Matt's Bucket, The "Double" Davy knot and Synergy

A couple of weeks ago I posted a little bit about the 16-20 terminal knot.  I was hoping to generate a discussion and create some synergy with that post to the point where I was a little more argumentative in the comments than I would normally be comfortable with.  Based on those discussions it would seem that most people are in the same boat I have been in.  They have tied the improved clinch since dirt was invented and are reluctant to bust a move, particularly since most options seem to have serious draw-backs beyond strength.

A gentleman named Matt has started a new blog.  So far he is focusing heavily on gear reviews and how-to type content.  Good stuff if you are looking for a more technically bent blog.  He has brought my attention to a couple of recent posts that really have me excited; Tying the "Double" Davy Knot and Knot Testing.  Matt worked hard on these posts and they significantly expand upon my own puny attempt at knot testing.  I am sure he started his testing campaign before my post, but nevertheless, this is the kind of synergy I was hoping for. 

I have actually been using the 16-20 off-and-on in live action.  So far it has held up OK but I did lose one really nice carp where I felt like the knot did not hold up well.  Frankly it seems to be a good knot when tied correctly, but a difficult knot to tie and a very difficult knot to tie consistently.  And the Davy Knot?  Super fast, super easy, uses minimal tippet and would appear in my own preliminary testing to beat the improved clinch AND the 16-20.  I will have to work with it some more, but I think there is a new favorite to take over the business end of my rig.  Thanks Matt!

CARPTORIOUS: Wet-Wading In October

Between 6 to 8 inches of snow this week and a wee little bit of cold-induced laziness, getting out for some fly-carpin seems unlikely this weekend.   I will just have to share a couple of fun pictures from last Sunday.

After my sTankara experiment went right but also oh-so-wrong it was time to get serious.  Goofing off and being silly is fun and all that but I fish to catch fish.  Call it a lack of maturity if you will, but after burning the best part of the day I packed up the sTankara stuff, pulled out the normal fly-fishing gear and headed to a fresh stretch of river famous for holding numbers of relatively willing carp.

I also ditched the waders.  It was in the high 70's and I was wet-wading in late October!  You would expect the carp to be pretty active in these conditions but they were extremely passive.  Nevertheless I was able to coax (and I mean coax) a couple of carp to the fly. 

On the first fish every single carp in the area came running to see what was going on.  Almost every one of those dark shapes is a carp!  You frequently see other carp move towards or even rub up on a hooked fish during the spawn but in October?  Maybe this carp is popular, or maybe these carp were just gawking.
 

"OMG!  Did you hear?  Josh is hooked!"  "No way, lets go see!"

For the second fish I decided to try something new with my camera.  I used the rapid-shoot option to capture the release and them put the pictures together in a video Flip-O-Rama style.  If you don't have kids you probably don't know about Captain Underpants and Flip-O-Rama.  Your loss.

For those that might be curious about catching carp in the late fall both of these fish came on the drop from ambush with a super-soft under-hand pendulum cast dropped within 4" of the business end.  I need to get around to describing this method soon, it is deadly from an elevated ambush position. 

As the fall lighting fades to the dull haze of winter, fishing from an elevated ambush position becomes very important.  It does not always reek of glory but since you are very close you get a great view of the take.  On both these fish I got to see the carp surge forward 3", open their beautiful mouths and suck in the fly the rest of the way mid-drop.  Awesome!    

Do you sTankara?

"I felt like destroying something beautiful" - Fight Club

I started Sunday morning trying out an idea that has been rolling around in my brain for a couple of months.  I call it "sTankara".  sTankara combines some of the trendiest things going in fly fishing into one ridiculous package.  Tenkara, minimalism, fly fishing for carp and two-handed spey casting.  It starts with a 12'  "Uncle Bucks" graphite collapsible crappie pole  (12 bucks at Bass Pro) rigged Tenkara style and fished two-handed.  It ends with a carp.  Hell if I know what goes down in between.

Hooking two carp on my sTankara pole today brought some crushing clarity though.  First of all this may not be the best idea I ever had.  Second of all, attaching the line to the pole with a couple of over-hand knots will not and I repeat NOT get the job done.  Finally, I am gonna need a bigger stick or some smaller carp.  You didn't actually think I would give up just because it is a stupid idea did you? 

The action starts at 0:38.  Going to a section of river with bigger than average fish to try this out was as inexplicable as trying it out in the first place.

Want A Filtered Blogroll?

Would any of my fellow bloggers like a filtered blogroll that highlights suckers, Tenkara, pink elephants or whatever?  The Outdoor Blogging Network has recently added a section for guest-post blogging tips.  They were kind enough to accept a guest post on how to make a filtered blogroll using my yahoo pipe.  Its a good thing too because this place stinks enough without adding geek-juice.

