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Anna Werner

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Posts posted by Anna Werner

    First Serious Trip Of The Year

    in Pictures, Stories & Video

    Posted

    So, Dad and I heard that MORE rotten weather was on the way, but the day was gorgeous, so we figured we had better make best of it while we had a chance! We had a spot in mind that we'd heard had been producing amazingly, but, just before arriving there, we took a detour to check out a spot that Dad had fished years ago, but that I'd never seen. It looked AMAZING: out in the country, right on the river, cattails, a BIG marshy backwash, easy-access, grassy, flat ground, not too overgrown, PLENTY of space, no mud to wade through (kind of amazing after all of the rain we've had!), etc., etc. We thought we'd both died and gone to heaven! We could even see Carp rolling and wallowing and love-making in the backwash! It was exciting! So, we set up, but didn't get any hits. This was the story of the day; no Carp hits on ANY of the multiple baits we tried (Only one White Sucker was caught all day between us.), and I had a headache that NOTHING would get rid of. I think the headache stayed, though, in large part because of the third, and WORST componet of the day: the Drunk. OK, so we're out in freaking farm country, and this guy shows up on a BIKE, already drunk on arrival, but we didn't think much of it. He sat down under a tree a few feet behind us and just sort of hung out. Didn't bother us for a while. No big deal. But he was smoking, and it wasn't tobacco. In addition, he was drinking out of a big bottle of orange soda. Judjing by his increasing obnoxiousness, the soda had to have been spiked.

    So the guy started trying to talk with us more and more, when, of course, we just wanted QUIET. As time went on, he started talking more and more total nonsense, and started talking to himself, rather than to us. Pretty soon, his speech got slurred, and louder and louder. I finally had enough and told Dad we had to get going. He wanted to go to the other spot we'd originally planned to go to, but my headache was as bad as ever (Pain-killers hadn't worked.), and it was already rather late in the day. I didn't feel up to packing a carload of gear up, then unpacking it again, fishing a few hours, then packing it all up again, THEN unpacking it AGAIN when we got back home. All I wanted to do was to get food, get home, unpack, and crash at that point.

    I could have dealt with a blnk day, and even the headache might have gone away if I could have fallen asleep, without dingbat prattering away behind us. I could not BELIEVE that our first trip out, at one of the best spots we've ever found, on the ONLY fair-weather day we've had for a MONTH when we've both been free, had to be ruined by an idiot! I'm STILL steamed!

    Who Learned What This Year ?

    in Beginning Carping

    Posted

    I learned three things this year:

    One CAN work a fish out of a nasty snag using monofilament line, if it's good-quality line and the angler has patience.

    There is NOTHING in the world more FUN than sight-fishing Carp under a float using a SPECIAL, lightweight rod and reel!!!

    Kids will always, ALWAYS outfish us grown-ups! :)

    Who would you like to fish with from CAG - that you do not know

    in Beginning Carping

    Posted

    Hard to say. Fishing with nearly any CAGers would be terrific, but it would be particular pleasure for me to fish with:

    1) any female anglers (There aren't nearly as many of us, and girls got to stick together, you know . . . :) )

    2) any anglers from Asia, Eastern Europe, or anywhere else where the techniques can be significantly different than standard "Euro" or American methods. I'd love to learn from these people.

    3) the younger set. Young anglers are our future, so fishing with them is an opportunity to both teach AND learn. Some of the junior Carpers I've met have more enthusiasm and insight than a lot of the adult anglers I've known.

    random story

    in Pictures, Stories & Video

    Posted · Edited by Anna Werner

    ;):lol::):) Wow! What a PIG! :) Poor kid; I bet that messed him up for life. :D

    I fished a Chub out of our minnow tank the other day that still had the tail of either another Chub or a huge Fathead hanging out of its mouth. The customer's jaw really dropped over that! :P:)

    Types of carp fishing

    in Beginning Carping

    Posted · Edited by Anna Werner

    Anna, I do concur that every carp caught is gorgeous. One of my favorite carp ever caught was a Mirror that came out of a local swim that would have a hard time tipping the scales at 2 pounds. It was a shock that this Mirror showed up out of this swim and made my weekend.

