dig-dug

Just before conditions took a turn for the worse, and the carp all but disappeared, I spent a cool Fall morning on the water. Visibility was poor due to an overcast sky but I finally spotted a fish feeding in the shallows. Determined not to blow what I knew might be my only shot of the day, I anchored and slipped off the boat to stalk the fish on foot. As soon as it turned away from the bank and started gliding towards deeper water I made my cast. Carp tend to become more aggressive in the late Summer and Autumn so I cast just past the fish's nose and made a few quick strips. As I expected, the fish darted forward to grab my fly.
It was a small fish (for a carp) and it didn't run far. I fought it through the shallows, trying to move back to the boat where my landing net was. I could feel the fish tiring as I reached the boat, but before I could grab the net the little carp did something I've never seen a fish do before. With a final burst of energy it turned nose down and burrowed through the thick mat of algae on the bottom and into the silt beneath. I've seen carp take cover before - seen them swim under docks or into a tangle of tree branches, but this fish didn't swim, it dug.
Once it had disappeared from sight the fish just stopped moving. With the added weight of the algae there was no way I could pull it out of hiding. Instead I picked up my net, and using my line to point out the spot, I scooped deep and lifted the fish, along with a big glob of algae and muck, out of the water.

"F" for Fall

 It's been a lousy Fall for carp so far. I'm sure that I deserve some of the blame - I've missed plenty of fish and maybe I haven't spent as much time on the water as in the past. However, I have noticed some definite differences this year. For example, in the late Summer and early Fall the shallow bays that I fish have always produced verdant fields of reeds where I could usually count on finding a couple of hungry carp. This year those reeds never grew. I waited, thinking that perhaps things were just a bit late this year, but due to a lack of rain the water level has fallen and all of those shallow flats are now dry! Still, there are fish, and Fall isn't over yet.

Bycatch

I took a new friend fishing last week. Toby recently moved to Nashville from Florida and was interested in carp so I took him to one of my more consistent spots where we spent the morning (and a good portion of the afternoon!) throwing flies at fish. Toby did very well for a first timer. He quickly learned to pick up on the subtle body language of fish and had four or five very near misses. I hooked one fish which unfortunately made a sudden and explosive run and broke me off under a dock.
One thing that again struck me that day was how easy catching other species seems in comparison. At one point Toby "saw a flash of fluorescent green and flicked (his) fly at it." A minute later he had a nice bass in the boat:

 I had a similar experience this week, again while hunting carp:

Unfortunately, the carp fishing was not as good as the bass fishing. Conditions were tough and the fish were spooky. With some persistence, and some mucky wading, I finally got a carp in the net:

As luck would have it, I also brought a light spinning rod and a jar of corn. In the last half hour before we had to leave I baited a hook and tossed it into a depression where I knew carp were feeding. After about 20 minutes the reel buzzed - we had a customer! I paddled the boat while Tara fought the fish across the bay. She did a perfect job and played the fish like a pro. She was not so eager to actually hold her prize for a photo but I managed to convince her:

That's a big fish!

Special Delivery

Some time ago Drew, a friend of mine from way back, called me and asked if I tied my own flies.

"Sure" I told him.

"OK, I'm sending you something."

That was pretty much the extent of the conversation.

A few days later I received an envelope with no letter. Instead, it contained a single flight feather from a macaw!

Most of the feathers I use in fly tying are small and soft - hackle feathers, so I had to think for a bit about how to employ this unique specimen.
With some advice and inspiration from the Ronnie at the fly shop I sat down at the vice. First I tied a very simple bead-head nymph:

Next I tied in a bunch of barbs from the macaw:

 I pulled the barbs back and secured them to form an iridescent "shell." Finally I trimmed the ends to make a short tail:

I tied a couple of these "macaw nymphs" in slightly different color schemes. I gave one to Ronnie to try on some Caney Fork trout and I took the other one out just this week to try on some hungry locals:

Trans-Siberian

We're just back from a trip on the Trans-Siberian Railroad, a nearly 5000 mile journey from Moscow to Beijing. We spent several days in Severobaikalsk, a small city at the northern tip of Lake Baikal.

