This little guy smacked a rams wool leech, teased past some rocks along the far bank.
As I mentioned in another post, we really need some rain. The creek is really getting low.
This branch of the creek normally has water flowing in it, but it is currently dry.
The white band around this rock shows you where the normal water level is (roughly 8 to 10 inches deeper).
I think this is one of Johnno's small soft hackles. Thanks John. This fly worked like a charm.
You can see the fly hanging from this little guys mouth.
A few minutes later I caught one of his cousins. I know it looks like the same fish, but it isn't.
Later in the morning, as I was walking back to the car and I came across a deep pool that had a bunch of carp lazily drifting about it it. The water was very clear, and I had a good vantage point along the bank, so I stood watching them for 15 to 20 minutes. It was kind of hypnotic to watch them swim around. I decide to give them a try with a soft hackle fly. I decided to try a soft hackle fly with creamy tan hackle. I cast the fly out, and let it slowly sink down into the pool. The current was very slow, so I could watch the fly slowly descend thru the water column. As I watched, one of the carp noticed the fly, changed directions and headed towards the fly. I gently raised the tip of my rod, just a little bit, to cause the fly to pulse with life. Then let it hang for a second while the carp closed the gap. She sucked in the fly, and I raised the rod tip setting the hook.
FISH ON!
She shot off towards the other side of the pool and I held back on the rod, trying to turn the fish before running out of line. I dashed after her, rod held high, but I couldn't keep up. She was way too strong and at the last second I had to let go of the rod, to keep from breaking the line. The fish quickly swam upstream, dragging my tenkara rod in tow.
The cork handle of my rod dragged swiftly across the surface of the pool, creating a wake as it went. The image reminded me of the scene from the movie Jaws, where they had harpooned the shark with the float barrels.
After chasing down my rod, I grabbed the handle and slowly put pressure on the fish. I was able to turn the fish and raise the rod high enough to get into the stronger section of the rod. Slowly I worked the fish up and down the pool, until I had tired her and I felt I could grab the line and draw her in without breaking the line. Fortunately I was able to get out my net and scoop her up after a couple tries. Believe it or not, I caught this fish on 5X tippet.
WHAT A FIGHT! (See Chris - I told you I was stupid enough to try to catch a carp on a tenkara rod.
)
Lance - Is this one of your flies from our recent swap? If not, it may be one of Doug or Bill's flies. I don't think I tied this one.
Okay, here is one last photo of some beautiful "Forget Me Nots", which caught my eye as I walked along the stream yesterday. I just got around to downloading the photos.
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