Relaxation - What's That?

April 8, 2011

Fly Fishing in Madagascar – Day 9

We have not stayed still for more than a short nights sleep since we got off the plane here in Madagascar. We have fished every day. But yesterday was our last guided day with George so today we slept in to a whopping 6 AM then relaxed most of the day.

It simply began with a couple nice cups of coffee while enjoying our incredible view from camps porch. Then we had breakfast including a couple fried eggs each. Then I caught up on my journal so I can keep these reports coming.

By 10 AM, I’d sat still long enough. It was time to go snorkeling. Granny and I drug our gear all the way. I like snorkeling because I often find some fish to throw flies at later. I was just about to head for the room and gather our stuff when out came one of the room cleaning gals with a scorpion that she found while sweeping our room. It’s just another daily hazard you run into in this neck of the woods. I’m sure glad Granny or I didn’t step on that thing!

The snorkeling was decent. There is better snorkeling near here and we could have hired a boat to head to the better reefs, but Granny and I wanted no part of being on a schedule today. We simply wanted to be on our own which meant snorkeling right in front of camp. We saw some neat fish. There were lots of parrotfish and angel fish and we even saw several saddleback anemonefish. And amongst those highlighted fish were tons of other little guys in every color you can imagine. In fact, we snorkeled for over two hours straight and got out of the water pruned up and burnt up. Not a good combo at all.

For the rest of the afternoon Granny opted to read in the shade the. I grabbed my 8-weight Ross FW rod, my new Ross F1 Series reel rigged with Scientific Anglers Saltwater Sharkskin line WF8F and headed for the treacherous rocks. The tide was very low but just starting to rise. I could see coral heads scattered everywhere and normally areas like this hold plenty of fish, but here has been heavily tapped by the local fishermen. I only ended up with a few crazy looking sand lizardfish.

When the sun got low I retrieved Granny and took her on a short hike. We were hoping to find one of the famous Madagascar Chameleons. I’m sure we walked past a bunch but they were too well camouflaged for us to find them with the untrained eye. Instead it was good exercise and we reached Sakatia Island’s highest point. From there we watched the sunset over the Mozambique Channel. It was spectacular to say the least.

We just finished up our last night with our camp staff. We had a few drinks with dinner and its time for a nap. We will relax most of the day here but tomorrow night we leave and fly to Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar to begin the next part of our adventure.

Stay tuned for more fish and who the heck knows!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing Website

Fly Casting for Kingfish

April 7, 2011

Madagascar - Day 8

I literally lit up my computer here to type away at today’s blog and an obnoxious cockroach that was obviously attracted to the light blocked out the screen! Yikes! It would have been worth it if only he hissed as I swatted him away. Shucks!
Anyway, there’s not much to write about today. On George’s advice we dedicated the morning to fly fishing for kingfish. A kingfish is what most of the world refers to as “trevally”. In many parts of the Indian Ocean, particularly South Africa, Mozambique and apparently Madagascar; they call all the trevally a “kingfish”. And a king he is. I can contest to that because in 1996 I landed a 90lber on Paris Flats in Christmas Island. Luckily, on that day I was specifically targeting them so I was using a Ross 12-weight. Had I not been, I would never, never, never had even a remote chance. They are extremely powerful fish. (Now every bug of night is attacking my headlamp. This will be very fast.)

We hit about four of Georges favorite trevally spots. All were rocky islands with beautiful coral reef and strong tidal currents. I got tossed around pretty good launching casts first with big poppers, then big streamers and then finally dredging with heavy Warpath Jig flies. Not only did I not see a fish. Not even a follow. George and his mate were dragging a live sardine suspended behind the boat while jigging bottom with bait and all they caught were two little groupers like the one in the picture – absolutely gorgeous. I wish I could have nailed one of those on the fly. But fishing was truly SLOW. The sea can definitely go quiet on you. Tides change. Weather, which has been beautiful, can also change in ways we don’t notice such as wind and barometric pressure.

Unfortunately we fished for trevally unsuccessfully all the way till about 1 PM. Our original plan was to go till noon then bottom fish like we did yesterday but time slipped away. We then began the slow trip home hunting for birds and tuna. We found a school of feasting yellowfin right away and Granny got one good cast to them without a strike and we never saw them again. We travelled slowly for over an hour before finding our next flock of diving birds. This time there were frigate tuna everywhere and Granny and I each picked up a mere one. Then they were gone. There must be plenty of natural food in the water and they just wouldn’t eat our flies. In fact, one tuna puked up an assortment of foods from tropical fish to baby squids. Well, at least we didn’t get skunked and have Carpaccio again for appetizers for us and the crew at camp!

