Great pictures here, taken by KB. It helps to have a professional photographer for a fishing partner!

Here is a picture of the crazy CAG crew from WA and OR. That is me on the left, then David, Mr. P, Rich, MagicWrench, and KB. Pretty eclectic group of fisherman. We had a great time together.

Quick picture of a typical Banks Lake flat...what incredible water. The scenery and company made the trip worthwhile. The fish didn't cooperate and just weren't on the flats, but I can imagine how much fun it would be if they were!

I got back Sunday night from a three day marathon carp fishing weekend. KB, David and I headed out Friday and fished en route to Banks Lake in central Washington. Once there, we joined up with Mr. P, MagicWrench and Rich for a day on Banks. I'll get some pictures and details up later, but it was a great weekend with good company. The catching at Banks was tough, but we surrounded Saturday with a few really good "catching" days, and I certainly can't argue with the scenery or spectacular flats we fished. I hope to see everyone again at another outing! For now, here is a video from Sunday on a nice flat...many carp were caught Sunday...

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I added a couple of new blogs to the sidebar, and just found this great site: WarmFly. Check it out when you get a chance.

Just a few quick pictures below. I have not had the time to write up a full report about the two days spent fishing with Justin in MN, but as always...we had a great time. I somehow managed to break not only my albright exs 7 wt, but Justin's 7 wt Redington Wayfarer. Carp are tough. We caught many fish, had lots of laughs, and got some great video. I'll try to get a more detailed report up when I can, but I just want to say thanks to my good friend. I look forward to this trip every year, and no matter what the conditions are like or whether the fish are biting...we put together a winner.

Check out Fishing and thinking in Minnesota for a more detailed report.





I stole this last picture right off of Justin's blog...It was so cool I had to post it again. None of these fish were thinking of eating, but what an amazing sight!

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More pictures to come, but here is a quick video we took while fishing near Rochester. The carp were spawning and thick in the shallows, but not in the mood to eat, so Justin improvised.

Elia and I hooked 4 fish today, but she is quick to point out that she caught two, and I only caught one. I somehow managed to lose #4. It was a great morning, despite a major allergy attack that had me sitting in the car for 20 minutes waiting for my eyes to stop swelling so that I could see again. Eventually we found a spot where the allergies weren't killing me. The water was unbelievably murky, but if we focussed on fish that were cruising near the surface, we could see them. Tailers were impossible to see, just muddy water even a foot or two from shore. All 4 fish reminded me why carp fishing is so challenging at times. Several of the fish simply veered slightly from their cruising path and slowed just enough to make me suspicious. In those instances I set the hook despite never seeing the mouth open or the gills flare, and each time I was rewarded with a hookup and the fly planted firmly in the upper lip of the carp. No big fish, but they were big enough to put a bend in my 7 wt, and Elia was just a few wraps of flyline away from being taken to the backing with a fish she was fighting. Elia is still pretty little to fight fish on the big rod and I have to reel for her, but she holds onto the rod with a death grip and pulls back everytime a fish makes a run. The 4th and final fish hooked on the day (and 3rd landed) was a nearly invisible tailing fish. I dropped the fly into position (size 12 carp wooley) and waited. A moment later I knew the fish was on top of the fly, but again, could not see any reason to set the hook in the murky water. I set the hook anyway, and the fly was right in the top of the fish's lip. I've learned this lesson a hundred times by now...if the fly is on the fish's dinner plate and the fish does not spook, he probably ate it.

Great day out with Elia. She's quite the little fisher girl!

There are days where being a dad is something that you can't quite explain. Nothing else seems to matter, and you simply hope that your mind is capturing each moment as it happens so you can look back later. Today felt like that for me. I spent the morning with Elia. As I got her dressed I asked her what she wanted to do and she said "I want to go get coffe and go fishing." Pretty hard to resist that, so we picked up some coffee about 0830 (sugar free steamed milk for Elia) and headed out to look for some carp.


