Lessons from the Carp Lodge: Episode #2--Can you catch every tailing Carp you see?

Episode #2 of Lessons from the Carp Lodge has been posted on YouTube. This episode has a list of all the Carp behaviors I have observed through the years. That is followed by a list of all the presentation techniques I have used to get these wily buggers to take my fly. Episode #2 shows some careless casting and it shows some good casting. If you look carefully I think you will see a Carp fart on my fly as he swims by it with complete disgust.

I had the Carp behavior list and the presentation techniques list prepared a few years ago for a series of print articles I was writing. It is interesting to me that I added two presentation techniques to my list for this video. As JM pointed out in his comment in the previous blog post, we keep learning, and that's a good thing. When I drafted the print articles I had only tried one kind of swinging of the fly. In 2010 I tried a familiar but completely different swinging technique and got fish. I also added indicator fishing to my techniques list. I point out in the narration that I have not actually caught a Carp using an indicator but that as a result of the exchanges on my blog, and input from Greg and McTage, I will be trying it in 2012.

My wife has been good about supporting me in this endeavor. She patiently answers my questions when I ask her thoughts on what makes more sense or how I might present something. She does not fish at all by the way. She must still love me because she still puts up with my nonsense after 34 years.

She asked me who I thought the "typical viewers" of my videos are. I had to say I really didn't know. She asked if they were people who already were good at fishing for Carp, people who had some experience, or people who hoped to try it for the first time. Again, I had to answer I really don't know. She asked what if a beginner doesn't know what a tailing fish is. She said that if she had not heard me talk about it she would not know. She said that in the videos she has trouble seeing the fish in the water. I told her so do I, even when I'm standing right there making the casts I have trouble seeing the fish sometimes. That is a good part of why there are titles and arrows showing the fish and the fly in the water.

It is hard to know where a good line is between the time spent narrating and presenting information, versus showing fish taking the fly along with playing them. It is difficult to know what a viewer already knows or who a "typical viewer" is. I am in hopes that this series will be useful for both beginners and experienced Carp fly fishermen. I am in hopes that even someone who is extremely good at it will at least find things a bit entertaining during the winter months.

I set out to make this series helpful; not just a bunch of clips of me playing fish. That said, there is a good deal of narration and explanation in this episode. Okay, I imagine there are a couple takes in there too.

Enjoy.