Photo Essay — A Trip To The Dark Side
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On Sunday, June 18, 2006, I took a trip to the dark side. I don’t know if my soul will be burned by fly fishing purists, but this trip was a sensory overload. The problem is I liked it. From the minute we pulled into the parking lot and found scat from the locals, it gave us hope that they filled thier bellies with the devil beast and that they were still present in the stream (if you can call it that) below. We left the friendly confines of the parking lot, following a man in waders and waist belt and nothing more, looking back on it now if probably wasn’t the most educated decision and that thought crossed my mind as he tore off down a deer trail towards the water. We emerged near some overgrowth at waters edge to the devilish beasts rising everywhere. As the sky began to empty its belly on us, it was evident that today was going to be a good day. The day was such that the scandenavian gatekeepers, Sven and Lars, granted me the greatest of honors and began to refer to me as “Magnus.” Today was a great day. It is important to note that the rods shown in the pictures below are an 8wt and a 12wt. Nothing more on this day needs to be said and I hope the photos speak for themselves.
PLEASE NOTE — Dial-up users best turn back now (there are 30 images).
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Photography Note:
All photos below were shot by Matt Tucker (http://www.OzarkChronicles.com).The beasts in the photos are known locally as “big mouth carp” (aka asian carp). It is the specieis that has invaded the Missouri and Mississippi rivers (and other rivers across the midwest). You may have heard of the fish that jump into boats on those rivers — these are those fish.
They were rising for dries and chasing streamers. The fish that you see all came from stripping streamers on sink tip line.
I am not in any of the photos, because I did not land one. I was severely outgunned with my 8wt. My big fish of the day was a gar that was over 3 1/2 feet long.
As to the question of why not wet wade.
Is there a certain time of year to find them? I would be interested in a trip to fish for those creatures. Can you share more info?
I don’t care about the specifics of the location, I’m pretty sensitive to brain-rape myself, but I do have a few more questions about them.
Were you sight fishing to them?
Were they holding in the current or were they in the calmer shallows?
Thanks.
Carter:
We were not sight fishing to them in the sense you would sight fish to a bonefish or trout in the shallows.
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