Today was our last fishing with George. George was a real treat to fish with. It’s hard to know if you are hiring the right guy when visiting a remote country like Madagascar but we lucked out. Not only was George very knowledgeable of where the fish live in his waters but he was a great guy with a lot of fun ideas to make our days enjoyable. I'd recommend George to anyone wanting to fly fish in Madagascar.

Damn! The cockroach just spun out in my beer glass. It’s time to turn off this headlamp and enjoy a cold one in a new glass with the Carpaccio and Granny and the staff. We don’t need to get up early in the morning so time to have some fun. Tomorrow we are chilling out as they say. That’s tough for me to do so we’ll see. I’m sure I’ll fish from the shore here and do some snorkeling. The snorkeling is supposed to be some of the best in the world.

Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing Website

100 Meters Under the Sea

April 6, 2011

Madagascar - Day 7

The orb spiders here in Madagascar are about as big and impressive as any spider. We have a few outside our room. In the morning when you are the first to walk down any path or walkway, you better have your eyes open. If not, you’re likely to be wearing one of these frightening yet harmless spiders across your face!

We took off with George and his mate at 7 AM. The seas were calm so we went to where we wanted to go yesterday, a reef 25 miles out. The reef is 30 meters deep but surrounded by waters over 300 meters. George felt it would be a good place to sight cast to sailfish and marlin as well as dredge for a dogtooth tuna.

On the drive out, we stopped several times so I could strip my little tuna fly through schools of bait. I expected to catch more skipjack tuna but instead I caught several leatherbacks. Leatherbacks are closely related to queenfish and even have the distinct black diamonds down their sides. Both can be found both inshore and out in the blue water. George wasn’t too high on these leatherbacks so we proceeded onward.

After about an hour, we reached Georges spot and in about the first minute we saw a sailfish. The sail was cruising with the outer ridge of his sail just breaking the surface. On this particular fish we didn’t have much of a chance to get a cast because we didn’t see him soon enough before he saw us. It was exciting though and I leaped up front with my Ross 12-weight and my line stripped out and was ready as we cruised along to look for more.

We must have slowly zigzagged George’s reef area from the 30 meters of depth to the 300 meter drop off hoping for another big fish to cast too for an hour but never saw one. George’s next move was to anchor up on the 30 meter hump so I could sink my fly very deep while he, his mate and Granny bottom fished with bait. I was anxious to see what they would pull up from the depths so I was thrilled with the idea.

While I dredged away aimlessly with flies, George and Granny were tearing up all kinds of unique fish from down deep. They must have caught eight or so cool species. The best was a green jobfish that Granny landed. I’ve always wanted to catch one of these elongated snapper like fish. I nearly did in Christmas Island once but the fish turned away from my fly at the last minute. Then, last November I saw a giant jobfish at the Zanzibar fish market. Granny’s however was the first one I could really observe alive and up close.

It was unbearably hot. I mean like 100°! Here we were 25 miles out to sea and there wasn’t even a breeze to help cool us. The water was so clear that I could see the flashes of my fly coming up through the water column at least 40 feet down. It could have easily been more. That fact that I could see so well into the water and not see a single fish did not give me much confidence in blind casting. Finally, I reeled in to rest.

Granny reeled in so many fish that she was ready for a break. Just reeling a heavy weight and a small fish up in such heat is exhausting. I took her rod and soon I caught my share of cool deep water fish consisting of snappers, emperor fish, baby grouper and even a couple different sharks. Then I thought I hooked bottom. George firmly told me to be careful and here I was stuck already. I simply fed my bait to bottom and attempted to reel up but I couldn’t. I braced myself to get some leverage to try to free my snag and then something felt weird. I was able to lift the weight slightly off the bottom. But it still felt like bottom because it wasn’t fighting yet it was definitely coming up. I know, that barely makes sense. Finally George saw me playing and asked me what the heck was going on.

“I don’t know George?” was about all I could say. “I’m stuck on something but it’s coming up like a carpet.” George watched closely. Then whatever I had started to give in. I cranked on this fish up and down for three minutes. Then, just as George screamed big grouper, the clutch in his ancient-worn reel let loose and the fish retreated to bottom leaving me with a backlash. I swore a few times as I fumbled too untangle the mess. George too helped dig away and by complete miracle we freed the line. I was certain the grouper would be lodged 100 meters below in his home. But I started pumping him back up. Things were looking good. Then, like before, the grouper came in sight. He was a huge leopard grouper appearing near 50lb! I couldn’t believe how spectacular this fish was! The colors! The size! It was unexplainable! Then like before, tragedy struck only this time the fish slowly retreated from sight swishing a massive tail and we were no longer connected. The hook broke! Are you kidding!!!!

