Carpaholic: A fishing confession by Dagur Gudmundsson
Being from Iceland, guiding in Iceland for Atlantic Salmon and Brown Trout over the summers, people are always very confused, amused, and mostly just curious as to why I’m in California for the rest of the year chasing carp. It’s actually quite simple…carp are a fisherman’s fish.
They challenge you every time you’re out there. Every time. Every day I’m out there I’m changing my tactics for them, shifting slightly where we are, looking for the fish, reading their body language to see what they’re doing. You can find them tailing on the flats, you can find them eating dry flies off the top—like we’re in the middle of right now—you can find them in rivers, creeks, and big-ass lakes.
Carp will drive you nuts, carp will bring you the greatest joy you’ve known, carp will kick your ass. They get big, they fight hard, they live in some pretty cool places, and I rarely see anybody else when I’m out there and I’ll have miles and miles and miles and miles of nothingness when I’m chasing these fish.
They are really cool, really under-appreciated, still (even though the narrative is changing around them) but I think people should be opening their minds even more to carp. They will make you a better angler and they’re also just fun as hell to chase.
Don’t be afraid to become a carp bum. My name is Dagur and I’m a carpaholic. No shame.
Dagur Gudmundsson
Click the link to see pictures of and learn more about the carp trips and other fishing trips that I offer!
