Tough Tailin'

The stagnant air was heavy as I pushed the overgrown branches away from my face, keeping my eyes down on the trail.  The joys of a midday in June carp recon mission.  I'd fished the lake before, but from typical, easy access park locations.  I wanted to find a big mud flat, and the satellite views showed me several spots worth checking out.  Man I need a boat.  None of these places were easily accessed by foot (unless you like the way a poison ivy rash feels).  I crossed my fingers and hoped for immunity as I finally popped out of the jungle to the lake shore. 

Carp wonderland!  This picture doesn't do the moment justice.  By the time I pulled out the camera, the 6 or 7 tailers were onto my presence and had disappeared.  I needed to ease into the muck quietly and camp out for awhile.  They'll be back. 

After about 10 minutes of motionless patience, the tails began to reappear.  I was confident that once one popped up within effective casting range, a hookup would be easy.  Not the case.  I had plenty of targets, but with the murky water, detecting strikes was not easy.  Last time I was in this situation on a different lake, anytime I landed a fly close, I'd wait a few seconds, twitch the line, and watch it twitch back.  This time wasn't so easy.  Eventually, I decided to wait for the fish to get much closer before making any attempts.  This strategy paid off with a nice 7 pounder.

I battled a few more after that, but didn't manage to land another until I had thrown in the towel and was stomping through the muck on my way back to shore.  I spotted a slowly cruising fish that was about to intersect my path.  I waited until the fish was about 6 feet away before dapping the red SJW in front of it.  The fish was shallow enough that I could see its face turn.  I watched it's orange lips open and inhale the fly!  Takes like that make it easy to know when to set the hook.  It wasn't a big fish, and the fight was short-lived, but that take will leave a mental picture in my mind for awhile!