Return to Brownlining. Still hate it.

 April 15, 2023

When I got back from Taiwan I had a conversation about the crazy winter we had in California.  I missed almost all of it being in Asia at the time but Joel told me it sucked.  He was stuck home all winter and couldn't do anything.  Then for one brief period it cleared up and was sunny.  His entire street was outside in their front yards and enjoying the sun.  He told me, it was just like his days growing up in Pennsylvania, when once the weather broke the entire town would get outside.     I sympathize with those who live in areas that are snowed in all winter.  It must be so boring. Cabin fever is a thing.  That said we wanted to fish but with snow melt and cold condition fisheries were simply not productive. 

Desperate times calls for desperate measures. We decided to check out some local brown water for carp.  I've done my fair share of this and if you've read the early posts of this blog you'll know I've spent a lot of time urban carpin'.  Quite frankly I grew out of that stage and really came to dislike this style of fishing.  I haven't done in in over a decade.Given this was really the only option we decided to check out how the local urban river was doing.  We spotted a few but not as many as we'd hoped.  We only made a few casts and realized it was not worth anymore effort.  There simply was too much material in the water for a decent drift and without waders we couldn't get a proper angle or drift on them  Water visibility also made it near impossible so we gave up rather quickly.  The outing only proved once again why I stopped doing this type of fishing.

Unfinished Business Part Five: Taipei

April 17, 2018

Now back in Taiwan, I hooked up with my friend Peter.  Last year he was kind enough to show me ropes around Taipei.   He tried to get me on a Pacific Tarpon but after two strikes I failed to connect.  This year I had snakehead on my mind and that would be my specific target.  I met Peter at Jingmei station after his work shift at 6:30pm and he was still in a dress shirt, slacks and dress shoes.  Considering we'd be fishing along the filthy banks, you can't say Peter is not fish crazy.  We took to his scooter and rode down the street to the fishing destination.

All fish within the city limits are highly pressured.  Fishing then takes not only skill but stealth.  Peter's first suggestion was to fish off the steep concrete bank and cast from there.  A task much easier done with gear than a fly rod.  It was not long that I realized the 7'11" Sage rod with a foam frog popper was not up to the task I need to get closer to the water.  So I did but it didn't help me get any closer to my goal.  When it started to look like the snakehead were not going to cooperate this evening I switched tactics.  I decided to go subsurface.  It was not longer after Peter hooked into a fish, a tilapia, an African import.  I had at least 10-15 bites but could not get any of them to stick for more than a moment or two.  I even had one what Peter called a "big fish" on until it came loose.

It quite possibly was the snakehead I was looking for.  Then when we moved spots and I managed to hook a tilapia and fought it right at my feet before it popped off and swam away.  Afterwards I checked my fly only to discover that the hook was bent out of shape.  No wonder I was failing to connect.  I moved toward the inlet  that was flushing water into the system and noticed carp clopping.  I've only seen carp clop a couple of times here in the states and yet now I've seen it twice in a row in Asia in two different countries.  Because it was so dark and a bit lazy I didn't bother switching to a dry fly I just floated my wooly bugger on the surface.

Attempt after attempt it looked as though I wouldn't get my first Taipei fish after all.  Then I finally hooked up on a nice common carp. When I noticed more clopping carp I cut off the streamer and was about to tie on a dry when Peter received a call from the wife. He asked if we could end the night in 10 minutes. I asked him if I got him in trouble. He replied no I only got a "friendly reminder." I know what that means, I told him we could leave and I was satisfied. I finally got a fish in Taipei city which Peter says is extremely difficult since these fish are highly pressured. Even though I've caught hundreds of common carp stateside this one was special. It was my first Taipei fish while not native to the land it was at least an Asian fish in Asia.

My Favorite Taiwanese Soda.

A Post Fishing Meal at Asia's Best Fast Food Chain, Mos Burger 

PreHeat Carpin'

Woke up this morning with a hankering to fish, so I hit up the local brown water before the temperature reaches close to triple digits.  Water is murky and sight fishing was limited to the edges.

Quick Session

Spent about an hour on the local brown water managed a carp within the first few minutes.  After that I did some exploring of new sections of river that was loaded with carp sunning in skinny water.  Winds were already blowing hard when I arrived so I didn't spend too much time fishing.

Morning Carping

Spent couple hours in the late morning chasing down some carp.  Managed three to hand before I started filming off a mini tripod.  Once I did that it seemed like the fish got video shy and refused to take even at the most perfectly presented fly.  I could have sworn some of those were taken but it seemed only to spook the fish off.  I later learned my hook had broken off and would have at least doubled my tally for the day had I known.

