Folly...and redemption.

Yesterday evening I was really excited to plumb (test the depth and bottom composition, for non-carpers) a part of the neighborhood lake I've been curious about for some time. I arrived at my spot, flipped the bail open, and positioned myself for a cast out 60 yards or so to the middle of a large open area where three arms of the lake come together. The lead and marker float were on their way when suddenly a quick jerk, then off they sailed into the drink some 50 yards away. I instantly realized my folly--I had cast out without checking the line clip, which was set for some 30 yards. My 30-lb. test braid had parted, leaving my lead deep in the middle of the lake, and my marker float bobbing tantalizingly out of reach. Unfortunately, I couldn't wait for the wind to blow it closer, as I had a rehearsal to get to.

Fast forward to this evening. I had the last hour or so of light available to try again. I found another plumbing lead in my carp tackle box and a large Polaris float that, together with a sinker slider, I could re-purpose to make a plumbing and marker float setup There I was, back at the same spot as last night. This time I checked the line clip, which I had already released after the previous night's snafu. As I suspected, this big open area was around 6' deep in the middle. I worked my way down each of the three arms of the lake that converged there, and found that they maintained a depth of around 5' in their midsection. I did some more detailed plumbing of the cove I regularly fish toward its end, and found that it, too, maintains a 5' depth in the middle about halfway down its length. 50' down from where it's only a foot deep, it has a nice 4' channel. All this depth information is useful, especially finding a deeper area of the lake. The section behind my house only gets 4' deep at its deepest. By dragging the lead along the bottom, it is also possible to get a feel for the type of bottom. This lake is mostly silt and clay. You don't feel much but a gentle resistance as you drag the lead along. When the depth changes, you feel steps and bumps, which are probably clay, considering that is what makes up a lot of our underground about two feet down and deeper.

The next time I have an hour or two earlier in the afternoon, I will try at this point that is surrounded by deeper (5-6') water. Good chance there are carp patrolling or just chilling during the hotter parts of the day. While I was plumbing, I saw numerous carp in the margins, so there seem to be plenty around this area. Looking forward to trying out this point. Three avenues of approach, deeper water nearby, and plenty of carp observed in the vicinity! Anticipation!