They ain't no fish in Nevada

Those words came from a smokey lunged, raspy voiced lady who obviously didn't have enough interesting things to do that day and decided to talk to the silly boys walking around corporate building parking lots with fishing poles in hand.   Sure, the hot and desolate concrete jungle of Reno would make it seem as if they ain't no fish in Nevada, but alas, even minutes outside of seedy motels and grungy casinos they be some damn big fish in Nevada.

Carp definitely have a bad reputation.  Yeah their rep for surviving in warm toxic ponds and propensity to eat just about anything (we saw them gingerly sipping on surface oil slicks and foul smelling foam) upholds their image as trash fish.  But this being Nick and I's first carp targeting mission, we found out that carp are a surprising challenge on the fly.  Getting them to suck your fly into their vacuum-cleaner lips takes precision casting, technical sink timing and rhythmic stripping intervals.  And lastly, the fact that they take off like dump trucks when hooked makes them a helluva lot of fun on a 5wt fly rod.

Nick and I at one of the more 'rural' urban Reno ponds

After a few refusals and a little bit of technical learning, Nick dialed in the fly and presentation and got the first in of the day.

Nick with his first targeted Carp on the fly.

Fishing in the wild.  And by wild I mean, it was wild to fish in such an urban setting.

I think that's swamp gas turning the colors all funky.

After a fore-arm wrenching, rod folding, 10 minute fight, Nick lands another.

Fish face!