August 5
A trip to the carp flats has been long overdue for me and my sidekick Tim Brune. In years past we fish mirror carp at least a day a week through July and August. But this year it’s been big projects and tons of company that prefer trout over carp. Yesterday Brune and I met at 6:30 AM and headed for Blackfoot.
When we got there conditions were ok. There was a light breeze and the skies were mostly sunny. We could see a few lingering carp but then there was the clarity of the water. Blackfoot, a reservoir, has been drained so low due to the summer drought that its brutally shallow and feeding carp and windy days have caused the water to be murky. You had to look really hard to spot a carp.
We putted around a little trying to find better conditions all the while thick clouds moved in. We saw storms in the forecast but they weren’t supposed to arrive till evening. By the time we got started we faced really tough conditions.
We always sight fish when chasing carp. That’s the fun of fly fishing for them. But the carp were on us, within ten feet before we saw them. Most the time at this close of range they see you first and spook. But the “Currier” persistence paid off and I stuck and landed a dandy on my Winston Air2 6-weight.
That would be all she wrote for either of us yesterday. One fish only. And we struggled well into the evening. The clouds became thick and the wind roared. We even had the occasional drizzle. All things that make fly fishing for carp nearly impossible. Luckily we had a window of no rain before dark for some of Tim’s fine elk burgers for dinner.
August 6
Carp fishing conditions were worse this morning. We awoke to the patter of rain bouncing off our vehicles. Originally I envisioned a sunrise walk on the flats but there was no reason to get up early today. Not unless you like getting soaked while sipping a cup of coffee.
Despite the ominous skies I made our coffee around 8 AM. During coffee time I changed my carp rig to one I could blind fish with and possibly stick a big trout. I hate blind fishing but I knew if I wanted to avoid getting skunked I better try. I changed out my 0X carp tippet for three feet of 2X and a size 12 brown bead-less nymph. I crawled it through areas I suspected there were carp hoping to get lucky. Miraculously I did and this nice fatty rainbow succumbed!
Tim and I scratched out another full day fishing but the rainbow trout was all we’d get. The weather got worse. The wind got stronger and often times the rain pelted us. At 3:30 Tim made us each another elk burger then we headed for home.
I have a busy work weekend. I’m writing an article about World Travel for the Fly Fishers International fall magazine. I have other projects as well but the goal is to get them done and hope for better weather for Granny’s days off on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week.
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