Carpin today

[delta_dog]

Well Carpin 2014 has started with a bang this year. I've been tryin for about 6-7 years to get a Carp in every month for a whole year. I've come close 4 times and came REALLY close last year. December has been a tough month for me when it comes to Carpin. When I say tough I mean I have never caught a Carp in December EVER. Last year I came so close it wasn't funny. How close? Well let's put it this way I again had every month covered except December but what made this December different from previous years was I lost 3 fish on the same day just days after Christmas. Again close but no cigar. Well this year Ive already gotten my January Carp and today I picked up my February fish.

 

[lv2nymph]

Dude, you are on it. Dan those are some big February carp man really nice job. Congratulations this Decembers gonna be the time !

 

[dc410]

Real nice Dan! Were you sight fishing or no?

 

[Fishidiot]

Cool stuff.
It's been my experience that carp can be found year 'round in many of the same pools where they can be seen in summer. I'll often check some of my favorite, slow pools for SMBs well into late November and find that bass have migrated out but the carp are always there. And they're still there the following March when I'm back looking for the returning bass. Folks think of carp as a warm season fish to pursue but perhaps there's an overlooked, cold weather river fishery for these guys.

DD,
Are other carp FFers that you're familiar with routinely pursuing these fish in winter?

 

[delta_dog]

Yep......I ran the fly within 6 inches of her nose twice and she wanted nothing to do with it. 3rd cast I mended line down stream which put the fly 2 inches from her nose......Still nothing but as soon as it moved past her she turned her head and......SLURP! I am extremely impressed with my new Helios H2! That rod is just scary accurate.

 

[gfoledc]

Real nice, Dan

 

[delta_dog]

Dave,
Some guys out west target them in the winter but with limited success. Winter carp just don't move for flies. You really need to put it on their dinner plate.

 

[lv2nymph]

By the looks of things you've got the plate located... int:

 

[delta_dog]

Jack you better dust off your 6wt. I can't wait to hear your war cry when that first fish gets you into your backing in under 3 seconds.

 

[lv2nymph]

Oh yea!! Can't wait for that, gonna be fanfreakintastic. :-D

 

[dc410]

After my first year of Carpin last year with the fly rod ....... I flat out had a blast. I caught my first carp last year in late March kind of just by chance on a Smallie scouting outing. The rest of my carp were all caught during July or August. I'm definitely going to try to extend that carp fishing season in both directions this year.

 

[GenCon]

Wow!, Those are some cool fish. Nice job.

GenCon

 

[J55tyger88]

Daaaang. I need this in my life. Have goals of getting into some carp this year.

 

[lv2nymph]

delta_dog wrote:
Jack you better dust off your 6wt. I can't wait to hear your war cry when that first fish gets you into your backing in under 3 seconds.

I've got a 9' 5 wt, and a 9' 7 wt. And a 10' 7 wt. but no 6 wt. :-( Please advise, over....

 

[pro4mance]

9' 7wt will do, over......

 

[delta_dog]

Jack your 9' 7wt will work just fine.

 

[lv2nymph]

Very good, really looking forward to getting out and chasing those freight trains with fins. :-D

 

[GenCon]

DD, you mentioned your new rod and it's accuracy. Eventhough that may be true. I have a feeling that it is your casting that is most accurate. Great job.

GenCon

 

[delta_dog]

DD, you mentioned your new rod and it's accuracy. Eventhough that may be true. I have a feeling that it is your casting that is most accurate. Great job. GenCon Posted on: Today 9:39

Thanks guy but I'm a bit of a hack when it comes to casting. Due to a half dozen shoulder surgeries I tend to get sloppy quick. :lol: I'm by no means a rod guru but I think the reason the H2 is so accurate is due to the soft delicate tip and incredible power down deep. Out of all the rods I own it's quickly becoming the second most enjoyable rod I own second only to my Sage XP. Like I said Im by no means a rod guru but I am a bit of a rod junkie.

 

[delta_dog]

Well I finally got my March carp today but it almost cost me big time. It was a tough day fishing with the wind which made sight fishing almost impossible. I hit a few spots trying to find refuge from the wind but with only small windows of little or no wind. I finally found a small pod of carp in about 3 ft of water. Not ideal conditions but it was my only chance. I dead drifted a nymph to these fish very carefully as to not spook them for almost an hour....and nothing. I was about to call it a day when I thought maybe I'll throw on a split shot and hope I don't get hung up. After getting hung up the first two casts I casted again this time the wind caught my line and formed a huge bow in the line. The wind actually helped keep my fly just off the bottom then my line went tight and I thought I was hung up and I gave my rod a quick jerk trying to get unstuck when my rod doubled over and line started pealing off. Finally fish on! I knew it was a nice fish because I had a real hard time turning him. After about 5 mins I realized it wasn't that big but still a nice fish. I had him about 15ft from me and reached for my net and thought he's pretty tuckered out so I decided to just swing him towards me and not net him. So I put my rod under my arm and grabbed my leader and decided to take a pic of him in the water but as soon as I cradled him with one hand and took a pic he decided to make another run and yanked my rod out from under my arm. There went my rod with the fish still attached. Luckily I was able to chase after the rod and dive in after it but in the process of flailing around trying to stand back I lost lost the fish but got my rod back. Now that I was soaked head to toe I made my way back to the truck. As I was putting the H2 back in the tube I was thinking that was almost a 1200 dollar bad day but hey at least I got my March carp. :-D This is the only pic I got of the fish but I won't forget it anytime soon.