Dog Logs and Pink Worms

Stephen, a co-worker and friend of mine, moved to Nashville recently from North Carolina. He has been a saltwater fisherman for many years but fortunately he brought his enthusiasm, and tackle box, with him when he moved inland. The other day we were chatting and he mentioned that he had never caught smallmouth bass before. 

I caught my first smallmouth some years ago, not long after moving to Nashville, and I thought it would be fun to take Stephen out to that same spot. The weather was a bit uncertain but we decided to take our chances, so we threw the boat in the back of Stephen's truck and headed for the lake. 

We fished all afternoon and caught some nice fish, including Stephen's first, and second, smallmouths! The biggest fish of the day took a spinnerbait but managed to tangle the line and escape. Most of the other fish fell for Stephen's secret springtime bass lure (how secret is debatable as Bass Pro Shops was nearly sold out of them!)

Click here to see all the pictures!

Euro-carpin'

I recently acquired a delightful little book entitled Fish of the Summer Still Waters. Written by several British anglers in 1991, the book discusses some of the more obscure game fish in the U.K. The book's main sections are devoted to catfish, rudd and eels, with shorter sections on other fish like burbot and grass carp.

The most interesting aspect of the book is how well it highlights the differences between British angling and fishing in the United States. First of all, carp are probably the most popular British game fish! (compared with bass in the U.S.)

Second, much of the freshwater in the U.K. is apparently privately owned and managed, either by individual estates or by fishing or hunting clubs. Permission to fish such water requires various fees or club dues and access to certain ponds or lakes can be a great privilege. Finally, since these waters have been fished by so many anglers for so many years, a unique and highly technical style of fishing has emerged. British anglers spend a lot of time reconnoitring "swims," channels or depressions likely to hold fish. Often they will "feed" the swims on a regular basis, chumming the area with food, before actually laying out a hook. Sophisticated baits are then prepared by hand from secret recipes that cater to the nutritional preferences of the fish. Several rods are employed by each angler who may actually make camp at the water's edge in order to fish uninterrupted for a day or more.

Anxious to catch some carp, but feeling a bit drained from a recent cold, I decided not to take out the boat and instead try some British style carp fishing.
I brought two rods and two different baits: corn kernels and Rob's Carp Assassin.

 After only 15 or so minutes I had a customer, a nice 5lb (2 1/4 Kg) carp.
After releasing the fish I re-baited and re-cast. Before I could even check my other bait I had a second fish on! This one went just a bit larger than the first, a fine brace of carp!

Artificial Sweetener

According to the National Weather Service, April is the peak of tornado season in Tennessee and, naturally, with tornadoes comes their progenitors: thunderstorms! Sudden rains swell streams whose dirty water is then deposited in the reservoirs and rivers, conditions that make for tough carp fishing. Fortunately, I happen to know of a small lake near Nashville which maintains fishable conditions through the spring. Unfortunately, a recent thunderstorm downed dozens of trees on the access road so I have not been able to get there. 
This morning, determined not to let these weather related set-backs keep me off the water I grabbed my spinning rod and waders and headed out to do some bass fishing. Earlier this spring I bought some soft plastic lures, made right here in TN, and I was curious to see how they would perform.

I was not disappointed. I didn't fish for long but I landed a couple of nice bass and lost a couple more. 
The most surprising part of the morning came while I was wading across a mud flat and spotted an orange tail through the murk. I crouched low and stalked the carp carefully as it glided slowly over the bottom. I knew I couldn't just cast my lure to the fish as the splash from the lead sinker would certainly spook it. Instead I improvised a version of The Heron Technique, a special method I have developed for fly fishing, and managed to get my lure in front of the carp's head. The fish accelerated and paused abruptly. I raised my rod and set the hook. A few minutes later I had successfully landed a carp with an artificial lure on a spinning rod!

notice the white plastic lure sitting on my palm

I have heard of people catching carp with lures, I believe I may even have met one of them once, but until today I had only caught carp with flies or else some kind of bait. And while I probably won't be making a great effort to replicate this feat it's nice to know that it is possible.