 The lake has about half the surface area of Lake Michigan, but at over a mile deep it holds more fresh water than all of the Great Lakes combined! It is also home to many unique species of plants and animals, including a rare freshwater seal and a small salmonid species called omul. Omul is an important food fish in the area. It is mostly dried or smoked but also eaten raw with salt sprinkled on top.

 We spent one day touring the tip of the lake by boat. We stopped for lunch at a beach on the end of a long, thin barrier island. Great schools of juvenile omul moved close to shore and, despite their normally zooplanktonivorous nature, I was able to catch quite a few of them on a small red fly.

 For more pictures of our trip, please visit my Picasa Web Album: Trans-Siberian Railroad.

Trophy Hunting

I recently met Gil, a fellow carp angler, through a mutual friend. Via email we have been sharing some of our favorite fishing spots. Gil mentioned an urban pond near town that is full of small carp.

Not wanting to fight the crowds on the Fourth of July Weekend I decided instead to check out this new spot. It was very urban - fed by storm drains and run off, but it was teeming with little carp and some small buffalo. The fish were busy feeding near the bank, either rooting in the mud or swimming parallel to shore and plucking food-like items floating near the surface. I made one lap of the pond and caught one carp. On my second lap I spotted a real trophy fish. I missed it on my first try but the second time it couldn't resist the tiny golden nymph I offered. I was thrilled, a carp this small is one in a million!

Highs in the 90's

 Fishing can be addictive. I don't think it is a chemical addiction. Thrilling moments are too short and too few to qualify fishing as an adrenaline rush, and it is simply not aerobic enough to produce a "runner's high." Instead I suspect that the addiction is more cerebral. Like an obsession with golf, catching fish is a physical and mental challenge with many uncontrollable variables. It is the desire to overcome the challenge, to solve the puzzle, that compels us to fish constantly.
A friend of mine, Haichao, has recently experienced the challenge of fishing and I have a feeling that he is now, and forever will be, an addict.

Starting small...

but getting bigger!

You Give Love a Bad Name

Our good friends in Hawaii just got married. Tara was the maid of honor and I agreed to play photographer. Needless to say we were pretty busy but I managed to fit in a few days of fishing between wedding related activities.

I met up with my friend Kirk early one morning and we waded out to fish for white ulua along the edge of the reef. We had some success, a couple of whites, one bluefin ulua and a big cornet fish:

A few days later we went out for o'io (bonefish.) We often fly fish for o'io but Kirk reported that the fish in this particular area are very difficult to hook with a fly rod. Instead we headed out early, at low tide, to catch some crabs:

With our bait in tow we made our way to the edge of the reef. The hope was that the bonefish were waiting in the deeper water for the tide to rise so that they could safely enter the flat in search of a meal, like the delicious crabs we had just caught. We cast our bait along the drop off and waited patiently. Within ten minutes Kirk had a nice fish on his line:

We spent most of the day on the water. Kirk landed one more fish and I hooked one but lost it. We saw many fish though, some quite large. Kirk says that he has seen o'io in the area that are probably bigger than the world record. I can't wait to get back out there!

Free Ride

Things finally worked out so that I could take Miles on the carp fishing trip that he won back in February. The recent flooding has temporarily restricted my carp fishing to one lake. So that's where we headed.
The wind picked up off and on, and the sun hid behind the clouds some but overall the conditions were favorable. We saw plenty of feeding fish but also large schools of excited carp, a sign of imminent spawning.
Miles wasted no time in putting his fly in front of some hungry fish but he quickly found out that setting the hook on a wily carp is a delicate matter indeed! We fished hard through the morning and Miles' timing improved but he had yet to make contact with his first carp. At one point he made a nice cast to a feeding fish and felt a tug. For one moment we both thought he had finally succeeded but it was just a feisty sunfish that had taken the fly!
Early in the afternoon Miles encouraged me to take a turn fishing. I cast to a few fish along the shoreline with no luck but then spotted a big mud toward the middle of the bay. I paddled quietly within range and made a couple casts before the carp spotted my fly and inhaled it. The hook popped free after only a few seconds and the carp escaped but I think that witnessing that hook-up gave Miles new confidence. We found a pair of fish feeding in the shallows with their shiny backs sticking out of water. One fish got nervous and moved off but the second stayed and Miles dropped his fly gently beside it. The fish scooted forward and paused. I don't know if I managed to give an instruction or if I was holding my breath in anticipation, but Miles timed his strip perfectly and hooked up his first carp!

