Carptales

[NickBury]

The start of any good story should always begin with introducing the hero, laying out the quest, worrying about the monsters to be fought, and figuring out the final goal…

This one is no different, my name is Nick, I am no hero but I do have a quest and certainly I hope to fight some monsters along the way and with the final goal of landing that ultimate fish, the ancient one, the “leviathan”.

Having lived in BC for the last Eight years, I have returned home to Southern Ontario for Knee surgery, I am expected to be here until Jan 2014. Within that time my goal is to put a 30lb+ Fish on the bank, not a crazy goal, but a decent one. It will beat my English PB by nearly 6lbs. A Mirror called “Orange Spot” out of a lovely little pool in the north west of England with a not so lovely name “Carcus”.

This was my home grounds in the UK; I fished it solid every weekend for almost 6 years. It’s the kind of pool that I would come to love….and I am always seeking to find my new “carcus”. With over hanging trees, Lilly pads, reeds and gravel bars, it was every little boys dream pool to grow up on. Although not a specimen lake….it provided the training ground for my future fishing adventures…I hope it was enough to get me onto these Big Canadian Monsters…….

I’ve been here for almost two weeks now, and have been recceing around the area pretty ferociously.. I have scoured Jordan Harbour top to bottom..Hendley Park, 12 mile creek, 16 mile, Charles Daley, Niagara River and Welland Canal. With all the time spent I was unable to locate any big fish… lots of singles and doubles but none of the Monsters of which I seek. Getting fed up with the constant looking, I decided it was to time to lay the traps and have a little dabble with the rods.

First stop was Jordan Harbour; I got some good info from the chairman of the rowing school, which is located in the northwest corner of the harbour. He told me that after spring, the carp move up the Harbour to the shallow, muddy, reed beds, just under the railway bridge. He gave me some access directions and off I went.

To say the bank peg locations were poor would be a vast understatement. With a small opening in the tree line just by the bottom of the bridge and a concrete platform 30 yards to the right, the options were limited. From the top of the bridge I could see a nice little dock, with a swing and two deck chairs at the bottom of one of the properties. It looked like a perfect little swim. A Big overhanging willow to the left of the dock and a wall of reed’s about 45 yards out, cutting the body of water in half. Along the reed’s were small clusters of pads with a larger isolated patch to the right of the dock. I looked down at the railway bridge swim, with a big dead tree running right through the middle of it, and steel cable looping around in the margins and decided to make a call to my fishing buddy Dan, who is born and raised in the Jordan area. After a quick phone call and some banter, the carp gods were with me. The dock I described turned out to be his cousin’s and he was on his way there to let me down. Perfect!

With the meet and greet done, I was standing on the dock ready to go. Dan canoed me out to the opposite reed bed and I stuck in a good few handfuls of corn,bean,breadcrumb mix. Once back on the dock, i fired out the old Harrison rod with a popped up triple Maple Maize rig. The left rod went under the overhanging willow in the margin on a strawberry birdfood 16mm boilie.

With Dusk fast approaching the inevitable doubts one gets when fishing a new water started to creep in…..are there fish here??? Should I have stayed at the bridge swim??

After two hours of being there, I hadn’t seen so much as a single bubble pop up. No rolling, no pads knocking, no fins or dorsal’s… just an empty bowl of what looked liked chocolate milk. Then out of the blue, the Delkim sang its high pitch little song. The left rod bent double and the reel was screaming out line..Yes here it is I thought. After I bent into the rod expecting to find Moby Dick or the new underwater Toronto GO train.. I was surprised to find a smaller fish.. a super scrappy 8lb common. The little bugger put up quite a fight and put a smile on my face too. A beautiful little carp with a golden underside like none other.. I would like to see it again in twenty years. After slipping her back and resetting the rod..the right rod on the Maple Maize blew away… Again a small fish and again an even scrappier fight… This time a 6lb Common.

By the time I got this one back in the water it was dark and time to go… even though the fish were small I was happy leaving.. I am sure if id fished on for another hour or two, there could have been a couple more on the bank. But I was happy with the fish that I had caught. Two hard fighting beautiful Canadian Carp, from a water that I have never fished before, not monsters but encouraging none the less.

Where there are babies, there are usually momma’s and where there are momma’s there could always be… the “Leviathan”

Tight Lines All….

Nick

[jordanl]

fantastic write up, i really enjoyed it, the monster carp will come, it just takes time, i started carp fishing last year, and i have gotten a handfull, my average size is probably high teens, i really havnt caught a small carp yet. with that said iv put lots of time in where my line isnt even bumped, i know with the water temp fluctuating anglers can catch some monsters cruising the shore of lake ontario, i would recommend you try that on a calm day, i would try Hamilton harbor an Burlington pier for some carp, im sure some of the serious carp anglers on this forum can help you out with some swims to fish.

also, im curious, but did you say that your fishing two rods for carp?,,

[NickBury]

Thanks Jordan.. I'm trying to plan a Hamilton trip sometime in the next couple of weeks.. I've read alot of info about it and it sounds like the place to be around here.

Ya I was fishing the double rod bite alarm set up.. Fortunately I had a fishing friend with me so I could use the second rod. Although he was kind enough to let me take the fish.. He's more interested in the bass and thinks I'm crazy for going for the carp.. Whatever floats Ur boat.

[smerchly]

Great story Nick and very well written . I have seen many big carp caught at Jordan harbour , mostly from the north shore along the QEW from both sides of the bridge . Many were hooked using plump dew worms which would also fetch channel cats and a variety of other fish such as drums , bass, suckers and pan fish, etc. As a youngster we fish close to the trestle ( lots of junk under there now) . Good luck catching the mommas & poppas .....myself , I'm still looking for grandaddy !

[trouttamer]

fun read