They're Back!

The Spring bite is ON! My son and I took a little hike around the lake yesterday and saw dozens of carp - all cruising in inches of water and feeding. This is a limited time thing as they are gorging on the first "real" food (craneflies, dragonflies, tree seeds, etc.) before they begin the spawn. Once the spawn starts in a couple of weeks, they lose interest in food and muddy the water with their randy antics. They can still be caught but it gets tough. A good side note is that gar will join them in the shallow spawning fest and they WILL eat. Catching a 10 pound gar in a fooot of water makes for an excellent April diversion while we wait for the carp to go on their "summer" pattern (usually the first of May).

Anyway, I caught four fish in quick succession yesterday. The low level and clear water made for long, tough presentations but they ate - and two where 6+ pounds! (and how about those photos . . . not bad for a 6 year old!) Give me a call if you want to get in on it - (940)391-9480.

Obviously, as you can tell by the photos, the lake is very LOW (just over 3 feet to be exact). Some flats have disappeared and others are emerging. If you fished with me last season, you might remember the "hog pen" from the above photo. It's now 20 yards from the shoreline. We need RAIN! The precipitation we recieved last week just soaked right in with very little run-off. The lake went up a whopping 1.5 INCHES after two straight days of rain. We also need more flow to kick off our sand bass/hybrid run. It was a BLAST last year and we could all use some bent stick this time of year!

Carp in the News

Generating quite a bit of buzz in the carp angling community was a front page article in the Wall Street Journal describing the benefits of "brownlining" - searching for less than desirable species in WAY less than desirable spots. The story focused on the S. Platte River through Downtown Denver and some guys from Discount Fishing Tackle that have set themselves up as carp fishing experts (they're even doing $50 seminars in which you too could become an "urban expert").
I have no beef with anyone making a buck off of the maligned C. carpio (it would be awfully hypocritical if I did) but this is just another in a long sequence of stories that paints carp as a tertiary species only found in sewage infested, urban waterways. Even that hallowed tome of flyfishing, The Drake, recently ran a bit about fishing for carp in the Los Angeles River.
I've caught carp in these places and, while I caught some BIG fish, it gets old fast. These fish usually just dive for the cover of depth when hooked and don't give the long runs I'm used to. Odors, traffic noises, dodging shopping carts and discarded batteries - YUCK! If you get a chance to chase carp in a clean, shallow environment (hey, like Ray Roberts!) they are a totally different animal. They spooky, cautious, picky and know what food should look like. They act just like reds on the coast and will streak across a flat when hooked, exposing backing in seconds.
I guess my point is this: before you make up your mind and file carp away as "trash", let me take you to the flats of Ray Roberts and show you my version of carp fishing. I think you'll be amazed!