The Carp Crusades - Number Thirty-Three

Getting finished with the crawdad patterns last night instead of today, I decided to visit Charlie's Pasture again. Things for the most part were much the same as yesterday - overcast sky, calm wind, mill pond smooth. However, as I noted the carp were like cross-town traffic yesterday, today it was difficult finding a handful.

Upon reaching the island the one thing I did take note of was a four foot wide mud stream which told me the beeves were foraging. And... it didn't take long for them to sense my presence and they emerged from the smoke-like filled water like spectres in dim light. They went straight to the far side bank and were to be seen no more.

In the two hours I was on the creek, I didn't fish more than a handful of carp and few of them were feeding. Yesterday the color black and the pattern bugger worked but today they absolutely refused it. I tried several other patterns and they refused them as well. The crawdads I tied turned out really nice but the colors are so natural it's going to make sight fishing extremely difficult.

Finally, I tied on white cactus chenille bugger and with the first cast hooked-up with a 24 inch beef. Unlike yesterday, I didn't grab the leader trying to bring him to hand but rather walked him up the creek about twenty feet and beached him. The Okuma free-spooled again today and also like yesterday this carp had close to eighty foot or more of line out before I got him turned.