john montana
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Posts posted by john montana
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i'd be in too, but can't host. by the way, eich...i have a box of flies sitting on my desk at the office just waiting for me to make a trip to the post office to mail to you. sorry for the delay! got a lot going on right now!
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great picture! i love that flat!
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I'm just curious what others are using to chase carp in terms of gear. I just bought a new flyrod and reel saturday and I know I live in OR, but rather than focus on any mundane species like Steelhead or Salmon, I instead chose an entire outfit focussed on carp. Yep, I've got it bad.
Anyway, been fishing primarily with a custom made 9 ft 6 inch st croix legend ultra. I mention the custom made part just to indicate that I had the guy who built the rod make two very important changes to it, that absolutely help me land more carp.
1) It has a removable fighting butt. Key component for moments like this:
and
2) He immortalized the rod with the name "Skunked." Nothing like tempting fate to lead to some fantastic fishing trips!
Saturday I bought a 9 ft 7 wt Albright EXS. A much faster rod than I usually like, but really a smooth, casting machine. On "Skunked" I have always been partial to using a Plueger Medalist, but after many hot carp, I've now destroyed the drag system on 3 seperate Pfluegers, so for my new rod (no name yet) I went with my favorite reel, the GLoomis Venture in a 7. I put a nice airflo line on it and it is a casting machine! Now if i can just get out after some carp and do what KB got to do this weekend (where is the REPORT KB!)
So what are you all fishing with?
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welcome to the site majorgeek!
and yep, i'm partial to the carp wooley!
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wow...great report Mr. P. i am anxious to join you over there in WA, you guys have some spectacular carp water.
love the verbal visuals...
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good shot of james, J. i was thinking of you taking him fishing in the stroller...i might try that with elia, but i think she'll throw a fit. she can't stand the stroller, but digs the backpack...weird.
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here is the original:
i'm partial to flies with this body type. aggressively feeding fish can't seem to resist them. that said, a good old rubber legged hare's ear is still probably my number 1 fly.
someone needs to volunteer to run a fly swap! my wife and i are expecting a child on july 31, so i'd join in one, but not run one!
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so if you go 5 for 5 will you change the name?
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J (wendy) working a nice carp at one of my hot spots:
i told him his trout fishing days are numbered now!
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good report j...nice to see you join up. this group of crazy carpers is a lot of fun, and there are always interesting ideas and stories around here!
i'm anxious to hear your next report!
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here is a pic of the pattern that has been working so well the last few outings. I tie it with an orange tail and brown body as well, and both versions are pretty effective. this one has a light green ostrich herl body.
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i didn't try your bread fly ray as these are pretty wild carp. i doubt if these fish have ever seen a piece of bread. i did try the puke fly, but no luck. they were pretty finicky! i've got a box of flies almost ready to go for you, just need to add some of the green ones that worked well yesterday!
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Those of you that know me and not my wife correctly assume that she is a saint. She puts up with my fishing mania extremely well, especially when you consider that of late my fishing mania has turned into carp fishing madness...it is a rare disease, and much worse that people think.
My lovely wife was kind enough to send me out for one more full day trip before our second child is born (July 31! Can't wait to meet my son!) KB was kind enough to join me and we headed out for a marathon day of carping action!
The water level was great, the sun was high, and the wind...NONE AT ALL! Perfect conditions, and it turned out to be a great day. I hooked tons of fish, but lost many to straightened hooks and the big weed beds that you can't keep the carp from running to unless you put enough pressure on them to straighten the hook. Still, the best part about fishing for me is the strike. As Mr. P from CAG says: "The take is the premier moment!"
All in all, I landed right around 10 carp (and about 30 panfish. Frankly, the panfish were a bit of a problem. I'd be stalking a nice fish and make a great cast only to have a bluegill dart from the weed bed and take swip at my fly! As revenge, KB and I hammered a pod of bluegill for 20 minutes, catching fish as fast as we could release them. Great fun!) KB had a solid day as well, but I don't know where he ended on fish landed. Some of the takes were spectacular, and the fly of the day was my crayfish pattern on a size 10 hook, tied all in green for a change. The big fish of the day was a 14 lb monster that ran well into my backing, and managed to wrap me around the same stick twice! I had to pull the slack line trick on him both times to get him off the debris, and was surprised I managed to land him with an extra 3-5 lbs of salad on the fly line. To top the day off we spent an hour or so fishing to 4 of the biggest carp I have ever seen. My honest estimate of these fish...somewhere between 25-35lbs, and KB thinks I am underestimating. They were completey uninterested in eating anything, but when you see fish that big, you cast...and cast...and cast...truly big carp.
Thanks again KB for a great day!
