john montana
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Posts posted by john montana
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Awesome! I love mirror carp.
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I tell them I'm bass fishing.
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Awesome. I might take advantage of your path Paul!
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For the record, those conditions were as bad as I have ever carp fished in. I have dealt with wind and dealt with cloud cover but not to these extremes at the same time! Jp was a trooper. Despite the horrid weather we landed one 21 lber, two 16 lbers, two 15 lbers and two 14 lbers. We found tailing fish in the rocks and on the flats and honestly, we never went too long without a decent target. The fish don't care if it is sunny. Despite several days of good company and fun fishing I can't wait to get back out!
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Good trip...couple more pics on my blog and you can find some pics on roughfisher's blog. too lazy to put the links up right now...
tough fishing, but we caught a few!
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I use a $15 digital. Granted, it might not be as "to the ounce accurate" but i can carry it easily, and it is close enough for my purposes. I generally think of the carp I catch in three categories...
Small ones
Teens
Twenties
I've only caught 2 over 30, so most fit into these buckets and my $15 digital let's me place them just fine. If i were a tournament guy, or fishing from a stationary spot, i'd absolutely spring for a nicer scale, but I cover several miles in a day when I fish...i need to be light!
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I am very much anti-boga. I used it for a while, and flat out ripped some mouths open. If the carp started thrashing when being weighed, more often than not it would tear the mouth. You can avoid that by only "gripping" the fish on the bottom jaw, but if it slids to the side of their mouth you can easily rip the mouth. I found it easier to buy a decent net and a small scale in case i want to check fish weights.
nice fish by the way!
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Nice!
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Awesome. I need to get out there
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My pet peeve is when fishing deep rip rap and casting at a big tailer. Inevitably as the fly sinks a 10 inch smally will charge it and spook the carp. Love both smallmouth and panfish but only when you mean to catch them!
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Tough day today but these two fish made the day! My dad with his first 20 lber.
And my last fish of the day, a 25 lb monster.
Julio had a couple of shots at big fish but it didn't come together for him today. Great trip though!
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Fishing with my dad and my high school basketball coach. Day one was fantastic. We caught a ton of fish, many in the15-18 lb range. My old coach is pretty impressed with carp! Day two was tougher but we all caught a few. The fish are big with the smallest landed at 14 lbs and the biggest at 19. Here is one nice one.
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I don't use head cement on any carp flies. Too worried about scent. I am not saying that is why you are getting refusals but I agree that it could be a factor. I say try some without the cement!
I am with clay in regard to adding scent too flies. Here in Oregon a scented fly = bait.
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Nice! I am eager to get out again.
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Not sure why jj did that. Just glad I had the camera ready!
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Koi and grass carp. I am jealous!
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The weather turned and dumped rain so allthat optimism just left. Water will cool off a bit and the fish might stay lethargic for a while. Hopefully it warms up soon. I am not complaining about 6 fish of that size but I hope they get a little spunk soon!
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The water is still pretty cold, but the fish were definately flirting with the flats. I found them mostly on the edges of deep water, in soft bottomed flats. I couldn't get any fish to really chase a fly, but I got 6 to eat with some patience and persistance. The first two were both right at 19 lbs, then one at 16, 11, 12 and 13. Not a bad start to 2010! Even got a mirror carp, which I love to catch. We need another month of warm weather before things really heat up (only one fish went to my backing today, they were pretty sluggish).
Felt great to get out though!
a couple more pics on my blog.
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I picked up some ultra light spinning gear for the kids and figured we'd try the gear out at a local pond. I know nothing about bait or spin fishing, but armed with a can of corn and their new rods, we headed to a pond that has a lot of smaller carp. I kept it very basic, and put a few kernels of corn on a hook with one split shot under a bobber. The kids cast out in an area that the carp usually cruise through and in no time, they were getting bites. The first day they each caught two carp and had a blast! We went back on saturday for more action. This first fish I actually spotted while we were walking and I just dapped some corn on his head and handed the rod to Elia. Pretty big fish for this pond, close to ten lbs I'd say:
After that exciting start, we got to our spot from last week and it didn't take long for JJ to get some action. Elia handled the net and I worked the camera.
The kids love fishing and had a great time! We do need to work on JJ's release technique!
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In my opinion, there are simply very few rods that cast as well as a sage. For lighter weights, the Winston rods are sage's equals, but for carp weights (7 or 8) it is really tough to beat sage. They charge for them, but make a fine, fine flyrod. I fish a 7 wt VT2, and it is a sweet rod.
That said, my favorite rod to cast is far and away my Saltwater Echo 2. I made the huge mistake of buying the Echo in a 6 wt, which makes it slightly undergunned for the vast majority of my carp fishing, but anytime I can get by with the lighter rod, I break out the Echo. Made by Tim Rajeff in Vancouver, WA...easily one of the most enjoyable rods I've ever cast. They are not as well known at the TFO series, but if you cast them side by side there is flat out no comparison. My next rod (which I need like a hole in the head) will be an Echo 2 in an 8 wt, and when I buy that, i know my sage will end up gathering dust. The price point for the Echo's is great too, and they come with two tips, each for different casting styles. It sounds gimicky, but the change from his distance to his accuracy tip has an impact on how the rod casts.
One thing about rods though...they really do have to match your personal casting style. I wouldn't buy a fly rod online unless you have cast it first.
As for reels...JP nailed it. Lamson. For years i was of the opinion that a reel held line, so i bought cheap pfluegers, etc and the carp would burn right through them. I use a Lamson radius now and love it. If you want a good large arbor, you can't go wrong with lamson.
I have to comment on Albright rods. I bought one, and really enjoyed the way it cast and felt in my hand. The only problem was the walls are simply too thin. I broke that albright 3 times carp fishing (at $60 a pop to repair it through their warranty department). After paying the $60 twice, it now sits in its case, broken and unused.
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I figure I'm a month or two away from any real fishing at a minimum, and that is if I hit some local ponds. Been tying a few flies, and spend some time going through old pictures/videos. Killing me being away from the water! Check out my blog if you need a few minutes to daydream of big carp, shallow flats, and warm sun.
We are almost through the winter!
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When they are holdin in rivers like that i have had success with small carp wooleys. Think weighted griffiths gnats. Vary the weight and you can basically suspend the fly in front of the fish.
I am jealous. Don't have spots out here where I can reasonably expect them to congregate in the winter. They stay off the flats.
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Not a guide. I would make a crappy guide. No patience.
That said, let me know if you get out this way clay. I will take you fishing.
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Good discussion, thanks for some of the clarification here. On the big C, I see a lot or mirror carp, and more and more grass carp (though the WDFW and ODFW all say the grassers are confined to local waters and not loose in the rivers.) All runs ins with Koi out here seem to be in ponds. I dig the mirror carp. Here is a koi I caught (i think it was a koi) a few years ago...Highway Cone.
Mirror, mirror
in Carp on the Fly
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The fish were on the spawn today. I stuck to the edges and picked off the singles. Saw some beasts but most of the really big fish were full pn spawning. Landed this cool mirror (and two other mirrors actually). It scaled out at 17 lbs. Still seachimg for that 20 lb mirror. I saw one today that was definitely 20 lbs but it wasn't thinking about eating!