At first, I was extremely disappointed. George and his mate were shocked as they glared at the snapped hook. But as crazy as this sounds, after only a few minutes, I was glad. My joy may sound stupid but I guarantee that gorgeous giant was seconds from seeing Georges gaff. No one releases a big grouper in Madagascar. You would be looking at a photo of me struggling to raise a bloody grouper, but instead I can tell you he got away. As I speak and hopefully for years to come, my monster grouper is alive and well and contributing to the health of his species.

Although the fly fishing has been slow the last two days and doggie dreams of last night have escaped me, the adventures with George continue to be entertaining. Being the fish species fanatic that I am, just seeing today’s bottom dwellers from deep under the sea was a kick. Now it’s time for some rest. Tomorrow is our last day with George.

Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing Website

The Rare Sighting of the Dogtooth

April 5, 2011

Madagascar - Day 6

We fished with George again today and will for the next couple days. George filled us in on pirates to start the morning. Everyone knows about the Somali pirates tormenting parts of the Indian Ocean these days and they do come as far south as Madagascar. Luckily George assured us there’s nothing to worry about with a boat of dirt bag anglers.

Fishing was flat out slow today. We tried to go way out to sea for a reef George knows about but the weather was a little threatening with wind and dark clouds. So we headed back closer in and went north to where we fished yesterday. The entire way George and his mate dragged two billfish trolling rigs but like yesterday afternoon we didn’t get a strike. Once we got to yesterdays fishing grounds the wind started to calm some and it was quite nice. We drifted a favorite reef several times. I chucked my 12-weight with the 700 grain SA Bluewater Express until my shoulder went numb without a bite. It was so surprising to me I asked George to disassemble one of his trolling rigs and dredge some bait along the bottom. If there were fish down there surely that would catch them, however he only caught three little strange looking fish. The fish just weren’t active.

By mid afternoon seas around Nosy Be were as calm as a small lake. With great visibility for any disturbances on the water, George said it was time to chase birds and tuna. Fishless to this point, Granny and I were all about the move. But once again it quickly became apparent today was a different day. There were no birds at all. The ones we saw were doing the same as us, searching for the odd bait crashing tuna. At last we stumbled into one cooperative school and lucked into skipjack tuna and frigate tuna. One, George called the blue is one I have never caught before. He was more elongated like a bonito and colored with an unusual blue, however I think this one also was the frigate. Just incase you’ve never caught a tuna before, even though these tuna are small, they gave us plenty of fight on the 8-weight. Pound for pound the power of any tuna is amazing.

Despite uncooperative fish today, every day in blue water offers some sort of thrill. In a previous blog I gave mention to the dogtooth tuna. I said one would be a real goal to catch. But what I didn’t say was that my chance of catching one on the fly is about as good as the Cubs winning the World Series this year. If you did not read about this specie in the link I provided earlier, do it now. Dogtooth tuna are one of the fiercest fish in the ocean. If you hook one at the surface while in 200 feet deep water, he’ll get to bottom and break you on the rocks in seconds. If you hook one at the surface in 400 feet of water, he’ll get to the bottom and break you in the rocks in seconds. From what I have heard, and with further confirmation from George, dogtooth tuna are the strongest fish on Earth. They also reach an amazing 300lbs and swim to speeds of at least 40 mph! Then you throw in the teeth they have that are four times the length of a barracudas, and you have little chance. In fact I’d start being concerned about a hooked dogtooth eating the boat!

But nothing is impossible, and tonight we chased a school of dogtooth. It’s rare that they feed on the surface but they were there and they were eating skipjack tuna over 20lbs each! They were simply shredding them in mid air! The doggies (as George calls them) were all easily 60lbs and leaving 6 feet from the water. It looked like they were in slow motion but we could barely keep up to these feeding beasts even with both engines running full throttle.

Its bedtime now and I’m absolutely stuffed with skipjack Carpaccio. All I can think about is those leaping dogtooths. So much that an hour ago I peeled the line off my Momentum #8 reel that I use for striped marlin in Baja. I checked every knot connection thoroughly and combed over my Scientific Angler 700 grain fly line for dings. Everything is as strong and ready as can be. Perhaps tomorrow I’ll hook a doggie!

Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing Website

A Miracle Mackerel

April 4, 2011

Fly Fishing in Madagascar - Day 5

Americans and some Europeans are about the only cultures that follow tight schedules. Anywhere else on the planet being on time is of little importance. That’s why when George was approaching the hour late mark I still had confidence he was on the way. Sure enough at 8:30 AM he arrived as if he was on time.

George’s boat is decent. It certainly has some mileage on it. It’s about a 16 foot center console panga type boat with two 25 horse engines. One engine died on us several times today. Luckily George brought along a mate who constantly worked on the motor while attending other odd jobs as well. He also had along four worn out big game trolling rigs. This is never a good sign as often it’s an indication that the guide really doesn’t have a clue about fly fishing or that the guide has no confidence in the method.

We were headed north to fish the islands above the island of Nosy Be. It’s literally the end of a long Madagascar rainy season and the views along the way were simply green like you can’t imagine. It did not take long before we saw a heard of dolphin and a huge sea turtle.

Our fishing began with a school of charging bonito. George spotted them and with excitement shouted get ready. I grabbed my 8-weight Ross rigged with a Scientific Anglers Tropic Express 250 grain line and started stripping it off the reel. Bait was scattering everywhere and when we got close George cut the engines and we coasted in to the action. I launched off several casts and stripped at the speed of lightning but got nothing. We did this several times without success before George insisted we continue north for bigger fish.

It took over an hour before the next cast. We were well out to sea and we could see the distant silhouette of the mountains of northern Madagascar. Our fishing area consisted of a jagged rock island with a ton of submerged reefs. Although the wind was light, large ocean swells tossed us around which is the norm for saltwater fly fishing. George simply said prepare for big fish, and looking like a kid on Christmas, I fumbled through my rods for my 12-weight. This would be a blind casting situation. My line on this rod was a SA 700 grain Bluewater Express – talk about heavy-sink.

On about my 10th cast disaster struck. I heaved back in my backstroke and my reel crashed to the bottom of the boat. At first I thought I simply didn’t attach it to the rod well enough, but when I picked it up the screws that hold the reel to the reel seat were gone. I’ve used this set up a bunch in Baja the last year so I was dumbfounded! The airlines I thought! Then the stress took over my body as here I was 10,000 miles from home at a place I may never have a chance to cast too again having equipment failure! I was losing time! Then without saying a word I stripped the 700 grain line off the reel carefully laying it in my handy stripping basket. Then I took the floating line off my 10-weight set up and reeled the 700 grain on it. Then as not to wreck the floater I reeled it back on the busted reel. And within ten minutes I’m proud to say I was casting again. A bit disgruntled, but casting again.

To make a long story short, I pounded the water for the next five hours without anything. George put me on many more gorgeous reef areas. We chased busting tuna and mackerel and dredged strong current lines where he frequently catches sailfish and marlin. But I got nothing. This was not appearing to be my day. By now it was about 95° and I can tell you such heat didn’t help much. Granny was bored and I was losing confidence. Miraculously however, George was still full of energy and seemed fully behind the fly fishing. When I stopped casting, he’d say change flies or say no resting with a smile. I couldn’t tell if he was trying to break me so I’d troll or if he really knew something.

For those of you that know me, breaking me wasn’t an option, so although I was in some ways going through the motions, I kept on going. Sure enough, we got close enough to a school of skipjack tuna and I got one. Then another. And another and before I knew it I landed eight skipjack tuna. Soon Granny realized fishing was worth it so I handed her the rod and she caught a few while I took my first rest of the day.

We chased and caught skipjack tuna for at least a couple hours. There are many species of these smallest of the tuna family. These look like ones I’ve caught at Christmas Island but it will take some photo studying to really tell. Every one we caught was on a small light colored Puglisi type baitfish pattern I had in my box. You didn’t even have time to strip the fly if you could reach the busting fish. They just destroyed the bait pattern when it hit the water.

It was about 3 PM and it was time to at least start heading the direction back to Sakatia Island. George’s friend put two big trolling rods out with sailfish rigs made with some of the skipjacks we caught. Granny and I relaxed as we began the fast troll. We saw plenty of busting tuna and trolled through them hoping the billfish were below but each frenzy went without a strike.

I thought I was done fly fishing for the day when I saw what I thought was a barracuda explode from a distant tuna school. George saw it too and the boat sped up towards that direction. Again a long narrow bodied fish scattered all kinds of baitfish. It was still too far to identify the species but then it sky rocketed (I’m not kidding) 12 feet in the air! It was the unique specie of king mackerel only found in the Indian Ocean and the very western part of the Pacific Ocean.