The fish stayed in front of us and Miles kept it on a short leash which was the right thing to do because it wanted nothing more than to swim up into a nearby tangle of branches. Unfortunately, after a lively tug of war, the tippet snapped and the carp escaped. Nevertheless, I was impressed with Miles' persistence and his quick adaptation to a different style of fishing. He definitely deserved that fish and I'm sure it won't be long before he pulls one into the boat.

Higher Ground

The recent flooding in Nashville knocked out one of the city's two water treatment plants. There is no rationing of water but residents have been asked to limit unnecessary water use in order to conserve local water reserves.

In the spirit of water conservation Tara and I packed the car and headed East for a few days of camping in the Great Smoky Mountains.

Lately I have been reading about tenkara fishing, a traditional method of Japanese fly fishing which employs a long rod and no reel. Tenkara fishing is ideal for catching trout on streams and small rivers.

 

The most obvious difference between fly fishing and tenkara fishing is that tenakara fishing does not use a reel - thus the tenkara fisher has a limited amount of line and no drag system. This might be disadvantageous when playing a large fish but to be completely honest, few fishers, and almost no trout fishers actually need their reel to fight fish. Large fish can be landed with a simple handpole. 

A limited amount of line also means a limited casting distance, but on small water there is so little room that fly fishers often find themselves reduced to short casts anyway. Tenkara rods are usually between 12 and 15 feet long, much longer than a normal fly rod. With this increased reach, a tenkara fisher can lift most of their line off the water which allows their fly to drift very naturally with the current, exactly what the trout are looking for.

I figured that the Smokies would be an ideal place to try out tenkara so I rigged up some handpoles and we headed off.

 

I brought two flies with me: the hare's ear nymph in a variety of sizes and a yellow dry fly to imitate a ubiquitous Smoky Mountain insect known as a yellow sally. 

The nymphs failed to elicit any strikes, although that may have been due to my lack of tenkara technique. In the afternoons as more yellow sallies began to hatch the trout began feeding on the surface. Whenever I spotted a feeding fish I waded stealthily into position and then dropped my dry fly right on the fish's head, which usually elicited an immediate strike.

 

With the short line I found that I was more successful in setting the hook when a fish took my fly. Tenkara fishing uses a line which is roughly the length of the rod so that when the angler raises the rod tip, the end of the line, hopefully with a trout attached, swings right to them.

We were only able to stay two nights, and the weather was only mostly cooperative, but we had fun and caught some fish. Tenkara is a simple and effective fishing method and I won't be surprised if it's popularity continues to grow.

Don't Eat That!

There is a well known recipe for preparing carp:
First, fillet the fish. Place the salted fillets on a cedar plank and let it sit in the refrigerator overnight. Then, throw away the fish and eat the plank!
This is how most people feel about eating carp. This aversion is based on the popular misconception that carp are dirty fish that eat trash. This is nothing more than a common case of social ignorance.
To put this into perspective, consider tilapia. It seems like everyone eats tilapia now. You can order it in restaurants or buy it at Whole Foods and cook it yourself. Yet, according to a source referenced by Wikipedia, "tilapia is the third most important fish in aquaculture after carps and salmonids." Clearly then, America's preference for tilapia and aversion to carp is not shared by the rest of the world.
Another interesting illustration of social aversion to the consumption of a particular fish is that of tilapia in Hawaii. Tilapia are an invasive species in Hawaii and they have established themselves in the foulest water available - the Ala Wai canal in Waikiki. The dirtiness of the Ala Wai is not an exaggeration. Several years back, after a sewage line leak, several people were stricken with flesh-eating bacteria acquired by accidentally falling into the canal. In my experience, the residents of Hawaii who see this water teaming with tilapia have largely come to associate the fish with pollution and disease and so, despite it's growing popularity on the mainland, do their best to avoid eating it.
I hope that these points help convince people to at least entertain the idea of eating carp, and to read on with an open mind.
Last year my friend Bill bought a stove-top smoker. Among his early experiments he caught and smoked some catfish which turned out quite well. From catfish, he was inspired to try smoking carp. As my pump was broken, Bill generously brought his kayaks to the lake and we set out in search of a tasty looking fish.

