Dan Frasier Comes to the Columbia River

This past week Dan Frasier from CarpPro, came to Washington and Oregon to do some Carp fishing with John Montana and I.  I would have connected with them for two days except it was Memorial Day weekend and my kids came to the Carp Lodge to enjoy some family time.    That meant just one day with Dan and John.

Over the past 7 or 8 months, through email and several phone calls, I had gotten to know Dan.  This was our first time meeting face to face; I was really looking forward to it.  The three of us met at 8:00 AM and headed directly to the Columbia River.

Traveling through seven states and a Canadian province, the Columbia is over l,200 miles long and  a mile wide in places; it is a huge river.  Between John and I, we have covered about 290 miles of it.  By that I mean that we have driven up and down that much of the river looking for places to fish.  On the portion of the river that creates the border between Washington and Oregon we have explored and fished both sides.  Anywhere we have parked our trucks we have walked and walked and walked.  We have waded our river a lot searching for Carp!

The morning that Dan, John, and I fished was very tough because the devil clouds were everywhere.  We just couldn't spot fish.  The afternoon was more productive as the sky cleared some.

This is a sequence where Dan was casting to a fish near shore.  He snagged his fly in the weeds but since he didn't spook the fish John traded him rods.  John kept the snagged line elevated above the water and Dan cast with John's rod.  The fish just didn't cooperate.

Here is a link to Dan's report about the trip on CarpPro.  He did a great job of writing up the whole experience.  

An apex athlete from after the sky cleared.  

Dan, thanks a lot for coming to Washington and Oregon.  It was great to meet you and to fish with you.  I'm looking forward to when you come back.  

When Conditions Aren't Perfect

In my previous blog post and in the one before it I talked about back to back days when conditions were near perfect.  The sky was blue, the water was clear, there was only a slight wind, and there were a lot of Carp for me to cast to.  It was heavenly.

Every day of Carp fishing is not like that.  Sometimes the weather conditions might be excellent but there are very few fish around.  When the water is not clear that is the worst.  When it is windy that is more worse.  And when the damn, devil clouds fill the sky that is the most worst.  I like clouds and even rain when I'm trout fishing or salmon fishing but NOT when I'm Carp fishing.

Today, Thursday, the sky was filled with devil clouds.  There was just a very light wind.  That's fine.  Was the water clear?  How the heck would I know?  The damn clouds made seeing things impossible.  Okay, the water was actually very clear but the sky wasn't.

I had come over to the Carp Lodge yesterday just before dinner.  I was planning to fish with Dan Frasier and John Montana on Friday and I was really looking forward to it.  I thought I might actually head to Oregon this morning but I ended up writing a Purchase & Sale Agreement for some clients.  I set it up for electronic signatures from the Carp Lodge--it is an amazing electronic world.  By the time I was finished with that it was much too late to go to Oregon to connect with Dan and John.  Plus, I could look out the window and see pretty easily that there was no blue sky.


I actually took this picture from the Carp Lodge after I was finished fishing but this is what the sky looked like almost the whole day.  I don't know what that blue thing is in the lower left corner.

After writing the Purchase & Sale Agreement I thought about going trout fishing instead but thought better of it when I realized that I didn't have any trout flies with me.  That meant I was either "stuck" at the Carp Lodge for the day or "stuck" Carp fishing.  Even with the devil clouds I opted for the Carp fishing.

There are a few spots that I Carp fish on the river that are very close to the Carp Lodge.  (Less than 30 minutes away).  It was late in the morning so I went to one of those spots.  The first spot I went to is "high water only" spot.  The river has to be good and high for there to be fish there.  That is because if the river isn't high there is no water at this spot.  No water means no fish.  It only is good a small amount of the summer.  I call it "Ray Ray's" because the first time I went there some years ago I met an extended Cambodian family.  As I was gearing up one of the men came over to me and introduced himself as Ray Ray.  He was drinking beer and eating a piece of deep fried Carp.  They had caught several in the previous few days and had cooked them in a propane powered deep fryer.  He was thrilled to see a white guy fishing for Carp.  He offered me some deep fried Carp but it turned out the kids had just eaten the last few pieces.  We talked for half an hour before I walked down to the water to fish.

Today there was very little water at Ray Ray's.  I walked the margins but I knew from experience that even if the sky was clear there wasn't enough water to draw the fish in.  It was a nice walk.  I walked farther down the river to another spot.  The sun peeked out for a bit and I was able to see just a few fish.  One of them took the Chocolate Cherry.  He actually thumped it good and hard.  I released 38 Carp in two days the last time I was out.  On a day like today one fish becomes much, much more satisfying than on a day when I catch so many fish.  I knew this could easily be the only fish I would hook and I was very grateful for it.  Thirty-eight Carp in two days is easy to write about but it is not normal.  It is important to also talk about the days that aren't easy or productive.

