Dear Carp - March 7th, 2013

Dear Carp,

Unfortunately I did not get to pay you a visit today.  It was a fine day too.  There is a nature festival coming up - a celebration of outdoor life, and I had a meeting to attend with the organizers. 

Charlie, however, was out and about visiting your brothers and sisters at the pasture that bears his name - Charlie's Pasture. 

He sent a postcard... actually two.  One is a picture of your brethren and the other is the gift the lad liked.  I will share both with you.

 

It's amazing to me how Charlie can take a simple worm with no weight and put your brothers and sisters into a spellbound state.  He's very good at doing this. 

 

Of course I hope to come see you in the coming days, but I would much rather the rain arrive and would be more than willing to forgo our talks for the rain.  Rain is what we need now, our chit-chats can wait until later.

 

 

Sincerely,

 

 

Prairie Ocean Fly Fisher 

Conversations With Carp - Limited Cozing

Since July 7th, we've had five rain events.  Now that may sound significant, but when I added up the total rainfall from each event the amount was only eight tenths of an inch. 

Of course we are thankful for every drop rain we get, but the simple truth is it wasn't enough to solve the long term problem of a shrinking creek.  Here in Oklahoma, we are in the same pickle as much of the rest the nation finds itself - exceptional drought. 

Surprisingly though the first three rain events, which came in subsequent days was enough to freshen the creek and wash some of the scum and algae away.  Upon seeing a somewhat healthier looking creek I decide to make some limited and short outings.  Since July 7th, I've been out three times, including this morning, and kept the outings to no more than two hours. 

The truth is I love these creatures.  Yes, I love capturing them, but I also love them for just what they are.  To do anything that might stress them more weighs heavy on this old man's heart and mind. 

The three outings I've made did produce some cozing with carp and here are those images.

Conversations With Carp - Vacation Day Talks

To me the best time to take vacation is autumn.  When autumn comes around the air is cooler and crisper, and the leaves begin to put on a stage performance of beautiful gold, burnt orange, and yellow colors.  Also, trout season rolls around at Blue River and this serves as a perfect chance to see fellow fly fishers that have been absent since the spring. 

So, I try my best to save my vacation time for the fall season, but sometimes things build up on me at the workplace and I make myself burn a vacation day... just like this morning. 

The bill of fare I had in mind for the carp this morning was the black bodied, red tail Curiosity fly along with the chartreuse Creek Critter.  Beginning with the Curiosity, this fly would find the fattest and largest carp I've ever taken from the pasture we call Honey Hole.  This would be a lengthy conversation to say the least.  For some reason I decided to carry a net with me this morning and having this big carp on the line made me thankful the net was at hand.  However, I would learn after four attempts of scooping the fish that this poor quality net was simply too small. 

I would finally wear the fish down where I could get him close to the bank and grab his tail.  I wish I would have taken a better picture that would show the length and girth of this creature.  It was a sow carp and I feel lucky in landing this fish.

It wasn't long until the second fish was on the line and it would turn out to be about a 4lb. catfish. Between the first carp and this catfish the Curiosity had begin to come unraveled.

The red tail Curiosity was retired to the dry patch and this afternoon this great little pattern will be reincarnated in the fly tying room.  His cousin the tan tail Curiosity went on the tippet.

Traveling from Honey Hole pasture to the pasture known as lower Well Springs the second carp of the morning was targeted.  The tan tail cousin came through and the fish came to hand.

From lower Well Springs I travel to the pasture we call the Beach.  Here I see three carp feeding in close proximity of each other.  It seemed best to simply put the fly in the middle of them and see what would happen.  The chartreuse Creek Critter fell dead center of this trio and it was a race to see what carp would get to the fly first.  I honestly couldn't tell which carp was going to arrive first, but set the hook as soon as I saw the tippet twitch. 

There was a problem with where I hooked-up with this carp.  A small tree with lots of branches has fallen across the creek and this carp kept going dead-on for those branches.  Bypassing the drag I played the creature with my line hand.  Finally I hauled the carp to the edge of the sandy beach itself and was sure this carp had been whipped.  But, as I let pressure off the rod to approach the carp, the fish flipped, hook came out, and it was adios.  The carp won this battle.  Kudos to you fine sir. 

Charlie stopped by the mercantile store the other day and we begin to talk about how our fly selection, particularly to size, has evolved over the last several years.  When we first begin to seriously fly fish for carp we were tying patterns on size 6 scud and straight shank hooks.  We were churning out rather large Backstabber style flies, Carpolo Charlies, and San Juan wormballs.  Now, we are using size 12 scud hooks and this smaller patterns seem to catch more carp.  The one thing I've noticed is that the smaller patterns seem to spook less carp from the fly itself.  The only down side to smaller patterns so far has been there have been several occasions where the fly gets a little deeper  into to the mouth of the fish.  Not damaging deep, but if given preference I'd rather the hook go into the lip each time.  

Once large patterns were used, now smaller is better.

