The Carp Crusades - Fishing The Muddy Currents

For most of us who fly-fish, fishing muddy water hasn't brought great success. As a matter of fact, most times, it's simply unproductive.

For the last six or seven days, the Rock Creek current of the Prairie Ocean has received significant amounts of rain and yes... Rock Creek is a muddy blur.

Today, I found myself bored to tears sitting around the bunkhouse so to the vise I go. Decided to tie up a couple of bunny leech patterns - one black, one brown. Then it was back in front of the boob-tube being totally bored but it didn't take long for me to decide to try the carp no matter what the results.

As Well Springs, I did see a couple of tails but that was about the best of it. Seeing the tails, but not being able to see their mouth resulted in pretty much blind fishing. I did have one suck but missed that wonderful opportunity.

I leave and go to the beach area above the east side crossing. The sun had come out momentarily and as I walked upstream I would spook five carp in the shallows. Absolutely did not see them when the fact was I was indeed really trying to see them. In the stained water the color of the common carp blends in and makes for an extremely effective camouflage.

Upstream in the deeper water I concentrated on the overhanging grasses looking for any pronounced, unusual, rhythmic movement of the grasses. This strategy brought two carp side by side into my sights. Leader casting, the black bunny landed about six inches from the smaller of the two, and he was on it.



He was a young carp and quite healthy. After taking his picture and releasing him I went back downstream and sit on a log for thirty minutes hoping the carp would come into the shallows once again. But... it wasn't to be this day.

If I learned anything it would be that fish are catch-able in stained, even muddy, waters. The trick is to take the disadvantages of the conditions, and turn them into advantages for the fly-fisher. The advantage I found today, was the overhanging grasses that proved to be much like a beacon.



Just twelve more warriors to get to fifty.