Happy Carp Day!

You didn't think I would let Carp Day pass without a "quickie", did you? This guy was convienently located on the flat by the Ray Roberts marina and I had him spotted, stalked, hooked, fought, shot, and finning happily away in 15 min.

Looks like we're in for rain/storms this weekend and as soon as the next "warm-up" hits I believe the carp will start the spawn. This is an interesting time; the carp are difficult to catch but gar will join them on the flats and love to eat a fly. Makes for a nice little diversion while waiting for the REAL flats action to start in early May.

(BTW - If you want to book a weekend guide trip in May, call soon! Dates are being reserved and going fast. 940-391-9480)

Brother Isaak and "The Queen of Rivers"

We have a winner in the National Carp Day riddle (see below). Our local dry-fly purist turned rubberlipper, Colgate grad., and angling historian, Bart Larmouth, scored with the random quote from The Compleat Angler. It seems Mr. Walton, while obviously a trout and salmon kind-of-guy, spread the love to some other species. Pike, Carp, perch, and even eel are given fair due in the standard tome of angling (was Sir Isaak the original "brownliner?"). Here's a few tidbits from Chapter 9 . . .

"The Carp is the Queen of Rivers, a stately, a good, and a very subtil fish . . ."

"Hops and Turkies, Carps and Beer/Came into England all in a year."

"And my first direction is, that if you will Fish for a Carp, you must put on a very large measure of patience."

"But first you are to know, that it must be either early or late; and let me tell you, that in hot weather (for he will seldom bite in cold) you cannot be too early or too late at it. And some have been so curious as to say, the 10 of April is a fatal day for Carps."

Sir Isaak even goes as far as to give us a glimpse of his foodie nature with a recipe for carp . . .

"Take a Carp (alive if possible), scour him, and rub him clean with water and salt, but scale him not, then open him, and put him with his bloud and his liver (which you must save when you open him) into a small pot or kettle; then take sweet Margerome, Time and Parsley, of each half a handful, a sprig of Rosemary, and another of Savoury, bind them into two or three small bundles, and put them to your Carp, with four or five whole Onyons, twenty pickled Oysters, and three Anchovies. Then pour upon your Carp as much claret wine as will onely cover him; and season your claret well with salt, Cloves and Mace, and the rinds of Oranges and Lemons, cover your pot and set it on a quick fire, till it be sufficiently boiled; then take out the Carp and lay it with the broth into the dish, and pour upon it a quarter of a pound of fresh butter melted and beaten, with half a dozen spoonfuls of the broth, the yolks of two or three eggs, and some of the herbs shred, garnish your dish with Lemons and so serve it up."

(I think I'll just keep releasing them!)

Bart, your flies will be in your hands shortly. Have a great Carp Day everyone and let me know how you do. Send photos and we'll post them later.

National Carp Day

I am hereby proposing a new national holiday - Carp Day. This will occur on April 10th and to celebrate, all one has to do is catch a carp on a fly. Simple.
No cards. No last minute guilt stops by the florist. Nada. Just catch a carp, shake fins with it, snap a pic and send it on its merry way.
We'll even have some fun with this . . . if anyone can figure out why I chose April 10th, you'll receive a carp fly selection tied by yours truly. Just post a comment to this post and first correct answer gets the flies!