Monday, August 20, 2012

Carpin..

Reserviors have been been fishing slow as of late. Hot water on the flats and sluggish, spooky fish with dropping levels so I moved my operation for the mean time, to the creeks and small rivers..Better average quality and rarely do I run into anyone. Anyone fishing that is.  Down side is Poison Oak is everywhere I want to be. Mid morning seems to be when they move up out of the deeper holes and work over the shallow runs till about 4 and then i'm losing good light anyway. Getting one to eat is tough, but with consistantly getting good shots and being persistant one can expect a grab or two. The fish are averaging 10-15lbs with a few pigs n the high teens low 20s so the pay off can be nice. The real challenge on these creeks is landing one with the very steep banks and river bottom substrate, with a few exceptions is soft and not wadeable. Especially the closer you get to the SF Bay.  I did land a pretty blonde fish of about 12lbs the other day and broke of an absolute pig about a week ago. Horsing these fish will almost always result in a lost fish. 7-8wts are mandatory.



She stands out against a darker fish

There she is up close


I had the chance to spend the morning with Loren Elliot of http://www.lorenelliottflyfishing.com/  on the Central California Coast for Surf Stripers on the fly. I had a blast and took a pretty solid beating by the surf in the process. Ive never spent much time in the Surf despite how close I am. I'll be back for sure! I learned a lot about reading water and what not to do in just a few hours with him. The rest is just mechanics and proper gear and I can sort that out. If you find your self in the SF Bay Area during the summer give Loren a shout. He's a good angler and dude. You won't regret it! Almost time to give the Carp a rest and hit some Fall Stripers and Bass for a few weeks. Maybe throw in another Sierra trip or three. Boats have been sitting a lot this summer and I'm starting to miss being ON the water as apposed to near it.

4 comments:

testflycarpin said...

Wow, that is allot bigger than the fish you get on your other flats correct? I wish I had the option of switching over to stripers like you, what a great deal.

David McKenzie said...

We are lucky with the diversity. Stripers are year round in some form or another. Bay, coast, Cal Delta and land locked. Just have to be adaptable and mobile to go where they are. Local salt is going off too with Salmon, Tuna off shore and all the inshore reef fish that im not sure what direction to go.! Yes, these are much better quality Carp. Good shots on some good ones right now. All the streams close Nov-April so I have to get my cracks at em now till close.

BrookfieldAngler said...

Your waters are so clear! Event he cloudy ones always seem to have a blue/green'ish hue to them.

Mine always have some form of brown.

Gregg said...

That was a cool fish indeed! I saw a large striper as a kid in the Bay proper long long ago while the USS Kittyhawk was in dry dock and we visited my uncle there in the Navy. My try with earthworms caught an anchovy that mouthed it in and a fish I recognized instantly, a sculpin. You live in a very diverse place angling wise.

Gregg