Hop(per) on The Carp Train

This morning, I had a long phone conversation with Howard. We talked Dream Stream, float fishing, and lots of other things. But something he said reminded me of an idea. Howard was talking about how he loved to throw hoppers at big browns on the Arkansas. Browns? Brown trout. But what else is brown? Carp! So this afternoon, I went out to my favorite spots with a question in my head. Was it possible to catch carp using dry techniques? Fishing hoppers on the skate, the twitch, the dead drift? Basically, was it possible to catch carp as if they were trout? From the second I pulled up to the pond, I knew I had picked the right day. You could see the rings and hear the "bloops" of carp feeding all around the pond. I tied on a Grand Hopper, hopped into position, and took a cast. My first three shots brought total rejection. My forth shot, however, fell short and landed literally 4 inches in front of the fish's face. But the fish didn't spook. He looked up, moved towards the surface, and slowly inhaled my fly. He turned, felt the hook, and shot away, snapping the 3x tippet as he went. I watched my last Grand Hopper swim away feeling pretty stupid. I re-rigged with a PMX, moved to a new area, and tried again. One fished came up and nosed my fly, then turned away. Next I had another slow eat, but my set was too early and I missed the fish. Finally, I moved to a nice sunny patch of water between two trees. After watching for a minute, I saw a big shadow moving along the bank. I cast out and in front of the fish, twitched it three times and let it sit. A giant golden head rose up, sucked in, and thrashed at the feel of sharp metal. Ten minutes later, I had the answer to my question:

Shown Here Displaying Jordan Shoes And Gucci's "Carp Selection"

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