2023 Flyfishing Fish Pics

[FishnDave]

 

[snagged in outlet 3]

Have you ever caught a sea urchin on fly😁

[Daryk Campbell Sr]

If I may ask, are you dead sticking the wooly bugger for carp, or retrieving it?  I've tried a handful of times and know exactly where they are.   No interest.  

[Ham]

And Channel cats, Common carp, and bullheads too. 

[FishnDave]

3 hours ago, snagged in outlet 3 said:

Have you ever caught a sea urchin on fly😁

No.  But I know a guy..... 😁

[FishnDave]

1 hour ago, Daryk Campbell Sr said:

If I may ask, are you dead sticking the wooly bugger for carp, or retrieving it?  I've tried a handful of times and know exactly where they are.   No interest.  

Depends on what the carp are doing.  Near bottom, mid-depth, or surface?  I sometimes catch invisible ones by accident while trying for some other species.

When targeting them specifically, you want to fish to visible targets.  Often, they are feeding on the bottom.  Cast beyond them far enough so they don't spook, then drag the fly shallow in the water to near their head.  Don't line them, but let the fly drop to the bottom close to them where they can see it.  They often will move and suck in the fly.  If you can see the fly, this is easy.  If you can't...it's guesswork on whether you think the fish ate the fly or not.  You get better at figuring it out over time.  Your line may (or may not) twitch, the fish may flare its gills, or give some other sign that it ate.  Carp have good eyes and will move a short distance to a fly if they want it.  Some fish usually won't, like Smallmouth Buffalo and many sucker species...which is very frustrating.

Dead-sticking is probably not a good technique, IMO.  You can drop a fly near the fish's head, and let the fly sit on the bottom to see if the fish is interesting in moving over and eating it.  If not, move the fly slightly...make it look alive, but not too fast to catch...then let it sit again to see what the carp does.  Repeat.

On this particular day, I was at times fishing for Grass Carp.  I saw a couple small pods of Common Carp hanging just under the surface in spots where Grass Carp often hang out.  Since they were just below the surface, I used a microjig about 8" below an indicator.  I cast a bit upstream of the fish, and they were slowly moving upstream as the microjig was slowly moving downstream.  I missed a couple strikes, but had one that sucked it in pretty good, and I stuck it.

[Ham]

2 hours ago, Daryk Campbell Sr said:

If I may ask, are you dead sticking the wooly bugger for carp, or retrieving it?  I've tried a handful of times and know exactly where they are.   No interest.  

Carp can be greedy fats kids gorging on candy or they can be political prisoners on a Hunger Strike. I find them to be way more frustrating than accommodating 

[FishnDave]

10 hours ago, Ham said:

Carp can be greedy fats kids gorging on candy or they can be political prisoners on a Hunger Strike. I find them to be way more frustrating than accommodating 

Right!  If you can find carp happily feeding that are oblivious to your presence... That's golden!

While I've seen carp darting in and aggressively feeding on small shad they'd pinned up against a bank...and caught those same carp on flies.... most of the time they don't expend much energy.  They move along slowly, stop and feed in a spot for a short minute, then move along further.

In that more typical situation, a #8 or #6 fly, like a small woolly bugger, tied with beadchain eyes to keep the hook point UP, but that still allows for a reasonable sink rate (you want the fly to get to the bottom, but if it plummets too fast, the fish may ignore it.  If it drops slightly less fast, it may look more like an easy meal, and the fish get a chance to see it fall longer, which might spark their interest) is a big benefit to the angler.  A total fly length of 1"-1.5" is good.  Over 2", in most waters, is too big.

One trick in muddy water is to make your fly a little flashier by using a gold metallic mylar chenille for the body.  It just helps the fish see the fly.  Not necessary in clearer water.  Blacks, browns, orange flies all work, but I've also caught plenty of carp on chartreuse and silver and white and purple, etc...so be prepared to try different stuff until the fish finally like what they see.

[FishnDave]

2 more fly rod species for 2023.... #77 and #78.
27" Walleye:

37" Longnose Gar.  (This is gar species #4 for the year.  The last U.S. gar I need now is Alligator Gar.)

Also caught a couple Hybrid Sunfish:

It was a very hot day on Sunday.  It got to a point I couldn't continue to fish.  Other anglers left when I did for the same reason.

[BilletHead]

3 hours ago, FishnDave said:

2 more fly rod species for 2023.... #77 and #78.
27" Walleye:

37" Longnose Gar.  (This is gar species #4 for the year.  The last U.S. gar I need now is Alligator Gar.)

Also caught a couple Hybrid Sunfish:

It was a very hot day on Sunday.  It got to a point I couldn't continue to fish.  Other anglers left when I did for the same reason.

               Nice Dave and double congrats on the long lean submarine walleye.