Both Charlie and me have been fly fishing for so long we could easily be considered seasoned anglers.  However, when it comes to carp-by-fly, we always recognize our phylogeny.  We will continue to learn and evolve as we go.  Next up is to improve our take ratio by blind-fishing, and then there is carp-by-fly at night. 

I don't know about the snakes though with this fly at night thing.  







Conversations With Carp - One Is Better Than None

On Sundays at the mercantile store we have what we call a "church rush".  After attending church services people come to the store to gather items for lunch or perhaps an afternoon picnic or maybe supper. 

As soon as the church rush was over today I decided to head to the bunkhouse for some much needed rest.  To get to the bunkhouse, however, the carp creek must be crossed and it just so happens all the carp gear was stowed in the schooner. 

High noon on the first day of July is the wrong time for this angler to fish due to the heat.  The temperature today was actually a couple of degrees lower than the previous several days, but the humidity was higher. 

After a short conversation with self though, it was easy to convince the carp-by-fly part of me that twenty or thirty minutes wouldn't hurt a thing... including my aging body. 

With the same fly as used yesterday, a course downstream to a pool of water that neither Charlie or me fish very often was struck.  As to why we don't fish it often begs a question - there are some carp there and they are equally deserving of some rich conversation. 

In a shallow run is a feeding carp.  The black body red stinger tail Curiosity is rolled out to the fish, but the fly lands beyond and in front of the carp.  The option seems to be to drag the fly in front of the fish and once employed the carp eats it right away. 

Fifteen minutes had yet to pass, but I was sweating profusely and decided to call it a day.  When we get down to the level of the creek there is no air at all because the massive amount of trees that line the bank serve as a wind break. This one carp would be the extent of the carp-by-fly life on this given day.  One is better than none though. 

The streamflow of the creek is at least fifty percent lower than what it was just a month ago.  If we fail to receive rain anytime soon I think it will be my decision to stop fishing for these creatures until the rain arrives. 



Conversations With Carp - Hot Line

At 6:15 this afternoon the heat index was still at 104, but I decided to go to the creek anyhow.  Arriving at the pasture we call Courtyard fifteen minutes later, the humidty was so thick you could almost cut it. 

In the shallow part of this pasture were three young carp feeding and I wanted to fish them.  However coiled in the way was a cottonmouth.  This was the first cottonmouth I've seen on the creek this year - a short, blunt, nasty looking sucker.  I could tell he wasn't going to budge and I wasn't about to try and make it, so I passed on this water.

Upstream I stuck the first carp feeding at the upper end of a large pool.  Then upstream to another set of shallows and more young carp feeding.  Took a young fellow while he was grazing. 

I saw a lot of young carp today, which is good.  Young carp grow and become big carp and hopefully we will have a good crop of carp to fish for years. 

It didn't take long to begin to lose light and that would result in blind fishing.  I decided to leave the blind fishing to another day and leave the creek hot and sweaty... but, happy. 

Carp Flies For Chris

There have been a number of times over the last ten or twelve years that fly-fisher Chris Adams has gifted me with some of the wonderful flies he creates - he is a talented tier.  Now I have a chance to repay his kindness because Chris is in need of some carp flies.

It seems he has a trip planned to the Upper Lower Illinois River near Tahlequah, Oklahoma.  On previous trips Chris noticed carp in this river and with the growing interest of capturing carp by fly, Chris is good for a try. 

Last night I tied up a gaggle of carp patterns for Chris to take with him on his float trip.  Included in the lot are Carpolo Charlies, Crazy Charlies, the Curiosity Carp fly, San Juan Wormballs, Carp Tease, and the War Pony. 

This will be the first ever attempt of catching carp with flies for Chris. 

I hope he makes it look easy.  

Conversations With Carp - Too Many Talking

It's nice to watch the sun come up.  Rarely do I get to see a sunrise unless I step out the back door at the mercantile store.  Somehow standing on a concrete dock isn't the same as standing on a sandy shoal watching darkness give way to slowly approaching light and the promise of a new day. 

Time on the creek has also been rare lately.  Seems like when there is a window of chance something comes along and slams it shut.  In the last week it has rained twice and both times was enough to cloud the creek.  Then there are simple day to day activities that tend to catch up with a fellow and vie for time. 

During the month of May, weather in Oklahoma often demands attention.  There's been a lot of cloud cover and threats of storms lately.  Yesterday, fellow fly fisher Donny Carter captured a funnel forming just a short way from his prairie home.

Today, however, promised to be a nice day and I found myself burning a morning of personal time and watching that sunrise I speak of. 

There has been much interference in the communication channel and hopes of conversation with carp.  It seems everyone has something on their mind and simply want to get a word in. 

The drum have stopped being closed-lipped and suddenly want their time at the table of talks.

Catfish are still wanting their say-so including this fellow that also wanted to fight. 

And of course there are always these chatter-boxes. 

