Summer Sunday Fix.

Last year during the school year, I would return from class and instead of doing work, I would watch fly fishing videos. Some would get me really pumped up about fishing and I would have to leave the apartment and go out to the stream and get my fix. No matter the hour, no matter the weather, and no matter what my friends were doing. This is one of those videos. 

Two words: BAD ASS.

Find more videos like this on ROAMING FLYFISHER - Global Flyfishing Community

Check out more of Fly Fishing Nation @ http://flyfishing-nation.blogspot.com/

Summer Sunday Fix.

Last year during the school year, I would return from class and instead of doing work, I would watch fly fishing videos. Some would get me really pumped up about fishing and I would have to leave the apartment and go out to the stream and get my fix. No matter the hour, no matter the weather, and no matter what my friends were doing. This is one of those videos. 

Two words: BAD ASS.

Find more videos like this on ROAMING FLYFISHER - Global Flyfishing Community

Check out more of Fly Fishing Nation @ http://flyfishing-nation.blogspot.com/

Well, I'm sure there are worse places to not be catching any fish...

Tortola, British Virgin Islands:  Unspoiled island paradise with no malls, movie theaters, chain restaurants or highways, but tons of tarpon, bonefish, barracuda and permit that will not eat my fly.

The wonderful state of most things on Tortola.

The one and only bridge: prime real estate.

View from said bridge, flats in the distance.

Rocky shoreline teeming with fish that are not hungry or amused by anything I throw at them.

Mangroves at low tide.

10wt straining in the wind.

The new 'pocket water'.

At least I have this to come home to after a disappointing day wading through paradise.

Persistence will pay off...eventually.

Well, I'm sure there are worse places to not be catching any fish...

Tortola, British Virgin Islands:  Unspoiled island paradise with no malls, movie theaters, chain restaurants or highways, but tons of tarpon, bonefish, barracuda and permit that will not eat my fly.

The wonderful state of most things on Tortola.

The one and only bridge: prime real estate.

View from said bridge, flats in the distance.

Rocky shoreline teeming with fish that are not hungry or amused by anything I throw at them.

Mangroves at low tide.

10wt straining in the wind.

The new 'pocket water'.

At least I have this to come home to after a disappointing day wading through paradise.

Persistence will pay off...eventually.

The Do’s And The Don’ts, And The Ins And The Out’s Of The GOLDEN GHOST

I’ve been asked by enough people now to finally get my ass in gear and write this post. So here we go…

I am by no means an expert here, but I’ve pursued carp for long enough to have a solid handle on how to approach fly fishing for this amazing species. First off you need to find them. As for the boys and I, we struggled to find good carp water for a long time. Now that we did I have had the chance to study them, I guess since I’m an Organismal Biology major at school I approached the situation scientifically, which ultimately lead me to success.

The Ins And Out’s

Once you’ve found a body of water that contains carp, preferably a good amount of them. Wear neutral colored clothing, and be more cautious than you’ve ever been your entire life when trying to locate them in the water, carp are a very spooky fish. Carp in my opinion have three things in which they could be doing, feeding or “mudding”, cruising, or sunning themselves near the surface.

Your best bet is to fish for mudding or cruising fish. Mudding fish are the most easily caught obviously because they’re actively looking for food. I’ve found most carp enjoy mudding right along the shoreline, creeping along in the shoreline foliage (with your rod at the ready) is the best way to spot them. Once you’ve located a fish, don’t move anything but your rod. Depending on what you see, if just a mud plume…watch closely (polarized glasses are a must) look for its tail, then place your fly 4-6 feet in front of it. Slowly, and I mean slowly bring your fly into the fish’s line of vision. If you just pull your fly up to the fish, this un-natural movement and vibration will send the fish in the other direction. If done correctly with the right fly, the carp will see it, and since already in feed mode will inhale it (by far the easiest way to fish for carp).

Cruisers on the other hand are somewhat tricky for a few reasons. One, they like to cruise in shoals…spook one and your done. Two, they are more aware of they’re surroundings, place the fly too close, or even worse, right on top of them and kiss your chances good-bye. You need to place your fly ahead of cruisers quite far not to alarm them. Depending on how far away the fish is, watch your fly sink and watch the fish’s body language. If too far away to see your fly, body language is your only way to know when to set the hook. Watch for head down tail up, or a lazy turn in the direction of where you think your fly is and set the hook, practice makes perfect at that part of the game.