I weighed this Carp and it was 10 1/2 pounds.  He was wonderful.  On a day like this one fish becomes so satisfying and rewarding.  

When there are lots of devil  clouds, and when they are gray and black, they do this nasty thing, they drop water on me.  I like trout fishing in the rain and I like salmon fishing in the rain but I DO NOT like Carp fishing in the rain!  It started to rain, and big baby that I am ,I decided to go back to the Carp Lodge and get a candy bar.  I thought I would just sit on the patio, eat my candy bar and be done fishing for the day.  

Energized by the Reese's Nutrageous, and tricked by a bit of blue sky, I decided to drive back to the river.  There is a sign at this next spot that says that a troll lives there so I call it the Troll's House.  The Troll's House is also only good when the water is high.  The water is somewhat high right now but not high enough to draw large numbers of fish into Ray Ray's or the Troll House.  Two years ago when we had flooding these two spots were amazing.  In 2013 they may never be good.  In fact they aren't likely to be.   They may not be good again for years.  

There were some brief breaks in the devil clouds and I was able to spot a few fish at the Troll House.  I hooked two small fish.  (Small for the Columbia River is under 8 pounds.)  One of two was 6 1/2 pounds and the other was 7 pounds.  It started raining again and since I don't do rain when I am Carp fishing I called it quits for the day.  I was back at the Carp Lodge by about 3:15.  

Tomorrow I am going to fish with Dan Frasier and John Montana.  They are more than twenty years younger than I am.  Figuring I better rest up for the big day, I took a nap.  

I'm looking forward to connecting with Dan and John tomorrow.  

Day 2--Near Perfect Conditions

This is a follow up to my previous blogpost.  I fished Thursday, May 9, and Friday, May 10.

With such a stellar session on Thursday one would think I could not wait to get out early Friday morning and repeat the experience.  Rather than starting earlier, I ended up starting a half hour later.  I was enjoying moving at my own pace but still definitely looking forward to gearing up and casting to tailing Carp.  It took 20 minutes for my “speedy” electric motor to get me to one of the spots I had fished the day before.  It was as if the Carp had spent the night there and were waiting to see if I would be back.  I was glad to see them and some of them acted glad to see me.  In less than 10 minutes a Carp took the size 8 Black Betty.  Unlike the day before, from the start, I believed I was going to have a great day.  And Lordy I did!

Not sure exactly how many fish I had caught the day before, I made a point of counting carefully today.  I said the number out loud when I released each fish.  When I turned the last Carp out of the net I said, “Seventeen”.  I stopped an hour earlier today.  I was sated.  I never get tired of the takes but I can get tired of playing fish.  My stomach was sore from pressing the fighting butt against it.  I had moved down the reservoir quite a ways from where I started the morning.  It was more than a half hour back to my truck.  There were tailing fish in sight and there were shoppers; I knew I could have caught more fish.  I had just reached a point where I wanted to sit on the patio at the Carp Lodge, watch the sun set, and savor the day more than I wanted to catch another fish.  Not being able to do that would have diminished my enjoyment of the day considerably.  To keep myself in check and make sure that I got my patio time, not only did I reel in, I clipped off the Black Betty and broke down the rod. 

Epilogue: 

Gregg Martin, an Idaho Carp angler for whom I have tremendous respect, wrote a comment in my previous post about numbers that he couldn't hope to achieve.  I also received an email about my previous blog post and the numbers.   While I have had days like these in the past, and I expect to have them again in the future, these are NOT typical days in the sense that I always have these kinds of numbers.  I have actually caught more Carp in a day than I just posted about.  For these two days I just wrote about the conditions were  ideal and I happened to be there.  In the interest of fairness and full disclosure there are plenty of days when I work very hard to get just a few Carp.  There are days when I get blanked.  I have blogged about those kinds of days too. 

I was also asked in the email if there was anyone else on the water I was fishing.  The answer is definitely yes.  There are usually people there fishing for Carp though they are almost always bait fishing.  There are also bass fisherman there too.  Both days there were people there fishing for Carp with bait when I fished.  The second day a guy pulled up as I was taking out.  He was very friendly.  He laughed at me (politely) because I fished for Carp with a fly.  He asked me if I caught any and I told him I put a few in the net.  He asked me where they were and I told him I release them.  He said he was “bow fishing” for Carp.  He had a $45K truck and a large bass boat to go with it.  He said he always gets some when he goes out.  I asked him if he releases them and he said, “Well yeah, they have an arrow in ‘em and their gonna die, so yeah”.  I’m not going to get started on “bow fishing” for Carp.  I’m just saying that there were other people there.   I do move away from them however. 

