Fishing with Travis--A Couple Apex Athletes (The Fish, Not Me)

There is a spot on my river that requires a very long walk to get there and then there is a lot of wading to do once you are there.  I believe I could get there and fish some, but I know I would not make it back to my carpwagon.  Well, at least not on the same day I started anyway.  Come on, I'm not 40, I'm 62, and feeling like I do pretty well all things considered.

My buddy Travis and I fished this water.  Instead of doing all the initial walking, we got there in his boat and I sure appreciated the opportunity.  Never mind that I was injured during the trip; I healed in a couple weeks.  The water is beautiful and VERY carpy.

Here is Travis really leanin' into one!  

(Also notice that he has a new lid that is pretty, dang, fly!)

Travis and I with a couple apex athletes.  

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The Chocolate Cherry is such a great Carp fly.

Here is a short video clip of a take and the hookset.  Watch how fast a Carp can move when it is motivated.  I was SO lucky that when he got to the trees he turned back out in to the river.  

It was a great day; thanks Travis!

PS There is still time to get your "soft porn" Carp pictures in.  You could win an Orvis Hydros Carp line or a Got Backing? t-shirt.  

Contest Update

A couple days ago I made a post about a photo contest.  Two questions have come up in email that I am answering.  First, the fish must be a Common Carp or a Mirror Carp please.  And secondly, yes, I will take entries from other countries.  We already have one from Spain!  Thanks Jorge.  Who knows, that Orvis Hydros Carp line or the Got Backing? t-shirt may be traveling to another continent.

Contest Time

Katy and I became first time grandparents on July 29.  Our oldest son and his wife had twin girls and we are absolutely thrilled!  Suffice it to say I haven't thought too much about blogging these past couple weeks.

Devan and Erin.  Talk about love at first sight...

Well, now, it is time for a contest.  That isn't nearly as exciting as being new grandparents but it is still some exciting, don't you think?

First prize in this contest is a new Orvis Carp line.  Dang I'm liking this line!  You will too.  The more I use it the more I like it.  Second prize is a "Got Backing?" t-shirt.  You can choose your size from S-XXL.  This is some cool swag; yup, pretty darn cool.

Sweet, new Orvis Carp Line

The picture that is on the shirt:

This is a photo contest.  Hero shots with people holding fish are what I think of as "hard porn" fishing pictures.  "Soft porn" fishing pictures are when there is a fish in the picture but there is more to the picture than just "showing it all" so to speak.  "Soft porn" fishing pictures might have part of the fish in the picture.  They might show all of the fish from farther back and give some, or a lot of emphasis to the surroundings. A "soft porn" picture might be a close up of the fish like the picture on the t-shirt.   "Soft porn" fishing pictures give way more room for creativity.  This is a relaxed contest.  I'm not looking for a heavily edited, color saturated picture.  A fun and/or well done "soft porn" picture would be great.  It does have to have at least part of a Carp in it.  Entries must be received by August 31, 2013.  My wife will pick the winners.  If she asks for help from someone else, well, that's her choice.  I'm going with whatever she picks.

Guidelines for entry in the contest:

1.  Like us on Facebook.

2.  Share a link to this contest on your Facebook page.

3.  Email me a "soft porn" picture that you have taken with at least part of a Carp in the picture.  Email me at mrp1011@gmail.com

Three Rivers Carp Tournament

I just received notification of this this Carp tournament in Tennessee. I wish I lived anywhere near this.  It sounds like a great time. People are coming from France?  Wow!  

"Don’t miss out on the fun, the bragging rights, the great prizes, and the chance to hook the biggest, ugliest fish you’ve ever caught on the fly at the 3 Rivers Carp Cup in Knoxville, TN.

This year’s 3 Rivers Carp Cup (3RCC) is to be held on Saturday, August 17th on the French Broad, Holston, and Tennessee Rivers located throughout the greater Knoxville area. The 3 Rivers Carp Cup is a one day fly fishing only tournament to benefit the Legacy Parks Foundation (http://www.legacyparks.org/). Legacy Parks Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization which works to assure that our community enjoys exceptional recreational opportunities, natural beauty and open spaces, and that those assets exist for generations to come. One of the primary areas of focus of Legacy Parks is to maintain the health of and access to our local waterways.  Knoxville's history and growth is tied to our waterways and our rivers continue to define much of our region.  The 3RCC is a fundraiser to support the continued development of recreational opportunities along the Holston and French Broad Rivers located below Cherokee and Douglas Dams respectively.  At present, access along the French Broad Blueway is adequate but incomplete while public access along the Holston River is extremely limited and as a result this unique outdoor asset is currently underutilized by a variety of users.  All proceeds from the 3 Rivers Carp Cup will go to support increased access opportunities on both rivers for a variety of users including fishermen, recreational paddlers, and wildlife enthusiasts.

The 3RCC allows anglers to fish for the elusive carp along some of East Tennessee’s most scenic waterways. The carp may be the most difficult fish to take on a fly and provides real challenges to the fly angler. Last year’s tournament saw 44 anglers from all over the United States chasing carp in support of the Legacy Parks Foundation. The momentum and enthusiasm for the 3 Rivers Carp Cup is building and we expect to have an even larger contention this year with participation from as far away as France."

·         Registration Fee: $50 (includes an official Carp Cup fishing shirt, drinks, and hors d’oevres.

·         Dates: Meet and Greet: August 16, 2013 6-8pm. Tournament: August 17, 2013, 8am-6pm.

·         For more information visit 3riverscarpcup.com

·         To register call Allen Gillespie (3RCC Tournament Director) at 865-200-5271 or email: allen@3riversangler.com.

