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fishhead

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Posts posted by fishhead

    We have a choice

    in Pictures, Stories & Video

    Posted

    Have to concur with you Horace. If I don't have anything good to say......silence.... like our quarry, is golden.

    And I belong to the right wing conservative club and the "I have lived in Georgia -TWICE, Kentucky, Tenn, NC -30 consecutive yrs, Alabama-7 years, good ol Southern Boy club", too.

    Not to blow my own horn too much, though.

    I post less now and get turned off with the negativity, even the 'correcting' education gets old. yeah, the truth can be hard at times and my soul may be sensitive but thank goodness for thick skin.

    thanks,

    Steve

    Grass Carp Question

    in Carp on the Fly

    Posted

    No expert here either but I've caught a few though not on the fly. The other posts give you good info for sure so i'm only adding some similar experience. Free lined bread, single #4 hook, 6 pound test, 9 foot steelhead rod, spinning reel. Casting free lined bread is tricky enough, usually a one cast deal. Delicate and soft handed is the word. Presentation is usually at a distance if sight fishing - which is what I do - with the hopes the grassie will turn towards your offering. I think the grass/leaf fly would be a good choice behind the bread fly. The few dozen grassies I've caught have given me some technique and patterning to hone. Some things to consider; some already mentioned - they are super spooky! BUT also curious and often turn around after getting spooked, they will compete like other fish when the feed is on. I've caught them back to back 8 in a row in more than one session. See the Southwest region under grassies galore! They are line shy. I've been rejected numerous times while watching the near takes. With polarized glasses, I'll see them make 90 degree last two inches turns away from my presentation due to eyeballing the hook or more especially the line. I sized down to 6 # mono on an ultralight rig and use either low vis camo green or clear XL line tied straight to the hook. This should translate over to the fly rod. Ghost line, light tippet, natural colored floating fly line, appropriate hook, etc all apply.

    Some of my takes are subtle and while others are SWOOSH!. Another observation is it all changes after sunset and darkness falls. For both the angler and the fish. I watch the line floating on the surface if I can't see the bait. I hold the line with my free hand at times, too. Watch the feeding zone for the swirls and swooshes if there is any reflections on the water. The line shyness seems to go away as perhaps the fish feel safer and more aggressive to feed. Where I fish for them there is HEAVY bank angler pressure for trout plus MEGA duck activity all day long. No motorized boats though.

    Be ready for a different kind of fight than a common. Be ready to be tail slapped once you've landed a grassie as their behavior on land is sometimes erratic. 7 out 10 may remain calm up to the release, then the odd fish will go ballistic with the shimmies and tail slapping frenzy. When I need a quick fix or a break from blanking I go for the grassies. Now that I've written this out, I'm tying some bread flies tonight for an attempt with my 4wt. Will report back.

    Hope you have success.

    Steve

    50 at 50 in 40

    in Pictures, Stories & Video

    Posted

    AWESOME HAULIN!!!!! :) Even for an "old man". Those fish look great in quality and quantity. Nice to see the mirrors in the mix, too.

    BTW ten years ago, when I was a young 42, my wife gave me an early birthday present of fishing with my bro-in-law in Alaska. I've sold junk on eBay every year since then to go back. Now at 52 it just gets better.

    WTG!

    Steve

    Back to Basics-

    in Pictures, Stories & Video

    Posted

    Ahhhhhhh.......the planets have re-aligned.....the chaos of the Universe has subsided....the Crew has returned to the Hooch....all is well. I felt that Zen moment as its waves of good karma rippled through the west and into infinity.

    Steve

    Battle between Good and Evil...

    in Other Species Stories

    Posted

    Scott,

    First off, very nice grassie! WTG! and glad to see you can once again clear a 12 foot fence in a single bound. :rolleyes:

    Your comments about their fight is exactly the same as my experience here in Utah. Granted there are NO 70 pound grassies in this state. The small lake they are stocked in run from 25 to maybe 40 inches. Nearly every one that I've caught averaged between 33 and 35 inches. A few are black appearing on their backs in the ultra clear water. Most others are from pale to deep golden.

    The fight varies between fish but is as you described - not much UMPH! in these guys. The PB (only a 20) I caught last week was one of those determined fish that made dogged runs every time it either got near the shore or my net. Many others just seem to give up until netted or they're extremely camera shy and go NUTS at that point.

    I've only fished them a few times myself and this only my second season at it so I don't have a ton of experience either. But what I do have parallels yours except for the capture weights.

    Oh, the other thing is my 6 pound line was also twisted and toast after the last session of about 10 or so fish. One break off. All caught sight casting free lined bread. Their eyesight is keen as more than half the casts were rejected at the last second after eyeballing the bait. Carefully hiding the hook and knot made a difference in catch rate.

    Steve

    Second Session of '09...

    in Pictures, Stories & Video

    Posted

    Nice to see them in Utah. Well done!

    Well, they're sort of in Utah. Here's the distribution map. The blue dot is IT! I live about an hour north of there. Only two other spots with them I know of; both ILLEGALLY stocked. One at a local amusement park and the other spot in my office park has a one acre pond with TWO in it. Both spots are also NO FISHING.

