My Ugly Mug

John Montana from Carp On The Fly wrote an article about the crazy flood-level fly-carpin on the Columbia River this year in the recent USCARPRO on-line magazine.  Great story with some wonderful pictures, go check it out.  There are even a couple of  images of yours truly (on pages 112-115).  Got me from the good side and everything.

Soft-Hackle Flies For Carp - 2011 Big C Trip MFV (Most Valuable Fly)

MVF!  MVF!  MVF!

What is now my biggest fish  of any species (23lb) on a soft hackle! 

John setting the hook on one of many (60ish?) he seduced with the soft-hackle

John from Carp on the Fly is a big fan of soft-hackles for carp and this was by far and away the most valuable fly last week on the Columbia.  The Primordial Carp-Stew caught me a couple.  The Leather Worm,  Backstabber and Rubber-Legged Hairs-Ear coaxed a few more.  In comparison John caught dozens on various soft-hackle color/bead combinations.  Heck, I caught twelve carp on one single soft-hackle fly that John showed me how to tie up in the hotel room after day 1.  That fly was a mess by the end of the trip!    

I have been a little confused for quite some time about the soft-hackles the Columbia River carpers (I.E. Mr P's Carp Carrot, John Montana's Green Fly) espouse.  I was confused about what feathers from a pheasant to use and what the point was.  I have tied and fished a couple of what I thought were carp carrot-ish flies with hen-back or kneck and had success, but they did not bring anything new to the table in terms of presentation or action when compared to a Backstabber.  With the proper hackle in place these flies are very sparse yet have an incredibly subtle and seductive action in the water that is totally unique.  And deadly.

In terms of presentation, given the conditions we were mostly using it to coax passive cruising or sleeping carp by dropping it into or very slowly sweeping it through the field of vision mid-column.  John uses it for tailing fish too when conditions permit, but because of the ever-present heavy flooded vegetation you really needed a fly that would work above bottom and this one sure did the trick.  Several even rose up, followed and then gently sipped the fly as I slowly planed it upward past their head.  "On the rise" represents a totally new presentation for me.  I think John was probably surprised and slightly embarrassed when I started screaming like a pre-teen girl at a Justin Beiber concert the first time it happened.

This fly kicked so much butt on this trip that the first impulse was for it to go straight onto the favorites flies page, but I wanted to at least get one tight line in CO before I did.  Mission accomplished.  On Sunday morning I had three clear takes and hooked one - on the rise!  I lost it, but who cares, it was on the stinkin rise!

Materials:  Bear with me, but John varies the bead-size, body material and hackle color to match different situations. 

Hook:  Gamakatsu Size 6 Octapus
Weight:  Varies.  5/32 to 3/16" brass or tungsten in black, silver or copper colors.
Body:  Cactus Chenille or dubbed body in all the typical colors (olive, black, orange, rust etc).  In the pictures I show a dubbing loop body with orange-ish dubbing to make it interesting, to mess with John who loves simplicity, and because that is what the one fly I caught 12 on had. 
Hackle:  Pheasant rump in all the typical colors (black, olive, yellow, rust, natural etc.).  This can be hard to find, at least in CO fly shops.  I had to order some and will just use natural (which seemed to work Sunday) until it gets in.

Directions:

1)  You want these feathers.  Just one!

2)  Feathers Prior To Prep.

3)  Prepped Feathers.

4)  Add bead, wrap hook.

5)  Fill a dubbing loop. 

I have over-filled this one to

make it easier to see

6)  Spin dubbing loop.

7)  Wind dubbing loop forward.

8)  Brush dubbing out and back. 

This fly came out a little bulkier than I wanted.

9)  Add pheasant hackle.

10)  Fold hackle.

11)  Wind hackle and finish fly.

The Big C 2011: Invasion Of The Carp

I spent the past four days fly fishing the Columbia river for carp with John Montana.  It is difficult, if not impossible for me to give a full blow-by-blow of my visit.  There is too much.  To many visions of fish ghosting into view through waving flooded grass, brambles, tree trunks and even barbed wire fences.


Only fair to release it to it's side of the fence.  Looks awkward? You should have seen us land it.

Dreamy slow motion images of fish gently sucking in the fly amidst total chaos run non-stop through my weary head.


At times it was kind of creepy, but it was also beautiful

There were at least 20 carp in front of me.  What, can't you see them?

The most remarkable aspect of the trip was the situation we faced due to the high water in the Columbia River.  If, like me, you have never been there things looked fairly normal from the road.  A really big river looks like a really big river.   Evidently for those that know it the river defied recognition with the main river flooded to the point where scuba fishing with a spear was more realistic than fly fishing. 


The grass carp are soooooo jealous

Once you got down to the level of the river the extremity of the situation became more clear.  Any and all low-lying planes of vegetation near the river were hiding a dirty little secret.  Two dirty little secrets.  First, they were all flooded.  In many areas the flood plane ran at least a quarter mile from the river.  Second, carp had marshaled the stinking hordes and performed a massive invasion of this low lying flooded vegetation. 

John Deep Deep In The Shit - And Yes, He Hooked Up!

For now and the foresee-able future any nearby parks, grass fields, shrub-land and farm pastures are no longer the purveyance of man.  This is now carp country folks.



The carp were totally game for a picnic

Turtle grass in Oregon?  Nah, just good old park lawn

I remember as a child having dreams of how bizarre and interesting it would be to live through a flood.  I am sure that most kids have had these visions at some point.  Pictures of floating a canoe down main-street and fishing from your front porch.  The reality is no dream of course.  Floods ruin many lives and livelihoods every year.  Nevertheless, I could feel that childlike fascination creeping in many times over the trip and it truly was amazing to not only fish, but have significant success in these conditions.  Thank you so much John, I will never forget this experience!

How significant was the success?  We will get to that eventually, but if you just can't stand cliff-hangers take a jaunt over to Carp on the fly for the skinny.
    

Obligatory one-hander.  Eat your heart out WFF, I found a 6lber!

Welcome to the jungle

We fished way back in the shit today on the Big C. John Montana really put us on amazing numbers of fish. It was total dinkin and dunkin as we worked our way through hundreds if not thousands of carp piled up in crazy conditions. Piled up in grass, over roads, under barbed wire and even in flooded picnic areas. John caught fish nearly at will through it all. I had to adjust a little and overcome the most serious case of buck fever I can remember but eventually chilled out and started hookin up at a decent pace.

If next you see me I have full face paint and wearing a gilly suit don't worry. Its just jungle fever, it should pass.

The Big C

T-Minus 4 days and counting to the Big C!

Last summer I made a decision.  I was going to start to participate in the vibrant and sometimes bizarre fly-carpin community on-line and on-the-ground.  I was done lurking in the shadows like a thief eager to absorb others thoughts and knowledge without contributing any of my own. 

In December this sometimes awkward but enthusiastic participation payed off when an unbelievably generous offer came my way.  John Montana at Carp On The Fly contacted me out of the clear blue and asked if I would like to come on out to Portland and taste a little Columbia Carpin.   

I accepted immediately.  Why?  Because the fish are enormous and plentiful?  Because I feel like John shares many of my philosophies about fly fishing for carp?  Because John is clearly a great guy and a master of the art?  Yes, yes and definitely yes, but just as importantly this was an opportunity to participate.  To gain a friendship with a fellow enthusiast.  To gain new experiences and expand my fly-carpin horizons.

At some point perhaps I will get a chance to take a lesson from John and pay back or pay forward this generosity.