First Day of Class...CANCLED! There’s Only One Thing to do...

The night before my first day of class I spent the night researching local lakes in search of carp to get my fix out here at school. My research yielded that a 45 pound carp was taken from a lake right up the street from campus. So the next morning I woke up early to check this place out.

I arrived at sunrise and started to patrol the shoreline, it only took 15 minutes and my damsel had been sucked in...and I was engaged with a carp…haha. I had seen a few more but lilly pads were making it difficult for me to place my fly. I resorted to working the shoreline with a huge bugger for the rest of my time out, it produced a small crappie and a largemouth.

I went back and got ready for class and did more research on this lake and discovered that it holds a substantial Muskie population, possible state record status…hmmm. I checked my email and was notified that class had been canceled…back to the lake it was. This time I brought my buddy Nate who I taught to fly fish last semester. We arrived at the lake and I was compelled to throw a 6 inch bunny streamer and work this weed bed next to a sharp drop off…This didn’t last too long, I need to pursue “The Fish of 10,000 Casts” on my own time. I rigged up with a large popper with a woolly bugger dropper and Nate and I took turns working this flat.

Nate With a PIG Largemouth..Haha



One of the 2 Best Pictures My Camera Has Ever Taken.

#2

My First Ever White Perch

Feisty Little Crappie

The Fish of The Day

Lost My Bugger on a Stump...

I need to tie some flies that mimic the bait fish that we caught this night. I think my goal for this semester is to tackle a musky on fly…

First Day of Class...CANCLED! There’s Only One Thing to do...

The night before my first day of class I spent the night researching local lakes in search of carp to get my fix out here at school. My research yielded that a 45 pound carp was taken from a lake right up the street from campus. So the next morning I woke up early to check this place out.

I arrived at sunrise and started to patrol the shoreline, it only took 15 minutes and my damsel had been sucked in...and I was engaged with a carp…haha. I had seen a few more but lilly pads were making it difficult for me to place my fly. I resorted to working the shoreline with a huge bugger for the rest of my time out, it produced a small crappie and a largemouth.

I went back and got ready for class and did more research on this lake and discovered that it holds a substantial Muskie population, possible state record status…hmmm. I checked my email and was notified that class had been canceled…back to the lake it was. This time I brought my buddy Nate who I taught to fly fish last semester. We arrived at the lake and I was compelled to throw a 6 inch bunny streamer and work this weed bed next to a sharp drop off…This didn’t last too long, I need to pursue “The Fish of 10,000 Casts” on my own time. I rigged up with a large popper with a woolly bugger dropper and Nate and I took turns working this flat.

Nate With a PIG Largemouth..Haha



One of the 2 Best Pictures My Camera Has Ever Taken.

#2

My First Ever White Perch

Feisty Little Crappie

The Fish of The Day

Lost My Bugger on a Stump...

I need to tie some flies that mimic the bait fish that we caught this night. I think my goal for this semester is to tackle a musky on fly…

Couldn’t stay away...

The day after I slayed 15+ carp I felt the urge to go back and try my luck. I slept until 1 in the afternoon, and I knew the odds were going to be stacked against me, a cloudless Saturday afternoon, 90+ degrees, in the middle of a city…hmm. I arrived to find the pond abound with activity…of the human sort, small children swimming in the stream that feeds the pond, worm dunkers sitting on lounge chairs with their ice fishing rods propped up on sticks…I figured I’d at least try my luck. I started to walk around the pond and came across a shoal of 20 carp basking in the sun. I made a few casts, I got one look but spooked the majority on later casts. I found a group of three fish slowly making their way towards me, placed a cast…and out of nowhere my fly had disappeared in a flash. A largemouth had ruined my chances at gold…

I continued around the pond and spotted a single large fish with his head behind a small weed clump…I crept into position and took a cast. The cast fell 5 feet short of my mark…I thought it was over, the fish was slowly moving away and I thought it had been spooked. I delivered a second cast as he moved into a clearing in the weed bed. I watched my fly slowly parachute down, and gave it a small twitch. I watched the fish’s attention turn on my fly as it sank behind a weed clump…the fish cruised over, and I watched it's head go down and tail go up…I paused for a second…then set the hook. I was so excited to feel dead weight as the fish exploded into a run.

