Single Handed Spey Carp? You Betcha!

Another day in carp paradise... Air temperatures today got above 80 degrees F. for the first time this year.  The carp were scattered about nicely on the shallow flats rooting around and soaking up the rays. Sight-casting large sparrow nymphs proved to be an effective method.  But, a strong downstream wind made casting difficult.  Forget about roll casting. Double-haul... maybe, but the fish were close in, there was brush all around, and not enough head of fly-line would be out to generate proper line speed (I may be the only person who carp fishes with a steelhead taper).  This meant one thing... single handed spey casting for carp.  The technique proved perfect for obtaining the line speed needed for firing out large nymphs into a 25 mph cross wind, all the while hitting the target... laid up carp on the flats (those dark shapes milling about under wavelets).

The single handed spey cast went something like this:  roll cast the fly to a right hand dangle, double spey, splash and go.  The nymph shot through the wind with ease and landed across the stream like it was fired out of a cannon.  But at times, the gusts were so strong even the spey cast would need a little extra oomph to cut it... in these cases a turbo spey cast came in handy (basically haul as you splash and go on the spey cast).  The line speed generated by the single handed turbo spey was nuts and a misplaced cast had knock-out potential.

The pod of carp I was casting to was happy and after a couple casts the first fish was on.  Not a monster but a nice one to start the day.  It's always fun to see the nymph in the mouth and not attached elsewhere... only then can you say "He ate it!"

Then, just a few casts later a little fella decided to join in.  The smaller carp don't have the gold coloring the big boys do.  Instead, in their own striking way, they are pale... almost silver; and, have colorful fin tips (usually orange or red).  They fight different to... much more like conventional gamefish with all the flash, speed, and comotion you would expect from a bass. At this size, they are only starting to get that "big diesel" stamina of their larger brethren.  

And, speaking of larger brethren... the next fish was an absolute hog--nearly as big around as it was long.  I didn't measure it but it seemed a good foot wide across the back and roughly 30 inches long.  It took an eternity to bring this one in as it maxed out the 8 wt.  and stayed deep the entire fight.  At times I wondered if I had a 20-30 pound flathead on.  All I could do was use smart rod angles and let the rod wear down the fish.  An utter tank this one... and I think it would have kicked a 10 wt.'s arse just the same.

"Big Diesel"

I was really made up over that fish.  I couldn't imagine a repeat performance... and then it happened.  I went from an eternal fight with "Big Diesel" to having "The Rudder" eat the fly.  Now I'm hooked up with a fish every bit as long; and, streamlined as hell... plus it had a massive tail thrusting it in every direction showing no respect for the 8 wt.  Rod angles shmod angles... this fella made his own rules.  The power from this fish was immense.  Throw in some river current and carp stamina and you have a genuine carp stand-off.  This was the first time fighting a fish I actually wondered about splintering a graphite fly rod... no joke.   Explain to your fishing buddies you blew up an $800 dollar steelhead rod on a carp!  The pull was relentless, strong as hell, and never ending.  But, the key to fighting a big carp is patience, smart rod angles, and using the rod to wear them down.  Eventually, there will be a survivor and "The Rudder" came to shore after what seemed again to be an eternity.          

"The Rudder" - Serious tail on this fish.

 Hard to top those fish.  So, I moved downstream to a couple new spots and flailed away.  The current was nothing more than a slow ooze and the water was rather turbid.  Bigmouth buffalo were everywhere but not in the mood to munch flies.  They are getting closer to the spawn and had love on their minds.  But, the carp were feeding.  In fact some were even rising like trout.  So, I worked the couple foam lines that existed in the slow moving current.  The fish were right up against the far bank.  This was good enough frog water for casting the single handed spey version of the "Perry Poke" cast.  It worked nicely here so long as it was done gently and without a major white mouse slurping across the tranquil pool.  The fly dropped in the current line along the far bank.  A couple sharp, short, strips and I was into it.  A nice little carp had eaten the fly and surfaced immediately.  It was as close to a carp jump one could have had.  A thing of beauty.  The little fella then went on causing all kinds of turmoil in the pool... zig zagging every which way before coming to shore.  A nice change of pace after dueling a couple goliaths.