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I hate to sound like a broken record but like my previous Silver Lake report,I really need
to thank the guests and staff of the Silver Lake Motel and Resort.
Thanks to them,I ended up having another great family fishing trip and experienced a new fish that I always deemed "Trash" I certainly have a new respect for the fish called CARP.

Its a good thing that over the years I've learned the fine art at laughing at myself.

So I took an unexpected trip down to Silver Lake for a quick bass outing in hopes that the recent warm weather just might produce my first largemouth of the year. I had my son in tow...I was ever hopeful that he would have his first bass as well. This trip was so quickly put together,that we did not bring the boat,basically,I was using wishful thinking and hoping that I could just rent a little 14footer. Well,I was wrong and we had to do the shore thing. Temps hovered in the 55 range late afternoon on Friday,so I thought their was a chance of at least catching a dink.....if anything else. Hours past and nothing,so I finally tried a little roadrunner jig for perch,crappie or anything else that might give me the time of day. With my son aiding me,we finally had a perch and a small one at that. We were rewarded with a great sunset and a gorgeous view of Mount Saint Helens.
Saturday we had planned to pack out but a call from my wife the night before stating that she would be able to come down later in the afternoon granted my son and I the chance for more attempts at catching a bass.

I ended up chatting it up with Chuck and John at the Silver Lake Motel and Resort,where our talk turned to carp. I was seeing the carp earlier but never gave them much of a thought. By the time I was done chatting,I thought I should give them a try. The first few hours were slow and and drove me crazy. I could see tons of them,at one time I counted over 30 of them in less time then you could blink but they had no interest in feeding as far as I could tell. Drop it in front of them,on top of their heads....they really didn't care and only added to my frustration. As the evening progressed and the temps dropped,I made my way back to our motel room. My wife arrived a bit later with some fast food(I'm on vacation,I'm not cooking anything) Later into the evening,I decided to give it another try after seeing a single carp swimming near the resort dock,only visible because of the light from the resort. I decided to try the remnants of a greasy hamburger. Pulling off a small piece of a bun.
Again,an hour or 2 had past and nothing. I had just walked in and began checking to see what was on the TV and said to my wife. "Let me know if that rod moves" Seriously,less than 10 seconds pass and she said it was.

I lazily glanced up to see the rod ready to split in half. I set the hook and the fight is on. At this point,its very dark and I have to work the fish slowly,not to mention,I'm on the second floor of the resort,so I have to play a balancing act of rod hopping between the wood posts. By the time I had reached the bank,I had a small audience waiting to view the catch. I had my wife and son right behind to verify and take part in the results of my long awaited battle,only to watch the fish run 30 yards and snapped the line. It sounded like a detuned guitar string prior to the snap and I couldn't set the drag fast enough. My family looked more disapointed in the results then me. I was happy for the fight but disapointed as well. I went back to the room,opened a cold beer and thought,well nothing beats this view,maybe the next time I get down here,I'll catch that fish. Disapointed in my fishing,I was still happy to be out of the house with the family. I went to sleep,hoping the next day would have better results but I knew time was against me and my story would end with something like "The fishing sucked but I'm glad I got out" sort of thing.

Sunday morning,I was up before sunrise. I really wasn't expecting much but I quietly made my way through the sliding door while the family slept. I rigged up my bass rod with a pelet of dog food that I had began soaking a few minutes before. Dropped it in the water from the balcony,expecting the same let down performance from the
night before. 2 minutes in and I watch the rod pull and set the hook. Miss,followed by many more. By this time,I can't figure out whether to check out and be gone before my blood pressure explodes or more determined
to catch one of these turds. An hour later and I'm seeing more and more carp drifting around and I'm tossing them dry dog food. Watching them eat,I decide to change it up a bit and head to the truck,I have a ton of musky/pike gear sitting in there. I grab my new musky rod,which I had planned on using for my pike trip.
I made a leader out of 15lb. fluoro line and grab a left over french fry from the night before. Minutes later,I watch a carp grab it and began another fight. I knew I didn't have the biggest but was very suprised by the battle that followed. I worked my way down to the bank,where my son aided me in the reeling effort. By the time the battle was over,we had our first carp.
We saw plenty more that were much bigger than this but I must say that this fish put up one hell of a fight and the carp fishery has earned my respect. Fish was released healthy but might have been a little upset.