As It Used To Be

For the longest time I wanted to get a clopping carp.  So I hit up the local brown water to see if I could get a carp on a dry.  It was a calm overcast morning.

When I arrived on the water the carp were clopping but just not in the numbers as they were yesterday.  I put on a cottonwood seed fly I tied last night but it had no takers.  I'm not sure what they are feeding on but it must be small as I don't see anything coming off the water.  I switched to a parachute Adams.  Seeing several fish mudding and eating on the bottom, after an hour I gave up and decided to go subsurface. 

Frustrated I couldn't get any fish to take I moved to another section of the river.  This area was loaded.  The river is low and fish can be easily sight casted.  Humps could be seen all over as these they fed.  I managed more fish than I recall mostly in 6 pound range with the smallest at 4 pounds.  I did hook up with a fully charged carp that was at least 10 pounds and fought him for ten minutes until the fly popped out of his mouth 20 yards away.

This place used to be like this but its been years since I saw action this good.  It's good to see it back.  While I didn't get my clopper it was a great day.

Not Exactly The Yellow I Was Looking For

Tuesday I finally made it on board my buddy's boat.  We were chasing the yellowtail that are now up and down our coast.  Unfortunately the trip was a bust.  I didn't even take my fly rod out of its holder.  All we got were a few mackerel on the sabiki rig we were to use as chum.  Called it quits after a few hours when I started turning green.  So much for Dramamine.  It used to work for me.  Now I need to find an alternative.

This morning I had a desire to feel the tug so I hit the local brown water.  I debated whether to target bass or carp.  The morning was still overcast, ideal for some topwater bassing, but since the rod was already rigged for carp that was what I'd go after.  Once I hit the water I saw carp clopping.  I've only seen this once before and that time I had no dry flies in my box.  I changed out fly for an emerger dry.  I made several cast but none rose for my fly.  Eventually the cdc got wet and sunk my fly.  I continued to strip the fly as I saw a carp feeding beneath.  It took and spooked all the cloppers out of there.  So much for my chance at getting my first clopping carp.  The carp I hooked was in the five pound range.  I managed another similar in size later on a nymph.  I moved to another area, bushwacking through the reeds only to emerge out of there with a cramping right butt cheek.  I tired to stretch it out and then decided I had a enough for the day.

Long Time No See

Last night I headed out to the local brown water to try out my articulated mouse.  The outing was a waste of time as I was using the wrong rod (Sage DS2 8wt), one with not enough back bone, and a flyline that was at minimum in dire need of a cleaning if not replaced.  Not to mention the fact that I haven't seen this water in ages I had no clue where the possible bass holes were now located.  I came home empty handed but did managed to spook several large fish splashing in the darkness.

This morning I decided to return and try my luck at carp since I haven't really targeted them in a few years.  Without any polarized glasses and with the June gloom overcast day made it nearly impossible to see these fish.  I considered at one point of going after bass but decided against it and stayed with plan to stalk carp.  After searching and searching I finally saw a blob, a possible carp, in the water.  I concentrated hard on the object trying to figure out which side was the head and which was the tail.  Once I determined the carp's direction I made my first cast of the day and managed to hook him up.  Lazily it gave a half-hearted fight, using it's weight only to avoid being dragging in.  Eventually I landed him and released him.  I searched for more carp but none were easily sighted without polars so I gave up and headed back to the car.  On the way I ran into a coyote chasing a squirrel that he ended up devouring.

Bassin' The Brown Water

Its been awhile since the last time I really fished my local brown water.  For over a year everytime I drove past I noticed that the water was always up, making sight casting to carp nearly impossible so I simply gave up on the matter.  With most of our recent outings a bust, I decided to check the brown water once again and target bass this time.  After a lengthy discussion of our hatred of hipster sportsmen posers, Chul and I hit the water.  In all honesty I didn't have much faith but  after only five casts, I hooked up on a fairly respectable largemouth.

The river has changed and while it looks like there is a lot of water, there are plenty of areas to sight cast to carp in the shallows.   When we saw a few we switched tactics and I removed my bunny leech in favor for a Prince Harry Aggravator.   Unfortunately we had no success today with the golden ghost.  The wind made it problematic to make a proper presentation.  Despite the lack of carp we found several spots with baby and juvenile bass which would take my fly on every cast.

Carp Photo Contest

With the increase of popularity of fly fishing for carp, Orvis is promoting the sport through a photo contest.  There is several categories including biggest, smallest, ugliest, video week, funniest, craziest location, prettiest, best in show.  Winner of the contest gets a new Helios 2 outfit.  I have submitted this pic:

Voting can be done here:
http://www.orvis.com/intro.aspx?subject=12923
My photo is on page six under "biggest" if you like you can vote for me or submit your own.

