Carp Patrol

I was thinking about trout, then thinking about carp.  I went back to trout and then right back to carp.  I pulled the Battle Skiff out of the garage, threw in my 8 wt and headed to the river.  I was all alone at the launch.  The river was looking cold and the ice caked in the shaded parts indicated that it probably was not a great day to get wet.

It felt good to be afloat again.  I fired up the Yamaha and stood straddling the rear seat holding the extended tiller handle I just built.  I gave the grip a twist and damning all the torpedoes...blasted upstream.  It's been awhile since I've been up here and I was watching the water close for new wood or shallow spots.  I thought I remembered the channel, but soon found myself on a giant mud flat in scarcely a foot of water.  I carved "S" turns keeping the prop as high as possible before dropping into a trough and straightening out the plane.

I dropped into a slow idle upstream, scanning the shallow sand bottom for signs of carp.  I ran about 1/2 of a mile up one bank and then down the other.  Nothing.  Back-tracking downstream I went the other way around the island down to where a spring dumps into the widening in the river.

I found the carp.

The downwind side of this section of the river was teaming with fish.  They were possibly feeding but certainly moving, as the water went from gin clear to chocolate milk.  I estimate there were perhaps hundreds of fish in here.  I backtracked and got upwind of the pod (easily a 100 yards wide, this pod of fish).  I dropped the anchor and slowly worked my way down wind into the school, trying to find the edge between clear and stained water, hoping to anchor upwind of the edge and cast to heads moving out of the mud into clear water.  I

It was a nice theory but it didn't work.  I saw mud boils when I got to close but I never saw a fish move through clear water.

I eventually gave up and motored down river, where, after poling around, I found another pod of fish on the downwind side, making the same kind of mess.  I tried to pull my stunt off here too, but again I was foiled.

It looks like I need a new idea.