My heart pumped wildly and I pulled out my 12-weight as we bounced our way to the action. Praying it wouldn’t tangle, I stripped my line to the bottom of the boat. I was trembling with excitement. When the engines cut I launched my first cast. We were coasting so fast that my cast was quickly dragged and never had time to sink. I stripped the heavy sink line back and made another cast. This time my angle and sink was perfect, however, the feeding frenzy was already over. As I stood in the bow I gazed the horizon looking for the action to reappear. Then I stripped fast from the depths. That’s when I got jolted.

Catching one of these Indian Ocean king mackerel on any type of tackle is an accomplishment. To be lucky enough to have one of size eat your fly is a near miracle. And to land him even more so. These were the thoughts racing through my head. Furthermore, as my Ross Momentum #6 spun uncontrollably my final thought was that I must have a tuna rather than the mackerel. George, who has no idea what my experience is, was very concerned that I was over pressuring the fish. But the truth is, you can let a blue water fish like a tuna fight you or you can fight them. I fight them. I practically point my rod to the fish and pull the second their first run is done. I bend down with my legs, reeling my rod tip into the water as I bend, and then I stand up and pull. I repeat it over and over until I win. Only when the fish really pulls or feels like he is going crazy do I let him go far. The fish rarely breaks off because there is so much stretch in your backing, fly line and even your leader if made with Bimi twists.

I followed this process for about five minutes and there was my fish, a gorgeous narrow-barred king mackerel. I couldn’t believe it! Granny fired off some photos as the fish came to boat side. George was frantic. Not only was he a bit surprised we got this fish on the fly but he was rightfully scared of it. All king mackerel have razor sharp teeth. One careless move and you could end up with a severe gash or even lose a finger.

Now we were at a time of debate. Granny and I had made it very clear to George that we wanted to release all fish except a few for dinner. We already had a few skipjack tuna. George reluctantly asked if we had to let it go. I know how delicious a wahoo tastes and this fish looked every bit like a wahoo. “George, we will eat him too”, I shouted. George was relieved and on the next pass George sunk the gaff. I’d landed what will probably be the fish of the trip, and perhaps 2011, a gorgeous narrow-barred king mackerel!

Day one with George was fantastic. Sure, I caught a great fish and we got into numerous tuna on the fly, but what was best is that George is a fun guy that knows his stuff. George showed up with a plan and he stuck to it. He said he’s only seen a fly rod two other times but he kept the confidence even though our morning was slow. George is very cool and we should have a great next three days.

As you can imagine, tonight Granny and I as well as our Sakatia Tower staff ate big. We had tuna Carpaccio for appetizers and mackerel steaks for dinner. This should be a great trip! I can’t wait to see what tomorrow will bring.

(Remember, it may take a few days for the next entry. But April 5 will come. Internet is hard to find here in Madagascar.

Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing Website

Not All Carp Species are Equal

Steve, Cinda and I couldn’t travel far from the big city today because I had to do my presentation for Desert Fly Casters tonight. That didn’t hinder our fishing at all because the lakes in and around the city limits of Phoenix Arizona have plenty of fish. Most of them have bass, sunfish, crappie and various carp species. It’s the grass carp (white Amur) that I like to fish for. Grass carp are Asian fish frequently stocked throughout the southern United States to trim aquatic vegetation that often grows in lakes. It seems the hotter the climate the quicker vegetation grows so almost every lake in the Phoenix area has a population of grass carp.

Grass carp (I call them grassies) are very hard to catch on the fly unless you have experience with them. I remember speaking at the ISE Show in Phoenix over ten years ago and noticed the peculiar looking fish in  a pond behind my hotel. I had a 5-weight with me (I always do) and thought I’d waltz right out there and catch one. Fat chance! I fished them for five straight mornings and only landed one. He was worth it though as he would have topped 15lbs and was the grassie that got me hooked on the species for life.

With few exceptions, grass carp fishing is all sight fishing. You must creep along the edge of these lakes and hunt them. Grassies are extremely spooky and will sink to the deep if they see you. If you are lucky enough to see them first, observe them. Happy grass carp ease their way along inches below the surface and rise to almost every piece of plant life they see. With that in mind, greenish dry flies work best. Being that plant life comes in every shape and size imaginable, I don’t get too concerned about the pattern itself. I have done excellent with olive grasshoppers. Once I know the direction my grassie is traveling in I try to land my cast about 6 inches in front of his nose. I want him to see it land and think a leaf just blew out of a tree. There are definitely times when the grassie spooks but often they move to it ever so slowly. Now for the part you won’t believe. While some do sip the hopper like a trout, be ready to watch the grassie nibble on  a leg and gradually work the rest of the fly into his mouth. Don’t set until you’re sure the hook is in there. As soon as you see that, strike hard.