Carping In The Morning, Man Craft III At Night

I woke up Thursday morning at 3am and for whatever reason I could not get back to sleep. As I tried and tried to fall back to sleep I laid there in bed watching the sunrise around 5am.  By 6am I was fed up and packed the Rover with my carp gear and headed out to the local trash water.  I thought about packing the waders but I was too lazy to get it out and just took my wellingtons.  I later regretted that when I arrived at the water.  Water is high and muddy which is surprising for this time of year and since we are in a drought. Where the hell is all this water coming from?  With all this water it was going to be a pointless endeavor without my waders.  The water is up to the tules and on the far bank the vegetation is overgrown.  Despite that I managed to cross the river to the far bank as it would be my best shot at a fish.  The fish must be spawning as there was a lot of ruckus coming from the tules and there was a lot of fish along the bank rolling around.  I did manage to finally hook up on one that ran me around until I got too cute and popped the fly out of its mouth from pinching the line too tight with my trigger finger.  I got out of there about 8:30 when I realized it was pointless.

Later in the night one of our local forums which is moderated one of the members of The Calico Syndicate hosted a fly tying night, Man Craft Night III.   It was great fun and good to see some familiar faces and meet some guys I only knew by their forum handle.  We were also rewarded with a 17 minute teaser for their upcoming DVD towards the end of the night. The movie was supposed to be out already but has been delayed but when it comes out I plan on picking it up.  I did manage to tie a few shad patterns for Perris on Saturday. 

And So It Continues...

Early this morning before the winds picked up I spent an hour walking up and down the banks of my local brown water looking for some carp.  Clarity is next to nothing and looks like a toilet after a meal of all you can eat Indian buffet.  Not one carp was visible I did see one trout sized bass that would have been impossible to cast to since it was in the undercuts and there was no possible cast I could make due to all the vegetation surrounding me.  What a waste of time.  I'm considering putting my fly rods back in storage and just concentrating on shooting sports.  Of course that is next to impossible as right now ammo is about as easy to find as gold.  Geez, give a brother a break...

It's Official, This Place Does Suck

If anyone I know ever asks me "Have you ever fished Puddingstone,"  my response will be "That place can suck my..."  Seriously, I don't think I've ever hated a place more.  Chul and I hit this water one more time despite our last lack luster outing a few weeks ago.  Since Chul managed a bass on topwater and I missed two bass on my last two casts I have wanted some revenge on this lake.  Just like the last time we were harassed by Ricky Rangers that if they did not have a book of regulations their life would have no direction.  I have been on that pram more than half a dozen times when Ed owned it.  Our buddy Kyung has been on it a hundred times when Ed owned it.  Never had we ever been harassed about the decal colors or numbers on the boat, registration or anything like that.  And we've made thousands of drifts directly in front of the Coast Guard station at NHP. Never once did the Coasties who happen to be staring at us give us a hard time and yet the Ricky Rangers on this lake (who have no law enforcement capabilities) give us grief.  Fishing was poor despite seeing several good bass and monster carp.  None were willing to take a fly.  Chul missed a couple and I only had one strike the whole day that I missed.  I did have one eyeball my bluegill pattern a while but refused to even make a charge.  What a waste.  I rearranged my schedule and Chul missed out on sleep for this crap.  Never again.  I don't care if fish are jumping into the boat, I shall not return. 

Fried Chicken and Waffle Sandwich.

We hit Bruxie Waffle Sandwiches for lunch afterwards and while it was okay it was hardly anything to write home about.  My sister raves about this place and goes to the one near my house every time she visits California.  I really don't know why.  It wasn't bad but hardly impressive.

"Ricky Rangers"

With the skunk still reeking from last Friday's outing, I wanted to get on some fish.  The easiest and cheapest option is to fish my local brown water.  I had called Greg to see if he wanted to fish as I owed him an outing and he was in.  He managed his best outing ever with three to hand and three lost.  I, in the other hand, had one of my worst.   Skunked.  I had one on for a it's initial run but popped off.  I missed several more.  Carp is usually easy for me (at least here) but I'm having a hell of a time getting one this year.  Albeit part of the reason is I'm not fishing the most opportune times or gear.  Greg was fighting his last fish when someone who works for flood control came and told us we couldn't fish here.  I was done for the day and was in no mood to argue with him so Greg landed his fish and we left.  "Ricky Ranger" is so full of shit.  There are no signs stating that fishing is prohibited.  He claimed that DFG (now DFW) regulated them and "natural habitat" so its off limits to fishing.  It's protected.  Who the fuck protects carp?  No one.  Such bullshit.  When I got home Greg emailed me the regs that actually state that you can fish there.  What a piece of shit liar.  I knew he was full of it, I just couldn't prove it until now.  I knew this though:  Interfering with some one who is LEGALLY fishing (or hunting) is illegal.  It is known as the hunter harassment :

Fish and Game Code Section 2009. (a) A person shall not willfully interfere with the participation of any individual in the lawful activity of shooting, hunting, fishing, falconry, or trapping at the location where that activity is taking place.

