tied into some nice fish.

I'm hoping things will turn around here and finally warm up. All this snow is killing me.

Anonymous said...

24 carp on fly in one day is almost
unheard of.

Superb work, guys.

John, show use that San Juan again..
please.

Anonymous said...

24 carp on fly in one day is almost
unheard of.

Superb work, guys.

John, show us that San Juan again..
please.

John Montana said...

Thanks guys, it really was a nice day. I was surprised we had as much success as we did, because I never really felt like the flats were loaded with fish. I don't have a picture of the worm, but it is a basic burgandy colored worm with a gold/copper bead for weight. I do use an oversize bead to help it sink faster.

Great day...I can't wait to get back out there for more!

Anonymous said...

Good stuff! I can't wait for stable water levels

Anonymous said...

Thanks, John ... I have seen that SJW before with the bead. Worked on some last night. The east coast carp are out looking for chow. Time to target
them.