vortec_cruiser
07-23-2011, 05:14 PM
I had to go to my brother's house today, down in Lakewood. Since I finished up earlier than expected, I decided to try the carp fishing in the L.A. River. The drive to 25th Way & De Forest Ave. took about ten minutes. I had never been there before, but Dock Rat on FNN had written about it a couple times. Very coincidentally, my fishing gear was in the back of my truck, along with some kernel corn. It was almost as if I had expected to go fishing today.
I really didn't know what to expect, but was somewhat relieved to see lots of people on the bike path above the river. At least I wasn't fishing in some ghetto area, where you needed eyes on the back of your head, along with BDUs and accessories. I was able to park right in front of the gate for bike path access, so it took me less than five minutes to walk to the water's edge. Before me was a tropical isle situated in the middle of the body of semi-polluted water called the Los Angeles River. Actually, the water didn't look too bad. There were numerous ducks accompanied by a plethora of ducklings, and they looked very healthy.
As I scanned the water, I could see carp jumping every minute or two, along with numerous large shapes cutting through the water, just under the surface. Water depth appeared to be 3'-4' at the deepest spots. This place looked great! I quickly threaded a couple kernels of corn onto my shallow-bend hook, then attached a small bobber about 15" up the line. Casting out into a likely area, I could see big carp all around. I waited for that light nibble and tug on the line, but it never came. Fishing different spots in this localized area for the next 1-1/2 hours produced zero bites. This just didn't seem right, so I switched gears and replaced the bobber with a small split shot. Within twenty minutes, I had my first fish on the line. He hit very lightly, just as most carp do. But when he felt the hook in his lip, the fight was on. This is the first carp I've caught in many, many years, and it was great. He took off on several drag screaming runs, but there was nothing for him to wrap my line around. Five minutes later, I had him at the water's edge, where I gently removed the hook from his lip and nudged his fat body back into deeper water. Within the next twenty minutes, I had another one on, but this one was a bit smaller. He was still a formidable opponent, and was safely released back into the warm water. It was time for me to head home, but I was able to go with some good memories. I will be going back.
http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r229/luvtnt/Fishing2/2011-07-23_12-01-26_726.jpg
http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r229/luvtnt/Fishing2/2011-07-23_12-24-10_318.jpg
http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r229/luvtnt/Fishing2/2011-07-23_12-40-51_375.jpg
http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r229/luvtnt/Fishing2/2011-07-23_12-40-45_281.jpg
I really didn't know what to expect, but was somewhat relieved to see lots of people on the bike path above the river. At least I wasn't fishing in some ghetto area, where you needed eyes on the back of your head, along with BDUs and accessories. I was able to park right in front of the gate for bike path access, so it took me less than five minutes to walk to the water's edge. Before me was a tropical isle situated in the middle of the body of semi-polluted water called the Los Angeles River. Actually, the water didn't look too bad. There were numerous ducks accompanied by a plethora of ducklings, and they looked very healthy.
As I scanned the water, I could see carp jumping every minute or two, along with numerous large shapes cutting through the water, just under the surface. Water depth appeared to be 3'-4' at the deepest spots. This place looked great! I quickly threaded a couple kernels of corn onto my shallow-bend hook, then attached a small bobber about 15" up the line. Casting out into a likely area, I could see big carp all around. I waited for that light nibble and tug on the line, but it never came. Fishing different spots in this localized area for the next 1-1/2 hours produced zero bites. This just didn't seem right, so I switched gears and replaced the bobber with a small split shot. Within twenty minutes, I had my first fish on the line. He hit very lightly, just as most carp do. But when he felt the hook in his lip, the fight was on. This is the first carp I've caught in many, many years, and it was great. He took off on several drag screaming runs, but there was nothing for him to wrap my line around. Five minutes later, I had him at the water's edge, where I gently removed the hook from his lip and nudged his fat body back into deeper water. Within the next twenty minutes, I had another one on, but this one was a bit smaller. He was still a formidable opponent, and was safely released back into the warm water. It was time for me to head home, but I was able to go with some good memories. I will be going back.
http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r229/luvtnt/Fishing2/2011-07-23_12-01-26_726.jpg
http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r229/luvtnt/Fishing2/2011-07-23_12-24-10_318.jpg
http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r229/luvtnt/Fishing2/2011-07-23_12-40-51_375.jpg
http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r229/luvtnt/Fishing2/2011-07-23_12-40-45_281.jpg