Carp climax

[igquick]

It's been WAY TOO long since I caught a Carp. I haven't caught one since Spring I think. I was going to go bluegill fishing one day, but when I got to my fishing spot, I noticed the fishing rod was broken.

So today I went Common Carp fishing and managed to catch I think 7 of them in around 2 hours of fishing. They were around 6 lbs, and I don't know specifics since I didn't weight them. Chinook Landing is a weird place to fish at. The bite definitely correlates to the water level in a weird way in its sloughs. Once the bite turns off, I have to avoid that place for 6 days to let the water either rise or recede. After that, fish on!

Here is a video that contains one of the fish secreting its juices onto my arm in which I didn't even notice but was laughing at the dripping from the fish. The second part of the video is just me releasing one of the Carp. I know this video may be a little disturbing to some, but I thought it was halarious. I was dying of laughter when I noticed it in the video footage at Carl's JR:

 

[Throbbit _Shane]

Ah Skeet skeet! LOL

Nice catch. tight lines!

 

[Raincatcher]

Very nice way to get back into them.

 

[igquick]

Thank u raincatcher, it feels weird working 40 or more hours a week and balancing fishing, family time, friends, working out, etc...but its all worth it, the american dream right?

Shane your comment floored me...suprisingly i didn't know what you ment at first, but then a second later i heard the ying yang twins and lil john say it in my head...cracked me up so hard at the gas station, just made my day, turned my frown upside down, and brought back some unsexual memories lol

 

[bass]

Nice to see the fish swim off so casually in the end. Clearly it had accomplished its goal.

Step 1. Spray Igquick with milt.
Step 2. ?????
Step 3. Profit!!!

 

[john montana]

Glad you are getting them! i need to get out.

 

[igquick]

bass that's just wrong on so many different levels haha...this supposed to be a family forum haha!

John Montana your always going to get out!!! you got carp on lock down! Do you have any more goals as a carp angler other than catching a bigger one?

 

[john montana]

My big one is to catch a 35 lber on the fly. I have had one 100% confirmed shot at a 35-40 lber, but I let my dad make the cast (no hookup). I hooked one fish a few years ago that I think MIGHT have been 35 or a bit better, but it straightened my hook, so I can't be sure. I got a huge grass carp (probably 50 lbs) a few years ago, but I really want a 35 lb common. It will be tough...I have to wait for a big one to come in shallow to feed (rare)...be there when the fish is (luck)...make a good cast (some skill involved) and detect the take.

Then the fight on 1x tippet and a 7 wt fly rod...if there are weedbeds or boulders I would be dead. Tall order...been after that fish for years. Hah...

 

[igquick]

Thats pretty cool you and your dad caught it together!
So the larger ones don't like feeding in the shallows?

 

[john montana]

Oh, we didn't catch it...no joy meaning my dad didn't hook up! Hah...

I see a few 30 lbers a year in the shallows, but rarely bigger. If they are out there it stands to reason they don't come I. Shallow too often (meaning 35 plus lb fish).

 

[Smj]

John would it be accurate to say that the largest carp you have ever seen in the Columbia was that common carp (35-40lb) you and your dad missed? Or have you seen bigger beasts in the system?

 

[john montana]

That is the biggest fish I have ever thought we had a legitimate chance of catching. I have seen a few, maybe 1 or 2 a year that make me just about drop my fly rod, but never in a catchable spot. Usually sunning, far from shore and just floating there like a keg of beer. Personally, I believe there are 45 plus lb carp in the river...but I don't believe those fish come I to shallow water. Plenty of 8-12 foot deep clam beds, but those clams are big enough that the smaller fish can't eat em...only the pigs can.

Check out this clam. The size of a fly reel.



I do t think they eat em that big, but I do think the bigger carp eat bigger clams in deeper water.

 

[igquick]

So carp eat clams by slurping one, then crushing it with their throat?

 

[Smj]

Wow! So you have seen some absolute monsters! Perhaps they are only confident enough to venture into the shallows after dark. That clam is unbelievable. Thanks as always for sharing your knowledge.

 

[john montana]

Not many though smj...the ordinary fish is 8-10 lbs.

Igquick, carp have crushers like permit...the can smash smallish clams and crayfish then eject the broken shells. I am sure you have seen broken shells in the river...some of that is from carp I think.

 

[igquick]

Do grassies do the same?

 

[john montana]

I doubt it...i don't believe grass carp have pharyngeal teeth. I don't know much about grass carp though since it is still illegal to try to catch them in both OR and WA. I wish they would change that regulation. i did catch one years ago, and have caught them in FL.

 

[igquick]

I think it's halarious how you are able to get them off a "clam fly"...

Who knew?!