Bill had a spinning rod rigged up for sunfish and so the carp catching fell to me. I missed several fish, and broke off one before I finally hooked our meal-to-be.

Bill took the fish home and worked his magic. First he butchered it and then brined the fillets:

Next he fired up the smoker:

Finally, he finished things off by broiling the fillets briefly:

There you have it, smoked carp:

I don't know if carp is actually that good or if most of the credit goes to Bill but this was some of the best smoked fish I have ever eaten. It definitely put to shame the stuff available in the grocery stores. The only thing that comes close in my mind is the freshly smoked salmon I have gotten in the Pacific Northwest. Not only was the carp delicious, but for any skeptics out there, we are all still standing. That carp, at least, couldn't have been too dirty!

Amur-ous Diversion

I returned the next morning, determined to land a grass carp. I had tied some simple dry flies to resemble the flowery stalks I had seen the fish eating.

 The weather was a bit overcast and it was sprinkling rain off and on, just enough to keep most people at home. I had the water to myself. I found a lone grass carp feeding in the first place I looked. I paddled into position, anchored the boat and made a cast. A bad cast. Just 6 inches to the right would have been on the money but I lined the fish and it disappeared with a splash. The fish did not return so I moved on. I soon found what I was looking for. Several of the flowering trees stood together on the bank. The flowers dropped onto the water where they drifted along the shoreline in the breeze. This created sort of a river of food, definitely where I would be if I were a hungry grass carp. Sure enough I spotted big mouths clooping flowers off the surface. I planned my approach carefully and then moved stealthily into position. I anchored and waited for a fish to come within casting distance. My patience was soon rewarded with a perfect opportunity. Downwind of me several fish were feeding together, swimming slowly in my direction. I gauged the distance and set down a nice cast a few feet in front of them. I focused on my fly, one yellow speck among thousands. Suddenly a big mouth gaped! I gave my line a strip and lifted my rod. The fish bolted, but without my fly in it's mouth. This was the same frustrating scenario from the day before. I decided that I was reacting too early, that I should wait until the mouth closed before I set the hook. I stowed my rod and ate a snack, waiting for the fish to calm down and resume feeding.
When I was finished, and the fish had started again, I resumed my vigil. Soon, a big grey shadow appeared between me and the shore, moving straight towards the boat. I put my fly in front of it and it immediately rose and gulped it down. I waited an extra heartbeat for the mouth to close and then lifted my rod - I had it! The fish dove and came directly at me. It reached deep water and circled the boat heavily. We struggled for some minutes before I managed to get it near the surface. When we finally saw each other I was astonished at it's size. The carp however, was not impressed. In an angry burst it swam under the boat and my line caught on one of the anchor ropes. I scrambled to pull up the anchor and untangle the line but the fish gave another jolt and I felt my leader snap.

 Nevertheless, I was pleased that I had figured out the timing of the hook set. Now I just had to do it again. This time I put my fly in the middle of half a dozen or so fish that were feeding in a loose circle. I waited until the big mouth had closed and again set the hook successfully. There was an enormous explosion of noise and water as the big fish panicked in all directions. Line tore off my reel as the one I had hooked fled to deeper water. This time I was prepared for the battle. I was aware of the danger posed by my anchor lines, but I didn't dare pull them out of the water lest the wind push me into the far shore where all kinds of trees and stumps were waiting to tangle my line. At one point the fish did get tangled on an anchor but I was able to free it in time. Between the pull of the fish and the wind, and despite leaving the anchors in the water, I eventually ended up near the opposite bank where I struggled to keep the fish out of the submerged trees. It was quite a fight but I finally pulled the big carp on board.