So if I run into this know-it-all-know-nothing douche again, we'll have words.  And if he thinks he's right I'll challenge him to call the game warden and let DFG sort it out.  I'll then show him the code that permits me fishing there and tell the warden to cite him for harassment along with a complaint to his management.  I've concluded that this is probably his favorite fishing hole, he did claim to be a fisherman, and did want people fishing in "his" hole.  Or he is some guy who is on some power trip and wanted to flex some nonexistent muscle.  Or he is some PETA member that didn't want us "hurting" wildlife so he made up some cock and bull story about this is a "natural habitat" so no fishing. 

Greg, I've bogaed a lot of carp in my day, trust me that's not 10 pounds but it is a nice one.

Soured I went home showered the nastiness off and headed to MVL to meet Chul and his buddy to see if I could wipe off the double skunk off.  Initially, although Chul invited me to fish with him and his buddy I thought it was probably not a good idea.  But after Ed canceled tomorrow's outing to Irvine Lake due to sickness and the fact the weather was nice I changed my mind.  I called Chul and let him know I'm in.

Chul spent most of his time helping his buddy Brett with a drop shot rig as Brett is a neophyte angler.  I fished in front and managed to land two trout sized bass.  At one point we had a hog follow the boat and Brett was desperately trying to place his dropshot in its face. During this time I landed my second bass, which was the smaller of the two, I released him and watched him swim away when all the sudden the hog race out from under our boat and took the bass in on gulp.  I was shocked and asked if they saw that and they all did.  I only wish I got it on film.  It was the highlight of the day.  Everyone managed at least one fish before the lake's "Ricky Ranger" pulled up next to us and cited Brett for casting too close to the docks.  At least he was cited for an actual rule and not a made up one.

Quit Your Carping!

I had 1.5 hours to kill so I hit up the local brown water just before lunch.  With rain in the forecast on Sunday, I wanted to get a carp before the water gets screwed up.  Section one and section two are low and clear and section three and so forth are not worth spending any time on.  I hooked two carp today and like some chump rookie I set the hook Bill Dance/Bass Masters style ripping them out of the fish's mouth.  Bent up my Prince Aggravator fly pretty good in the process.  The fish are school up and looks like they are ready for some loving as they are finding in the undercuts and not really feeding.  I did see that Hog Johnson Bass I missed the other day.  I casted to him for about ten minutes before he had enough of my shenanigans.  He gave me the red eye and took off to the shadows to taunt me.  He really did have a red eye.

Moon River

Moon river, wider than a mile
I'm crossing you in style some day
Oh, dream maker, you heart breaker
Wherever you're going, I'm going your way

 

Restless after dinner I hit my local brown water to see if I could get that one that got away at night.  With my rod still loaded from yesterday, I jumped out of the Rover put on my wellingtons, my headlamp and waistpack and headed downstream.  My original plan was once I got to the water cut off the carp fly and tie on a popper pattern.  The instant I hit the banks I could see tailing carp only a couple feet away in the water.  So that plan was changed.  I made several casts with no luck so I moved into the water and the fish spooked.  All around me something was going on, bass busting the surface, carp pushing water.  It was pretty intense since I could see shit.    I left my more powerful headlamp in my duffle that I've yet to unpack from our Sierra trip so all I had in the truck was my older model which wasn't cutting it.   I switched to the pooper and tried my luck.  Nothing wanted it.  I gave up and went back to the car.  On the road I kept seeing carp mudding so I switched back and tried casting into the groups.  No fish after about an hour of trying.  I might have to try this night carping another try but next time better armed...

Not My Month

I keep losing good fish!  What the hell is going on?  This afternoon, bored out of my mind I decided to see how my local brown water was fishing.  The water has lowered somewhat but is still off colored more so than I'd like it.  Today I stacked the odds against me.  First I don't like fishing the afternoon since the winds create too much ripples and so its hard to sight fish.  Second I fished my Sage TCR 6 weight that is lined with a warmwater bass line.  Way over powered for delicate presentations.  Not to mention its orange.  Bright orange.  Third since I was way too lazy to change the existing tippet, that leader on the line was probably a year old if not more since I don't fish the 6 weight that often.

