Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Poor man's redfish

Title pretty much describes why I like chasing grassers.  They spook easily, pull like fright trains, and they sip bugs off the surface as softly as tout.  On the fly, they make you work for every eat. Probably why I have so much fun chasing them.  If you've ever sight fished reds in the marsh, this is very similar...minus the delicacy part of course.


CPR - Put them back in the water.  Found 2 rotting on the bank at the launch<don't be that guy!


I started w/ some traditional nymph patterns under a pinch on indicator.  Got the door slammed in my face, over and over again.  Finally went with something on top.  Not the traditional method...but...I'm fly fishing, from a kayak, to grass carp, in SEAR...not really a traditionalist.






The thing to remember when presenting to carp is you must be accurate and delicate.  It takes almost nothing to freak them out.  A bug crash landing or paddle slapping the water and you'll either get the, "you suck" stare down.  Or the more popular, "the house is on fire, every man for themselves" run away.


Cruisers

Tailing

Those are fun b/c not only did you lose the fish you saw...you get to see every other fish, that you hadn't spotted, as they to run for their lives.  That leaves the next 50 yards of water fishless.




To big to lift out of the water

Today I had near perfect conditions to sight fish.  The sun was high, no wind, and plenty of fish feeding.  Lots of cruising, tailing, even a few porpoising like dolphins.  Sore hands, tired body, and blisters are what followed.  But I'm not complaining, the catching was too good today.  All eats were at the surface.  Most wanted it w/in a foot of their heads, sitting dead still.  Those that had their heads buried deep in the mud, they came to investigate after a little twitch...like ringing the dinner bell!




Called it a day when the hook broke, after it was straightened out for the 3rd time.  That's a good day in my book.


 

8 comments:

  1. This looks awesome, I have been wanting to try this, but usually the only time I see carp is during the kayak bass tournaments.

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    1. Matt, that's funny. I actually caught my 1st while I was bass fishing. If you get the chance do it. It's fun and more like fishing for bass during the spawn.

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  2. Drew
    What a haul, got to be a blast on the fly--thanks for sharing

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    1. Thx Bill, I love it. A good buddy who goes after bones said it's as close to chasing bone fish as you can get in freshwater...I guess I need to verify.

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  3. I've been trying for two years to hook up with one on the fly. I never thought of fishing the surface. Thanks buddy.

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    1. I guess you didn't read my artice in So Much Water, 2nd issue...all about grassies on top. Just messing with you. Just PM'd you. Hope we can get those crossed off your list.

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  4. Grassers are awesome. We don't have too many of them in these parts, and the places where the do live they are protected triploids used to keep the water clean. Can't fish for them.

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    1. That's unfortunate b/c they are a lot of fun. In the South they aren't well liked. They can ruin bass habitat. I'll see if I can find an old pic of the lake before the grass carp took over. They were planted to remove vegetation that choked boat paths...now it's a fish bowl and the bass population has declined.

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