 I tried to weigh it but my 15lb. scale bottomed out. My cat weighs fifteen pounds and I can guarantee that this fish was significantly bigger than that! I released my first grass carp and paddled happily back to the car and made it home in time for lunch.

Catfish, Interrupted

Last weekend I heard that people had been catching buffalo on the Caney Fork river. I have not solved the puzzle that is catching buffalo on the fly but from what I understand the key is timing. In the spring, the buffalo stampede upriver to their spawning grounds. The strategy for catching them is the same as for catching trout except that instead of a sleek little salmonid you end up with a angry behemoth on the end of your line. Needless to say I was tempted to go looking for them.
Before I could make that trip I encountered another diverting phenomenon, carp feeding on the surface. Now I was faced with a choice: go in search of big buffalo, or return to catch some carp on dry flies? But when Tara took the day off I decided to set aside my tough choice and stick to our plan to investigate some new water. It turned out to be the right move.
We launched the boat and I set off in search of the carp that I hoped to find. As we paddled into a shallow area, I spotted a huge fish. And then another. The place was teeming with what appeared to be enormous carp! Try as I might, the fish rejected my carp flies completely. I began to suspect that these fish were not common carp at all. What looks like a big carp but won't take a carp fly? Buffalo. Or so I thought.

Frustrated, we anchored for lunch. I rigged up a spinning rod with corn kernels to cast out while we ate. Before I could even take a bite the rod jerked sharply. It was a little catfish. We must have been sitting on a bunch of them because every time we recast we immediately got another strike.
 After an entertaining lunch with the catfish we paddled off to explore some other spots. Along the way I spotted some more buffalo/carp swimming in a group along a steep bank. Every few seconds one of them would tilt up and take something off the surface. I paddled closer for a better view. They weren't buffalo after all, they were grass carp! We entered a small bay and spotted several more of them feeding lazily on small stems of yellow flowers.

Again I found myself without a proper fly and again I jury-rigged something from my fly box. It almost worked. I had two fish take my "dry fly" but I missed both of them. When I tried to set the hook they made a terrific splash and disappeared. I didn't manage to hook any fish but now my choice was made for me: come back the next day and catch big grass carp on dry flies!

Rare Treat

The new pump arrived for the boat! I usually prefer to avoid the Sunday crowds but today I decided to go out and look for some fish anyway.

The conditions weren't great. The wind blew pretty hard and from time to time it would change directions. Nevertheless I found carp feeding along the shorelines who were hungry for my fly. I lost four or five good fish today which was disappointing, but I landed one that made up for it all:

Before I even hooked up I could see that this fish looked different. It had a dark spot on it's nose and when I got it into the net I saw brilliant orange along it's cheeks. This kind of color variation occurs naturally. Carp with these types of mutations were selectively bred to create the colorfully patterned carp we all know as koi.

However, this was only the first surprise of the day. Working my way along a sheltered bank, out of the wind, I came upon a wonderful scene:

The carp were busy sipping some kind of seed off of the surface! This type of surface feeding is uncommon for carp and it provides a rare opportunity to catch them on dry flies. All one needs to do is select a pattern that imitates whatever the fish are eating. I quickly found the tree whose seeds were blanketing the water:

Unfortunately, I am the type of person who goes fishing with a half dozen flies in my shirt pocket and so I found myself without an appropriate imitation. Nevertheless, I decided to try and jury-rig something, just for the heck of it.

I chopped off some yellow indicator yarn and tied it to a hook with a bit of monofilament. This was the result:

I fished with this ugly looking thing for about a half an hour. I actually got one fish to take it, but I didn't manage to set the hook.
I expect that the conditions won't change for a few days and so I am planning on tying some better "seed flies" and trying again later in the week.

Spring Flowers

The pump for my inflatable boat broke beyond all repair. I ordered a new one, but it will take a week or so to arrive.

In the meantime I've been wandering the shorelines of my favorite fishing spots on foot, enjoying the flowers,

 and catching some fish along the way!