fine water

Carpaganda - Preachin' it

noreply@blogger.com (Ty) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 04:05:00 +0000

The best we can figure is that there was some sort of scheduling error, or else the program director was out of town ("You spent two hours talking about what?!?!").

Anyway, we somehow managed to wrangle a guest spot on Tony Sanders Outdoors, a very popular and well-respected (until now anyway) local radio show for hunters and anglers, to discuss flyfishing for carp. That's right - fly fishing for carp.

These two carp-centric hours clearly marked the zenith of Tony's show, if not of the station itself. It was a moving discussion of tailers and tailwaters, of canoes and cane poles, of sunbathers and swamp donkeys. Tony himself was moved to tears, although not until the third threatening call from the station manager.

A big thanks to Tony and his co-host Rob "Gar-Daddy" Prytula for having me on the show. Enjoyed it fellas.

Officially on the board for 2012.

noreply@blogger.com (Ty) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 01:16:00 +0000

Tough, windy day on the flats today, but managed to stick a small common. First carp of 2012.

On a Mean Ol' Dirty Frisco, no less. The carp tracked it down from over a foot away in stained, almost muddy, water. I hope this means the larger profile of this fly, as opposed to my usual PT, is easier for the fish to see in murky water. The PT often will not draw a take unless you drop it right on the carp's nose. Or at least within a few inches. One carp doesn't mean anything of course, but the MF'er may have some promise.

Stonesimple

noreply@blogger.com (Ty) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 02:31:00 +0000

Stone, because it sinks like one. And because it's a serviceable imitation of a stonefly nymph.

Simple, because even we can tie it.

Stonesimple.

No points for creativity here. This is a long shank nymph hook (Daiichi 1720 in this case, size 6), lead wrapped from bend to eye, rubber legs tied in here and there, and topped off with a few wraps of chenille. A simple, deadly pattern. This fly and others like it have been around since Lefty was in diapers. Which makes me wonder why it didn't become a permanent resident in my fly box sooner.

Speaking of deadly by the way, check out the EPIC carp fly swap that McTage is hosting over on Fly Carpin'. EPIC.

It's a cruel, cruel world.

noreply@blogger.com (Ty) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 14:58:00 +0000

Searching maps for potential carp water, I came across this. Maybe twenty minutes from my front door, deep in the middle of private land and wholly inaccessible.

Further evidence of the carp's growing stature in the fly fishing community.

noreply@blogger.com (Ty) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 00:28:00 +0000

Recent email exchange with a friend in Salt Lake City:

"The Madison opens up May 19th, so you'll need to be here on the 17th or real early on the 18th."

"Dang, that'll be right in the middle of the post-spawn feeding frenzy, but ok."

"Post-spawn of what?"

"Carp."

Long pause, and then finally -

"Remind me to punch you in the mouth when you get here."

Didn't have the heart to tell her it was all downhill from there.

noreply@blogger.com (Ty) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 01:34:00 +0000

Found this old photo from a school we did a few years ago. Maybe a half dozen casts or so into her fly fishing career, this lady nails a grassie. And a fine grassie at that.

Kinda like taking a mountain climbing class and then summiting K-2 later that day.

Plain old black woolly bugger, in case you were wondering.

Trip Report - Hiwassee River 1/1/12 -Skaters and the flavor of BWO's

noreply@blogger.com (Ty) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 16:34:00 +0000

If you live in the Southeast and are looking for good trouting this winter, you could do a lot worse than the Hiwassee river. Bugs are coming off everywhere, the fish are eating the bugs, and it's all good right now.

Winter stones were on the water in decent numbers yesterday, skimming across the surface like drunk ice skaters and getting nailed by trout. Noisy, splashy rises punctuated with flashes of silver and pink. A big bushy dry fly twitched and skated caught fish. For awhile anyway. Then the BWO's started coming off too and the trout, for reasons of their own, switched to these tiny flies.

I've never understood this. The trout have the choice between a huge, mouthful of stonefly steak awesomeness or a tiny BWO popcorn kernal, and they pick the BWO. Maybe BWO's just taste better, I guess. Trout have been doing this for thousands of years, so they have this sort of thing pretty well figured out and don't need my input. But still.

