Where: Banks Lake
When:Saturday
Conditions: Sunny and HOT
Flies used: An experiment carp fly
Species pursued: Carp

Song of the day: "Lake of Fire," Nirvana

"Jeez, this is a popular place today."

Just as we were gearing up, some guy in a Tacoma drove by, rubbernecked us, and then pulled a sharp U turn. Another truck was about to do the same.

"Go ahead, I'm always too slow."

"No worries--hand me your line."

I strung up Jan's rod and we scrambled down the path to the flat.

But to no avail. Within twenty minutes of getting in, we were surrounded.

A club outing, perhaps?

It didn't matter, there were fish to be had.

This guy was milling around happily in the mid-morning sun, rooting around for the usual when I plopped a chunk bunny fly in front of his snout.

There were fish all around us, some cruising, some eating and Jan and I took our fair share of shots at them.

But honestly, things were slow.

For whatever reason, *cough* too many people! *cough*, the fish seemed unwilling.

There was about an hour or so, though, when things actually heated up.

For instance. :)

Persistence pays off!

The highlight of the day, strangely enough, was this little catfish--my first ever. Weird.

As we worked the flat, we realized that everyone around us, boats included (oh yeah, they brought boats into that shallow water) wasn't doing the same.

So we moved to the far side of the flat.

That's when I confirmed my suspicion. With a bit more clarity to the water, it became apparent that this place was hammered the today before.

By lots of people--there were dozens of bootprints everywhere.

Which explains why it was so dead. ;)

All that pressure would be enough to put hundreds of carp on edge. And send us on our merry way home.