Today was one of those deceptively nice days that make you think crazy thoughts like “gee, maybe winter isn’t so bad, after all.” The fog blew off and the sun came out before lunch so I grabbed a rod and drove to one of my little winter carp lakes. The lake has an outlet to the river, so the water levels are usually the same, but I think it may be blocked by debris because the lake was pretty deep despite the river being low. The lake temperature was 44 degrees, so I was confident that I would find some active carp, and I soon spotted a group of tailers along the shoreline. The water was very murky and the bottom was slippery and uneven so I slowed way down and used my Shaolin Wading to stealthily approach the fish. I hooked the closest one almost immediately, but it popped off as soon as I cleared my line. A bit further on I snuck up on a pair of feeding fish. One moved a bit deeper and I lost it in the murk, but the other fish stayed shallow enough for me to see its head. I made a short drag-and-drop, the carp moved a couple of inches, and I set the hook. I swear carp feel more slippery in the winter, like they are producing more slime in the cold as a protective measure. Between the cold water, the extra slimy fish, and the extra slippery mud, it was a struggle to get a photo, but I was determined.
See, this wasn’t actually my first February carp. Last week I ventured out on a somewhat colder day and managed to land an 8 pound fish. I was equipped only with a 5 weight rod and an old click-and-pawl reel, and it turned into a surprisingly long fight. The water in that pond was also very high, and I couldn’t find a safe place to set my camera, so I had to release that fish without a picture.
According to my measurements, the river is still too cold for the big carp to bother moving into the shallows. If this sunshine continued for a week, I might see a few, but I don’t want to count my fish before I catch them. I strongly suspect it will get colder before it gets warmer, so I will try to hold on to the memory of hooking this carp in the February sunshine.
The Fishing Dojo 