The trip was for bass but was happy with this catch. I have been fishing for almost 30 years but this is my first targeted/caught carp and I will certainly give these guys a better and more positive look in the future. This trip became more memorable because my son helped me,so this is our catch to share together. I will always have the primary intention of catching bass at Silver but as an added bonus fish,I can easily add carp to the list.

Again,I have to say thank you to John and Chuck at the resort,without their information,this wouldn't have happened and I would still carry the less than positive opinions of the carp.
While we were getting the truck loaded to head home,Chuck gave my son a very cool yellow bobber that he will use the next time down here. I want to go there NOW!!!

The bait used on this catch was a leftover Burger King french fry.
Water temps peaked at 55
Weather was sunny and clear skies with the water smooth as glass. Not bad for February

Coastfishin

2/23/2010 5:44:00 PM

Good Job Kevin, sounds like fun. I may have to try Carp fishing

jbball50

2/23/2010 6:14:00 PM

Haha nice, a french fry for some carp. I remember going down there one year and couldn't keep those annoying carp off the pool while we were crappie fishing in the canal. It was fun catching them though, especially trolling using the fly rod.

rockjiggr

2/23/2010 7:28:00 PM

I've caught several carp at Capitol Lake in Olympia when the kings are running but not biting. I would always bring an Onion Bagel with me anytime I went out there in case the salmon were not cooperating. I tear a chunk off and impale a small treble hook through the tough skin then rig it with a slip sinker, swivel and short leader, carolina rig style, so that the sinker will not contact the hook. Usually I just cast it out in a likely area and set the rod in a holder. Sooner or later, a hungry carp will come along and, smelling the onion I assume, will find the bait and take off. Reel up and set the hook and battle a very respectable but often disrepected GAMEFISH.

Yeah, carp are not often looked upon well but they can be a lot of fun and challenge and more folks should really give them a try. Great report!

bcalvert

2/23/2010 9:14:00 PM

Great Report! Hey Kevin, does that mean you are in the market for a new Carp Boat? I thin i have a line on one for you... cheap!

Mike Carey

2/23/2010 10:57:00 PM

I'm guessing that was the picture you wanted added?

BassDood

2/23/2010 11:10:00 PM

Great report Kevin. Good job out there! Carp are fun, but mine are always accidental

Toni

2/24/2010 7:09:00 AM

Good story and very entertaining. Nice size carp.

Big Smooth

2/24/2010 7:39:00 AM

LOL! Nice story kevin... Have you been to Kapowsin lately?

bob johansen

2/24/2010 8:39:00 AM

I like these "short story" reports!

jens

2/24/2010 12:18:00 PM

Great read! Those carp are very underrated! They fight better than people think..

kevinb

2/24/2010 9:21:00 PM

Thank you all for the responses. This was truly a great weekend,naturally I wanted to catch an lmb but I must say,these carp have a very respectable fight and I have a new respect for them. I will still be doing the bass and musky trips but will certainly add a few carp trips in.
rockjiggr-thanks for the tips,I will give them a try.
Big Smooth- I was up at Kapowsin Monday afternoon,I tossed a spinnerbait to no avail but I did see a single dink bass hanging around the logs,so at least its a sign of things to come. The WDFW trout truck showed up and dumped in 3,000 stocker rainbows.

Thank you folks and I hope 2010 will produce quality fish. Also,thank you Burger King for making great carp bait

BassinBomber

2/25/2010 6:41:00 AM

Ha,..nice Carp Kev,..when I was there last year with all the Fam~BAm I nailed a 13 lb Carp from the boat launch on a peice of bread soaked in vanilla extract weightless on 6 lb test,..it was a blast,..Johns wife was the one who gave me the idea of the bread and vanilla,..great people~great time!

kevinb

2/25/2010 8:19:00 PM

Thanks BB, by the way,that wasn't a fish you caught........it was a freight train. Maybe we can get our fams together one of these days and head down there. Naturally the main goal would be HAWG bass but carp,perch....the endless crappie. It don't matter to me me. Its all good with the FAM. Fish on Bro'!!! Give me a call one of these days

cjmarthaller

2/25/2010 8:57:00 PM

By the look on the little guy's face in the picture, you've got him "hooked" on fishing for life now!

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