Carpen on the Snake

 

Date:  Early August 2009…a Saturday

Location / Directions:    Buhl Idaho on the Snake River...great Carp location... one of the best in Idaho

Trip Objective:    Break Kurt’s Carp Cherry!

Weather & Flows:  Beautiful summer day…perfect for Carp…..no  wind and clear as a bell.   Flows were ok, slightly up from previous years but  still very wadable

General  Observations:   Perfect day, classic summer morning..sunny and no wind. The wind is a big deal because just a little chatter on the surface makes it really hard to see into the water which is a necessity to spot these monster fish before they see or sense you. Kurt got 3 nice Carp, Mark landed 2 and hooked a couple more.  Fish were quite active early…taking natural patterns including; large green scuds,  dark brown dragon nymphs (Whitlock tie) and smaller black leaches (I use a small gold chain eye to give my leaches some flash). The carp began to lay up once the sun got hotter and was directly overhead (this seems to be a common behavior).  They seem to get lazy/sleepy and aren't really in the mood to chow down. The visibility also becomes more limited once the sun is directly overhead and you lose the angled sun rays that cut into the water.

Trip Detail:  We left Boise pretty early ( 1.5 hour drive from Boise to the Buhl Snake river area) with the intent of being on the water when the fish started to feed.  We ended up on the water at 8:30 which was at least 45 minutes too late.  The fish were quite active when we arrived.  Kurt used the only large scud pattern that was available (#8 light green)….to his credit he used it well and quickly hooked into his first Carp.  This was a very nice fish...good enough to make the lead off picture for this post.  I used some of my home grown ties and did not have a lot of action.  Was using the madam X carp tie and it did not work as well as usual.  Ended up switching over to the Whitlock dragon….and things got much better.  All and all this was a great morning!

Logistics:  The logistics are actually pretty easy. There are carp pretty much anywhere on the Snake in the Buhl area.  Just find some good river access and start hunting.  I use an 8 weight rod and 3x tippit....pack a lunch and you can have a great morning fishing and be back in Boise by 4pm...weather permitting.

Key Learning’s:  Be prepared for a fairly short day, the fish start feeding early and are most active between 8 and 11 a.m. after that they start getting sluggish and seem to be more interested in napping.  For me getting over to the Buhl area and on the water by 7:30 to 8a.m. seems to be the right formula. This is the summer fishing schedule...in the Spring or Fall you can certainly be on the water later (important to let things warm up abit to get any action).  Use natural patterns (scuds, leeches, dragon nymph's, damsels). Forget about the hyped up carp ties that seem to be so popular with all the mail order places now. My experience is that these fish are really quite selective and these big monster flies scare them.  Flies that look like something they are use to eating seem to be much more productive.  If I had to choose 1 fly...it would be a scud pattern...gold bead head, greenish gray body,  tied on a #8 Tiemco 2457 scud hook.  This fly has produced for me time and time again.  The bigger hook does not seem to bother them and is really handy when one of these monsters takes off..