I did not get a fish over 15 pounds today or yesterday.  The fish were willing to take the fly, they were extremely "hot" (lively) and they were plentiful.  What else can I ask for?  

Who Knows What Near Perfect Conditions Will Bring?

Right at the end of March I sold a home to my clients Jeremy and Kacie; it was supposed to close on Monday, May 6.  The seller refused to sign at the last minute because her agent told her she was netting $25,000 more than she actually was.  Unbelievable...  The escrow officer said she had never seen anything like it in 20 years.  My buyers had rented a truck and had friends lined up to help with the move.  Oh, and I was planning to leave the next afternoon for a few days of Carp fishing.  Wednesday morning Jeremy, Kacie, and I were back out looking at homes so I wasn't fishing.  Thankfully, VERY thankfully, we found something they liked better than the home they lost even though it was farther north than they had wanted to be.

Beating the traffic out of town, Wednesday afternoon I left for the Carp Lodge.  With laptop in hand I was able to write the Purchase & Sale Agreement from there and set it up for electronic signing; it is a modern, electronic world indeed.

Thursday morning brought what appeared to be near perfect Carp fishing conditions.  It was hot, the sky was blue and there was a very light wind.  I had my Zodiac in the reservoir just before 9:30.  It was awhile before I even saw a Carp let alone made a cast.  What happened to my near perfect conditions?  Don't the Carp know that when there is blue sky and a gentle wind, AND I'm stalking the shallows, that they should be there with me?  At about 10:00 I was casting to only my third fish.  I made a cast then dragged and dropped.  He picked up the Chocolate Cherry and took off.  He was about 8 pounds; I released him at 10:06.

Who really knows how a day will turn out?  You start to get a sense of things as the morning moves along but still, who knows?  I just wasn't seeing the number of fish that I had hoped to; I was hardly seeing any fish at all.  My visibility was good because of the clear sky and light wind so I just headed down the reservoir a mile and a half and then started stalking again.  That is probably not a completely accurate statement.  I didn't "start stalking again" as in I slowed the boat down and started looking for fish.  I "started stalking again" as in I saw some tails sticking up so I stopped the boat and started casting.  A couple Carp turned to the fly and then turned away.  I don't usually change flies as quickly as I did but I had tied some Black Betty's after writing the Purchase & Sale Agreement the previous night and I wanted to use them.  I don't know if it was the fly or what, but the darn Carp started hitting the fly.  In a few cases I would say they didn't just turn to the fly they actually smacked it and took off.  Dang, that makes me feel accomplished and clever.

I know how many fish I think I caught but I lost count a couple times so when I say I released 21 Carp I may be wrong.  It could have been a couple more.  Most of them were 6-9 pounds with several of them being 10 pounds and over.  One was 14 pounds and made a fine showing of herself as she peeled out backing.  It ended up just being an extremely satisfying day.  It certainly left me looking forward to the next day.

   

Issue Three Carp Pro Magazine

Check out Issue 3 of CarpPro magazine.  You'll be glad you did.  

When the Alder Leaves are One Inch Across

September 5, 1973 was my first day as a teacher.  Could it have been that long ago?  As excited as I was to start my career I had no idea how much I would come to love what I did.  I told kids every Friday what a privilege it was to be their teacher.  And it was.  My life revolved around the school schedule and to a certain extent it still does.  The school schedule is prescriptive and regimented.  Even though I have now been out of the classroom for 4 years I still think of time in terms of the school year calendar; I probably always will.  I know this is 2013 but for me the year “started” in September of 2012 and will end in the summer of 2013.  Summer Carp fishing occurs at the “end” of the year. 

In the early 70’s, before I was married, I would  fish during spring break which was always in the beginning of April.  For several years a friend and I went to Vancouver Island to fish for trout during that time.  My friend knew a family on the island.  Norm and Billie were their names and they were always kind enough to let us sleep at their home and to feed us.  After breakfast Norm would drive us to a different lake each day.  From one year to the next and from one day to the next conditions varied; we had some good days of fishing, and we had some blah days of fishing. 

All of the water we fished with Norm was open year round.  Not having an opening day was, at the time, quite strange to me.  I wondered when there isn't an opening day how do you know when to start fishing.  Howard and I went to Vancouver Island during spring break because that was when we had the time to go and because the water was open.  The opening day for lowland lake trout fishing in Washington was usually two or three weeks after spring break. 

The second year Howard and I fished with Norm, the fishing was a lot better than the first year.  I felt very clever as if somehow I had learned a lot from the previous year and become more skilled.  Billie packed big lunches for us every day.  During lunch that second year I was visiting with Norm about his water being open year round.  I said that we came during spring break because that was when we had time.   I said to him, “Since you can take time off whenever you want, how do you decide when to start fishing when there is no opening day?”  He said to me simply, “When the alder leaves are one inch across.”   

