Steelie Mike
07-05-2006, 05:36 PM
With the recent heat wave, lack of cooperation from our local steelhead, and knowing the holiday will bring a lot of people out on the river, I gladly accepted an invite to chase some golden bones. Now I have been known to drive across the state, even two states when there is aggressive steelhead to be caught, but never for goldfish. I have even chased them several times locally with our very own JayJ (aka Boogie, Boogie Man, Boogie the Pirate to name a few) without success. So this trip was a first for me.
Now I have heard the stories and seen the pictures on these large golden demons but never quite understood this new phenomenon. Well I understand it now. Wow it was a lot of fun fishing for these large brutes. The spot we fished was a large flat. There were carp and smallies everywhere. Some of the carp were still in spawn mode, but there was a lot feeding. At times they were feeding in schools and that was prime time to cast to them. We would spot and stock them casting damsel, crayfish and blood worm imitations.
By the end of the day I was in tuned to casting to single feeding fish and placing the fly right in their feeding lane. Wow it was a lot of fun. I am not saying I am going to leave my trout and steelhead friends, but I now got something else to get blood moving. I can get used to seeing my backing on every fish.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v517/SteelieMike/UmatillaCarp7-4-060252.jpg
Mirror Carp
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v517/SteelieMike/UmatillaCarp7-4-060192.jpg
Carp on a Juan
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v517/SteelieMike/UmatillaCarp7-4-06028.jpg
The only double that we got both fish in on. The common was caught on a five and the mirror on an eight weight.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v517/SteelieMike/UmatillaCarp7-4-06003.jpg
Andy with an average sized carp on this flat.
Now I have heard the stories and seen the pictures on these large golden demons but never quite understood this new phenomenon. Well I understand it now. Wow it was a lot of fun fishing for these large brutes. The spot we fished was a large flat. There were carp and smallies everywhere. Some of the carp were still in spawn mode, but there was a lot feeding. At times they were feeding in schools and that was prime time to cast to them. We would spot and stock them casting damsel, crayfish and blood worm imitations.
By the end of the day I was in tuned to casting to single feeding fish and placing the fly right in their feeding lane. Wow it was a lot of fun. I am not saying I am going to leave my trout and steelhead friends, but I now got something else to get blood moving. I can get used to seeing my backing on every fish.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v517/SteelieMike/UmatillaCarp7-4-060252.jpg
Mirror Carp
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v517/SteelieMike/UmatillaCarp7-4-060192.jpg
Carp on a Juan
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v517/SteelieMike/UmatillaCarp7-4-06028.jpg
The only double that we got both fish in on. The common was caught on a five and the mirror on an eight weight.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v517/SteelieMike/UmatillaCarp7-4-06003.jpg
Andy with an average sized carp on this flat.