Sunning fish are the hardest to coax into taking your fly, I’ve done it, but these fish are so easily spooked. Use the same technique as the cruisers, give a generous lead and slowly swim your fly past the fish. The majority of the time the sunning fish will bolt once its seen the fly, its almost like they’re in a trance mode while sunning and the fly scares them out of the trance.

Now lets say your doing all of this right (not spooking the fish) and still the fish are refusing the fly…I’ve been there. Take a look at the body of water your fishing, try and figure out what the fish could be feeding on. Flip rocks, rip out weeds…these fish can be more selective than trout, they want what they want.

I started out fishing sucker-spawn and san juan worms, they would occasionally work at this one place we fished but at the other place (the dreaded canal) these patterns would be refused every time. For four months I fished the canal with no success until I sat down one night and created the fly that changed the way I fished for carp. The two places I primarily fish are full of weeds and have soft muddy bottoms, perfect habitat for dragonfly and damselfly nymphs. I created a hybrid fly of sorts that hasn’t failed me to this very day.

My Life Changing Creation

Some Do’s

-Use olive floating fly line

-Use at least a 12 foot fluorocarbon leader

-Get used to getting torn apart by 30 mosquitoes at the same time while not swatting them away in order not to scare the fish you just casted to.

-Beat the crowd, most carp water is highly trafficked. Get there early.

-Present your fly as naturally as possible, if you can use a weightless fly, it will stay in the strike zone longer. Heavy flies that plummet to the bottom just spook the fish in my experience.

-Make your first cast count.

-Think of how your going to land a fish in the area in which your fishing…scout out all obstructions and be sure to steer the fish away from them…this is one of the hardest fighting species I’ve ever caught, screw smallmouth and steelhead…I never been in my backing more.

Some Don’ts

-Yelling is not a good idea. They can hear you…I cursed out a mosquito today, and sent my mudding fish out of sight.

-Don’t get angry or discouraged, because it’s going to be hard not to until you get the hang of things.

-Don’t be afraid to change fly patterns, even if the one you’re using produced before.

-Boy Oh Boy…Don’t wear a white shirt.

-Try to not use a strike indicator, practice makes perfect.

-Don’t give up…

I went to the canal this morning and made 2 casts…this is what came of it…

A Below Average Fish...its pretty big...

Outta' The Weeds!

Average...Huge

Pleased...

The Do’s And The Don’ts, And The Ins And The Out’s Of The GOLDEN GHOST

I’ve been asked by enough people now to finally get my ass in gear and write this post. So here we go…

I am by no means an expert here, but I’ve pursued carp for long enough to have a solid handle on how to approach fly fishing for this amazing species. First off you need to find them. As for the boys and I, we struggled to find good carp water for a long time. Now that we did I have had the chance to study them, I guess since I’m an Organismal Biology major at school I approached the situation scientifically, which ultimately lead me to success.

The Ins And Out’s

Once you’ve found a body of water that contains carp, preferably a good amount of them. Wear neutral colored clothing, and be more cautious than you’ve ever been your entire life when trying to locate them in the water, carp are a very spooky fish. Carp in my opinion have three things in which they could be doing, feeding or “mudding”, cruising, or sunning themselves near the surface.

Your best bet is to fish for mudding or cruising fish. Mudding fish are the most easily caught obviously because they’re actively looking for food. I’ve found most carp enjoy mudding right along the shoreline, creeping along in the shoreline foliage (with your rod at the ready) is the best way to spot them. Once you’ve located a fish, don’t move anything but your rod. Depending on what you see, if just a mud plume…watch closely (polarized glasses are a must) look for its tail, then place your fly 4-6 feet in front of it. Slowly, and I mean slowly bring your fly into the fish’s line of vision. If you just pull your fly up to the fish, this un-natural movement and vibration will send the fish in the other direction. If done correctly with the right fly, the carp will see it, and since already in feed mode will inhale it (by far the easiest way to fish for carp).