So suddenly the dry fly was a no-go. The trout for the most part began to completely ignore it. And the splashy rises were replaced by quiet swirls and dark noses poking up here and there. Ok, fair enough. I tied on a #20 PT, fished it in the film, and was back in business. I did go back to the skated fly every now and then because, let's face it, that's the very best way way to catch trout.

I had hoped to try out some new nymphing methods, and I did that with some success, but when the bugs started popping and the fish started rising, well, I'm a weak man.

So we caught fish and plenty of them. I expect this will continue for awhile. The shad kill should begin any day and this annual gorge-fest will produce some fat healthy trout. The next 4 or 5 months will see the Hiwassee at her best.

Joe "Toons" Alissandrello working a run.

Casting Tip #8 - Creep and Cobras of the Limp variety

noreply@blogger.com (Ty) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 14:49:00 +0000

We are completely ripping off this casting tip from Marc over at the Limp Cobra. He had a really good post on his blog a few days ago about creep, a very common casting fault. Good video on there and quite a few comments. You'll see in the comments that Marc and I nearly come to blows over the remedy for creep. Ok, not really, but we had an interesting discussion and mostly agree. Mostly. Anyway, you can check the post out here.

Afterward, I highly suggest that you take a look around in his blog. Pretty interesting stuff in there. Despite his protests, we're adding him to our blog roll.

Have a great New Year. Tomorrow it looks like the Hiwassee and trouts for us. Gonna try some top secret nymphing techniques. Or else just swing buggers. Or live crickets if we get desperate.

Perspective.

noreply@blogger.com (Ty) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 04:13:00 +0000

Striper fishing has been lousy. Lots of rain. Swelling the rivers, pushing the schools of threadfin shad, and the stripers with them, to parts unknown. I am by no means above pissing and moaning about this sort of thing, and probably will yet to the first person that can stand to be around my cranky arse for any length of time.

But then, a few minutes ago, I realized that my wading boots haven't been dry in over a week and I'm starting to get a mild case of tendonitis in the wrist of my casting arm. Sure signs that the past few days have, after all, been pretty ok.

Random Beer Recommendation while trying to avoid tying more flies tonight.

noreply@blogger.com (Ty) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 04:12:00 +0000

It's winter, or close enough anyway. So I'm at the vise quite a bit now, trying to get all of those empty, picked-over fly boxes filled back up. It's a pain, really. I don't much like tying flies, but I do it because I can tie them exactly how I want them - weight, color, etc. I reward myself for this drudgery with beer. And here's a good one I found recently - Terrapin Rye Pale Ale. Very good, very drinkable. The hoppy bitterness is muted in this beer, so if you like pale ales but have trouble getting past that bite on the back end, this would be a good beer to try.

This is an honest review. We are in no way affiliated with Terrapin Beer Company,which in our view is a darn shame.

Canoe Carping 101 - Part I

noreply@blogger.com (Ty) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 03:33:00 +0000

I get a lot of questions about carp fishing from a canoe-

“Carp?? What kind of sick SOB are you anyway?”

or

“Ha ha, carp, that’s a good one. Seriously, what are you fishing for?”

And on and on.

Given this high level of interest, I figure a “canoe carping” post is in order. Historically, of course, canoes and fishing go hand in hand. Most anglers at one time or another have spent time putzing around a local lake or pond in an Old Town or Mad River, casting to weed beds and pockets of cattails for 'gills and bass. And who among us hasn’t experienced the thrill of watching several hundred dollars worth of fishing gear disappear into the depths of our (formerly) favorite lake after dumping our canoe in the wake of a passing luxury cruiser?

So it’s only natural that the canoe would eventually find its way into the carp angler’s world. And frankly, from a carp fishing perspective, these boats are ideal. They carry a low profiles, draft little water, and are in general stealthy as hell. That said though, it’s not as simple as jumping in your canoe, paddling out to the mud flats and catching carp. Well, ok, maybe it is that simple, but there are at least a few things to consider.

A canoe properly outfitted for carping.

Experience has led me to believe that there are four basic rules to canoe carping:

1. Move slowly.
2. Be able to stop instantly.
3. Be prepared to cast immediately and accurately.
4. Have beer and snacks on hand for the instances where you screw up one of the above three.