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    Second Session of '09...

    in Pictures, Stories & Video

    Posted

    About a month ago we still had very cool temps and snow storms every other weekend. After my first session of the year which resulted in a 5 hour blank, I decided to give it a break until more positive conditions prevailed. We finally got some consistently warmer air temps though the water is still cool. The spawn is taking place this and last week in two of the waters I monitor so I thought I’d give the grassies a go. First fish to the net came in at 18 pounds and 35 inches. The next only stayed in the net long enough to get unhooked. Usually, I’ll keep them in the net submerged at the shore to avoid the land thrashing and scale shedding that occurs when a grassie realizes things have changed. During the calm moments I grab my forceps and remove the hook then grab the tape to get a length before weighing and taking a picture or two. Of the eight I netted last evening about half of them said “Nothin’ doin’ mate!” at the photo opp as they torpedoed out of the net and back into the deep soaking me in the escape. Oh well. That was fine too. Except for the one that went ballistic right as I stretched the tape across its length and got well into the 30 inches plus mark. And then right as the tape hits the 36 inch mark and still going (new Utah state record BTW) WHOOOSH! and the grassie says “I’m outta here!” On the next big one I called to another angler nearby to assist and witness my capture. Thought for sure I had 38 incher. Guess they always do look BIGGER in the water. 19.5 pounds and 35.5 inches. Which matches exactly the current record for C&R carp. That’s OK, too, as I did manage at least a couple of pics on this one. The wife called right after that and sweetly gave me the ‘one hour come home’ alert. Ahhhh, but it was nice to feel the tug of the line again after the first 2009 blanking (5 hours!) session in April.

    Steve

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    Long Euro style Carp rods

    in Beginning Carping

    Posted

    Gary,

    I started years back with 7'6" flippin sticks. Worked great with 1/2 ounce sliding egg weight and corn back east.

    Now in Utah - no corn, no chumming allowed. The bait has to be attached to the hook and line according to regs.

    I also salmon fish in Alaska each fall and have salmon/steelhead rods which do OK on carp but lack weight casting backbone.

    So I bought two 11 foot predators from Cabela's. They will cast a hu-mongo- normous bait out where I want it. I'm talking tennis ball sized that makes an impact crater like a cannonball as it splashes down. Obviously, the carp scatter but soon return when the scent of that much food disperses. It has GREATLY improved my catch rate to go this route. And I'm the only one around here targeting carp with long rods. Most folks here target trout.

    Good luck trying out your new rods. Give us a report when you start hauling!

    Steve

    You and the CO

    in Pictures, Stories & Video

    Posted · Edited by fishhead

    After fishing for two years in Utah I had my first encounter with a CO. Using the internet and Google earth I located several new venues and put them in my “to fish” queue. Bountiful lake is stocked with Rainbow, LMB, Channel Cats, Carp and sunfish. On one of my very first sessions there I set up two rods both with doughbaits and cast them out. The close-in rod just happened to be one of my 5/6 weight flyrods with a carp hook on the tippet with a small doughball squished on. And since it would fling off so easily, I would roll cast it out about 10 yards or so and let it sink. The floating fly line would be my indicator. Without any prebaiting allowed there is usually an “obligatory wait” ...up to two hours. About 8PM during this past July the fly rod line gets a run. Not the slightest hint of a nibble just an all our blitz. Instant taught line and smokin reel. I grabbed it and held on for the ride.

    Being a fairly clean and snag free lake this fish had plenty of room to drag my fly line around. ZZZZZzzzzzztt! 105 feet of yellow peels off in no time. tat-tat-tat-tat-tat! and the backing knot rips through the guides. This guy is going long.imgp0687kj9.th.jpgimgp0684vl9.th.jpg

    To shorten it up, my fish goes into the backing 6 times after getting it back into the flyline. Each time I get it in close to the shore...ZOOM.....back out to the deep. A young Mexican boy had stopped to watch and said just reel it in. I replied I have been attempting that for 20 minutes now. About 10 minutes later the fish is slowing down and the Conservation Officer has approached and aks if I was still fighting that same fish. Yes, I answered, it’s a stubborn one. He then asks if he should net it it for me. I looked at his uniform and said thanks but you don’t need to get wet or muddy and that I’d have it ashore soon. He told me that he issued 3 citations while watching me fight the fish as he walked down the shore towards me and was surprised that I was still playing the same fish.

    Finally, it comes to hand and goes in the net. The officer asks for my license which I produce and then I ask him to take a picture of my capture. He does and then as I prepare to release the 12 pound common he suggests that I keep it. I gave him a brief quzzical look and he says again I recommend that you don’t put it back. Well the debate could have begun but to end on a positive note I look at the latino boy and ask does he want the fish. The big grin is my answer. “Will you eat it?” “oh Yes! thank you!” The CO is happy, the boy is happy, I just caught a VERY feisty12 pound common on my flyrod and had a 35-40 minute tussle doing it so of course I'm happy too. 13graincarpqc7.th.jpg

    The same officer has checked me out three more times since then and now says ”I recognize THAT net” when he approaches me. I show my licenses each time as he explains that if he didn’t check me the next person would cry baby about not checking THAT guy out. So far my 4 times being checked this year were all positive experiences.

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