Summertime Carp on Ray Roberts

Casey and I made took a morning to find some carp. The first fish was a crawler that had more of himself out of the water than in. Casey made some great cast to cruising fish  and was hooking up all around me. Finally started spanking some fish when I found them buried up in the weeds. Their tail would give them away and they would appear out of nowhere. The good thing about this type of fishing was that you could almost walk on top of them before they would spook. I was basically high sticking them, dangling the fly in front of them until they saw or felt the fly, followed but a gentle sip and then an explosion from the grass. We did pretty good for the day considering the clouds and wind were our constant companions.

The Blue Herons were very busy feeding their very demanding babies

Casey releases another carp in front of me (sporting the Redfish Tail Shirt).

The water levels on all the lakes are very low. The shoreline is covered with all sorts of tracks and trails. This one was the coolest and the one that I had no desire to follow. 

Ray Roberts Carp

The water level was so low at Ray Roberts that we waded through the trees casting to fish in the roots. The roots is an exaggeration but they were in the trees. Bass were busting topwater and for the first time I saw bass following carp and smacking what the carp would kick up, similar to reds following rays or specks following reds. The carp would glow in the mud they stirred up when the sun was out. Many of the fish were more than willing to chase my bad casts. Happy Carp.

Summertime

Carp save summer fishing. They are always out there (sometimes they are just harder to find). We had a sky full of clouds but found them on a sandy flat. The sun would peak out just enough to give their glow away but it was a challenge to tell what was heads or tails. I made several perfect casts right on their tail which were rewarded with a flash off the flat. One thing that I have decided about carp is that they have no real pattern when feeding and anticipating their direction of travel is almost impossible (especially if you can't tell what is their head and what is their tail). It is best to just drop it right in their face. This works much better than dropping it right on their tail.

Independence Day Carpin'

Casey and I hit Ray Roberts again. The carp had moved a bit and the wind had muddied the water but just around the bend was clear water and carp. A little walk never hurt any one.

Triple Digit Summertime Carpin'

 

Carp!

Lately I've been chasing carp out on the flats at Ray Roberts and having a great time. We arrived at dawn and were greeted by several fish milling about in ankle deep water. It Took a couple of casts before I put the fly where I wanted it and the line came tight after a long slow strip. I repeated this with several more fish and blew a number of opportunities. Sometimes the line just comes tight and other times the carp covered some ground in reckless fashion to inhale the fly (when this happens you almost forget they are carp and not redfish). They hit anything buggy, wooly boogers, puffs, and other goofy easily tied "carp flies." The location is great. It is close enough to not waste an entire day yet far enough away to feel like you are out of the city (saw many deer too).