Which One Wins

On the Rock Creek current

of the Prairie Ocean wide -
a place of inner peace,
ceasing of questions and doubt.
I come for a carp by fly.

The sun is unkind today,
ever-telling of my presence.
The wind is unkind today,
driven riffles blinding my view.
But, I come for a carp by fly.

Autmun's beauty is unkind today,
weaving a blanket of leaves.
A barrier from which I seek,
cover for that which alludes me.
But, I come for a carp by fly.

Squinting eyes, shaded, labored eyes,
intently looking for a hint.
The beasts are there I know,
oh, they see me... I sense it!
I come for you my friends.

The rains promised did come,
is Mother on my side?
For the creek still fades,
becoming shallow as gin.
But, still hope for a carp by fly.

Hunting, stalking,
looking for a chance.
Hunting, stalking,
hoping for a glimpse.
A glimpse of hope today.

Under a blanket, carp are there,
gently feeding, taking feast.
The stealth is good,
unknown to beasts.
My friends we have met.

Through a blanket tear,
the fly splits the carp.
Both come quickly,
for a prize to win.
Only one can come to me.

One carp wins the offering,
as he becomes mine.
One carp looses the offering,
as he is not mine.
Which one wins?



Kingdom Of The North

Into the north wilderness, under a soupy cobalt sky,
overhead, a squadron of wayfaring geese easily fly.
The turkey strut, then run from my presence,
nature in full glory, the river Blue in her essence.

Flagging tails from a family of worried squirrel,

scampering to their tree house where they curl.

In the north wilderness, nature inviting to me,

offering the wonders of creation for eyes to see.

Casting a fly in hopes of a trout to vie,

into the water, their home, their lie.

Through the water comes a silvery flash,

rainbow colors and bugger come to clash.

The season of autumn's harvest is at it's fullest,

colors brown, gold, burnt orange at their brightest.
It's time to go now, short time well spent,
Thanks for the harmony to the heavens are sent.
 

Vintage Unique Reel?

For the trout derby, Scotty came into ownership of a strange looking reel and he was going to give it away as a "door-prize" until I hollered, "Whoa, wait a minute!" 

I suggested to Scotty we try and find out just what he has before giving it away.  This thing looks like it could be worth a few extra bucks, which would be great for the fund raising effort of the Blue River Association. 

For the life of me I cannot remember the correct name of the reel, but I do remember it started with a G and has five letters.  I want to say Gotel or Goble, or something like that.  I'll get more info on the name and make another post.  It's a large arbor sucker for sure and has a drag system. 


It's mounted on one of those steel telescoping rods and the name of the rod is Bristol.  It has a cork handle on it.

So, any of you reel experts know what this unusual looking contraption is... please let me know. 

Bonehead At The Derby

Another Blue River trout derby is said and done and it was a fun and crowded event.  Well... it was certainly crowded.  Honestly, we have to make the most of fun we can out of such an event.  It would be easy to get out-of-sorts with someone crowding or squeezing you out of a pool of water; throwing over your line, or wading into that pocket your fishing.  But... it's just one weekend, everyone involved is full of excitement and hope to catch one of those dandy lunker trout.

Saturday was the hardest day of this two day event... at least for me.  I got to the river extra early hoping to claim a spot down at the Island.  However, as I drove past the Island it was lit up like a Christmas tree.  So, I kept moving trying to find some room to fish.  I would end up catching my six, but due to the fact I started slipping fish back in after I'd bagged number five, number six suddenly became hard to find.  Finally, I slipped up to Area 2 and sight fished a group of four or five trout and number six would come to be. 

SUNDAY

After facing the crowds on Saturday, I decided to take the road less traveled and the waters less fished.  I arrived at the south wilderness around 7:30.  The morning air certainly had a bite to it, and as a matter of fact I had a little icing in my guides early only.  However, the south wilderness was so very peaceful.  I was totally relaxed, but also in a hurry.  I really wish I wasn't geared the way creation made me.  I knew getting the fishing done early was a must, because I had something else very important to do this Sunday. 

I fished one stretch of water only - Coyote Pass Falls.  At first it looked like the trout were going to turn me away empty handed, but soon I would find one of those magical pockets.  There are some many of these magical treasure chests in the south wilderness.  They are countless I think, and can be anywhere or everywhere.  We just have to find them and once we do, the reward is tremendous.

Drifting the bugger was the first disciplined attempted this morning and it worked well with strike after strike and fish after fish.  Then the trout tired of the bugger so I went tandem with a flashback pheasant tail and the bows loved the flashback.  Again they grew tired and I changed to a San Juan Worm of a different color and the bows went wild over this new look. 

