Stalking carp across the shallow flats
of the upper Missouri is like stalking carp across
the shallow flats of the upper Missouri and that’s
that. The happy ones waggle their tails and toss
up a trail of moss and mud. The depressed carp
sit behind rocks and sulk. Cast to the happy
ones. They might look funny, but they’re pretty sharp,
so stalk slow and low. Tie a snappy
little crayfish number on a tough tippet
(a carp’s spine is a file), sneak upstream,
cast up and let the fly bounce down. Don’t strip it.
Just let it drift toward the hoovering lips. Dream
of the Bahamas and bonefish if you must, but that’s
nothing like stalking carp on the Missouri’s flats.