Summer Catchup....

I finally had a chance to sloooww down a bit from work as I finally get a bit of a hiatus. Since then I've been able to get out a couple of times to do some fishing in the mountains with my buddy Mark and we ended up high stickn' some average size fish on the main stem of Little River and above Tremont. The water is low and clear, the best bet is start of with something yellow in a dry with a dropper of a pt or smbsh...the fish will tell you what they want then clip the other off and go with it. Didn't have a camera for the evening pursuits with Mark, though I wish I did. Those are the magic hours - the setting summer sun when the air starts the cool, and any hatch to that may happen commences...fishing may or may not pick up briefly but it doesn't really matter - its just a magical time of day to be in the mountains as the shadows grow longer and the silence gets louder...
I do have a confession though, I've been indulging in a little bit of warm water debauchery...and as some "purists" may destest, I've had a little affair with the rough fish...namely carp. Actually, it's always been in the back of my mind to tag one with a fly, just never had the gumption to go out there and do it with all the trout water explore. But I found myself in a situation where I only had a few hours free each morning last week and with decent smallie water and excellent carpn' water only 15 min away - it was a no brainer to make a go of it.
So I would try top water for bronzebacks and should I see a carp within range, I would switch over to a jointed hellgrammite. I did manage severa small bass over the course of the week
But the carp really made an impression on me. These things are brute on a fly rod and a must do if you've never done it. The sheer power of these fish are nothing I've ever experience but hope to some day in the salt, an I hear this is a great primer. All I do is look for a feeding fish, position parallel or just up stream. If you don't spook 'em cast above them to where your fly lands not to far above the fish and then skip the fly by the "visual cone". More often than not the carp with scoot over and intercept. Set the hook when you see the mouth over the fly and give a couple good tugs to seat the hook, then hang on!... make sure you preset your drag and get these guys on the reel quickly and play em "down n' dirty" and I believe Stu Apt puts it for Tarpon. As you watch the line rip from your reel and possibly the backing you haven't seen in awhile, play the fish as even pressured as you can, they have soft mouths and hook pull is all but too easy and I've had the hook actually straighted out on a 1/0 saltwater due to my careless over pulling.
Eventually, I'll beach the fish and after a quick pic, a pair of pliers removes the hook and the fish is no worse for the wear.
There is another target I'm after and though I've had some follows, just no takes, but a gar is next on my list. I did some research and think a rope fly is the best way to do, but I'm still perfecting that tactic as it seems to be a whole different realm to fly fishing as well... again, just another reason why I love this sport - multi faceted.
I was able to add a warm water species unexpectedly...I misidentified a smallmouth buffalo, I managed one thinking it was a carp. I pursued it and caught it as previously mentioned for carp, but was told they don't normally act that way - someone should tell the fish that. At any rate, a little research shows that they are primarily algae eaters, but will eat snail and other small aquatic insects....uhh, can you say snail fly??? More on that research and applied tactics later...
Tatanka!!!
Sooo, thats pretty much it for now and more or less caught up...hope to take to the water more as I do have the summer off, though I have my kids all day - I may have to drag 'em along my tie a dropper on 'em and let them go swimming in a hole somewhere in the Smokies while I high stick a run nearby...