I was done fishing by nine o'clock, but decided to linger a little before leaving for another special date.  Around 10:30 I met up with Ted Meador who weighed in the heaviest stringer on Saturday.  Ted and I had a personal chat and he mentioned Susie's memorial award and asked what took her life.  I found it  heart-tugging that Ted was about to win Susie's memorial award as he shared with me a loved one of his just found out she is battling cancer also.  It was even more heart-searching that today was the seventh anniversary of Susie's passing and thus my hurry.  I left Blue River to carry Susie flowers in Tishomingo. 

Prayers will go up for Ted and his loved one.

Now to my bonehead blunder.  After talking with Ted, I deadheaded back to the Prairie Schooner so I could get to Tishomingo.  At the schooner I put my rod on the trunk carriage on top so I could open the rear hatch and get everything stowed.  Everything stowed, in the schooner, and on my way to Tishomingo.  Thirty minutes later I slam on the brakes suddenly noticing my rod is missing. 

My rod is still missing.  Left it on top of the schooner and drove away.  Pretty sick about the whole thing.  Oh well... worse things can happen.

DERBY RESULTS

Here's how the fly fishing community fared at this Veterans Day Trout Derby. 

First of all, my sincere apology to Blue River Fly Fishers member Donn Riss for not getting his picture. 
On Saturday, Donn would weigh in on the heavy trout category and walk away with that prize.  Ted Meador would win the heavy stringer category on Saturday.

On Sunday, Blue River Fly Fishers member Jamie Webster would claim the prize in the heavy trout category, and yours truly was lucky enough to win the heavy stringer category for Sunday.  However, Ted had built a good enough lead on Saturday to win by about a pound, over the rest of the pack, to win Susie's memorial award.

Congratulations to Ted, Donn, Jamie and all the other fly fishers and trout anglers who attended the derby.

Here are a few pictures of the derby this weekend.



Derby had a big crowd.

Jamie Webster wins heavy trout category on Sunday.

Ted Meador wins the Susie Latham Shrader Memorial award for best two day total.

Going For 250

Charlie and I have lassoed and branded well over 200 carp since March 28 of this year.  In talking with Charlie today I suggested we might as well go for 250 by December 31st and this would be a fine way to end up the Carp Crusades of 2010.  Charlie agrees.  With the best count that we can come up with we have about 215 carp, but for argument sake we are going to start at 200, which means we need another fifty carp with only forty-six calendar days left.

Now, that may not sound like a tall task, but consider right off the bat Charlie going out of town for a week beginning Monday.  Then, with today's rain it's going to be three or four days before the creek is clear enough to fish.  And of course, the temperatures are going to continue to fall and we really don't know how this will effect the carp.  Will they stay tucked in their cozy undercut-bank homes?  Or, will they come to the level field of battle?

We will see.  Fifty more carp by December 31st.  Then, we start a new year.

The Bugger Bombed

Image via Wikipedia

Today on the river Blue, the venerable Woolly Bugger bombed.  At least for me.  I was fishing those tandem rigs I use with the bugger being the lead or deeper column fly.  The first trailer I used was a hot bodied soft hackle and this puppy took several bows.  The bugger took none.

Then came the Partridge and Orange and this pattern also took a couple of bows, but the bugger bombed.  Then the Crackleback came and same results - trout on the Crackleback... bugger feeling like an outcast.  The Hare's Ear steps up to the plate and the bows liked it... poor bugger. 

I sent the bugger to the dug-out and told him to get his crap together.  Put the beadhead Hare's Ear on the mound and this pattern was fairly popular.  Next, a size 18 Flashback Pheasant Tail and this proved to be the hottest pattern of the morning fishing a fairly slow hole. 

Not to be outdone by the trout however, I call the bugger back and send him downstream from the crossing and finally he finds a couple of bows.  But... for the most part the bugger bombed today.

These fish are really stacked up.  If you can get a pool where they are you'll have a banner day.  I watched a couple of fly-fishers fish the same pool that Donny Carter did on Wednesday and Larry Horton fished yesterday.  I bet they caught 50 trout in a row.  It was ridiculous... but fun I bet.

Thinking Tandem

More and more I find myself using tandem rigs on Blue River.  Most of the time I use a bugger or other streamer pattern as the lead fly with a variety of trailing or tag-along friends.  But, a beadhead Hare's Ear, Pheasant Tail, or good sized soft hackle can also be used as the lead fly.  Here are some of the tag teams I've used that have worked quite well in the past.

Olive bugger with soft hackle - partridge and orange is my favorite.

