Breaking In Matt Pike's Carper's Crab

The weather took a left-turn for the worse on Friday but there comes a point every spring where minor cold-fronts no longer turn the flats into lifeless deserts.  This time may have arrived.  I had a very brief window (20 minutes) on Saturday morning to check out a local lake and as I approached I could see carp in singles and small groups cycling from the depths onto a super-shallow sand flat.   There was no mistaking the posture of these fish.  Have you ever seen videos of small reef-sharks on the prowl?  Their pace is fast but determined and deliberate.  Their course is random and their posture has a certain menace that is unmistakable.  Believe it or not Carp sometimes act the same way!  I call this feeding mode "seek and destroy" (que the Metallica).  I live for these moments, and although seek and destroy is rare in Colorado I too am on the prowl and occasionally find what I hunger for.

I immediately dropped to my knees and reached for the fly-swap box.  Instead of forcing the issue I have been letting the fly-swap flies come to me.  I figure that each and every one will have it's moment and that moment will come to me.  For some reason this moment spoke to me loud and clear and what it said was "Carper's Crab".


Matt Pike's Carper's Crab

Despite the relatively light weight of Matt Pike's Carper's Crab the first couple of fish to enter the flat spooked on the fly entry.  I set early on the third who startled me with the ferocious nature of it's attack.  Then from the corner of my eye I saw it.  Ten fish in a loose V formation cruising the edge of the flat and they were all in obvious seek and destroy mode.  Like an armada of world war II planes these guys were invading in force.  No mercy, take no prisoners.  I know this happens but perhaps I don't know when and where to look because I rarely see it. 

I dropped the fly 1 foot inside and 4 feet ahead of the formation and started a slow strip immediately.  Just about when the lead fish should have seen the fly she veered away and left the flat with the formation in tow.  Something about the situation had me suspicious though and I continued to slowly strip.  Its a good thing because she led her squadron on a big loop that ended right on the tail of my fly!  I guess you don't lead the pack if it is your first rodeo because the maneuver had thrown the other smaller fish off and while it was close she was the first to the fly.  It is not often you get to see 3 or 4 wide open carp mouths from straight on competing for you fly.  Actually I am pretty sure I have never seen that. 



Que The Metallica

That would do it.  The flat was dead for the additional 5 minutes I had in this window of opportunity.  Given more time perhaps it would have recovered but I came away with my favorite take of the year to date and broke in one of the swap flies.