Carp Fishing (attempted)

[fishin_musician]

Well my little carp fishing expedition didn't quite work out as planned. I went and gave it a shot but I'm not the kind to play the waiting game for long. I'm a magnet for interesting stuff and if I'm stuck in one place for to long with nothing happening I can be sure that a change of scenery will force the issue and an adventure will be mine. The river had risen 4' due to some upstate NY thunderstorms and was quite muddy. The carp were there as they would break water and once and a while I would see a nose or a tail porpoising along the surface. After an hour with out so much as a bump I decided to see if the young coyotes I found last week were still in the area. I put all my gear back in the van and grabbing my camera walked the trail to where I had seen the 'yotes one week before. I walked quietly up to the spot and studied the cliffs for any movements but they had moved on. They looked to be ready for life in the woods when I saw them last week, like little stuffed puppy toys, well fed and full of mischief. So, I struck out again. Or did I? On the way back to my vehicle I came across and a young crow that would rather hop along than test its wings and fly. We walked the trail together for a bit, the crow was content to parallel the path. Not until I pretended to chase it did it fly off a 100 feet and land clumsily on a vertical tree trunk.
I decided to head over to the Tunkhannock Creek and see if I could find the polarized sunglasses I dropped climbing up the bank there last week. I had a good idea where they might be as I lost a pair  there before.
I didn't spot the glasses on the way in but things were not at all bad, at least I was catching some fish. I had 3 or 4 nice sassy creek smallies out of the first little hole I tried. And that is how it went catch a few and then move down stream to the next likely spot. I eventually worked my way down and underneath a bridge that carries Rt. 6 over the creek. I kept moving and catching, enjoying the day and change in fortune my Carp fishing expedition had taken. There is one particularly nice deep hole right on a bend of the creek unfortunately it is visited by a fair number of anglers as it can be seen and easily accessed from the highway. I gave it a shot but was not too surprised when my efforts came empty. I moved downstream about 100' and continued fishing concentrating on getting the bait close to bottom as that was were most of the action had been. I looked down the creek and thought how nice it looked and snapped a throwaway shot of the scene. I casually looked back up the creek before casting and was surprised by the large black mass that was on the gravel point I had been fishing on moments ago..... so this is what I had slogged so far to see. A black bear was testing the water and I don't think it even new I was watching. The wind was in my face and being alone I was working the creek in silence. My surprise was short lived, my camera was hanging from my neck lens cap off and ready for action. The bear waded out into the water, swam to the other side of the creek, climbed out on to a rock, dog shook out the water and disappeared into the woods. That was it the dog and pony show was over the curtain came down and it was time to go get the kids at school. So much for the carp. lol

[JMarrs]

great pics fm! it looks like it was a good thing those carp didn't want to cooperate!

[fishin_musician]

One way or the other I was going to have some fun yesterday. The bear was about the size of a large German Sheppard. I've seen a few from my car that would have given me pause but this one didn't seem intimidating. I wanted to give a shout and scare the tar outta it but wanted to get the pics so I held my tounge and took the shots.

[mte]

Nice pics and story , thanks for sharing.

[zziipp]

  if you run in to any more critters you could be the new host of wild kingdom.or is that  vs the wild.nice pics.and hey no carp but a bear pic is priceless.i think that bear had a pair of sunglasses on lol.great story behind the pics.

[JMarrs]

what were you using for bait when you were fishing for the carp?

[fishin_musician]

what were you using for bait when you were fishing for the carp?

Gobs of crawlers.