I’ll attempt to flesh these out a bit:

1. Move slowly – There’s a lot to this step and most of it has to do with stealth, but then you probably knew that. By now everyone is well aware of the carp’s legendary skittishness. Experienced carp anglers ascribe near mythical powers of wariness to carp, leading many people to think that surely these guys are guilty of hyperbole of the worst kind and have afforded this lowly fish an almost laughable level of intelligence and self-awareness. It goes without saying that people who think this have never fished for carp.

Moving slowly is important in all carp fishing, but especially in conditions wherein the fish aren't readily visible. If the carp is in extremely shallow water with its tail waving above the surface - that's one thing, but if it's in a couple of feet or more of water, especially stained and/or choppy water - that's another ballgame because you probably won't see this fish until you are right on top of it. Canoes are stealth machines and it's entirely possible to manuever undetected to within a few feet of a feeding carp. If you zip along too quickly, you will be on top of that carp before you realize it, although the carp is guaranteed to realize it almost immediately. Cue the beer and snacks.

A couple of carp tailing just off my bow in this truly poor quality photo.

So paddle s-l-o-w-l-y through carp water. You cannot overdo this. I usually paddle a foot or two and then stop to scan the water. Then move forward another few feet, and so on. I spend a lot of time on the carp flats simply sitting and watching. It's not unusual to see the faint tip of a tail waving in and out of view just beneath the surface, or notice a faint shadow slowly take shape in the murky water - things I might have missed had I charged right on through. So put the paddle in your lap frequently and have a look around. I guarantee you that you'll double the number of shots you get at fish simply by being deliberate and patient.

And speaking of paddles, be careful. I’ve probably spooked more fish with crap paddle handling than anything else. Sloppy pulls slosh water around on the surface and announce your arrival to every fish within a hundred feet. Long slow, shallow strokes are the way to go, the slower the better.

Or better yet,dispense with the paddle once you're in the vicinity of fish and use a push-pole. A push-pole barely causes a ripple and is a much stealthier option. The paddle itself makes a serviceable pole, but I recommend you use the real deal. A pole can give you the extra leverage you need to free yourself when you run aground in extremely shallow water, or to push your way through a weedbed or through brush. Doesn't have to be fancy -I made an excellent push-pole from some spare PVC I had in my garage.

Five foot PVC push-pole with padding.

In either case, don’t let the thing hit the side of the boat. A good rap on the side of the canoe with paddle or pole will quicky turn a carping trip into nothing more than a nice cruise around an empty lake. (It should be noted that this is impossible to avoid. You will inevitably bang the paddle or pole against the boat. Probably several times. So go to Lowe's and pick up a length of foam pipe insulation and wrap it around the paddle shaft or push pole. If you're a really clumsy oaf like me, you might even consider throwing some padding or carpet in the floor of the canoe as well.)

So again, be slow. Be methodical. Be patient. If you can get this part right, you are at least in the game and will get your chances to nail some fish.

That's going to be it for now. I thought I would be able to get this all in one post, but now it's obvious to me that a topic with the gravitas of canoe carping is worthy of two, maybe even three, posts. In Part II, I'll cover the last three rules of canoe carping and provide important insights, for example why an IPA is a far better choice than say, a stout or porter, out on the carp flats in July.

Big flies. Big fish.

noreply@blogger.com (Ty) — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 15:25:00 +0000

Been using big, jointed 6 inch Clousers for my striper fishing, but I don't like the way they look in the water. At that length, a Clouser appears almost eel-like when the water slims it down. I wanted a pattern with a broader profile in the water to better match the baitfish here. Enter Cowan's Magnum Baitfish, a fly designed by Henry Cowan, who is somewhat of a legend around these parts when it comes to striper fishing. Took one for a test drive this morning. Turned out ok.

Stripers. Totally worth it.

noreply@blogger.com (Ty) — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 01:06:00 +0000

Sometimes, during winter striper season, after the alarm rattles my cage at 4am, I linger for a few moments in my warm bed listening to the wind flatten itself against the window by my head and wonder "Why am I doing this?".