This morning started off much of the same with a drum being the first fish to hand.  Next came a catfish, and then after about a half-dozen perch, or so, I finally spotted a favorable carp.  This fellow has just finished a feeding frenzy and he looked to still be hungry.  As a gift, I sent the offering of a War Pony and the gift was quickly accepted. 

Meanwhile, over at the Sulphur Springs Inn, Charlie has been casually making trips to the creek in search of communicating with carp.  Sometimes he goes early, sometimes late.  And, like me, he has also met with interference in the conversation channel.  However, Charlie has broken through most of the fray and picked up several carp with his Biter Critter and new version he calls the Sweet Critter. 

He picked up one carp using a run-of-the-mill black bugger and tried to take a picture with a camera that owns a broken lenses.  A camera with a broken lenses doesn't quite take the good picture, but a picture... still it is. 











Conversations With Carp - Crowded Conversation

The opportunities for carp by fly outings have been few lately primarily because of other activities that are looming.  Hopefully, after this weekend some decent time on the water will come about. 

My last outing resulted in much of the same as the previous two outings with other fish butting in the attempted conversations with carp.  Although I vilify the perch at times I'm pursuing carp, the truth is I love the panfish.  Why wouldn't I love them?  Panfish have brought me countless hours of enjoyment over a lifetime. 

It seems Charlie, while on an outing yesterday, experienced the same things I have lately.  He tells me there was nothing, nothing at all, as far as fish activity, going on when he first arrived but shortly after noon a wide variety of fish gathered where Charlie was fishing.  There was carp, redhorse suckers, blue suckers, drum, catfish and most assuredly the perch and bass. 

Of course Charlie wanted the carp, but just like what's been happening on my outings, his fly was intercepted.  Charlie ended up catching three catfish and two drum.  He probably caught some panfish too, but didn't bother to mention it. 

We've already resigned ourselves to the fact we have far fewer carp to chase this year compared to the last two seasons.  There are carp though but their presence is scattered and spotty.  With other fish species being ravenous right now, our situation capturing carp is compounded. 

The only thing to do with hungry fish is simply catch them... and that's what we've been doing.  Here are some pictures from my last outing and Charlie's trip yesterday.

Saturday catfish taken by red San Juan worm ball.

Sunday catfish taken on a Ugly Dame.

Charlie's first catfish of the day.

Another channel catfish from Charlie.

Capturing other species while hoping for carp by fly is certainly not an indigenous condition that Charlie or me own.  Yesterday, I received a message from Gregg Martin in Idaho.  Gregg spent eleven hours on the water and was quite successful in capturing carp.  However, other species that came Gregg's way included the crappie, bass, and yes... the catfish.  Again, when fish are hungry we catch them... whether we want to or not.

Gregg had an excellent outing recently.

Whirlwind Wild Day

It was wild!  Wildly entertaining, wildly fun, and wildly educational.  Of course, I'm talking about the Oklahoma Wildlife Expo 2010.  The Oklahoma Wildlife Expo is the largest wildlife expo in the nation and is not possible without the effort of every single employee of the wildlife department plus a lot of volunteers.

Pulling anchor at my prairie home at six this morning, I plotted a northern course.  The voyage was a short one, and there were few vessels on the sea-lane early.  However, once I navigated the Waterloo Road current it was vessel after vessel, and we were all headed for the same port - the Lazy E Arena.

The Wildlife Expo certainly catered to all outdoor enthusiasts, but especially to the young ones, which made this old heart feel good.  There seem to be a special emphasis on kids in archery and kids in fishing.  Both of these exhibits were packed with kids waiting their turn to have fun.

One of the most popular exhibits was the Taste of the Wild booth where they were serving up the food.  Lots of takers waiting in line for this one.

One of the more interesting seminars was a survival skills seminar by Peter Kummerfeldt of Colorado.  Peter could make a fire without matches look as easy as one-two-three.  He was an extremely nice gentleman and I enjoyed watching him offer his skills to the onlookers.

There was so much going on at the Wildlife Expo, I don't know if it can all be explored in a single day.  A hat off to the Wildlife Department for their outstanding effort.

Leaving the Expo, I sailed over to Bass Pro for some much need marabou, and then sailed further south to Academy Sports to acquire a t-shirt for my first mate Miss Carol.  Miss Carol loves her t-shirts.

Pulling anchor at Academy, my course was true to Rock Creek to see what the carp had in mind.  Arriving at my port town, I grabbed a cold beer and headed for the creek with rod and fly, and beer of course. 

Sitting on the bank, trying to get a glimpse of a carp, I was seeing very few actually.  Suddenly, I heard and saw something big and hairy coming through the woods. 

Bigfoot?   Nawwwww.... it was Charlie! 

Unfortunately, Charlie couldn't stay long and perhaps that was for the best.  He'd been on water earlier, but the carp were in cruising formation, and we simply weren't seeing that many carp today.

Charlie has created a new worm pattern made out of chamois, and it is doing quite well as you can see from the pictures below.