Contest Coming Soon to A Blog Near You

My blog, formerly known as Mr. P.'s Blog, is getting a name change.  I'm going with "Got Backing?"   To celebrate the name change I'm going to have a contest.  I'm still thinking about the rules but it is going to be a photo contest.  One of the prizes will be the new Orvis carp line.  Is that cool or what?!  Some lucky guy or gal will get to fish this state of the art fly line.  

Details will come out sometime next week.  

The new Orvis Carp Line

New Orvis Carp Line

Awhile back Orvis sent me a prototype Carp fly line.  I have used it a bunch of  times on two very different bodies of water.  I am very pleased with it!  I have fished it on the Columbia River and on some still water.  I like it a lot in both venues.  Given the settings and the different conditions, I had a chance to fish the line at different distances and with very different amounts of wind.  

Most of the Carp I target are 25-40 feet away.  I make some 50-60 foot casts but that is not the norm.  I know many of us would like to think we are casting 70 to 80 feet to tailing Carp but I don't really think it happens that much; it certainly doesn't for me.   I feel that this line performs the best in that primary target zone.  It may not perform as well as my other lines on the longer casts but that hardly matters to me.  For the vast majority of the casts I was making the Orvis line performs better.  It seems to load the rod better.  If this line goes into production, yes, I would definitely fish it and feel very good about it.

I would add that some of the time I am fishing in calm weather.  There is usually some wind when I fish for Carp and sometimes there is a lot of wind.  I felt the line performed better in the wind that my other lines.  I had lots of opportunity to test that.   Since I am usually fishing in the wind this is a plus for me.  

The prototype line has a gray head and white running line.  I don't care for the color of the head.  I visually detect virtually all takes from Carp.  Most of the time that is from movement of the fish.  Sometimes, in deeper water that has that has the surface seriously disturbed by the wind, I detect the take in part from line movement.  I felt the gray line was a little harder to see than a sage or olive colored head.  If this line goes into production I would also suggest something that may be minor "heresy".  It certainly isn't the norm for a fly line and I recognize that all gear has to catch fisherman before it catches fish.  I'm thinking they might add a small section of red at the end of the head?  Just 12 inches.  When it is windy and the fish are more difficult to see, line movement would be easier to detect with a bit of red in the line as opposed to just the gray.  I look at the fish after I have cast, not the line.  I have taken a lot of video of takes and it is interesting to me to watch my video and see the line move slightly when the fish takes the fly even though I don't feel the take.  In watching the video it seems that  a very short red section would help detect takes when it is difficult to see the fish move.  

A Guest Post by Julie Gilbert

Julie Gilbert contacted me about doing a guest post.  Here is her article.  Thanks Julie.  

Fishing- A Bonding Exercise?

If you’re hosting a corporate event or day out with your employees this year, have you considered taking your team fishing? Corporate events are all about team-building, and fishing is a great outdoor event that can be enjoyable for all members of any team, whilst also promoting a little friendly competition! Fishing is a cost effective sport and well worth the money for the banter and fun that would be had on the water. It definitely makes a change from many other corporate events your team may have been to in the past, and it can be suitable for people with a wide range of fishing experience from novice to expert! With the right weather conditions, a day of fishing could be a very unique, enjoyable and interesting way to help your team bond!

Corporate Packages

The Orvis Company offers fly fishing trips in many parts of the United States along with trips to Europe, South America, and Africa.  They can help your dreams come true.  Many fishing companies offer corporate packages specifically tailored to your requirements. The Great River Fishing company in British Columbia arranges a day of fishing led by professional and experienced guides and jet boats to speed off down the river in. Start and end times, as well as the length of the trip, are all very flexible so can be easily arranged to suit your event and all fishing equipment is supplied. Lunch and refreshments are provided for a small cost and prices and quotes are available on request. Deep Sea Fishing Charters located in Miami Beach offers a similar package with a custom built trip to suit your targets and overall aims for the experience. Again they include all the fishing tackle you will need, the day is led by professionals who will teach you how to catch the biggest and best fish and they also supply food at an extra cost. They offer trips for over 20 people per boat, so plenty of room if you have a larger team! They are based 10 minutes away from the Gulf Stream where they do all of their fishing.

Friendly Competition

There is always going to be plenty of natural competition in today’s corporate world and this event could be no exception! Creating an element of some healthy competition between members of your team can give people who don’t usually mix a reason to spend time with each other! At the same time it can also continue to build and improve relationships with people they already know. There is also ample opportunity for valuable one to one ‘face time’ and the excitement of the sport and setting is ideal for honing working and personal relationships. Competitions and tournaments can be arranged between small groups, or if there is a large team, perhaps two or three teams could be spread between a couple of boats! The day could then culminate in a ‘Catch of the Day’ award, with a small prize given to the winner of the competition. Hopefully everybody will leave having caught fish to be proud of, but for this award there can only be one winner!

Learn A New Skill

One of the additional benefits to a fishing team building day is members of your team who had previously not had experience in this sport learning the rudiments of a new skill! The excitement and satisfaction of catching your own fish is a great feeling and infectious within a group, encouraging interaction with all members of the team throughout the day. For beginners, the importance of encouragement and support from fellow team members is crucial to building their confidence in their new skills. This is another way that your team will be able to improve their relationships with each other, and is something that is transferable directly to your work place environment.

A Bonding Exercise

Of course, it isn’t only corporate teams that can reap the benefits of a fun day of fishing. Fishing can be a great bonding sport, as it brings like-minded people together and is a great chance for families and friends to swap stories, techniques and experiences in a relaxed, natural environment. Being outside on the river encourages activity and a healthier way of living, as does eating the fish you catch, which are high in protein and low in fat. Fishing is a fulfilling activity for many people, as it can be quite a meditative sport at times but it can then suddenly become an exciting trip out with your friends, and it really is something that can be enjoyed at any age.