Then later, while I'm watching the backing melt off the reel like ice on a stove and cursing myself for not checking my knots one more time, I think "Oh yeah, this is why.".

Chickamauga Striper

Only one other angler around, an old schooler named Jerome. Like most old school types, he knew his stuff. He was kind enough to share some serious intel about this striper fishery with me, hard-won info gleaned from a couple of decades of hardcore striper fishing. The kind of info that most anglers wouldn't divulge under penalty of death. So thanks Jerome. You da man!

Jerome with the first striper of the day.

Skipjackin' at the Chick

noreply@blogger.com (Ty) — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 19:16:00 +0000

Joe "Cornbread" Alissandrello with a nice skipjack.

The skipjack herring is a flat-out cool fish. Aggressive, strong, sleek as a bullet. Dead ringer for a small tarpon, a hooked skip will take the fight to the air early and often in the fashion of his salt water brethren. Nip and tuck all the way to the net and that 5 wt. suddenly feels a bit flimsy.

And yet many anglers would rather see an old shoe on the hook. Another worthy gamer relegated to "trash fish" status.

Skipjack Awesomeness

Unfortunately, the best skipjackin' occurs during the prime carping months, so I haven't pursued these fish like I did a few years ago. Spent a couple of hours below Chickamauga dam this morning getting reaquainted. Even better than I remember.

Trip Report - 10/16 - Carp in the key of E

noreply@blogger.com (Ty) — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 03:08:00 +0000

Carpin' from Ty Goodwin on Vimeo.

An uncommon grassie

noreply@blogger.com (Ty) — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 00:14:00 +0000

My day starts like this:

I’m motoring to the carp flats when I pass another boat that has apparently been in that area most of the morning. We wave and exchange pleasantries as we ease by each other.

“Any luck back there fellas?”

“Not a bite. Ain’t nothing back there but a bunch of %$%@* carp!!”

“Um, yeah, that’s, um, terrible. Well, gotta go! See you fellas later.”

Nearly fell out of the canoe trying to get it back up to speed.

Fish of the day was a grassie. Not especially big for a grass carp, 30+ inches or so. But he charged the fly, took aggressively, and then tail-walked like a tarpon across the flats when the hook sank home. He made several jumps and tore the flats to pieces, spooking so many carp that I could feel them banging against the bottom of my boat as they fled in panic. Apparently not satisfied with these efforts, he took off for open water with a series of long hard runs. It was nip and tuck all the way to the net. I tried to bring him aboard for photo, but he thrashed around so violently that I thought he might break everything in the boat and possibly the boat itself. He was pissed.

This was unusual for a couple of reasons. One, although I’ve seen grassies move to take a nymph, I’ve never seen one make an aggressive charge like this fish. I made a terrible cast and missed him by a good two feet. Didn’t matter. He turned hard and murdered the fly. I’ve read that grass carp are strict herbivores, but I know they’ll eat bugs if they’re in the mood. Not the kind of thing you want to make a living at – I’ve cast to a lot of grass carp this year and caught exactly three – but it does happen.

The other reason was the fight in this fish. A grass carp will typically give you a hard run or three, but then will often call it quits and let you drag him in like a wet log. Or at best he'll just start swimming, which, if it's a big one, can result in something like trying to land a steamroller in low gear. Not this dude. He had blood in his eye from get to go. He'll be the fish I remember from this year.

On a related note, the flats are absolutely loaded with carp. Hammered 'em pretty good yesterday. and will post some pics later. If this sunny weather holds, I may have some good carping for the next few weeks.

Another life on the road to ruin.

noreply@blogger.com (Ty) — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 00:34:00 +0000

Rob Prytula is a respected member of the fly fishing community around here. Or at least he was. Just received this from him:

Carp Crack

Rob says he has been tying a few of these up and doing "research" on fly fishing for carp. I also heard he joined the Carp Anglers Group forum, but it's hard to believe that he has fallen that far this quickly.

I refuse to be held responsible for this. Rob is a grown man and can make his own decisions.

Good looking fly though.

