Grass Carp Flies: Part II

On July 15, 2010 I made a post explaining that I was participating in a Grass Carp reduction program at a lake in my area. In that post you can read the background of why the Grass Carp were planted there, what the effects have been and why the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife wants the number of Grass Carp reduced in the lake.

I am taking some time off and wanted to try and catch some Grass Carp. I got up somewhat early on Wednesday morning with the intention of getting a good start on fishing. I had breakfast, packed a lunch, loaded up my truck and almost was ready. I read the paper. Then I decided to tie some more "basic" Grass Carp flies just in case the ones I had didn't work. So it wasn't exactly early anymore.

To get to Lone Lake I have to take a ferry to Whidbey Island. The line was short and the weather was wonderful. I was in a very relaxed mode. The drive from the ferry terminal to the lake is not long. On the way I really started to crave a cinnamon roll. Knowing that if I drove right past the lake I would end up at the Langley Bakery in about 15 minutes I just kept right on going. I know a person might say that cinnamon roll isn't much of a reason to add 45 minutes to the time before I started actually fishing and I agree. To that end I bought two very rich brownies to take home. Surely that made the 45 minute delay worth it.

I got my boat ready and was on the water promptly at 12:40. Not exactly first light but so what. I headed down to the more shallow end of the lake and watched for fish. I started out with my Scum Fly and fished it for a bit just casting blindly in the shallows. A bit in this case means about 5 or 10 minutes. I switched to one of my more "basic" flies that I had tied that morning. Within another 5 minutes I saw a fish working near the reeds. I cast to him and there was nothing doin'. Ten minutes later I saw another fish, I cast to him and BAM, he took my fly. I had him on for several minutes and actually was close to netting him. The rod was in my left hand and the line was in my right hand. I had let the boat drift into the reeds while I was playing him. Maybe that was a bit careless. The Carp got into the weeds and broke me off. Dang it!

I wondered if that fish would have taken my Scum Fly but it was too late now. I wasn't willing to experiment since I wasn't seeing many fish. I put on another one of the morning's handiwork and starting stalking again in the margins. It would be hour before I got into another fish. I got this one to the net.



As participants in the Grass Carp reduction program we are required to report our fishing time, our method, and the weight and length of our captures. He weighed 9 pounds 13 ounces and was 27 3/4 inches.

I would get one more hook up later in the afternoon and that was it for the day. I lost that fish also.

I have a small electric on my boat and the battery was giving up. It was either dying or I had forgotten to charge it after my last outing. The battery was so darn dead I couldn't fish anymore and had to row back to my truck.

I had planned to fish the next day but was going to have to solve the battery problem first. And tie some "fresh" flies for the Grassers too.