I spent most of my time trying to find fish.  When I was about give up I decided to hit up an area I've neglected for a while.  How things have changed.  The islands and tulies have been moved and so it channelizes the water.  It's gin clear, it almost seems as if you're on an English chalk stream.  That is if chalk streams smelt like ass, were loud with traffic noises, devoid of any clean water fish and had water that would make you sterile.  Other than that, yeah, very similar to a English chalk stream.  There were at least 15 large carp in here.  Casting was tough so I moved away from it and approached them from downstream. I had to wade and that didn't help my cause.  They spooked after several casts.  So I moved up and started blind casting into the weeds.  My rod went heavy and at first I thought it to be garbage until I lifted the beast out of the water and exposed its side.  It was at least a 2 pound bass, a pig for this water.  He never fought, he was limp as a Dirk Diggler and just as big.  He got off somehow after I exposed his side.  This month I've been losing way too many good fish...

That doesn't smell like mud...

Carp, Not Today

Pale Mallard?  I've never seen one before.

Yesterday Chul asked me if I wanted to go carping after he gets off work.  I gave him a rather unenthusiastic response of maybe and asked him to call me when he gets off work and I'd let him know.  Waking up this morning I had a hankering to get a tug so I headed out to the local brown water to see if I could get a carp on a fly.  It was a waste of time and instead of getting hepatitis or some other waterborne disease I should have stayed home.  The moment I stepped out of the car it stunk.  Water is too deep and murky to successfully sight cast.  I made a few pointless blind casts until I noticed a dark blob in the water so I made a few casts to it not knowing exactly which side was the head.  I got a tug and I set foolishly set the hook like a trout and ripped the fly out of its mouth.  Game over and I quit after that and let Chul don't even bother coming.  I did see two large carp launch themselves out of the water but both were too far to cast to, besides I have never found casting to jumping carp to be successful.  The only positive today was I saw a pale mallard, a bird I've never seen before.

Waders Mandatory

With the last couple weeks rather busy, I needed some respite.  My intention was to head out to the clay range again for some more pre-season practice but with the temperature in the valleys in the triple digits, I choose to stay closer to the cooler weather.  Its been some time now since the last time I fished in these local waters.  The last time the water was high and waders were necessary.  Looks like not much has changed from then.  Water is still high and murky.  The vegetation along the banks are 3 feet over head and just getting to the water is a chore.  Waders are not only necessary so that you can get in the water and make a decent cast but also as armor while you ford through all that brush.

The instant I made it in the water I noticed three or four carp within casting distance.   I blew each opportunity until I lost them in the darker deeper water.  So I left and waded downstream.  It was not long before I came across a feeder.  I casted right over him and I feared I spooked him but no, it stood its ground even after I felt that I foul hooked him, most likely somewhere near the tail.  Normally that's game over but this fish simply moved three feet to my left ad resumed feeding.  So I casted to him again and he was on.  He fought hard with a few sprints but no long runs.  Forgetting my boga I did not have a chance to weight him.  I figure above 6lbs maybe closer to seven.

With that area now disturbed I moved further downstream.  The wind was now beginning to pick up and I casted along bass twin tule and tried my luck for some bass.  Although the wind was blowing this section of tules, they were moving more violently than the wind conditions were dictating.  I knew there was a fish feeding within those weeds.  I casted into it and instantly I was hooked up.  This fish bull dogged me the whole time and I figured it may have been a nice bass.  eventually the fish came up high enough to notice that it was another carp.  This fish, like the last, only made few attempts at a sprint but no long runs.  When I finally got it to hand it was about a 4 pounder.  After that I had my fix and headed out of there.  Not a bad day for about a hours worth of work.

Diarrhea Water and Clooping Carp

Last night I had no intention of fishing but when I woke this morning I had an itch.  So I headed to the local carp water without taking it consideration what the recent rains may have done to the river.  Once I reached the water I realized it was going to a waste of time.  The water was up even more than last time and it was completely black.  Visibility was only a few inches so I wouldn't be sight casting today.  For the first time ever in my brief carping career I finally saw clooping carp (or rising carp).  I've only read or seen it on video, never in person.  My carp box has very little in a dry fly selection and I tried an emerger dry  without much success.  I moved toward shallower water where I could briefly spot cruising and tailing carp.  With even the most perfect cast to these fish, they refused.