Olive bugger with Hare's Ear Nymph

The Zug Bug is not used a lot on Blue River but I've found it to be a good pattern trailed behind the bugger.

The Mademoiselle is not a well known pattern, but again I've had a lot of fun with it.

Sow Bugs behind a bugger also work surprisingly well.

For the longest time I had little success with the San Juan Worm, but lately it is producing better and better.

A Mayfly Emerger pattern given to me by Michael Mercurio - good pattern.

Maybe the most overlooked producer on Blue - the Crackleback.

In murky water on sunlit days use Ralph James' Silverback trailed behind a Black Damsel Marabou.

In murky water on overcast days trail a Copper John behind a Black Damsel Marabou.

In murky just plain brown water use brown patterns such as this leech.  The Zebra always makes a good trailer.

Monday Diamond-Strike Fish

This weekend I fished for the Rainbow trout, but today I returned to the fish with the diamond-strike pattern - the carp.

I know it's trout season and yes I've been in love with the pretty fish for sometime and still am.  Dylan Thomas wrote, "Lovers are lost, love is not."  That prose is how it is with me and the trout... I still love them but I also admire the carp. 

I think I can effectively fish both species through this winter season, however after today I believe fly fishing for carp is going to get much more difficult.  I set out to capture five carp today.  Only once before did I catch five carp, but one had the hook impaled in the side of his face so he didn't count.  Today... I managed the five carp, which might make it sound like carp fishing is easy right now.  It's not.

I started at the pasture that carries Charlie's name.  A month or so ago I predicted to Charlie that this pasture would be our best chance to capture carp during the winter due to the fact it would receive a lot of sun.  I was dead wrong!  The arc of the sun is much lower than I thought it would be.  Today, Charlie's pasture was a football field-size patch of darkness.  I spent a good hour there hoping things would improve, but they never did.  I could see some carp on the far side and I knocked on their door a couple of times.  They answered my knock, but again I couldn't see them in the shadows. 

The shade wasn't my only nemesis today.  There was a steady and strong riffle on the water for most of the day.  With a strong riffle, it doesn't matter if you have shaded water or crystal clear water - it's still difficult to fish these carp.

In addition, parts of the creek were once again blankets of leaves.  And then, there is the clarity of the water.  Rock Creek is in it's winter-time mode and the areas that weren't shaded were gin clear.  It didn't matter what kind of cast I would make, be it a forward, roll, or low profile sidearm cast... the carp would see the line in the air and spook. 

After leaving Charlie's Pasture I went to the pasture known as the Beach and it too was shaded.  Just above the beach is the Bend, but it was crystal clear and the carp spooked easily.  Then I went to Well Springs and here I found my first opportunity.  The carp here were feeding in the shallows and it didn't take long to take one.  I think this illustrates what our strategy will have to be this winter.  Concentrate on the shallows for feeding carp.  I predict they will come to the shallows to feed, then return to the deeper water and undercut banks.  At these places they go into a non-animated mode, where they are resting.  You can fish to them, but it will be totally ignored.  

All the time I was fishing for carp today I was thinking about trout and the extraordinarily high number of trout I've missed in three outings.  I blame the carp for this.  With carp we set the hook hard and fast even though some recommend a slow-strip hook set.  Charlie and I both tried that slow-strip hook set and that crap doesn't work.  In addition, if we slow-strip the hook set we allow more time for the carp to get the fly too deep in their throat and end up damaging the creature.  That's the last thing we want to do. 

So, with the trout I've been setting the hook hard and fast and all of you know that's not necessary or recommended.  With trout, all it takes is a lift of the rod tip or snap of the wrist.  Since trout have somewhat tender mouths, I've been pulling the hook through their mouths with the fast and hard hook set.  In addition, the trout have been double-striking and with my fast reaction, I'm pulling the hook away from the fish on the initial strike.  So, it's going to take some time to readjust to trout. 

After the first carp, I took a beer break.  Making short order of the long neck, I then proceeded to the pasture known as Mother.  I would take a carp in the shallows above Mother, two in the shallows below the Courtyard, and coming back to Mother - the final carp. 

All five carp were taken on the olive and black Backstabber and all taken by sight-fishing. 

Here are some pictures of my day on Rock Creek.  I gave thanks and left the creek mid-afternoon.

Well Springs carp taken in the shallows.

Rock Creek is gin clear right now.

Taken in the shallows above Mother.

Feeding carp in the shallows at the Courtyard.

Travertine Creek feeds into Rock Creek.

Mirror carp taken in shallows at Courtyard.

Final carp of the day at Mother.

The fish with a diamondstrike pattern.