Blogger is killin' me

noreply@blogger.com (Ty) — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 00:20:00 +0000

For the past several days I haven't been able to post comments on the blogs I like to read. I type my comments, hit "Submit" as per usual, and the screen blinks once and the comment disappears. That's it. The comment just disappears and doesn't show up with the other comments under the blog post. Anyone else having problems with this? Or better yet, does anyone have a fix to suggest before I start playing around with my settings and really screw something up?

So anyway, that's why things have been eerily quiet around Finewater for awhile. Well, that and I just spent a week out in the desert:

Which presents the need for an entirely different kind of help, mainly in the form of a few good 12 step programs.

But I digress. Seriously, can anyone help with that comment thing above?

Epic Game Fair this weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Ty) — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 00:26:00 +0000

Trip Report 9/10 & 11- Carp - Thank you sir, may I have another?

noreply@blogger.com (Ty) — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 02:30:00 +0000

Well, got spanked this weekend courtesy of the carp spirits. Figured this comeuppance was imminent since I implied that carp fishing was easy in this post a few weeks ago.

Saturday, I found multiple pods of tailing carp. Huge carp. All grassies. Every single one. Not a common anywhere. Sitting in the middle of a few dozen tailing grass carp is akin to being trapped in an elevator with the staff of Mabel's All-night Massage Parlor and Strip Club. And your wife. Right place, right time, but so what? I cast to fish after fish with my usual PT. This has been known to work and I usually catch a few grassies every year on the PT. Not today. Not even a sniff. Set off some spectacular eruptions of spooked fish though. A pod of 20 or 30 grassies exploding in panic is pretty impressive.

Sunday, in a pathetic attempt to curry favor with the carp spirits and regain my lost mojo, I took my four year old with me to the flats. We chummed about an acre of prime carp flats real estate with premium sweet corn niblets and set up shop with no less than three spinning rigs baited up with Green Giant's best. Strung up a fly rod too, you know, just in case. Chumming has never failed to bring in hordes of commons. Today the only noticeable result was an increasingly bored four year old little boy. So we went back to the boat ramp and threw rocks in the water. Seemed like the only way to salvage the day.

Feeling kinda Kevin Baconish right now:

Dang. And I thought carp were awesome.

noreply@blogger.com (Ty) — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 01:45:00 +0000

I have seen ospreys on the Hiwassee and Tennessee rivers here in Finewater territory. Even have a pair living on the lake that holds my favorite carp flats. Haven't seen them pluck a tailing carp up yet, but I did see one take a trout on the Hiwassee a few years back. Friggin' amazing animals.

Trip Report - 8/27 - Flowers in the Garden of Eatin'

noreply@blogger.com (Ty) — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 03:10:00 +0000

Somewhere I saw the tail of a feeding carp described as a big brown flower bobbing on the surface of the water. And yeah, it does look like that sometimes.

I saw some of those big brown flowers today, but they weren't bobbing on the surface. The carp here have transitioned to what I assume is their late summer pattern. They have come off of the flats and are cruising in deeper, and I assume more comfortable, water a few feet off the lake banks. Managed to pick off a few of these dudes as they eased along the bank. So no tailing fish anywhere, but I did find a couple of crawlers like the guy in the top pic below, whom I spooked with some skillful crap casting. The other one turned out to be a mirror.

So now I know. When the carp leave the flats, start searching the banks. Last year when the carp disappeared from the usual places, I just shrugged my shoulders and assumed they left for the deepest parts of the lake in search of cooler water. Idiot.

Sure, the guy might be a few tics left of center, but we think this is pretty cool

noreply@blogger.com (Ty) — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 02:07:00 +0000

We think ol' Owl Jones might be on to something here. Kinda fun clicking through these links, although we admit to being a tad disappointed about the dearth of carp content.

Is this a prank?

noreply@blogger.com (Ty) — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 17:46:00 +0000

Carp fly line?

What's next -Sage C-Axis Carp rods? Orvis Flourocarbon Carp Leaders? Abel Super Series Carp reels? We certainly hope so.

Good. Friggin'. Grief.

noreply@blogger.com (Ty) — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 15:52:00 +0000

Carp fishing video. Does anything else really need to be said?

This short bit of carp awesomeness was on Michael Gracie's site. Pretty good stuff on there. And carp videos. Call us fans.