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!

A First Before the First

i finally got to go out and fish an area that i heard many good things about.  the temperature was in the mid-60s, and by the time i arrived at 11 AM, there were a bunch of guys already there, some with light spinning rods, and some with fly rods.  everyone i met was incredibly nice and helpful, freely offering me tips and useful information.  it's pretty amazing how gracious and affable people are when you leave the northeast. 

most of those people were there to catch the recently stocked, 8-10" rainbow trout or the plentiful blue catfish.  i, other the other hand, was on a different mission.  i was after carp.  common, mirror, buffalo, whatever.

i left the crowds of people fishing the same holes and ventured further away, finally getting to an isolated area that contained a large, deep pool, and a couple of close-by sand bars.  i climbed the steep hill nearby for a better look, and i could spot some bass and several rainbows.  there were also two pods of large, slow moving carp, altogether about 10-12 fish.  there was one that might have been 20 lbs, but hard to tell at a distance.  i realized immediately that only a few of them moved as if they were feeding.  good thing i watched Mr. P's video recently.



anyways, i snuck up on the fish, cast to them in 3 feet of crystal clear water, and i'm proud to say that i caught my first buffalo carp on a fly.

i used a 5wt rod, and the fly i used was Roughfisher's Carp Crack that I tied in my custom rust color dubbing.