2022 Flyfishing Pics

[FishnDave]

Caught 5 Grass Carp yesterday.  Biggest was this one, 31":

Also a couple KSB:

And a couple gar.  These both had a lot more spotting and markings than the usual shortnose.  Wondering if they may be spotted gar, or hybrids, or just atypical shortnose.

 

[FishnDave]

 

[FishnDave]

Caught a new Personal Best Shortnose Gar, 26".

 

[Johnsfolly]

@FishnDave that is a great shortnose gar! Congrats buddy!

[FishnDave]

 

[Johnsfolly]

Pretty sure I know we're you were fishing. The bullheads likely gave it away😉

[FishnDave]

2 minutes ago, Johnsfolly said:

Pretty sure I know we're you were fishing. The bullheads likely gave it away😉

Yep, that's the place.  😁  I'm still bummed I didn't meet up when you were there last year.  Its like 10 minutes from the house.  There's a bajillion goldfish there, and only a handful will hit a fly.  Fortunately, its usually the big ones.  Its about the only reason to fish there more than once/year. 🙄

[netboy]

Those are some pretty goldfish.

[Ham]

On 8/3/2022 at 5:30 AM, netboy said:

Those are some pretty goldfish.

Dave catches a LOT of pretty fish and he does a great job getting Good pics of them.

[FishnDave]

Fished with @Johnsfolly and Livie on Saturday.  It was VERY hot.  We were all suffering from the heat.  And that's the reason for my sour-puss face in the the picture below.  It was getting hard to catch my breath after the adrenaline rush of the catch.

I'd hoped to guide John and Livie to some Grass Carp and gar.  I failed in achieving that goal.  The creek was a bit higher, faster, and more stained than usual, thanks to a 4.5" rain earlier in the week.  We saw fewer grass carp than usual, and there were a number of spots that typically hold them that just didn't show any.  John had a great aggressive strike from a grass carp and from several gar, but the fish all decided they wanted to eat his bobber instead of the fly.  Maybe we could have switched to a floating fly/lure.  Topwater for Grass Carp will catch fish.  I've done it. But it seems like a lower-reward option, whereas subsurface typically gets a lot more strikes and hookups.  Not on the bottom, but 12"-20" suspended below the surface.  Grass carp are more spooky on the surface, they are happy when they are nearly out-of-sight below it.

John spotted a grass carp (or 3) as he was leaving, told me to give it a shot.  I missed it when it struck the first time, but caught it several casts later.  28.5":

Being the guide, I didn't fish much.  But at one point I made some casts towards the far side of the creek and had some subtle strikes.  I caught a Green Sunfish, so then cast again to see if there would be another.  Caught a gar instead.  John's daughter, Livie, gets photo credit for this one:

I want a chance to redeem myself, and help John and Livie get their species!  Hopefully we can try again, and perhaps it won't be so hot!