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john montana

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Posts posted by john montana

    Kids And Carp

    in Carp on the Fly

    Posted · Edited by john montana

    I snuck out with the kids for a little river exploration and fishing recently. The plan was to cast at a few carp and then explore for crayfish but the river is still so high we couldn't find any rocks to flip over...but we did find a few carp! Here are the kids with a 21 lber.

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    I would hook the fish, then hand the rod over to the kids. I had to wear this 23 lber out for a few minutes before JJ towed her to the net.

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    JJ's favorite part is chasing the fish through the shallows while Elia fights them.

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    I think Elia's favorite part is holding them...and letting them go!

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    Great time with the kids! Won't be too long now and they will be hooking these beasts as well as netting and fighting them.

    Great Lakes Carping...

    in Carp on the Fly

    Posted

    The flats there are huge phone, so in most cases the fish could be cruising all around us. Our favorite shots were the really shallow ones casting back at the shoreline but the water was only knee deep a few hundred feet from shore, so we had to keep our eyes peeled.

    There were still quite a few fish spawning, which helped us locate the groups. The great lakes fish are so aggressive that several times we had small males break away from the females to chase and eat our flies. Don't see that out here in OR! Most of the fish we caught weremmales, but we did catch a few of the larger females. Wendy landed a 23 lber and I broke one off at the net that was high 20s, possibly 30.

    Unique experience for me, seeing such aggressive carp.

    Carping With Mctage

    in Carp on the Fly

    Posted

    not sure where you are Frederick, but the fish are similar out in OR. they flat out don't chase flies. i basically still fish for them, or get them to move a couple of inches max. they just don't like to move very far. i'd love to find some fish that would chase crayfish patterns! i need to visit the great lakes!

    Carping With Mctage

    in Carp on the Fly

    Posted

    Legendary CO based fly rod carper Mctage made the journey to OR to join me for a few days of carping in the high, dirty, nasty Columbia waters. Yes, the water is high. It was a great trip highlighted by some fantastic takes, ninja style stealth, big fish, unique settings (I caught a 21 lb fish a few feet away from an overturned picnic table) and great company. I enjoyed fishing with Mctage and was thrilled when he stuck this massive 23 lb monster...from his knees after an extended stalk too!

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    We caught some real monsters with the five biggest fish weighing 21, 22, 23, 23 and 31 lbs. I caught this 23 lber on the last day.

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    The 31 brute was caught on a size 8 black and orange soft hackle...she took the fly by simply stopping over the top of it and hoovering it off the bottom like a vacuum cleaner.

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    So many stories and images in my mind that I can't really keep things straight. Overall, it was just a fantastic couple of days. We brought roughly 100 carp to hand with a ton of solid 12-19 lb fish. The high water is difficult, but pretty interesting!

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    Thanks again for coming out Mctage! Great fishing with you...

    High Water Carp Report

    in Carp on the Fly

    Posted

    Vey nice report. They have been letting the dams (McNary and above) run wide open on the Mid-Columbia so the water is actually lower here than normal. This could be part of the reason for such high water levels downstream. Good to see there still are a lot of fish around though. How cool is it to fish a flooded field!?

    The fields were pretty sweet...check out this shot:

    <a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v11/johnmontana/?action=view&current=bbc17369.png" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/johnmontana/bbc17369.png" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

    High Water Carp Report

    in Carp on the Fly

    Posted · Edited by john montana

    Every year my friend Justin from mn comes out to chase carp on the fly. This year marked the worst water conditions we have ever faced, but we fished hard and fought through it to land a bunch of fish.

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    That is me with a small 8-9 lber. Average fish for the trip was about 12 lbs and this was one of only 2 or 3 under ten lbs. Here is justin with a solid fish.

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    We were joined this year by one of justin's trout fishing buddies...he was all smiles the entire weekend and left for home today talking of building a 7 wt and looking at google earth for carp spots near his house!

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    In general the fishing was brutally tough! The rivers are swollen beyond belief and all the usual spots are too deep to even think about fishing. We moved around a lot and fished in places I have never thought of fishing and managed to find fish. We landed roughly 60 carp in the four days, not bad with chocolate milk water, mosty cloudy skies and 25 mph winds!

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    Fishing in the high water was challenging and made it nearly impossible to land any bigger fish. We hooked some pigs but had to clamp down to keep them out of the debris...I broke off ten fish the last day alone fishing a thick, 12 lb steelhead leader, and we straightened quite a few hooks!

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    Still, a great trip and one I look forward to every year! Nice to fish with my buddy from college and I hope we can keep up the tradition. A few more fish pics:

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    Carp Report

    in Carp on the Fly

    Posted

    I froze. The carp had materialized out of nowhere, one rod length in front me with its face buried in a clump of grass. I watched as it oared backwards and settled to the bottom. Its mouth and gills kept moving, like a cow chewing its cud. I was too close to cast, so I slowly pulled in the fly line, leaving about two feet of Tippett hanging out of the guides. Then I reached forward and tapped her on the shoulder. Moo,Moo.

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    I had been standing still for so long I was sure I was sinking. The shoreline seemed to be getting higher. I was surrounded by spawning carp. Groups of three and four at a time splashed around me, only spooking when they bumped into my legs. I waited...looking for a single. A pair dashed by on my left, a threesome cavorted on my right. Then, directly in front of me...a single tail. A hungry carp. Good thing I brought some hemostats.

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    I studied the three dark shapes up against the shoreline. The middle fish was noticeably bigger than the other two, but a cast to the big one would risk lining his two buddies. I studied the angle, weighed my options. I could surely catch one of the other two fish...slightly ahead of the middle guy. Or I could blow all three aiming for the big fish. I would only get one cast at at the middle fish, and maybe two or three at the other two. I Stared and thought. In the end, I only needed one cast. 20 lbs.

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    Three out of 15 or so. The rest are fading into bits and pieces. A tail here, a pounce there...so much to see on the water.

    Koi

    in Carp on the Fly

    Posted

    Koi are tough man. It took me 7 months to catch this one:

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    I ended up catching the fish from my stomach. Short of chumming them up to feed (which crosses my personal line and is illegal in OR) I think you just have to be patient and figure out what they will eat. I caught mine on a green scum looking fly, but they have to eat normal carp food.

    Very tough fish...good luck!

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