That simple sentence has stuck with me these forty years.  I think of it in terms of when to start fishing for different species but also in terms of life.  In part it is a reminder to me to not rush things; as anxious as I can be to do certain things and to make some things happen, sometimes it is just best to wait until the alder leaves are one inch across. 

That second year the alder leaves were all pretty much ¾ of an inch to a full inch across.  Maybe I hadn't really become so clever after all compared to that first year.  It was just warmer.  Bugs were hatching, fish were feeding. 

When we arrived at Norm and Billie’s home the third year the first thing I did after saying hello was look at the alder leaves.  I was so disappointed to see that they were all ½ inch across.  I desperately wanted to find some, even one, which was a full inch across as if finding even one wide leaf would make the fishing better in the morning.  I couldn't  find a single one inch leaf.  We caught fish but the fishing wasn't nearly as good as the year before. 

So how does a person know when to start Carp fishing?  When is Carp season?   How do Carp know when to start showing up in the flats that I love to fish?  Carp don’t know when opening day is; heck here in Washington and Oregon there is no opening day for Carp fishing.  And plus, what do I know about the calendar anyway?  Heck I still think the year starts in September.  

And so it is with Carp fishing now as it was with trout fishing on Vancouver Island 40 years ago.  The beginning of the season has nothing to do with laws or regulations.  It has to do with nature.  It has to do with me being attuned to the weather, the water temperature, and  the river level; it has to do with me giving  mother nature her due respect.   

Carp are my favorite quarry but for me the enjoyment is diminished if I rush the beginning of the season.  I applaud all the anglers across the country who are willing to fish in so many kinds of weather and settings.  I believe I could have caught some Carp last month.  I chose not to even look for Carp let alone fish for them.  I was catching trout and patiently waiting for the “alder leaves of Carp fishing” to be one inch across.  

I hadn't really planned to Carp fish until May this season.  Recently we have had some unseasonably warm days in central Washington.  The ice was off the lakes two to three weeks sooner this year than the previous two years. 

One might think that because I am 62 and my days of wading the river for Carp are numbered, I would press the start of the season each year to get in as many days of fishing as I can while my legs still allow me to.  Actually the opposite is true.  Because I am 62 I am more willing and able to wait for the "alder leaves of Carp fishing" to be one inch across.  

This past week was Katy’s spring break; she and I came to the Carp Lodge on Wednesday.  A month ago I thought I would trout fish a day or two while we were there.  Since it had been warm, late Wednesday I drove to a spot on the river near the Carp Lodge to do some scouting.  I have caught many Carp there.  The spot is only available for a few weeks a year when the water is high.  When I drove up there was no water at all which meant there was no need to hope or even pretend that I might catch a fish.  There are years when the water never comes into this spot; this may be one of those years.   Heading back to the Carp Lodge was an easy decision. 

The weather forecast for Thursday was for mostly clear sky, light wind, and temperatures in the 80’s.  That is not normal for April.  Thursday morning, thinking the “Carp alder leaves” just might be an inch across, I headed to another spot on the river. 

I have been trout fishing a fair amount these past two months and have caught some wonderful fish. 

Even on the very good days of trout fishing this year, the fishing doesn't require, or allow, for the kind of riveted attention needed to visually detect a subtle take by a Carp.  Having been months since I last Carp fished I wondered if it would take me awhile to remember what that simple movement to the fly looks like and when to set the hook.  The first three fish I cast to, didn't want my fly.  Possibly they didn't like the sound of my cleats, the splash of the Carrot, the shadow of the line, or maybe they didn't like my hat.  Maybe they didn't like me talking (quietly) to them and telling them to pick up the fly. 

It appeared that the fourth fish couldn't hear my cleats, couldn't see the line, didn't mind splashes, and really liked my hat.  When he made a slight move to his right I set the hook.  While I was extremely happy that he took the fly I was every bit as happy, possibly even happier, to know I hadn't forgotten what a take looks like.  There was no hesitation or wondering; I just stuck him.   An eleven pound Common was a great way to start the season.

In addition to a good number of Commons, to my pleasant surprise, two Mirrors ate the Carrot during day. 

I thought this linear Mirror was particularly picturesque.  Actually, I thought he was beautiful.

 

I netted this common and unbuttoned the Carrot.  I tipped the net slightly and he swam away.  I so appreciated him showing me my backing.  

                                                           
The alder leaves of Carp fishing are one inch across.  Carp season has begun.               

Carp Parts--Fins

Fins.  Lots of them.  But no caudal fins.  

I thought this one was going to fly.

Just about the time I get finished publishing pictures of "Carp parts" it will be time to start taking new pictures of fish from the 2013 season!  I'm getting jacked!