Cruisers on the other hand are somewhat tricky for a few reasons. One, they like to cruise in shoals…spook one and your done. Two, they are more aware of they’re surroundings, place the fly too close, or even worse, right on top of them and kiss your chances good-bye. You need to place your fly ahead of cruisers quite far not to alarm them. Depending on how far away the fish is, watch your fly sink and watch the fish’s body language. If too far away to see your fly, body language is your only way to know when to set the hook. Watch for head down tail up, or a lazy turn in the direction of where you think your fly is and set the hook, practice makes perfect at that part of the game.

Sunning fish are the hardest to coax into taking your fly, I’ve done it, but these fish are so easily spooked. Use the same technique as the cruisers, give a generous lead and slowly swim your fly past the fish. The majority of the time the sunning fish will bolt once its seen the fly, its almost like they’re in a trance mode while sunning and the fly scares them out of the trance.

Now lets say your doing all of this right (not spooking the fish) and still the fish are refusing the fly…I’ve been there. Take a look at the body of water your fishing, try and figure out what the fish could be feeding on. Flip rocks, rip out weeds…these fish can be more selective than trout, they want what they want.

I started out fishing sucker-spawn and san juan worms, they would occasionally work at this one place we fished but at the other place (the dreaded canal) these patterns would be refused every time. For four months I fished the canal with no success until I sat down one night and created the fly that changed the way I fished for carp. The two places I primarily fish are full of weeds and have soft muddy bottoms, perfect habitat for dragonfly and damselfly nymphs. I created a hybrid fly of sorts that hasn’t failed me to this very day.

My Life Changing Creation

Some Do’s

-Use olive floating fly line

-Use at least a 12 foot fluorocarbon leader

-Get used to getting torn apart by 30 mosquitoes at the same time while not swatting them away in order not to scare the fish you just casted to.

-Beat the crowd, most carp water is highly trafficked. Get there early.

-Present your fly as naturally as possible, if you can use a weightless fly, it will stay in the strike zone longer. Heavy flies that plummet to the bottom just spook the fish in my experience.

-Make your first cast count.

-Think of how your going to land a fish in the area in which your fishing…scout out all obstructions and be sure to steer the fish away from them…this is one of the hardest fighting species I’ve ever caught, screw smallmouth and steelhead…I never been in my backing more.

Some Don’ts

-Yelling is not a good idea. They can hear you…I cursed out a mosquito today, and sent my mudding fish out of sight.

-Don’t get angry or discouraged, because it’s going to be hard not to until you get the hang of things.

-Don’t be afraid to change fly patterns, even if the one you’re using produced before.

-Boy Oh Boy…Don’t wear a white shirt.

-Try to not use a strike indicator, practice makes perfect.

-Don’t give up…

I went to the canal this morning and made 2 casts…this is what came of it…

A Below Average Fish...its pretty big...

Outta' The Weeds!

Average...Huge

Pleased...

Huge Carp Snaps Helios Like A Twig...

So for the past 3 weeks I’ve been fishing for carp every chance I get, probably landing close to if not more than 50 fish, including the 3 largest fish of my life. I hate to say it but I’m getting pretty damn good at the carpin’ game…This morning I went to Carp Lake X as we so call it and the fish were spooky, a lot more than usual, so I had to work for them. After fishing for 2hrs I finally landed my first of 4 carp. The last fish however ended my day of fishing.

I saw a carp out towards the middle of the lake that looked huge, so at that distance it had to be big. I laid out my damsel about 6 feet in front of him and swam it into his field of view and paused it, I read his body language and set the hook. He went ballistic, he put me in my backing real quick. Then ran right towards me, I reeled as fast as I could and kept up with him and finally gained my fly line back, then…Crack! He made an about-face maneuver and snapped my rod instantly…and took me into my backing again. Since nothing seems to ever phase me anymore, I looked at my rod and there was just enough rod left together that had sufficient backbone to play out the fish…so yeah, I landed the bastard…I really think it was one of the largest fish in the lake, it probably went close to 15lbs. All in all it was a pretty epic cast and hook up…the fight didn’t go so well…I probably couldn’t have even casted as far as a did with out the helios, the rod is amazing or was…sigh…

Yeah...

Time to call it a day