Name that Fish!

in search of more white perch, i went back to the local pond yesterday evening, about an hour before sunset.  on the second cast, i caught my only keeper white perch.  it was about 11”.  (sorry, no pic here.  do you need to see another image of a white perch on the ground?)

while there was some topwater activity, the recent warmer weather had me expecting more.  at sunset, i caught my second, which was a tiny one at 6”.  about 10 minutes after sunset, the topwater activity really turned on and there was consistent and plentiful splashes even less than 5 feet from the bank.  the water was boiling everywhere!  in the next 20 minutes, i caught 3 more fish (including losing one).  two of them were white perch and they were about 8-9”, which is undersized.  the last fish was 17.5-18”, but i’m not exactly sure what species it was.  maybe you know?  please post a comment if you do.  my guess is that it is an American Shad, although the mouth shape throws me off.

this fish fought about 3x harder than a white perch, so i first thought it might be a baby striper, but then it jumped a few times in the air, and i knew it couldn't be.

anyways, my guess for why the activity turned on so late is that it was too dark for all the predator birds to hunt (hawks and ospreys have been hanging around), and the fish felt safe.  it's amazing how many factors you have to consider to increase the odds of fishing success.  what a sport!

Damn Midges!

recently, i've been to the local pond a handful of times to try for some white perch.  starting about an hour before sunset, there is a decent amount of topwater activity.  rarely, you'll see some minnows jump out of the water in the shallow areas, but most of the time, you can't see what the white perch are feeding on.

after about 6-10 total hours and 1000 casts, i've only caught 1 perch.  it was caught on a size 10, gold bead head white woolly bugger.  but for all the visible activity, i really haven't interested them in my flies.  i've tried clousers, buggers, and small shrimp flies.

my guesstimate is that they are feeding on midge emergers and adults.  how did i come to this conclusion?

here was one of a hundred on my car

yes, i've tried midge flies of all types and colors.  unfortunately, there seems to be too many around for them to notice my one fly.

High and Dry

currently, i'm in Dallas again so my son can spend some time with his grandparents.  on friday, the weather was great, so i went to the one place i knew exactly where some carp would be.  unfortunately, when i got there, the dam wasn't releasing any water, leaving the tailwater system high and dry.  and i mean Dry.  i walked the whole area and other than two holes, most of the riverbed was exposed.

it wasn't hard to find the carp.  they were schooled up in this one hole and nowhere else.  i estimate all together there was about 75-100 fish...buffalo, common, and suckers.

      

same hole with polarization

i fished for 4 hours and all i hooked was three buffalo carp.  it was hard.  they were not feeding and were so spooked since the water level was extremely low and not flowing.  they were motionless, most of the time not even moving their tails.  every now and again, a group of 6 or seven would break from the pack and venture out only to report back that they were locked in.  i tried picking off the fish that were on the outer edges of the group, but to no avail.  only when a group would break off was i able to interest them in the slightest.  here is my largest one, and i while i didn't measure it, i estimate it to be about 2.5 2.0 feet.

all three caught on an olive Carp Crack.  actually every carp/buffalo i've caught at this location has been on a Carp Crack.  they've refused all other types of flies that i've thrown including, but not limited to, Backstabbers, Blind Squirrels, Egg flies, Sucker Spawns, Eggi Juan Kenobis, San Juan Worms, Montana's Hybrids, McTage's Leather Trousers, Clouser Swimming Nymphs, Prince Nymphs, Midge Emergers, Midge Dries, Griffith's Gnats, Soft Hackle Hare's Ear Nymphs, Dragon/Damselfly nymphs etc.  and yes, i've tried them all in different colors and weights and even presentations!