August 11 & 12, 2021 

August 11

I’ve never taken my boat to the carp flats of Blackfoot.  Not in all the years of fishing here.  But I haven’t run my little 3.3 Mercury in over a year and felt the need.  And the weather looked amazing with blues skies and light winds.  Yesterday morning Granny and I packed up the Explorer to the hilt and towed our boat that way.

We launched around 10 AM.  Launching was a chore and almost ended in disaster.  Due to the terrible drought, all reservoirs have been severely drained for irrigation.  Boat ramps on Blackfoot no longer reach the water and I had to drive across some muck.  My passenger back tire sank deep in the mess as we slid the boat off.  Luckily I was able dig it out then kick in the 4 X 4 and get free.  Soon Granny was poised in the bow looking for carp tails and muds.

The main reason I never take my boat for carp is that these carp are incredibly spooky and the see you coming much easier high in the bow of a boat rather than if you are stalking slowly on foot.  The other issue I dislike is that often you get in casting range from the boat then a gust of wind blows you off course.  Though the wind wasn’t much of an issue, undoubtedly the carp heard us coming simply from me rowing.  I got Granny several shots but in general the carp muds we saw were because they were frightening off rather than feeding.

We got skunked yesterday.  Despite no fish we had a nice relaxing day.  As always, granny whooped up an incredible camp meal and we took in the usual beautiful Blackfoot sunset.

August 12

As you can imagine, getting skunked on Day 1 didn’t sit well with either of us.  Granny and I were up early.  I brewed the coffee and Granny strengthened us with breakfast sandwiches.  Today was equally as nice as yesterday.  The sun was baking us before 8 AM which I knew should be good for carping.   We were on the water nice and early.

Let’s just say carp are unpredictable.  I’d compare them to brown trout and perhaps even moody permit.  Regardless of perfect conditions for fishing for them, they were hard to find.  I eased us into several beautiful normally carp filled coves but there none to be found.

Patience is the virtue however when the fishing is tough.  We kept looking and around noon I saw a carp tail barely break the surface.  With the wind so light I hardly needed to move an oar, I stood on my boat seat with my Winston 6-weight and line stripped out in a nice neat pile so I could cast in an instant.  We simply drifted.  There was the tail again and I tossed my Chuck Furimsky crayfish.  One strip and the mirror carp was on!

I say it all the time – it only takes one fish to make a trip.  Well, this mighty mirror would be our only in two days.  But he made the trip.  It was a lunker that I’d put between 18-20lbs.  It was a challenge to land.  My normal boat net was way too small.  After I tired him out I handed Granny the rod and she held him at the side of the boat.  I got both arms under him and was able to hoist him in.  He was like a gentle baby.  We got a few pics and back he went.

So, what if we didn’t slay the carp.  We got one and the conditions were unbeatable.  There’s nothing like a summer day and having an entire lake to yourself.  I guess the difficult boat launching conditions and the low water in general have discouraged everyone from recreating around Blackfoot.

We were in fact lucky to get the boat out without getting stuck.  I keep some extra rope and instead of driving to the lakes edge we dragged the boat to hard ground.  We called it a weekend at 4:30 and made the long drive back home.

Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing