Happy Father's Day!

Just want to say, happy Father's day to my dad, who taught me everything he knows. Thankfully, I learned a little more.

I love you Dad!

More ID

Prett place. Images keep coming back...it kind of sticks with you.

 

 

One Week

Despite some iffy weather conditions, one can only describe the string of outings I have had lately as epic. Well, one week from now Wendy Berrell and I will be stalking the flats of lake MI with his brother Joe.

See you guys soon.

 

Spread the carp love!

The Moldy Chum Slab of the Month contest has not one, but two carp in it for May! I might be partial to one of those fish, but either way, show the carp some love folks!

 

For the record

Snow flurries and carp on the fly don't mix.

Well, we gave it a shot anyway. As we rigged up at the lake, snow and hail briefly pelted us, but eventually things settle down to merely cold and windy with full cloud cover. We spent time blind casting I. The cold, but with no mudding fish, no leaping fish, no signs of fish whatsoever, we gave up the ghost pretty early and headed out.

Luckily, we made one last stop, and we found a load of small 5-7 lb carp. The sun poked out here and there, but even in the clouds we could see the fish thanks to a high vantage point. I managed to catch six and Jim landed two. I did find some visual candy, stalking down the bank during a brief period of sun and sticking three fish that were actively feeding...all three took the venerable soft hackle, though they ate with a lot more aggression than I am used to seeing.

Right now we are sitting in the airport. I am tired, I smell horrible and my hands are raw from the wind and cold. It was a great trip with Mr. P, and I was glad to meet Shane, Chris and Brent. This is a fishery that I hope to hit again when the weather cooperates...but right now?

I just want to get home and see my family.

 

Grinders

Today we simply grinded it out.

We met up with Brent from Uprising under beautiful blue skies, but by the time we had rigged up the clouds started to roll in, along with a heavy dose of reality. The carp were shut down.

The wind howled and the cold numbed our fingers. Poor Brent slipped while wading and took a full on dunking in the cold water and howling wind...that was a wrap for him. He headed home to stave off hypothermia but Jim and I kept pounding away...and Mr. P saved the day with three Carp to hand. I snagged a few, but ended the day skunked.

One more shot tomorrow, pray for a break in the weather. The forecast calls for snow showers!

 

Old dogs and new tricks

Blind casting for carp...for a guy like me (and Mr. P) the idea of catching carp blind stripping flies is just crazy. Out here, it is the primary method. The sediment is very fine, and just a few feeding or active carp can stir it up quickly, and instead of clear water, you are looking at chocolate milk. I caught a few fish sight casting today, but the bulk of my fish were caught stripping big leeches. There were some crushing takes.

Chris from Many a Fish and Shane from Fish Hunter Chronicles hosted, and those guys put us on fish! We basically looked for big mud clouds, then stripped flies through the mud. Chris landed a mid twenties fish (I was too far away to get a picture) and I lost a similar fish right at the net...heartbreaking.

It was a fun day on the water, and pretty unique for Jim and I. Stripping flies blind for carp? Crazy! Mr. P hooked several fish, but didn't get any to the net. We did see some pigs though...and again, so interesting to have nothing but mirrors around! Another full day tomorrow, hopefully we can put some big mirrors in the net!

 

That noise you might have heard around 2 pm?

Yeah, that was me.

24 lbs on the digital scale...not the longest fish but man what a gut on this big girl. Mctage, thank you for the trouser worms...she ate it on the drop. Just dipped her head and hoovered that fly right off the bottom. Man did that feel good.

I only fished for a couple of hours, and am currently waiting for Mr. P at the airport...but what a day. Twelve carp to hand, nothing over 12 lbs except the big girl, but I can't really explain how strange it is for EVERY carp you see to be a mirror! Crazy stuff! Plus, I caught half of my fish blind casting into a big ball of mud. These fish are aggressive. Not a bad little appetizer, the real deal starts tomorrow.

Stay tuned for more mirrors.

Say it ain't so!

Singlebarbed has made his last post. Sorry to see it end Keith! Always enjoyed your content...

 

Land of Mirrors

It is no secret that I dig mirror carp. Those that have fished with me have seen me pass up reasonable shots at 20 lb fish to take a less than desirable shot at a mirror. Can't help it, they are cool looking.

With that in mind, I have caught more than my share of Columbia River mirror carp. While far from rare, mirrors are clearly the minority out here, much less available than my catch rates would indicate simply because I drop everything to cast at mirrors when given the chance. I have been lucky enough to catch some great mirrors.

But for years, a really big one has eluded me. I have caught them well into the teens, but the only 20 plus lb mirror I have ever touched belonged to Wendy Berrell. Look at this brute.

To the best of my knowledge, I have hooked two mirrors over 20, and lost them both. Without putting too much pressure on myself...the twenty lb mirror is my holy grail of carping. All these pictures, and all these words to say a very simple thing.

Tomorrow, I am off to ID, to the land of mirrors.

My sincere hope is that sometime on Friday, Saturday or Sunday I am forced to actually pass up a reasonable shot at a mirror carp in order to try for a really big mirror carp. I hope it happens, and I hope I don't screw it up! Thanks in advance to my family for letting me go chase this silly goal...I can't wait to wander water where only mirrors swim.