Great Day Carp Fly Fishing...on Dries!

Wow what a great day Carp fishing.  The morning started out kinda of rough as I was pounding the water with Backstabbers with a bit to much weight.  Each time I plopped the fly in front of and across each Carp, I would make a big splash and spook the fish.  I guess I need to use the barbells instead of lead eyes when stalking Carp from the shore.    At one time, I actually managed to place a Black Back right in front of 'tailing' fish and watch him inhale the bug only to have yanked out of his mouth as I quickly pulled the fly out of his mouth.  I was just amazed he sucked in the fly that I also froze... and watched him spit the fly out!   Damn!
     I remembered to bring a few Cottonwood 'Dry' flies with me. After changing flies I ran into a pod of Carp wallowing in the shallows.  I think I was more surprised that the Carp took the dry fly than the Carp who actually sucked the bug in.   Great fight though.

 After landing this guy I moved around the ponds a bit more and found a vantage point high and in the shade.  Perfect ambush tactics.  Just like being on point while in the Army.  Out of site and 'masked' by the trees.

I watched this guy pushing up silt and bugs.  Casting well past him and in front, I slowly stripped the Cottonwood Dry fly into his cone of vision, hoping to compete with the small tornado of silt he was stirring up.  His tail stopped, my line tugged and the fight was on.   Such fun.

I read in a past FlyFisherman Magazine article about Carp fly fishing that often Largemouth Bass will Carp as they stir up the ponds silty bottom looking for bugs and grubs oh my.  Sure enough, while stipping in from a botched cast I pulled out a Largemouth Bass that I had no idea was in the neighborhood.

Just a cool purple flower with a bug flying beside it.

Overall a great day out at Arapahoe Ponds in Fort Collins.  Bring on the Summer!

Evening Photos after a rain storm.

In Loveland tonight we had a nice evening thunderstorm.  My wife Jocelyn pointed to the evening sky and said I should go out and try to capture a few pics of the orange sky.  I really enjoy this capture.  I mounted my Canon T2i and a 24mm-70mm at f22 for 5 seconds on a tripod and shot away.  I did a few minor tweaks on Lightroom 3 and really thought this captured the mood of the evening.

I took this one also on the tripod.  f22 at 20 seconds.  Really enjoy the streak of lights from the passing car.

Carp on the fly.

I met up with a work buddy and we drove up to Douglas Res. in north Fort Collins.  Kurtis and I have been fishing together for two years now, always targeting carp.  The first year was a bust as I was just learning how to carp fly fish while Kurtis would pull in fish after fish.  This year things are starting to click for me and I am landing fish more often.  I managed to land two fish in the 5 pound range to Kurtis's one fish.  I stuck with my trusty Zimmerman's Backstabber, the best fly in the world for carp!

Backstabber.  Best Carp Fly Ever!

I was able to get out and do a little fishing.

Our dog Pixie has started to heal and is keeping food down for the first time in almost 2 weeks.  It took having her to go back the vets office for another Barium swallow and some IV meds.  She is currently taking small bits of slurry gruel like food and continues to receive IV meds and fluids.  Being a nurse is really paying off there as she would have to stay in the hospital to receive these meds. I am able to administer her meds and IV fluids.

I was able to get a few hours on the lake.  I loaded up the Fish Cat 4, the waders and my 4 weight.  Overall it was a great few hours on the boat.  What joy.
I managed to land several small Largemouth Bass on a small yellow popper.

This blue gill must have run into some trouble down there.

Ok this has nothing to do with fishing.  I saw this on youtube one night.  
Point the camera at a nice color background, aka flowers.  Push your ISO to 100 and the F-Stop to 20 while in Aperture Priority mode.  Let the camera choose your speed and then shoot and move your camera in a small circle.  Cool effect!

Hope to get back to fly fishing soon..and the dog is still sick!

Our little dog Pixie is still sick post-op 6 days.  Its not uncommon for people, and now I know dogs, to end up with GERD after a major surgery.  Usually a bit of gut rest, some proton pump inhibitors...omeprazole, and the GERD slowly heals itself if one can keep things down.

 Poor Pixie has a bad case of the GERD. Every meals comes back up no matter the food.   She spent the night at the hospital with IV therapy and some IV meds to help her increase stomach motility so that food and fluids move through faster instead of coming back up.  We picked her up today but the GERD is still there and we are praying she just gets better.

Right now our life is trying to get her better.  Meds, shots, and puke!  Oh well it could be worse I guess. We do truly love her and want her to get her quality of life back.

We know that soon she should be feeling better.

Pixie is home from the hospital.

Well she did ok.  Turns out she has swallowed a corn cob and it lodged in her lower stomach.  The vet stated it would have killed her had they not gone in and removed it.
I guess this is a common thing dogs will do.  The vet says that dogs will swallow things whole instead of chew them if the dog thinks someone will grab the food from them.  Thus the whole corn cob in the stomach.
Pixie is home now and seems really sore, but hey they just did the complete oil change on her belly.  I will give her several IM shots of doggie Morphine to help her with the pain and then slowly start introducing sips of fluids and tomorrow some small amounts of food.  Wow this is just like working in the recovery room at the hospital.

Thanks for the kind thoughts.

Lonny, Jocelyn, and especially, Pixie.

The Pixie girl goes under the knife!

Seems that our little bundle of joy Pixie has eaten something bigger than her pyloric sphincter can handle and now is undergoing abdominal surgery to remove said object.

The house is prepped for her return, blankets on the floor, heat pack for her belly, and a small water bowl to give her small sips of water.  Being a nurse I get to administer her Inter muscle(IM) pain med injections tonight.  Ah the joy of being a doggie  owner.  Amazing how a dog can melt your heart and we can care so much for a little fur ball.

 But you know, I am glad we live in these times that a surgical procedure such as this is almost routine for the Vets.
We will keep you updated on her progress.
Lonny