Passaic River

I spent this afternoon fishing for carp in New Jersey. I've been fishing for Carp and Northern Pike since 2004. The Passaic is where I cut my teeth on powerful fish. This part of the river is not pretty but the fish are here. As I reached the river bank today, there was a dead pike bloated on the shore. It had just begun to decompose, a whiff of bad fish was in the air as I made my first cast. I chose to bring a 3 wt fiberglass fly rod today. I like the challenge of carpin with ultra light equipment. By chance, I found a Mulberry tree hanging over and dropping berries into the water. Carp were clooping the berries from the surface. Matching the hatch, I tied on a deer hair imitation of the berry. I got an indignant refusal of my cast. So I pulled a berry from the tree and smashed it onto my fly and roll cast it into the water. This time I got a take. The carp heads for a fallen tree and disappears under it. The reel is make a sound like a dentist's drill, only louder. Line is disappearing down the river and my 3 wt looks like one of the golden arches. I place the butt of the rod in my gut and hold on. But the reel is still releasing fly line. I don't want to give the fish an inch of backing. I manage to pull back some of the line. My opponent hesitates and makes another long run down the Passaic river. This is not fun. In fact I'm wondering if the rod will snap. He slows a bit and I take back some more line. He runs again. Mercifully, the carp pulls the #8 hook from its mouth and I try to recover while figuring out what I did wrong. Normally I follow a well choreographed routine when carpin but I was fishing on an unfamiliar part of the river. Advantage carp.

Awhile later I fooled another carp with my fake berry. This time my tippet snapped no doubt due to the first carp dragging it under, around and over every obstacle in the river. Surprisingly,
I saw several pike in the clear water. one looked to be about a yard long. I walked to another spot where carp like to feed and saw some HUGE carp clooping. I mean these carp were big enough to ride toddlers( over three feet long and over six inches wide). I looked at the 3 wt and my 4X tippet. Fortunately, the carp stopped feeding, as the tide was going out.
I'm bringing the 8 wt tomorrow!