Four years ago my son Dylan graduated from high school. I wanted to make the summer before he went off to Lock Haven University a special one. I planned a trip that would take us to Colorado to spend some time with two former students of mine who had become good friends. We had eight days of a packed agenda that would takes us through Cheesman Canyon, the Yampa River, off to Utah’s Green River then back home. I remember it being a whirlwind tour that was both rewarding and exhausting.
We returned in early August and went back to our everyday activities knowing we had one small excursion left.
This one-day trip was going to be a different one, something that we had never experienced. It started during the previous November as I fumbled my way through a recent copy of the Mid Atlantic Fly Fishing Guide. It was an ad showing an angler holding a large carp landed with a fly rod. “Want to try something different? Stalk the Susquehanna Bonefish!!!” It came at a perfect time. The trout game was actually getting a little old; this would be fun. This would be unique. After all, how difficult would it be to fool a big dumb carp? After spending years of angling for those wary intelligent wild trout, this would be a cinch right? Wrong!!!
The man who offers this experience on the West Branch of the Susquehanna River is Mr. Mike O’Brien. I arranged to meet Mike at Penns Woods West Trout Unlimited annual Cabin Fever in March 2002. He was giving a presentation on West Branch smallmouth bass fishing. We briefly introduced ourselves and agreed we would work out the details several weeks before the trip. Time zipped by and before we knew it that day arrived. We met Mike on an early August morning near Williamsport and headed to the boat launch. What happened that day was perhaps one of the most humbling and educational days of fishing I have ever encountered on the water.
“There’s a mud at eleven o’clock… fifty feet.” I peeled off some line and made my first cast. Quickly the carp was on to us and moved hurriedly away. “Wow, spooky fish.” As the day progressed, we became more comfortable and astute about the ways of this wary fish. You see mudding is the key to fly fishing for carp. When a carp “mud’s” he feeds or tails much like a bonefish. Presenting your fly in the mud is the key. When the fish backs off the mud to see what it uncovered, you want your fly in that zone. You then have to have nerves of steel to slowly strip the fly. If the fish sees your fly he will move toward it and slowly mouth it. As he sucks the fly in, too fast of a strip set will pull the fly away from the carp usually resulting in a fleeing fish. With an extremely slow strip the carp will then take your fly and turn away, normally resulting in a hook up, followed by a long run taking you to your backing. Casting to a cruising fish or a carp not “standing on his head” is often futile. That day went by quickly. We had many chances but did not boat a fish. I, however, found a new fresh water challenge. I was hooked! I immediately booked another trip with Mike for the following year.
The next two summers were perhaps the wettest summers I can recall in many years. During 2003 the river was pretty much unfishable. In 2004 was pretty much the same, with rains from hurricanes Francis and Ivan shutting the river down for any sight fishing for the season. In 2005 we finally thought this would be the year, only to have storms once again postpone our trip: scheduling problems did not allow us to reconnect. Finally, August 19, 2006 the Fishing God’s shined down on us. We were presented with a perfect day- temperatures in the low eighties, clear water and abundant mudding carp.
I invited Josh Lincoln, a good friend of mine, to join me for the day. His curiosity about fly fishing for carp helped him to decide to rearrange his work schedule. Mike likes to rotate stretches of the river to rest the fish. It so happened we would visit the same stretch of water on my first trip. We did not have to wait long to sight cast to our first carp. All day long we had frequent chances. Today however, we would come up against a different kind of foe. It would not be the weather or our approach. Today we would have to battle the West Branch smallmouth bass.
Many experienced smallmouth fisherman know that very often if one finds a carp mudding he will also find one if not several opportunistic river smallmouth hanging around to see what tailing carp might turn up. The smallmouth is much faster than the carp. It will then swoop in to grab any fleeing crayfish, hellgrammite, or small baitfish. In discussing with Mike how he started into guided trips for carp he will tell you that years ago when guiding for river smallmouth, good friend Bob Clouser pointed out that if you find feeding carp you find some of the river’s largest bass waiting for an easy meal. It was then he decided that he would try his hand at carp angling. The rest is history.
The day was a great one. Josh managed to boat his first carp. I, on the other hand, did not. Most anglers would not complain about landing several smallmouth bass including an eighteen-inch beauty. I was, however, at the end of my wits. Later that afternoon I placed a cast in a large mud. I watched a fifteen-to-twenty pound carp turn to eat my fly only to have a nine inch smallmouth intercept my offering. It was as amusing as it was frustrating. The satisfaction was I knew I did everything correctly. The cast, the placement, everything except the little spiny intruder who thought my size #4 O’Brien carp Clouser was an easy meal.
I left that day as I did the first time in Mike’s boat. I wanted more and knew I would be back to try my hand once again at fooling the mighty Susquehanna bonefish. My advice to anyone who wants to try something new and challenging is to give Mike a call and schedule a day on the water. If you are planning a saltwater trip, sight fishing for carp is an excellent primer for bonefish, redfish or permit. You not only will leave a better angler but a better person for adding Mike to your list of knowledgeable guides, teachers, and most importantly, a great friend.
Mike O’Brien can be reached at: Mpob13@aol.com
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