Hit the crap plant discharge Monday afterwork for a couple hours (5 to 7pm). Did great, had over 30 fish mostly between 10 and 12 inches out of one spot all on the 1/16th oz. plain leadhead tipped with a Gulp! 3" minnow. They were REALLY smackin' it too, fighting hard in that current, and jumping a lot. Took some pictures and moved down river to "the flats" area and picked up a couple more in the deep slow pool below the riffles and all along the shore. These were better fish, 12 to 14 inchers, and even one foul-hooked carp that zinged me up and down the shore for a few minutes before coming unbuttoned. Took some more pictures and packed it in as it was too dark to see what I was walking on.
When I got the car and unloaded my gear I couldn't find my digital camera...... I looked in every pocket, crevice, fold, and seam, but no dice..... I must have dropped it somewhere between my last spot and where I parked. Frustrated with my dim cap-light I resigned to return the next afternoon and search for my lost camera.
10/13:
Arriving closer to 4pm this time, and having a good idea of what route I took, and where the possible areas for it to have fallen, I put the waders back on and grabbed my rod rigged with my jig, and headed down the path (if I found it early, I had a few hours to kill, why not fish?
). I searched all the way back to the water with a slow left-to-right sweep of the area I had traveled the night before. With nothing to show for my efforts I walked into the water and decided to search the water I had fished and traveled, afterall the camera was a waterproof Optio WP10, and if found should still be in fine condition.My search returned nothing, and I was rather irritated with myself for being so careless. I decided to fish away my worries, and the smallies were not disappointing me. 3 nice fish came from the deep pool adjacent to the deadfall on the West side just below the flats. I lost interest in this area, and headed straight for the outflow discharge. Again, this area did not disappoint. Same presentation as yesterday, and more 10 to 12 inchers. 2 snagged carp at this spot on my last two casts were the signal for me to head out. Those guys are absolute torture on my wrists, and a heck of a lot of fun on 6 lb light spinning gear. I am considering a pure ultralight carp trip soon, the shear amount of big fish congregating on shore here is amazing.
So dejected in my camera hunt efforts, and consoled by the brown skinned, red-eyed creatures that haunt the aromatic waters of the poo-plant discharge, I made the hike back to my parked car. As I de-suited and packed my gear into the trunk, I couldn't help but think what had become of that camera. I imagined Ken finding it jammed into a wad of limbs stuck to a pile of boulders somewhere near Orchard Rd. some 3 miles downstream. Don't look at the pictures on the memory card Ken, they may make you jealous.