Scratch And Sniff Carpin

I frequently run into assertions that carp are ugly and stink.  Do they stink?  Do they smell worse than trout?  Dunno.  Honestly I never tried sniffing them.  Until Friday that is, when I decided to pay attention to some of the smells while out fly-carpin.  As a lucky bonus I caught a couple of carp and a nice 17" rainbow.  Time for a scratch and sniff comparison. 

A bonus 17" Rainbow Trout:

Even in the middle of the city trout smells of familiarity and comfort, the kids pond in Tin-Cup CO and family tradition.  It also smells like Grandpa, the best high-country fly fisherman ever.  He was THE trout ninja.   I am crying right now, which is unexpected.

Catching said trout on a fly you designed: 

 

Since the Primordial Crust is scheduled to be commercially available from Montana Fly Company next year as a "Carp Fly" this just reeks of irony. 

A fly-caught Carp:

The sweet perfume of the fly-caught carp speaks of discovery, adventure, resiliency and un-tapped beauty and grace.  Actually, minus the romantic BS it just smells like slightly urbanized river water.  Just like the trout.  What the heck did you expect?   

Catching said carp on a carp fly you designed:

Pure satisfaction!

Emergency potty break...

 With no toilet paper to be found.

 

Ignore the faint aroma of urban neglect and it mostly just smells like shit.  Obviously. 

 

  

Carp Kit Update

My getup for fly fishing for carp has evolved a little bit since I first posted about it earlier this summer and here is an update with a little more detail.  This is actually pretty embarrassing when I list it out.  Somehow in the past 5 years or so I have evolved from a guy who openly scorned techno-weenies to a total poser. 

Rods/Reels:

Rig 1:

• 9' 8-weight St. Croix Avid. 
• Billy-Pate Bone-Fish Anti-Reverse Reel.  Once you have gone AR it is hard to go back.
• 8 weight Scientific Anglers Expert Distance line.  Which probably means I can cast 71feet instead of 70.  Pathetic.  My lame excuse is that I like the taper for carp.  Allot.

Rig 2:

• 9' 7weight Sage One rod.  (Carp Slam Loot!)
• Lamson Lightspeed Hard Allox Reel.  (Carp Slam Loot!)
• 7 Weight Rio Gold fly-line.

Accesories:

1. Micro-fibre lens cleaning cloth for cleaning glasses and camera lense
2. Flybox 1 - Standards
3. Flybox 2 - Oddballs
4. Flybox 3 - Prototypes and flies on the list to try 
5. Flourflex plus tippet spools from 0 to 5x
6. Knot-Sense UV glue.
7. Various Flouroflex tapered leaders
8. Hook Sharpener
9. Cuticle scissors
10. Hemo's
11. Various indicators.  Rarely used.
12. Some small BB lead weights.  Rarely used.
13. Electronic scale.  50lb capacity, I am either an optimist or a fool.
14. Promar Collapsible Trophy triangular series net.
15. Olympus Tough Underwater point and shoot camera.
16. William Joseph fanny pack with magnetic latches and no zippers!  I hate zippers.

Outer-Wear:

1. My lucky greasy and smelly Carpe Carpio hat.
2. Costa Del Mar "Wave Killer" sunglasses.  Glass lenses, amber tint, blue mirror finish. 
3. Simms wading socks. (Summer)
4. Columbia wading shoes. (Summer)
5. Columbia fishing shirts.  Definite poser gear but are nice in the heat.  (Summer)
6. NorthFace pants. (Summer)
7. Simms waders.  (Off-season)
8. Korkers wading boots.  (Off-season)

CARPTORIOUS: Hello Off-Season, Where you Been all My Life?

The weeks on end of predictable weather, wet wading and aggressive carp are gone.  They have been for at least a month now but I have been in denial.  Well it snowed and drizzled all day yesterday.  This morning I had to scrape the frost from my windows prior to going fishing and my state of denial can no longer sustain itself. 

I DECLARE THE END OF THE FRONT RANGE FLY FISHING FOR CARP SEASON.  (Thank god there is an off-season.)

I have failed to admit the inevitable, but I have also been looking forward to it in a sadistic way.  Last year I put in allot bit of time and effort and worked out how to catch carp in the river through the off-season.  It took some time (several months) to get the feel for how things work but in the end last off-season was probably the most rewarding fishing I have ever done.  Every fish landed felt like a triumph of epic proportions.  On multiple fish days I felt like I had climbed Everest, and in the end I came into the spring a much improved carper. 

Given all that what do you think I did on a brisk fall morning after the first snow of the year?  

Me thinking:  Nice lead-in, now cut to dramatic pictures of me holding huge carp....Oh yeah I screwed up all the pictures....badly....

Despite a blown river, the end of the season and disturbingly awful photography it was a good morning.  A very good morning!