We got up around 6 am today and made our way to a group of lakes that have plenty of grass carp. I could hardly wait. These particular lakes are also stacked with koi and have few common carp. I rigged up my 5-weight Ross with a floating line and a 12-foot 3X Rio leader. I tied on one of my green grasshoppers and walked out to the first lake. These lakes are true urban lakes. They all have sidewalks and houses completely around them.

At first I stood and looked around. The one thing I didn’t want to do was spook a grassie by hastily walking down the sidewalk. Right away I noticed some koi mulling around. The koi rarely rise to a dry fly so I gazed  beyond the koi still hoping to see a grassie. Steve and Cinda made their way to me and saw that I was rigged for grass carp not koi. Steve dropped a cast with his nymph to the nearest koi. The koi looked but then slid into some deeper water where we could no longer see him. We walked this pond together and continued to see many koi and a few common carp but the grassies were hiding. Perhaps it wasn’t hot enough yet. Steve and Cinda got numerous shots at koi but most were not participating. Finally, Steve hooked and landed the first fish of the day, a very lightly colored common carp. By the time I snapped a few pictures of Steve and his fish Cinda hooked up to a koi. That was it. The bite was on. Due to the lack of a grass carp sightings I took off my hopper and tied on a nymph. The three of us proceeded to catch numerous koi in every color imaginable during the next three hours. I even caught a strange looking fish that may have been a koi/common carp hybrid.

Gradually, we began to see some grass carp. Grassies don’t eat the nymphs anything like the koi do so to catch one I had to change back to my green hopper. This was a tough thing to do because koi fishing was red hot and a lot of fun. I made the change though and then like you’d expect, I couldn’t find another grassie to save my life. I walked five ponds in the next two hours and never made a single cast to a grass carp. Meanwhile, Steve and Cinda kept reeling in the koi.

I was about to give up and switch back to a koi rig when Cinda suggested we walk to some spots where she recently saw some nice grassies. By now it was easily 95° and very windy. Weeds and other debris often accumulate on the windy sides of these lakes and attract the grass carp. Sure enough the first spot we went had a pod of grassies nestled under such debris. The problem was there was so  much debris I couldn’t land my fly where the grassies could see it. It was useless. We kept walking and at last we spotted several grassies floating high and happy. Cinda generously stepped aside and let me have at them. I landed my hopper just in front of a cruiser and he moved to my fly. Then just as I thought his mouth was going to open and take I my fly he spooked by exploding at the surface. I think he freaked out because he knew at the last second it was a fake and realized how close he came to being caught. I was extremely disappointed assuming he likely spooked every grass carp around. But luckily that wasn’t the case. Two more grassies were slowly meandering my way looking for their next meal. I picked the larger of the two and once again dropped my fly six inches in front of his nose. Again the fish moved to my fly only this grassie opened his mouth and chomped it. I waited for the huge mouth to shut the door on my fly and  struck with authority. Mr. Grassie was on!

Grass carp are not only hard to fool. Once hooked up they put up a battle. It would be nice to have a 7 or 8- weight rod for this part, but heavy rods just can’t provide the finesse needed for the initial presentation. So you just take your time, steer them from any structure that they could snag you on and hope they give up. That’s exactly what I did and eventually I was lifting a quality grassie from the pond. Success!

Tomorrow we are bass fishing so I’m thrilled that I landed my grass carp today. These guys really are a favorite of mine and being that they like the heat, we don’t have them near home. Shortly after the fun catch, we packed it up so we’d have time to clean up and set up for my presentation for Desert Fly Casters.

My presentation was called “Fly Fishing Through Midlife Heaven” and was a collage of my top fishing trips that have occurred since I left my day job at the fly shop last October. This was a new show for me and I’m pleased to say the show went great before a large crowd. If any of you ever need a presenter for your club or Trout Unlimited banquet keep me in mind. I offer numerous presentations that you can choose from my website and there are instructions on how to book me. Keep an eye on the presentation list as I’m always keeping it up to date. Soon I’ll have a great one on how you too can succeed with the various carp species on a fly.

Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing web site