She Spent The Summer Doing What?
by Jan Ellsworth
It was the summer of COVID, so plans to be with the sharks in the Bahamas and explore Fiji had come to a halt. What would I spend my summer doing now that COVID had virtually suspended all travel plans and activities? I would spend my whole summer learning how to catch carp on the fly. Now stay with me, it’s not as thrilling as diving with sharks in the pristine waters of the Caribbean but as far as fly fishing goes, I think it’s one of the most exciting endeavors a fly angler—beginner or seasoned—could get into for many reasons.
Why did I choose to learn how to target carp on the fly as a fairly new fly angler?
Well let me give you a little background, I had been chasing trout in Colorado ever since I started fly fishing in October 2018. I learned how to fly fish through Project Healing Waters, Denver Chapter, as a disabled veteran participant. Our previous chapter lead kept mentioning a “Carpslam” and how he knew someone that won one year and how he would pull out monster carp in seemingly any situation, his name was Mike Medina. I stored his name in my memory as I felt I wasn’t ready to participate in a carp competition yet since I had just started fly fishing.
Fast forward a couple of years, I found out Denver Trout Unlimited’s Carpslam 2020 was looking for amateur participants. My inner thoughts were, “You’re TOO much of a novice, you haven’t even caught a carp on the fly, you don’t know anything about these fish, you won’t raise enough funds” etc. As my inner doubts began to slowly talk me out of it, another part of me felt inclined to just do it so I reached out to Mike on Instagram. I messaged him and asked him if he wouldn’t mind taking a newbie to learn carp fishing since he has been chasing these fish for decades. He then called me that Friday morning and we decided to go out at 6am that upcoming Monday, June 15th, 2020.
My recollection of that first day out on my pursuit of chasing carp was sensually stimulating: from the sight of dozens of carp congregating in pods, to tails peeking above the water, to the fresh breeze in the air, to the stillness in the park as it hadn’t been polluted by people yet, to seeing my new friends filled with excitement as their fish took their lines into their backing within seconds. I was hooked. There was just so much stimuli to sight fishing for carp and I had never been so mentally intrigued catching a fish on the fly than with carp. I didn’t catch one my first day out but I was challenged and determined to do so.
I made it part of my routine to go out every morning at 6am eagerly waiting to learn more about these fish. It didn’t happen for me until my fourth time out with Mike. It was the turning point for me; it was the fish I never knew I needed as I had been down in the dumps, struggling mentally. That morning out, I didn’t even want to wear a hat or sunglasses—I was just in that state of mind that I wouldn’t catch one. He told me that his objective was to guide me that morning and not fish and we weren’t going to leave until I caught one. My carp mentor, as he would become, knew I needed that fish too.
As we walked the bank of a local lake, he spotted a sizable one tailing in our direction. He urgently told me to stop moving, don’t make a noise and have my fly ready to go in my non-casting hand. The fly of choice was his favorite; he calls it his “huevos de los muertos”—eggs of death. We waited for it to get closer towards us, siphoning the mud along the way. It was now about 3 feet from us. He told me when to drop the fly in the water, about a foot in front of the tailing carp and we waited for it to approach the fly. As the carp came within a few inches of my fly, I gave it a small twitch and it approached to inhale the egg with its mouth open and I knew it was time. SET! Within seconds, the drag was screaming and it took off into the middle of the lake. I felt intense nervousness and didn’t want to lose this fish or have my line break off from it. Good news, however, was I landed my first carp on the fly and it measured out at 32 inches, which set the bar high for all the “cute carp” to come. The “cute carp” is an inside joke for all the carp caught after you’ve caught a few 30-32-inch carp for your first ones.
People may wonder why I love chasing carp on the fly and to circle back to those reasons, it’s mostly an addiction to the feeling. A feeling I can’t describe when it all pulls together and you land the beautiful fish. The stealthy approach to the fish, the puzzle of figuring out which fly will work based on how they’re feeding, the anticipation of the take and the impending set, the adrenaline rush of the fight, the auditory appeal to the drag working away and finally attempting to land the fish that could change your whole day’s trajectory.
The summer is coming to an end but the drive to keep learning how to catch carp on the fly will be an ongoing journey. The determination is still as high as ever. As it gets closer to October 3rd, 2020, I’ll take all that I’ve learned so far about this awe inspiring species and fish my amateur heart out during Carpslam 2020 with my pro partner and American Carp Society, Colorado guide, Jeremy Elms— @draganddropfishing.
Send us some kind words and good luck on the gram.
For more information on CarpSlam and how you could support, visit https://carpslam.org/
and you can also go to the “Help the Carp” menu on the American Carp Society home page. https://denver.tulocalevents.org/american-carp-society/Supporters 100% of funds raised will be directed to the design, planning, and execution of Lifetime Angling Access Areas along the Denver South Platte river.
Thanks for reading my covid summer 2020 carp on the fly adventures, this is just the beginning…
Jan