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i agree that sunning fish are tough, but i can't resist casting at them! just too easy of a target. if there are tailers present, that is my first bet, followed closely by the slow cruisers that are searching for food. the fast cruisers are, in my book, even tougher than sunning fish.
aside from sinking a lightely weighted fly about 6-8 inches from their nose, i have had one other method work on sunning fish. i'll cast the fly so that it lands right behind their gill plate, about 3-4 inches away from the fish. usually that spooks them, but occasionally one will quickly turn and eat the fly. it is a last ditch effort when nothing else i working and no other fish are in sight!
i still haven't caught one on a surface fly.
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good to see you join up keith. always enjoyed your posts on WFF and am anxious to hear some of your insights about carping. i know Libby well having grown up in Whitefish. Beautiful area, and while the carping might not be great, the kootenai has its rewards.
mr p and i were kicking around the idea of a get together in the spring...at least 4 of us NW people on here now!
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way to go KB! i knew you'd break your curse at that spot. i hope we can get out there together soon!
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nice fish!
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great fish! you guys on the east coast are lucky...lots of BIG carp water!
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it is pretty quiet around here, which is surprising. with all the great weather and sun out here on the west coast all i can think about it getting out and chasing carp...that and my son being born in just a few weeks!
elia and I got out sunday for an hour or two at the local pond. fish were EVERYWHERE. i hooked 4 carp before i'd walked 100 ft, landing 3 of them. it was so fast and satisfying that on the back side of the pond I decided to see just how long a carp would hang onto my fly. i have been fishing a little green chain eyed damsel fly/crayfish pattern that has produced well. i dropped that in on 3 easily visible fish, and watched all three pick up the fly, and spit it back out after approximately 1 second. none of the fish hung onto it more than 1 1/2 heartbeats...interesting to watch, and it shows just how on your game you need to be to hook these wary fish!
in the afternoon i hit another spot by myself, and chased some sunning fish to no avail. these are much bigger fish than the other pond, but it was hot, and the fish were not interested. I chased highway cone around, and did hook up briefly, but i'm 99% sure i snagged him when he turned toward the fly. i don't intentionally snag any fish, but takes are so subtle that i misread him in this instance, and stuck the fly in his back. i felt bad, but he popped off quickly and continued to eat 20 minutes later. i did hook and land 2 fish, both on the green fly. one weighed 8lbs, the other 12. nice fish, but i'm after the 15-20 lb fish when i fish this lake.
KB is heading there today, i'm looking forward to his report!
anyone have any ideas on how to catch sunning fish? my normal method is a slow sinking fly presented right in front of them, but i'm interested in how others manage these spooky, uninterested fish!
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Quick report from the weekend.
Headed out with Elia Saturday afternoon. It was too hot to stay out long, but we managed two fish. One a little 5 lber that made a screaming run, and one big boy that i basically had to feed the fly to. I put that thing RIGHT on his nose. after 30 seconds his gills flared and he sucked it in...lazy fish. The big one weighed in at 9lbs. Nice to finally get one of the big ones out of that lake!
Tonight I went to another spot for an hour and half. Missed one fish right away. I dropped the fly front of his very active tail (couldn't see anything else) and felt him take the fly. I always miss them when I feel the take! A few minutes later I spotted a monster in the shallows. I snuck up on him, dropped the fly about 6 inches away and when his tail turned him toward the fly I set the hook! I was glad I brought the 6 wt tonight! This fish bottomed out my 14 lb weight net, and I would estimate him at about 16-18 lbs...really nice fish.
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i say throw a fly out there and hook one...worry about the logistics later! that line of thought has gotten me in trouble before...
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very nice! that flat looks wonderful. i've found some pretty good carp water close to portland, but nothing that looks like that flat! i bet you and keith had a great time. i looked, but couldn't find the link to the article he wrote about carp fishing...good reading...
thanks mr. p. excellent report and great pictures!
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I figure you guys might like this! Justin got a great video of me casting to, hooking and landing a nice fish last weekend. I finally got it edited down small enough to host it online. i had to cut out pretty much all of the fight, but you can see the hookup and initial run...at least until the carp dives into the weeds!
http://media.putfile.com/carp-on-the-fly
this was the fish:
it was a 9lb mirror carp and a took a variation of a green wooley bugger...fun fish on an 8 wt!
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i have an 8 wt avid...love the rod. i think it is the best rod in the $200 price range. my favorite carp rod is a st croix legend ultra. mine is 9ft 6 inches...just perfect for most of my carping.
for those of you that haven't built your own rod, give it a try. it is really pretty simple, and can be a great project when you can't get out fishing as often as you'd like!
Carpin in the Heat
in Carp on the Fly
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man, you guys are killing me with these descriptions. you are talking about my favorite place to fish, and i wasn't ther either day!
i think we should do a mini carp rondi late august. i might be able to sell that to my wife!