Monday Fishing Trip

I had the day off today and spent the second half of it carping. Not a fantastic day but I did manage a couple of fish. The first one was a picture perfect carp hookup - the way things ought to work. I walked quietly and slowly along the edge of a nice flat until I spotted a tail waving about 15 feet from the edge of the water. I cast just beyond the spot where I figured the fish's nose would be and let the fly settle. Then as I started inching it along the bottom, though I couldn't see the fish, I felt the line tighten and set the hook. The fish was hooked perfectly. I was using one of my six weights this time so the ten pound fish was able to make a pretty good showing for himself.

Here is a head shot of the same fish. You can see the fly in the top of its mouth. This fish was special because I've been trying to figure out how to better feel a pickup when I cannot see the fish take the fly. Today I tried my six weight Cortland Camo Intermediate line, thinking that it might give me a better connection and feel. When I hooked this fish I figured, "Perfect. This is going to be the solution." However, I didn't get many more opportunities before the wind came up and the fish moved out of the area.

The release.

I did manage one more fish later in the day, still using the Intermediate line. This one was caught totally blind as I didn't spot the fish first. I was just randomly casting through an area that I thought might hold some fish - not a high percentage game. This one was small - 5 1/2 pounds.
The fly of the day was a yellow nymph with rubber legs and small dumbell eyes. I've done well on the color yellow in this lake before. Not a good picture, but here is a shot of the fly. This camera does not do well with closeups.

Here's a shot showing the wind I've come to expect in this spot in the afternoon.

I'll continue to use the six weight as I experiment with the Intermediate line. If this proves to work better than a floating line, I'll buy one for the seven weight that I usually fish.

z~