I caught another whopper yesterday. I had never seen my backing before;it is blue. I changed angles on it as it swam to the other side of the cove. It really made it over there! The backing was out the rod tip and I wondered if I'd be"spooled". I kept changing angles and slowly got my backing in the rod tip. People were wondering what I was doing as they passed. The fish began to slow down and I took advantage. Only my running line was showing now. I concentrated on keeping my hands relaxed so that I could counter any weird head shakes by the carp. Call this tactic "soft hands". This fish did everything but jump. And I was in physical distress. There was lots of leg movement as I moved back and forth, arm stress, even my back came into play. The last time a carp did this to me was 4/23/2013 (see blog -Kissena Lake). after numerous attempts to net this thing, it began to tire as much as me. Eventually, the head of the carp slipped into my net but 4 inches of tail was still outside the net. I tried to take a good photo but my hands were not steady. the fish was released and me, I slumped down on the tree root I use as a chair.
11 foot, six weight fly rod, using 300 gram skagit line and ATP 37 semi automatic fly reel
For Ray Lewis.
Hello Mr Henry. Thanks for the info. Glad to meet you and I'm sure we'll cross paths again. Happy holidays and stay safe out there. Ray L.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment. It means a lot to me! Here is another tip, do some strength training if you do not fish during the colder months.
ReplyDeleteMr de Brooklyn, just discovered this great blog. You have me hooked now on semi-automatic reels (see what I did there) Have you done an in depth review of the Vivarelli models? Keep up the great work this is such a cool niche of fly fishing you are exploring. Stay safe.
ReplyDeletecheck out my book"The Best Semi Automatic Fly Reels".
ReplyDeleteWill do.
ReplyDelete