Carp and Browns, no it's not a new breakfast item at McDonald's, although I might be on to something here. Carp and Brown Trout were the subject of a recent day of fishing in Central Montana. I must say the fishing was fantastic and if you guessed the number of anglers I saw in a 14 hour day of fishing to be zero, well then you would be correct.
To start things off right, a day of prairie fly fishing begins with some morning carp action down on the lower Missouri, and by lower I mean lower. On this morning, several 10-15lb. carp were found tailing in one of my favorite side channels, and I was fortunate to convince one to eat my black bugger. I started actively pursuing carp several years ago and I gotta say, they are a blast to fish for. It's the combination of super technical sight fishing, the real possibility of hooking a fish over 20 lbs., and the sheer brute force and power these fish display once hooked that have me coming back for more again, and again. If you want to have an idea of what a carp pulls like, hook your 8 weight to the back of a diesel truck, it's about like that.
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| The Bum's Bonefish |
What I love about fishing the lower Mo is that you never know what you might conjure up from the depths in a days fishing. Carp, bass, walleye, trout, catfish, the list goes on. I once saw a 10 year old kid hauling a 30 plus inch pike down Front street in Fort Benton. Below are two
wierd interesting species.
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| Goldeye a Montana Native |
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| A Freshwater Drum I Believe |
The afternoon shifted to a little known and very spring creekish stream out in the middle of a hay field. A few friends keyed me into this creek and the amazing hopper action that occurs every August.
It did not disappoint. Several hours and many shredded hoppers later, I had landed several browns over 16 inches and a few pushing 20. Not bad from a creek no wider than a kitchen table, I'll take it.
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| Great Hopper Habitat, I Think Yes! |
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| One of Many |
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| Not bad Central Montana, not bad at all. |
I'm back in the west now. Remember folks there's lots of fish to be had east of the mountains for those willing to look. Anyone up for a road trip?
I must say, very impressive! Never hooked a Carp on a fly rod, but, my day may come. Interesting that you can fish two uniquely different species in one day in Montana and have good success. Carry on, Bob.
ReplyDeleteThanks Mel. Carp can be great fun, especially during these hot dry dog days when the trout slow down. I know Colorado has some great Carp water. They can be really tricky to catch but are well worth it. Barry Reynolds wrote a great book on the subject, "Carp on the Fly: The Flyfisherman's Guide." I think he lives in Colorado to.
DeleteLove the gold eye!
ReplyDeleteAnd you know I dig carp....