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Rejected, pushed aside, beaten… defeated yet again

carpmanjake

By carpmanjake
in Carp-Sturgeon-Roughfish

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carpmanjake Mentor

carpmanjake

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So today I sought vengeance, and to rid myself of the burden of defeat. I got to my spot, to find a rough chop on the water, winds gusting up to 15mph. Funny how I didn’t notice it before I left… the wind was coming perpendicular to the point, and I was to cast straight off the tip of the point. This wind would put a bow in my line and destroy the sensitivity that is so crucial to fishing for carp. Bottom fishing was now out of the question

My only chance of catching a carp now was stalking… but my area was now cut in half because I have to stay upwind of fish, so the chop distorts my figure. So I would have the upper hand… but wait… I forgot my polarized glasses! I was now evenly matched with the fish; it was now a battle of stealth. I began my stalk. I stalked around for an hour before finding a high 20 basking on in a pit in the reeds. I stalked closer, the carp still unaware of my presence, I was about to toss my fly, when I had a strange feeling telling me to look down, and there, sat 2 big, beady, black eyes. A large male bowfin, easily pushing 8lbs, was staring me down. I found it extremely odd for a bowfin to be on a large mid-lake flat with minimal panfish in the area… then it hit me, this bowfin isn’t hunting, it’s… then I felt some thing against my legs. A huge black cloud… babies… I was in a very bad situation; a bowfin of his size could easily get its mouth around my legs if it were to attack. He was getting anxious, flaring his gills; this bowfin had every intention of attacking if I seemed to pose any threat to his babies. My body was now full of adrenaline, and I was starting to shake, I took deep breaths, to calm my body. The cloud slowly moved on, and the male followed, but he swam backwards, keeping his eyes locked on me until he was 10 feet away, then he turned and followed the cloud into a denser area of pencil reeds. I backed away slowly; I was still in danger of an attack. I walked around, and calmed my body down before continuing my stalk. That was the first time a bowfin has shown any aggression toward me. My mind was full of emotions; fear, awe, inspiration. And much more. Such bravery for a fin to stand up to something 15x his size.

Once I was calmed down I continued my stalk, an hour passed before I noticed 2 giant black shadows on the flat, a monstrosity, and a beast! The smaller of the 2 was at least a high 20, the biggest was easily 6inches longer than her. Pitched out my fly, and the biggest one turned and looked, but turned away. I was overloading with adrenaline, I was starting to tremble, and both of these fish would easily shatter my pb. I retrieved the fly, and tossed it back on, but I threw it short and it landed almost on top of the carp, I cringed for fear I spooked them, but I didn’t, I retrieved the fly and tossed it out again, the biggest one, turned toward the fly. And sucked it in. I set the hook, and the fish was instantly burning line off my reel, before I knew it, I there was my backing, the first layer. 30lb black Dacron, then there was my second layer, regular fly line backing. I now had 50 yards to stop this fish, and gain line. I ran as fast as I could across the flat, gaining a little line, I hit the end of the flat after 5 minutes of running. I had about 75 yards of line. And the carp was still going out into open water. I was literally standing in the middle of the lake, an 8-weight fly rod bent double. Before I knew it boats surrounded me. I palmed the reel to slow the fish. 10 minutes passed, I gained about 30 yards of line. The carp still showed no sign of giving up. Then she turned sharply to the right, I gained 50 yards of line. But I was in a lot of trouble; she would have my line right underneath a pontoon shortly. I horsed her a bit, she made another sharp turn to the right, I gained 30 yards, she was now under 30 yards away, I got her away from the pontoon, but now, she was heading for another. A much larger one. I felt the line scrape against the pontoons, I cringed, the SNAP! She was gone. I was trembling, she beat me… I sat down on a buoy to regain my composure, the boats moved on, and I was alone on the flat again. I decided to leave, I was to shaken to continue. I chummed the entire flat heavily with a 5 gallon bucket of flavored corn I had since the spring. And I went on my way.

I felt the need to redeem myself a little bit. So I stopped at the spawning creek on the way home, tossed out a fly, almost instant hook up. I landed her. A nice 8lber

I set up the camera, and I could not be allowed get a picture without being humiliated yet again. She went crazy, knocking me backward into the water and getting away.

101_0920.jpg

by now I was as frustrated as I could be. Found a slightly bigger fish, tossed out a fly. Hooked up! Landed her. A 9lber

101_0918.jpg

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carpmanjake Mentor

carpmanjake

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Your story was so well written I think you should consider submitting it to a fishing magazine or even Reader's Digest. It was a very enjoyable read. Kudo's...........

thanks, writing is my best acedemic strength, i love writing songs, stories, and poems. which also helps with sharing fishing stories.

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carpmanjake Mentor

carpmanjake

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Jake,

That bowfin didn't attack you because it knows the respect you have for all fish. That was a great story, thanks for taking the time to write it up! Keep up the good work man.

i seen him again today.he was eying me from the edge of the pencil reeds as i walked by.

also had an encounter with a smaller female.

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SunneyeDay Enthusiast

SunneyeDay

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I saw your name on the post, so I was like "sweet, carpmanjake= timer shots of great fish", so I clicked on it. Started reading the story, and luckily there were pictures at the bottom- waited on the pics because the setup of the story caught me.

Once I got to the part about the monster carp, I couldn't resist and scrolled down to the pics. And immediately burst out laughing. The in-action fall into the creek was priceless, and only made better by the preceding follies. Good story and great timer shot!

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carpmanjake Mentor

carpmanjake

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Originally Posted By: carpmanjake

thanks, writing is my best acedemic strength, i love writing songs, stories, and poems. which also helps with sharing fishing stories.

what type of music do you write?

metal, rock, country. i dont play, i write lyrics tho

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