This day I had my buddy Phil along to watch me do my thing, and I had him carry my net. I usually don’t carry my net out of laziness, haha. My net has a built in scale and I was excited to get a weight on this fish because it was the largest carp I’d ever hooked.

One of a few runs

stalemate...

Come to me...

Victory!

So much for auto focus during an adrenalin rush...12lbs.

Exaggerated Reach...

New Personal Best...

One More

Couldn’t stay away...

The day after I slayed 15+ carp I felt the urge to go back and try my luck. I slept until 1 in the afternoon, and I knew the odds were going to be stacked against me, a cloudless Saturday afternoon, 90+ degrees, in the middle of a city…hmm. I arrived to find the pond abound with activity…of the human sort, small children swimming in the stream that feeds the pond, worm dunkers sitting on lounge chairs with their ice fishing rods propped up on sticks…I figured I’d at least try my luck. I started to walk around the pond and came across a shoal of 20 carp basking in the sun. I made a few casts, I got one look but spooked the majority on later casts. I found a group of three fish slowly making their way towards me, placed a cast…and out of nowhere my fly had disappeared in a flash. A largemouth had ruined my chances at gold…

I continued around the pond and spotted a single large fish with his head behind a small weed clump…I crept into position and took a cast. The cast fell 5 feet short of my mark…I thought it was over, the fish was slowly moving away and I thought it had been spooked. I delivered a second cast as he moved into a clearing in the weed bed. I watched my fly slowly parachute down, and gave it a small twitch. I watched the fish’s attention turn on my fly as it sank behind a weed clump…the fish cruised over, and I watched it's head go down and tail go up…I paused for a second…then set the hook. I was so excited to feel dead weight as the fish exploded into a run.

This day I had my buddy Phil along to watch me do my thing, and I had him carry my net. I usually don’t carry my net out of laziness, haha. My net has a built in scale and I was excited to get a weight on this fish because it was the largest carp I’d ever hooked.

One of a few runs

stalemate...

Come to me...

Victory!

So much for auto focus during an adrenalin rush...12lbs.

Exaggerated Reach...

New Personal Best...

One More

PA vs. DE

After four years of college at the University of Delaware, I graduated. Returning home I spent the summer fishing my favorite home waters with my fingers crossed for an interview. It never came. What came was an offer to teach back in Delaware at a relatively brand new school, so I jumped at the chance and I am extremely excited about it. So I moved back down to Delaware and officially have my own little flat back near my old stomping grounds at UD. Im glad to be in the area but the fishing isn't so great. I am missing the home waters. BIG TIME. 

I Miss My Dogs Too.

So I moved to Delaware to teach and my brother moved from Baltimore to the British Virgin Islands to teach. Adam remains in Pennsylvania. This River Is Wild is going to get pretty diversified over the next year. As for me, I need to find some alternative forms of fly fishing. I spent the majority of the day google earthing nearby lakes and ponds hoping to find some golden bones but my day long adventure produced nothing. I ended up heading to one of the nicest streams in Delaware: White Clay Creek. It got me thinking about my home water again so here is a comparison of the quarry and environment.

Pennsylvania: Limestone & Freestone Streams full of native and stocked trout. 

Appalachia.

Stocked Brown.

The Bugs.

Wild Brown Stimulator (Adam).

Skinny Water Browns.

Aquashicola Rainbow.

Aquashicola Native.

Delaware: Sandy, Muddy, and Somewhat Freestone Streams full of fallfish, small smallmouth, sunfish and the occasional stocked trout who survived the summer.

Small Smallmouth.

Voracious Sunfish.

Freshly Caught Rope Swing That Went Along With The Homeless Women I Almost Stepped On Hopping Over a Fallen Tree.

Delaware Chubs Fight Hard.

And Are Plentiful.

Delaware Deer.

Heading Back Thinking About All The New Water That Lies Ahead & The Fall Stripers, Steelhead, and Browns That Await.