We are fully and completely in the off-season here now. Any and all still-water carp are shivering the depths. Even the ponds that so surprised me to weeks ago appear nearly devoid of life. I am lucky to have the river though. The river is my last recourse now and will be until roughly late February.
So now it is time to commit to changing gears. Off-season carpin is like 4 wheel driving in that if you aren't half mad with how slow you are going then you are simply going to fast. Slow down and then slow down a little more.
You must walk slowly. You are looking for that magical fish that is feeding, and you may only find a couple of those in a day! Go too fast and you might miss it. Even worse, go too fast and you might startle it. There is nothing more demoralizing than walking right up to your only shot of the day and watching is swim away with a desultory flick of the tail.
You must present slowly. Even an aggressive winter carp will never chase a fly. Food that is hard to catch is simply not worth chasing. You fly should move slowly if at all!
You must give a longer pause on the take and set the hook slowly. Winter takes are in slow motion. If you are setting on the same hair-trigger and with the same velocity you used in the summer you will pull the fly away before it even enters the mouth.
Go slow, be patient, get a little lucky and it will all turn out. Eventually.
Incidentally - notice anything different? This is my first DSP carp with my new glasses (old-fogey blue-blocker looking cocoons not shown). My vision was bad enough that they had to give me partial corrections to 20/25 in one eye and 20/30 in the other for a while in order to get used to it. Pretty soon I get a pair that corrects to 20/20. Not sure how I have managed all these years, the carp could be in deep trouble.
Thanks for the input. Good advice for those of us who have never winter fished for carp.
ReplyDeleteIt is not for everybody Atlas. For one thing, the resource doesnt always exist. You really need to live South, by a river or a pond with a spring or a hot-water discharge or something like that.
DeleteI'm lucky to have one year round pond, rather have a river I think. Nice fish! I have trouble reading subtitles with corrected vision (glasses) and my grandson amazes me with what he reads with no problem. Let's say you look distinguished and that carp should fear you more.
ReplyDeleteGregg
It was a real nice fish Gregg. Now - on the glasses front I picked up the full 20/20 prescription today. WOW!
DeleteI finally committed to make the Carp a goal of mine this next year. I plan on focusing on the ponds and river here in Northern Colorado. Have been chasing Bluegill and Bass for years with a fly rod. Next up, Mr. Carp. Thanks for sharing your information. I will be back often to learn as much as I can. BTW, have added your link to my blog. Would you mind sharing a link with my blog?
ReplyDeleteMel, welcome to the revolution. This may come off dickish but fly-carpin is obsessively focused. You post on carp will link no questions asked. Until then I may like your site (do àctually) but Fly-Carpin doest care.
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