Saturday, May 26, 2012

Carp fishin..

Continues to be good. Post spawners are seeking the warm skinny flats looking for fry, sculpins and anything else they can root up. Small light weight Clousers, Sculpin and crayfish bugs that can dropped soft are working excellent. Last outing produced 6 fish in about 3 hours. That's pretty good fishing for Carp on the fly in these parts.

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Carpin

Hit my "big" fish water first. Seemed like every damn fish that was tailing was in the most challenging spot. Tight to wood, under the undercut bank, going away from me etc etc. Three hours in and hardly any quality shots, I saw a nice fish about 10lbs heading up stream toward me and I finally had a clean shot on my hands. I call them a mission fish because they look they are going somewhere clicking along on a mission about 2kts..I was able to gather and put the fly about 10' in front of her and popped twice to get directly in her path. On the fall of the second strip she inhaled it just as it intercepted her path! And for some reason it didn't stick. That pretty much blew the hole out since this drama queen bolted when she felt some steel.  So, three plus hours, 2 good flies, farmed a good one and I stepped in dog shit from an apparent irresponsible dog owner. Nice.

Plan B was to check another place I was pretty sure I would get some shots on smaller fish. Sure enough, there was quantity and all cookie cutter 3-4lb fish tailing in very skinny water. I like this place because you can lay out longer casts with out any back cast obstructions and you get lots of shots on singles. That's a good thing because they are skittish as hell with the clear water.




Wind was right and they were happy and strapping on the post spawn feed bag so I spent the afternoon covering all the good flats for 8-10 fish. I just don't see many fish here over 7-8lbs so it is what it is and suited perfect for a 5wt.. What they don't have in size they make up for it being some the hardest fighting for there size and the cleanest most pristine carp I catch anywhere.  The fish in this place will also rise to dries a little later in the year.

dead center coming at me..let em get closer.

got em


Have a good week.

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Quiet day

Not in the mood to chase carp or be hasseled with launching today, my brother and I hit the rocks for Shad. It was a slow overall but good to be out there with him so all was good!



He came looking for trouble in the shallows..


Huge loss

On May 15th a dear friend passed..Dan was a family man and loved his beautiful wife Ann, adored his kids and of course fishing. He was a good cat and I am grate full for our times on and off the water. Dan Waddell was 42.

Peace man!


Saturday, May 12, 2012

American Shad

Early Morning fog







Jeff with a silver bullet






Monday, May 7, 2012

Pyramid Lake, Nevada

About this time of year I make the drive up to Pyramid. The dates seem to be between the 15th and the first of May. The fishing varies between excellent and frustratingly tough year to year. Last year was tough as nails and I think I caught 10 fish in two very long days.  This year I had the chance to fish it in January with decent winter results so I was looking forward to this trip. My friend Paul was out from Florida and he went up Monday and I followed Tuesday. As soon as I parked and made my way to the first beach I knew it was going to be a good day. I was able to put the fly in front of a nice  hen right off the bat and she tracked and ate really aggressively.  I hadn't even geared up so I landed and took a photo of that fish quickly and hauled ass back to the truck and sorted out gear about the same time Paul showed.





 Long story short, we put together about 2 dozen fish on the fly by days end. Wind built steadily all day and topped out with a steady 15-24kt north wind. It worked in our favor to conceal are shadows with the clear water.  Lots of short strikes and missed chances but still pretty decent results and with the exception a couple of fish, we saw every take. It was a lot of fun. Nothing exceptional in terms of size but these fish are beautiful and I was pretty stoked. Paul was done for this trip and heading back so I went back out at day break with flat calm overcast conditions conditions. Tough morning with three fish landed blind casting to green water drop offs and sinking lines. Fun, but lots of work. About noon I decided to call it and start heading toward the Bay Area. I was really reluctant to not stay for the afternoon bite but I hate coming back over the hill at night after 12 hours of fishing. Just about every fish was caught on small Clousers and 5wt sticks. So, another Pyramid trip in the books. Beside the fishing, I spent some time trying to get close to a small band of Mustangs in one of the valleys. The mares and foals kept pushing but a lone Stallion let me get somewhat near and seemed a little curious about me. Also saw Antelope.








Siesta


Chromer









Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Lahontan Cutthrouts

A wonderful fish..Here is a couple of images from Pyramid. Post a report and more phtots in a couple of days....