A Carp and a Bugger...

So, I just got off of work on July 31 at 7 in the morning wide awake as could be. I was sitting with a patient from 4 to 7 roughly. This gave me plenty of time to see where I wanted to go fishing that morning, that is, if I were not tired of course. : ) So, I got home, packed my things and took off to Lake Hudson. It was supposed to be an hour drive but it ended up being 1 1/2 hours because I got lost. : ( No GPS on my phone because 3G was not working for me nor did I have my Garmin because the calibration on it is messed up and I am unable to type in any letters. It is due for an upgrade soon. Or just to be smashed with a hammer....

 So, I finally found Lake Hudson after stopping three times to ask for directions. It was a miracle I even found the place because of the lousy directions I was given. There was literally no one at the park. It was perfect. The entire park all to myself to relax and think about a lot of things. I heard that it has a ton of bluegill and largemouth bass so I was game. I drove to the beach area to see what I could see. Not a car in sight. Perfect. I took about 10 minutes making sure I had water and all my gear ready to go to wade in the water. At first glance, it didn't seem promising to tell you the truth. Really really muddy and geese were everywhere so their nasty poop was all on the ground. Yuck.

I tied a white wooly bugger on my 6wt Browning fly rod and was just casting out to see if I had some hits. After about 5 minutes, nothing. Eh, let's move down a ways. That's when I saw them: carp. 2 or 3 were feeding in knee deep water. I stood still taking off my white bugger and tying on a black bugger. I stalked them for hours it seemed and yet it was just a few minutes. I kept working the fly back and forth, let it sink, jerk it a bit, let it sink. I got it in again and *BAM* a sunfish nabbed it. *sigh* Stupid sunfish! At least it was something! By then, the carp were spooked. Great. I moved down a ways and kept on working the fly on the bottom. The mud and silt was stirred up by the carp feeding and I couldn't see the fly anymore. I was reeling it in and felt a tug. My heart skipped a beat. I set the hook and sure enough.....ZZZZZZIIIIINNGGGGG!!!!!!!! The whirring of the reel was music to my ears! I had my first carp on the fly! : D

Here is a short video of some of the action. Sorry it is so all over the place. It was hard to film and reel in at the same time. : ) 

 

Well, I must say. As tired as I was, this was one of the most amazing days I have ever had. Here I am tired as can be and yet I was able to land 2 fish in about 2 hours of hiking and fishing around the lake. It may not seem like much but those fish were spooked quite easily and I am amazed that I caught two carp. So much fun! Here is the picture of the first carp. Sorry it is chopped off. I got too excited and the fish was flopping around  and that was the only good clear shot I had of it. : / 

Success! : D