Getting Lucky and 69ing

While pulling in the driveway of the Carp Lodge last Wednesday, the odometer on my Carpwagon turned 69,000 miles.  It had meaning; at least I thought it did.  But what was the meaning?  Or was there any meaning at all?  

Eyes closed...mind wandering... Slowly, fluidly, pleasantly, remembering younger days...  

I have this memory, albeit somewhat vague, of something to do with 69, or 69ish or 69ing or something.  Is it something about good fortune?  I don't know for sure. Whatever it is, it is a good memory, a stimulating one, an arousing one, a memory that makes me smile.  I feel pretty sure of that.  

Still pondering...  Whatever it is I seem to remember it has a something to do with position.  Yes, that's it, 69 is about position, optimally positioning oneself for climactic success.  But what is it?  Or what was it?  

Oh, oh, is this your first time reading my blog?  Or are you new to fly fishing for Carp?  Are you thinking this is all kind of kinky?  Just relax.  Take it slowly.  Lay back and be at ease.  It's only kinky the first time or two; you will get so you enjoy it.  (Reading my blog and fishing for Carp)  

Eyes opened, staring at the odometer, it came to me.  That's it.  69,000 miles meant I was going to get lucky!  Yes!  I  just knew it meant I was going to get lucky!  Just thinking about getting lucky got me excited.  

That meant I should unload the groceries and get right back on the road and head for the water.  Good thing my Zodiac was in the back of the truck.  As I said, success is about positioning and I had positioned myself well.  All my gear was loaded and ready and I knew I would still get some fishing in during the afternoon.  It was already 10:45 and after unpacking I still had just over an hour to drive to get to the lake.  Add time for inflating the boat and getting it set up and I was still two hours from fishing.

The rod delivered the first cast at 12:40; that's kind of late in the day to start fishing but I take the opportunities I have and am grateful for them.  I think going Carp fishing when the odometer turns 69,000 miles is called 69ing.  Yeah, it is.

Some fish were still in the spawning mode; ignoring those fish I moved on in search of better targets.  I started with the Crayfish pattern sent to me by Chris at Missouriflies.com.  It think it a great looking fly and I'm confident I can catch Carp on it.  Its windy here in central WA.  Sometimes its a little windy and sometimes its a lot windy.   When it is windy, as soon as the fly hits the water, particularly on a crosswind cast, the line starts to bow and tug on the fly.  I can't always position myself to be casting downwind to a tailing Carp that is at a 90 degree angle to me.  I take the targets I get.  Some of those targets are crosswind and and some are upwind.  The fly was not getting down to the fish so after almost an hour I switched to a more heavily weighted pattern.  Chris, I'm sure  I will catch fish on your pattern on a day later in the summer when there is less wind.  I will keep you posted.

Using a Carp Carrot tied with dumbbells eyes I was able to put some fish in the net.

In this next picture I am sitting in the Zodiac.  The fish is cradled in my left hand while my arm rests on the tube of the boat.  That is the oar you see under my hand.  I weighed this fish in the net but I forget how much it was.  Thirteen pounds I think.

A couple others who liked the Carp Carrot.

This fish just thumped the Carrot.  He tried to swallow the darn thing; I had to use the hemostats to take out the fly.

Thankfully some Carp were cooperative.   It turns out my memory was good; 69 was a sign I was going to get lucky.  And I did.  I left the lake planning to fish two more days.  It left me wondering, "Can a guy get lucky three days in a row?"