    P2070014.JPG

    I think that chasing big fish or top-end fish gives me focus. One of the primary reasons I love chasing carp is that it provides escape from the day to day grind of life. It is also the only time I can actually sit still. Oh I sometimes just grab a rod, a bankstick and a single flavor to mess around, but usually I prefer having my entire laboratory with me ! :D

    Beautiful little Mirror! That's the sort of fish I like to stalk with an ultralight rig or a split bamboo, a can of corn, and a little box of redworms. :P Once, on a trip to Chicago, I caught two Commons about that size, one after the other, an a teeny little 1940s spinning reel with no anti-reverse, using redworms. Never had so much fun!!! People were slowing down on the bridge above to ask what I'd caught. It was terrific! :)

    Let me add a dimension to this thread. Matt mentioned, quote; "location...right time, right place, consistent effort". Many old timers, I think a lot more than you younger guys, put a LOT of stock in fishing at the right "TIME". You would be surprised at the number of "older" or "experienced" anglers that keep a pretty detailed journal. Do you?

    Do any of you young guys attribute a successful session to the moon or some similar natural event. How about pressure. In KC this week we had the lowest BP ever recorded at the weather station (28.?? in. mercury). "Wind in the East - fish bite the least". You believe that??

    Phone

    I don't keep a journal, though, at the beginning of each Spring, I often decide to start one, then it never really materializes. Dumb, really, because I'm sure I could catch more fish (not terribly concerned yet about bigger fish) if I did a better job of keeping track of structure, weather conditions, wind direction, changes in food base, etc. I suppose I'm just not serious enough. :)

    random story

    in Pictures, Stories & Video

    Posted · Edited by Anna Werner

    Reading and hearing all the buzz lately about lead bans got me to musing about a sinker-related incident I remember from when I was little.

    My folks and I were on vacation to southern Indiana/Kentucky and found a little pulloff next to a little cattail-choked creek. There was a dirt trail back to a run-down little canoe dock and the trail continued back into the woods beside the creek. The place was probably chock-full of Carp, but this was before we started really targetting Carp. We were still in the "whatever bites" phase, and had to get back on the road soon anyway. We just fished worms under bobbers.

    Dad was down the bank somewhere after bass and Bowfin, and Mom and I stayed at the dock and popped Bluegill. I don't remember for sure, but I might have caught a little Bowfin or sucker, too. Anyway, I snagged up and lost the hook, so I was sitting on the dock tying on a new hook, and the split-shot was dangling over the edge of the dock, swinging back and forth a little. It swung under the dock, then didn't come back out. I thought it had gotten wound around something under there, so I laid down on the dock and looked underneath to untangle it. I came face-to-face with a HUGE wide mouth and a pair of big black eyes!

    I jumped, and jerked the rod up, pulling out from under the dock the BIGGEST freaking Bullfrog on the face of the planet!!! Seriously, this thing was big enough to eat birds! It had slurped up the split-shot, thinking it was a bug!

    The poor frog puked up the split-shot, spit the rig out, and hit the water with a BIG splash. As I remember (as a relatively young kid at the time), it caused a tsunami. :) I will NEVER forget that humongous critter peering at me from the dark under the dock. Geez, am I glad the frog didn't eat a HOOK! I would still not have forgiven myself if it had!

    River Monsters

    in Pictures, Stories & Video

    Posted · Edited by Anna Werner

    Dumb question maybe.....but what happened to your TV?

    You probably accomplish a lot more during your day w/o tv.......................

    Not a dumb question! :D It's called curiosity!

    Nothing really happened to it. We just didn't spend enough time at home watching the tube to make paying for cable woth it, and, without cable, TV's just not worth watching anymore anyway. Worse, the channels Dad and I really wanted, with the sole exception of Public TV, were uber-pricey anyway. We just decided books, the record player (Seriously!), and the DVD/VHS player were, realistically, enough for our entertainment needs. I miss Star Trek reruns, River Monsters, and cage fights, though. :) And, yes, I accomplish a bit more on average without TV. :P

    Types of carp fishing

    in Beginning Carping

    Posted · Edited by Anna Werner

    I guess it depends on the person (or maybe it's a male vs. female thing? :) ) Don't get me wrong; I love to catch BIGGIES and it might be nice to place in a tournament. However, I just think that a Carp, any Carp, any size, is a beautiful thing. I like to just look at them. I also get a huge "charge" out of the gear that I use. I love it when people come up and ask, "What is that?" and I can talk about the use and history of whatever I'm fishing with (really old rods and reels, alarms and pods, hair rigs, huge "Euro" net, etc.). I don't even carry scales with me; the only time I get my fish weighed is when I'm fishing with someone who has scales, and I normally forget the weight after a while anyway. I remember the colour of the fish, any strange shapes or markings, the SCREAMING RUN (!!! :D ), and the fight it put up. Somehow, I don't foresee myself ever reaching stage 4, and it will take a LONG time for me to reach stage 3.

    Great fish in the pics, by the way!!

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