A big fish is a big fish and given you are "fishing" it doesnt matter whether it was a carp or a steelhead. You hooked a fish and it sounds like you enjoyed your day - you succeeded in your fishing in that case.
Chris -- Complete Fisher www.completefisher.com On 4/2/07, Matthew Fuller <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
After a long Chicago winter I decided it was time to get out and wet a line. A couple years ago I built out a 7wt blank that I picked up at Dorber during Sowbug. I wanted it for a steelhead rod, but had yet to ever pursue these monster fish. I made it to the Root River in Racine, WI at about 7:00 am. The water was running about 200 - 250 CFM (high), and was very muddy. The word I had gotten from a couple guys was that orange and chartuese were the hot colors. I tied on a chili pepper, and spent about 30 min drifting/striping it in the lower stretches of the river. After that I headed up to the wier, where I found a couple guys who said the fish had not moved into the river in heavy numbers yet. There were a couple guys that had gotten a fish, but most had not had a bite. There was one fellow who pointed me in to a bend in the river where he said was a good spot. I tied on a yellow bellied/brown back woven stonefly that I had tied a couple years ago for the beginer's swap. On the third cast, I thought I had hit a snag, until my line started moving upstream. I was pretty worried about this fish taking me for a long run, as my cheap reel has virtually no drag, but he stayed within 20 yards. After about 60 seconds, he spit my fly. Now I was fired up. I fished for the next several hours just on the adrenaline from that one fight. Boy I was proud of myself for hooking up on my first morning out, with a fly I tied. But something didn't seem right. The first thing was no one else seemed to be getting any connections. The other was, when I was fighting the fish, I thought I caught a glimse of something orangish. Now I don't ever recall seeing any orange on a steelhead or rainbow. After heading to another park, I realized what it was that I caught, There were some kids fishing for suckers as they were rolling in the shallows. So, I think I had a carp instead of a steelhead. All I have to say is I don't care if it was a carp of a steelhead, it was bigger than anything I had ever had on the end of a flyline. What a rush. I can't wait to head back, after the water clears a bit. If there is anyone on that list that is interested is getting together to fish the Root or area waters, let me know. ~Matt
