Late report, Carson Rivers, July 29,30

[CarsonWader]

Incredible! Great way to mix up the presentations to work out the fish! Could you tell me how you hook the power worm on? Did you change hooks or just use the egg hook?

Cheers,

Just thread the PowerWorm on the hook leaving half dangling. Was using a size 10 salmon egg hook with all the different baits.
CarsonWader

[James Vang]

brother, that's one hellava catch. kudos =)

[rpwlaw11]

Great report and some darn good quality bows to boot. Get em killer!

[Captain Compassion]

Excellent report. Beautiful fish. Shows what a determined fisherman can do in even high water conditions. Beautiful, beautiful.

CC

[RideNfish]

Incredible! Great way to mix up the presentations to work out the fish! Could you tell me how you hook the power worm on? Did you change hooks or just use the egg hook?

Cheers,

[Jetspray]

Man that is a great report and fantastic pictures as well. Thanks for taking us along and letting us know how you do it. That is what this site is all about and people like you are what makes it work........Jetspray

[JwG]

Nice fish CarsonWader!!

Those are some hogs.

Thanks for the report and pictures.

[CarsonWader]

Sorry for the late report, I've been away from my computer.
Was up in Tahoe the last week of July. Was able to fish a few days during the week and C&R small planters by the 88/89 'T', one 14" in ICR early in the morning by the dam on PB (released), had a 5+ lber on at the 'T' for a few minutes until it threw the hook (nightcrawler), and C&R some more small ones on the E. Carson.

Friday evening, the 29th, my luck changed. Was out by the 2nd bridge on the E. Carson. Water was a tolerable 49.5 degrees. Caught a 15" and a 17" rainbow on Salmon Eggs under a small bobber.

Was still getting small taps toward the bottom of the run, after I stopped the bobber, so the next time I when it bit, I let the line loose and let it take it.Turned out to be a big one!Fought it in and out of the current for what seemed like 10 minutes.It made a couple of big jumps as it ran out line.Then it wrapped the line around a boulder under the water.I could see my bobber on the upstream side and the fish, obviously tired, on the downstream side, but I couldn't get the line unstuck and the water was too high to wade out there.After it rested for a while, it broke the line with one quick turn and was gone.I tried a few more casts with no hits and decided to head home with the two fish.]
Went back out Saturday morning. Tried to get my teenage son to go with me, but he wasn't interested. Turns out he was still playing computer games when I woke up in the morning to leave! Drove out to the same place on the E Carson and the first cast I hooked up with a 18" 3 lber on a salmon egg. A good start! But then I went up and down the bank with salmon eggs and didn't get another hit. Switched to a 2" piece of orange PowerWorm. Hooked up with a 22", 5.25# rainbow. It also tried the ole wrap-around-a-boulder trick, but this time it was close enough to the bank that I could reach out and get the line around without going in too deep. Got him in the net and the hook came out.

It was another half and hour before I hooked the next one. Could not get him in. She kept running out across the river and current and wouldn't come close. Then when she really got tired she just went out in the current and went downstream. The race was on! Got her into an eddy and thought I might be able to net her, but then she went back out into the current and down farther. I let the line go as I tried to keep up. She stopped in another little eddy, but before I even put my net in the water she was going downstream again. One last eddy before I would not be able to follow her anymore due to the brush. I finally got her to net, my heart pounding from the excitement and the rock scrambling to keep up with her.
Did not get any more hits after that, so headed off to another spot. It was 9 AM.
Tried a self portrait, and only got the important part in the picture.

Stopped in Markleeville to weigh the fish and get a proper picture taken.


Stopped at the bridge over the W Carson near the Crystal Springs Campground. You could see at least 3 big ones there, so I gave it a try under the bridge. No one was there when I first got there, but soon there were 7 or 8 other people there, with a couple of them fishing right over me from on top of the bridge. After a little while, I decided it was too crowded and left.

Stopped at the old bridge over the W carson in the canyon. There were half a dozen big ones visible there. There were four people there already, and one said they had caught a 8.5 pound fish. So I decided to just watch. After about 10 minutes and no action a couple of them packed up and left, so I took their spot. Using the PowerWorm I soon had a big one on. I was fishing off the bridge abutment and had to move down to get close to the water. Once I was down, the fish went upstream and around the corner of the abutment I had just left. She wasn't moving and I couldn't move the line either, so I thought the line was caught. So, back up I climbed to see if I could get the line loose and to see if the fish was still on. When I got back to the top, the other to guys that were there said that they could still see the fish on the line. A couple of pulls on the line from the top and the fish moved out away from the wall and out into the middle. Once again, I climbed down to get to the water. This time I was able to bring her to net. 23", and a fat 7 pounds.
One of the guys was kind enough to take a picture for me.



I went to put the fish in my ice chest and a guy who just drove up started to fish right next to my pole. I told him I was fishing there and he was kind enough to move. I appreciate him letting me get back to where I was, it doesn't always happen.

I tried the PowerWorm some more but the fish below did not seem interested, so I tried a small piece of rainbow powerbait. Just big enough to stay on the size 14 egg hook. A few cast with it one bit at it, but I missed hooking it. Another piece of PB and a few casts more I hooked another big one. Fought it for a little while from the top, but this one wanted to stay downstream, so I moved off the abutment to the water's edge. It came in close once and if I had been ready, I probably could have netted it then, but back out it went. This one stayed at the end of the pool until it was tired and then just went with the flow. I moved down to follow it, but it just moved down too. I stopped in small pool and it was beat, even on its side at times, but I could not get to it, nor could I pull it back up through the current. It sat in the pool as I looked around for a way to get there. I guess it caught its wind and started fighting again, but the hook popped out and it was gone.

I fished a little more and C&R one small one that was down between the big guys. Headed home for breakfast at noon. The four fish stringer of over 20 pounds, barely fitting in the small cooler I had.

Had to head home the next day, so it was a good end to my vacation.