The day wasn't bright, so my expectations were low, but Elia was excited because it would be her first day wearing her new life vest. I figured she should have one, just in case she falls in and I'm not right there with her. We checked three spots, with Elia constantly chatting while we walked, or pointing out the dogs in other cars while we drove to the next spot. I only saw a few fish, and managed just one tiny 2 lb carp (it actually beat a bigger fish to the fly) but that was enough. Elia got to touch the carp, and made sure to tell me that she likes small carp better because "I'm just a little girl."

After JJ and Elia took their naps, Kelly and I took them to the pool at the health club. Elia LOVES the water, and had great time swimmng and zipping down the slide. What a joy to play in the water with your daughter and watch her constant smile and energy.


JJ wasn't sure what to think of the pool, and clung to Kelly and I throughout, but I'm sure in time he'll be a fish just like his sister and mom. It was a great afternoon topped off by hamburgers on the deck. Just a really nice day that came together perfectly. I'm looking forward to many more to come.

KB and I had been looking forward to fishing with Mr. P for some time, and Saturday was the day we finally got together. He drove down from WA and joined us for a day on our favorite carp water. Unfortunately, it was the worst day of catching that I've had on that water in a long time. The carp were out slightly deeper than normal, and simply wouldn't committ to eating our flies. We had plenty of fish chase and turn on our offerings, but hookups were few and far between. I landed one fish, a nice 17 lb fish, and had a second come unbottoned at my feet. KB landed a nice 10-11 lb fish, and Jim hooked one, but didn't bring anything to hand. The strange thing was that the fish reacted really well to our flies. On more than one occasion I had fish follow a crayfish or leech 10-15 ft without actually eating the fly. Tough day, but fishing with Mr. P was a blast. He has a great take on fishing and we enjoyed his company immensely. I'm really looking forward to the CAG event on Banks lake in a few weeks!

I had 2 hours today, and poor conditions. Not an ideal situation, but it turned out to be just a perfect carp session. I hit a local spot and the fish just weren't around so I checked out this cool creek bottom instead. I fished water that was maybe 4-10 inches deep. I'd see the fish from several hundred feet off, making a V in the shallow water. It was really a cool experience.

The tricky part was to avoid spooking them. In water that shallow, I could get really close to the fish, but not without making them speed up and stop feeding. I snuck up about 25 ft from one, and the second the crayfish fly hit the water, it just pounced on it like a cat. Not a huge fish, but in water that shallow it was quite the experience. I got him in quickly, as he couldn't get up a head of steam with only a few inches of water with which to work. When I made the cast, I could see 1/3 of the carp's body out of the water.

I can't really explain how cool it was to watch these fish moving in that water. Sometimes I'd clearly see their backs and tails moving, other times it would just be this push of water as the fish swam forward. I stalked around like a heron,and would have had a blast even if I had left the fly rod in the car.

But, it was tough. I just kept spooking them. They didn't blast out of there once they saw me, but they moved a little faster, and had no interest in eating. I did manage a bit bigger fish (about 10 lbs) in a deeper channel. I spotted that fish in 3 ft of water, dropped the crayfish in there and he just kind of settled down on it. Neat take, but the shallow water stuff stole the show. The last shot I had for the day was a great big fish...easily in the high teens. It was feeding against the bank, and I put the sneak on and got into position. I dropped the fly in on his big, hungry mouth and he looked at it, and just sucked it up. I literally had no time to set the hook. The second he took that fly in, he spit it right back out. It was really, really fast. I was RIGHT on top of the fish, and never even set the hook. One second I saw him eat the fly, and then I saw the fly come shooting back out of his mouth. As KB said, they don't get big being dumb.

This last shot was the release of the smaller fish. It just shows you how shallow that water really was. To top of the excitement of that shallow water fishing...it rained the entire time. I love to fish in the rain, though that usually makes the carp fishing really tough. What a great outing today.