i got to the pond around 3:15 pm and the conditions were okay because it wasn't too hot, but was a bit overcast. while walking the shoreline, i met this older gentleman who walks the pond daily, and he actually showed me two carp hangouts. he doesn't actually fish but on his walks he stops and tries to spot birds or fish. within minutes, i spot a lone carp, probably between 10-15 lbs. he knowingly said that they don't like noise, so he left me to it.
i must have spotted a dozen different carp, all probably exceeding 10 lbs. some were absolutely enormous, and some actually tailing a few times. i must have has around 50 shots. so what went wrong?
first, the water was stained, so it was hard to spot the fish in the first place. i had to wait until they rose to the top of the water column, or search for streaming bubbles. secondly, and more significantly, there was just not enough room to cast. i had about 4 feet of clearing behind me and about 6 feet above me. the carp were only 20-25 feet away but i couldn't get the fly in front of them. i tried roll casting (which I'm not very good at) but to no avail because i couldn't get enough line out to load the rod. anybody have any advice on how to deal with this?
frustrated, i go check out the other spot the gentleman mentioned, but I didn't see any fish after about 30 minutes. i thought, "never leave fish to find fish", so i head back to the first spot and i run into two anglers headed to the same destination. they were there to catch dinner, and were going to use worms to catch panfish. i could feel myself get snobby while saying that i was there to catch CARP, on the FLY. as i said that, one of the anglers said that there was no way i could catch carp using a fly. i needed to use bait, such as corn, and chum the area first. he was incredibly condescending.
so i guess snobbery goes both ways. mind you, i don't usually look down on bait fisherman...in fact, i will will often use bait myself. i am not sure why i felt that way then, but perhaps it was because i was pushed out of my spot. i decided to fish about 20 feet away from them, which happened to be the only other shoreline accessible spot. as i was changing my fly, one of the anglers made his first catch, and proceeded to catch a sunfish. they quickly followed with 4 more panfish. 5 fish before i even changed my fly! that's crazy! i guess he felt sorry for me, and offered to share his worms with me. it was this gesture of kindness that really put me in my place. i was there to fish, and hopefully catch fish. why was i so adamant on catch carp, and why was i so stubborn to use a fly rod. i had brought along my spinning rod, so why was i hesitant to use it?
lesson #1: don't be prideful
i actually pulled out my spinning rod, put on a plastic tube, and within 5 minutes, caught myself a bluegill (let me know if i misidentified it). in truth, catching it just didn't do it for me, so i decided then i would rather not catch anything while trying to catch carp on the fly, than to catch panfish using a spinning rod (panfish on the fly is fun, but again, i wasn't able to cast a fly far enough to get to where they were). this doesn't make any sense, but the saying that popped into my head at the time was, "it is better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all".
i pride myself on being a problem solver, so as i was driving home, i put my head to it, and tried to find a solution to my casting problem. i thought, i just need more room above me. i also needed to use a heavier line, so that what little line that was outside of the rod could carry the fly.
i went back to the pond around 7 AM the next morning with a plan. i changed my setup from my 8' 6" 5wt rod, to my Sage smallmouth bass rod. the Sage rod is 7' long, and comes with a 290 grain floating line. using this setup, and rollcasting while kneeling, i was able to cast far enough.
however, did i catch anything? nope. the conditions were horrible. it was completely overcast so i couldn't see anything, except for the reflection of nearby trees. also, the few carp that came to the surface were not feeding. perhaps it was just not the right time of day. for some reason, i didn't mind not catching a carp as much as i had the day before.
lesson #2: fishing, is a metaphor for life. you need to learn how to adapt when presented with tight situations
lesson #3: you need accept the factors that you cannot control. some days you just lose without a fight.
anyways, i'm probably headed back out to LI to visit my mother in law again this weekend. hopefully, the conditions will be better, and then it'll be on me to do my best.
until then, stay salty. XXA
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