Our Columbia River cottage is finally ready for visits! In November we took advantage of a long weekend to sneak off to Rowena. The Fall leaves were golden, still hanging on before the first frost of the Winter. As the time for carp was well past, I had no plans to catch any fish.

Everyone else, it seemed, had different plans! Every afternoon cars were lined up along the back roads and local anglers were hooking good sized small mouth bass on “bright green Power Bait”. I was too busy enjoying good food, great beer, and visiting with family to make much time for bass, but I did take advantage of the low water to check out some possible carp fishing spots for the coming seasons. One of the spots looked particularly good, as witnessed by a hefty fish enjoying a sunny morning and gathering some last-minute calories for the cold months ahead.

It was so fun just watching this happy fish cruise around that, even if I had a fly rod, I don’t think I would have disturbed it. Still, it was a nice bit of intel: there are still a few Big C carp active into the Fall.

Now, mid-way through December, I am certain that the carp are hiding. If you are crazy enough to brave the snow, you might be able to find a steelhead somewhere….