Carpo Diablo

Today I was up early hunting carp.

I was stalking along the rocky shoreline looking for bronze backs and tails in the early morning sunlight. I found several pods of feeding fish and tried everything I could think of to throw at them. I tried nymphs, streamers and dries but nothing seemed to interest the big beauties as they worked along the rocks in the shallows. I found that I could get close enough but most casts eventually got hung up in the algae covered rocks. I would get one or two casts before the fish would spook to the deeper waters.

As the sun got higher the carp moved off shore to feed or up into a favorite holding spot near a rock or cove. I was about to give it up for this morning when I saw a nice pod of about 5 carp still feeding in a protected area that the sun had not yet fully reached.

It was going to be extra challenging since there was a lot of wood – logs, sticks submerged branches, and roots - in this area. I could tell that I was only going to get one shot and it had to be a good one.

I tied on a small non-descript nymph that was mostly peacock herl wrapped on a #18 lead weighted hook. The fish seemed to be eating the vegetation off the rocks and wood so maybe this would look like a chunk of algae.

One nice fish pulled away from the main group and I eased into position to make a cast. The carp was working the edge of a submerged log and I tried to cast alongside the log.



You can probably guess what happened – I made a great cast but hooked the log instead of the fish! I froze and tried to contemplate my next move. The carp slowly turned and swam directly at me trying to figure out what I was. I stood like a statue as he approached and rolled on his side to look up at me. He passed within two feet of my legs and headed out to deeper water as I stood there with my mouth open and my fly hooked on a log.

Next time I will come prepared for battle.

I'm already thinking about tying a "dog food fly"



Grow big and fat my friend....



For now I'll stick to what I know:


Green Sunfish


Pumpkinseed


I also got some nice pictures of a butterfly feeding on a thistle