We spent July in Oregon.  I got my trout fishing fix for the year and was also able to sneak away to the Columbia Gorge for a few days of carp fishing.

The weather has been hot and dry all year in the Pacific Northwest, resulting in low water levels.  In the slow backwaters of the Columbia River the weeds have proliferated in the warm shallows.  A few of the spots I tried were nearly unfishable and I broke off one good fish in the weeds, but I managed to find some hungry fish out in the open too.

One funny anecdote: I stopped by The Caddis Fly shop in Eugene to pick up some necessities and spotted some carp flies that were complete copies of John Montana’s “hybrid fly”.  It is such an unusual pattern that there is no mistaking it and really no chance of a convergent evolution.  The only difference between these knock-offs and “the real thing” was the weight.  John ties his with stainless steel eyes while these had only bead-chain eyes.  They worked pretty well in calm, shallow water but I had difficulty getting the flies down to the fish in deeper, windier spots.

carp fishing rules!