Easter Carping

  I got up fairly early this morning and instead of searching for hidden eggs, decided to christen  my new 3wt at the local ponds. Two hours of flogging the water, casting the narrow openings in the bullrushes, roll casts and reach casts. all the while trying to avoid cedar, dogwood and barberry on the back cast and with the rod tip, and for the most part succeeding. Two hours without a single bite and I was in heaven. Off to the next pond.

  Here the water is quite a bit muddier. I cast the margins, slowly bouncing the fly along the bottom. Working several hundred yards of shoreline, occasionally setting off territorial dogs in adjacent backyards. Finally...not a bite, but sight of a sunbathing school of carp. Off with the weighted nymph and start chucking a small wet hackle, crouched behind a stand of rushes. The slowly retrieved wet, just below the surface, gets the attention of the school and they all start closing in, only to turn away at the last second. The scenario is replayed over and over, through multiple fly changes, each time the school becoming warier to the point where, rather than spooking it completely, I make a major change in tactics. The fly rod is retired for the day, no longer brand new but still cherry.

  Out comes the lawn chair, box of worms and the ultra lite. Two minutes later...

  It completely left the water on hook set and immediately peeled off 10 yrds of line like maybe it thought it was a smallmouth bass.  It also completely spooked it's buddies. Eventually things quieted down, and after a few bluegill this guy came to hand

  For a healthier lifestyle, my doctor recently told me I should have fish at least twice a week. I couldn't agree more, I should do this more often!