Portland Area Carp Fishing Report - Sunday 4/22/12 Fishing Was Good Out There!

Yesterday, I was able to get out for my first carp flats fishing of the 2012 calendar year. The weather was perfect, the wind was calm, the sun was beaming, and the fish were out and about. I ran into probably the best carp fly fisherman in the state of Oregon, John Montana and another friend Mark out there. John maintains an awesome blog called Carp on the Fly that anyone who is wanting to be serious about carp should bookmark. Both John and Mark had reported good fishing, and they were winding down their session; while Nikki and I were just getting out there. They suggested a flat that they fished at, and had caught a bunch of fish at between the two of them; so Nikki and I opted to check it out.



The spot was loaded with fish, but most of them were spawning and really churning up the water. They were thrashing around and causing a serous commotion in the pond like grassy flat. The key was to find the dormant fish laid up sunning themselves or the ultra slow cruisers that had mouths looking like food was the most important thing on their mind, and not spawning. All of this while hoping that no spawners would thrash through your area you were focusing on; scaring your targeted quarry away. Lots of grass too; so short casts or literally only the leader and a foot of line was what it took to not hook your fly onto a blade or some other floating vegetation. Fun times though and fighting big fish on a bright sunny warm day is always a bonus!