Sunday, September 4, 2011

The Carp Spririts Are Angry

It has been a heck of a month and an incredible season fly fishing for carp.  As a result I have been feeling pretty full of myself.  I think this has displeased the carp spirits.  Call me pagan, but sometimes I think the carp spirits are speaking to me.  The conversation Friday morning would have gone something like this:

CS:  "Feeling like hot stuff lately aren't you?"
McTage:  "Yeah, pretty pleased.  Heading out to target some big fish."
CS:  "Repent!  You are just a man!  How would you like a 15deg cold front?"
McTage:  "Well, OK.  I can adjust to that."
CS:  "Hundreds if not thousands of carp in relatively shallow and clear water."
McTage:  "Now your talking!"
CS:  "Except these will be ultra spooky carp that detect you to 30 feet."
McTage:  "I can be pretty sneaky"
CS:  "On an overcast day where you can only detect the carp to 4 feet."
McTage:  "Torture!"
CS:  "While we are at it lets throw in a thunderstorm that rains and lightnings over you and only you.  At about a half mile in diameter you will be able to see dry people on the far side of the lake.  When you give up the storm will immediately dissipate."
McTage:  "Plan B?"
CS:  "Yeah, we better algae bloom plan B while we are at it."
McTage:  "I repent!" 

I better wash my lucky hat or something.  It worked in March on a day where I felt similarly eaten by the bear.

8 comments:

  1. Fresh off a phat win!! Nothin wrong with feeling a little confident. Never wash that lid man. THAT is bsd luck.

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  2. I recommend a pagan ritual of some kind. Bonfire. Dancing. Chant. ;)

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  3. Great stuff. I'm a carp virgin. Gave it a shot this weekend here in Junction, CO. Got skunked on the carp, but man what a rush! I've found a new calling in life! I will not quit till I land that hog I saw on Saturday at a local pond.

    Say, do you have any superwise tips for pond carp? My biggest issue was the grasses. I had no problem locating and sneaking up on the carp, but I couldn't keep my fly from getting caught in the grass in front of the carp. Is this an issue, or do you disreagaurd it? Will carp take a fly if it's a little tangled in the grass?

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  5. Apparently the english language is beyond me tonight. Lets try this again.
    David - I have chickened out on the hat idea.
    EMB - I will have to think about that. My son might enjoy helping me work something out.
    JUSTIN - Welcome to the revolution! We dont have to deal with submerged grass too much here in the Denver area but when I was in Oregon is was everywhere. The key there was that you had to get pretty close and use a dink-and-dunk aproach with a vertical presentation in front of the carp, preferably to slow cruisers. Tailers in that situation where very hard because you couldnt get the fly through the grass down to the bottom where they had thier head buried. Certainly you cannot strip the fly along the bottom. We were mostly killing them on soft hackles with brass beads for weight, you probably dont want a really fast sinking fly so that the fly stays in view a little longer before it buries itself in the grass. One of my favorite takes of all time came when a trouser worm hung up on a peice of grass ON THE SURFACE and a mirror came up and sipped it off like a trout slurping a midge. Not necessarily something I would try and repeat, just freak luck. Good luck!

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  6. I don't know McTage. You've had some serious carp mojo working lately. I think you could give the carp spirits the finger and get away with it right now.

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  7. Now now Ty. We have been over this...you cannot under-estimate the power of the carp spirits!

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  8. Thanks a bunch, McTage. I'll give that a whirl this week. Tonight, actually. I was thinking maybe no weight is better in grass so that it's a little easier to maneuver without getting snagged. And, like you said, it'll stay in their vision longer. Thanks a lot, and hopefully I'll have more success!

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