Air Temp: mid 80s
Weather Conditions: Mostly Sunny, scattered clouds
Wind: Windy, from the west, translated to a strong southern wind on the water
Clarity: Aprox 3 ft
Approx CFS: 47
Rig(s): Orvis Clearwater 704-4 Mid Flex, Orvis Battenkill III, Rio Grand 4wt WFF
Leader: Mono combo with a 2x Fluoro tippet. Approx 7 feet
Flies Used: Barry's Carp Bitter (Olive and Tan)
Hot Flies: Barry's Carp Bitter Tan, Barry's Carp Bitter Olive
The weather was perfect, and there is just no way I could resist taking another crack at The O after the killer day Julie and I had yesterday.
I invited a couple friends, but they were doing stupid stuff like sitting by a pool drinking beers. Slackers.
Stepping into boots still wet from the day before. Gonna be a good day, Tater
So I ended up going solo, just tossing a small fly box full of Carp Bitters and some streamers and a spool of tippet in my waders and heading out. It was kind of nice going minimalistic, since I tend to be the kind of guy who carries a small fly shop on his back when warm water or streamer fishing.
Weather and water conditions were pretty much the same as the day before, maybe slightly less clarity, and definitely more wind. Up on the road, the wind felt light, so I strung up the 4 wt. Once I got to the water, it was a different story. I should have grabbed the 5, just for the extra 2 feet of clearance to keep the fly further away from my noggin, but I made it work, and didn't end up with any new piercings.
I took a couple shots at the first rock pile and was almost immediately on the board with a white bass.
Sometimes I take photos that are so shitty, its hard to believe they are real. The iPhone is basically idiot proof for photos, and I still screw up. Anyway, that fish shaped blur is a whitey.
The real story here though was the GIGANTIC smallmouth that I spotted. Easily the biggest I have seen in the Olentangy. He was out cruising in the open, and swam almost directly into my legs. Once he realized that I was something that intended to do him harm, he made a break for the rock pile. I let him rest a bit and chucked a few casts right into his kitchen, but could not feed him. He was definitely on to me. Too bad, because that fish had some serious mass. Maybe next time.I moved on to the next spot, a carp flat I am particularly fond of...only to find no carp. Lots of flashes though, it looked like the Suckers (that seem to be literally everywhere lately) were really keyed in on something. I've tried a couple times drifting a carp fly through there but have never connected. One of these days I'm going to dead drift a nymph through there and see what comes out. Some of those fish are damn enormous, and they fight like hell. Note to self, stop leaving the trout box in the Jeep.From here I moved to what Julie has just started calling "her spot", looking to take on some carp. Sure enough, there were a good many in there, lazily swimming between two pools or lounging just beneath the falls. I took a seat on a downstream rock and pitched probably 2 dozen casts into the pool. I did get one eat, but I set late on the fish, the fly popped out, but the fish still followed it to the surface, until he saw me and took off like a bat out of hell. Having spectacularly blown that hole up, I pushed ahead to some good smallie water, and connected with a half dozen fish, basically working big rock piles in a fan pattern. These were some aggressive fish, hammering the fly as soon as it landed or after 1-2 strips. It's rare you find a concentration of fired up sallies on the O, and these fish did not disappoint on the 4 wt. Here are some of the better ones:
One of the bigger ones. This guy shot out of the rock pile like he had a rocket up his ass. I wish I had video of the set, possibly the most awkward hook set in fly fishing history.
This guy had some really cool markings
I did get a good sized bass to rise twice to my fly on a swing and jig presentation, but he never made any aggressive moves to take it. It was nice to see some bigger bass out there though, and I'm thinking about teaming streamers next time, since the small carp flies are getting their attention, I'm willing to bet a trailing EP baitfish hanging off the hook bend might get the eat on these bigger fish in clear water.
After a good bit terrorizing the local smallie population, I headed back downstream, pitching a few flies at some unhappy carp, hoping for a reaction eat (the carp on the O tend to behave more predatory than some you see in other bodies of water).
No dice. Not even a look. These carp have been kicking my ass lately. Still, a great day on the water and a nice way to cap the weekend.
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