I have mentioned it before but we live on a piece of family land that just through the woods is a 100 acre or so pond that a few years ago was starting to have weed problem. The solution came with the addition of a few hundred grass carp that started out at eight to twelve inches long and over the past couple of years have grown to three times that size by munching away at the roots of the weed beds.
Even though the grass carp had been in the pond for several years I hadn't ever seen one and when I heard that one of my wife's cousins had them come up to the top at night when he feeds the bluegills at his dock I had to check it out.
Through the summer I've been down to the dock a few times and it's entertaining to watch what shows up when the feed hits the water with huge bluegills, packs of large catfish, and group of grass carp all in the mix for a free meal.
I've been trying a few different flies and the other night I hooked two grass carp on a light wire dark colored egg fly that were promptly bent out. DAMN... Then last night not five minutes into a quick session where I was using a small white foam fly on top and a small dark egg (on a heaver wire hook this time) the foam fly when under and the fight was on. Minutes later, after a few runs and screams of the old clicker fly reel, I slid my first grass carp into the net.
"Operation Grass Carp" was finally a success. Next goal is to take one on a dry fly.
What's really going to be interesting is to see how big these grass carp will get over the coming years. There is a lot for them to eat in this pond with a lot of room to grow.
Even though the grass carp had been in the pond for several years I hadn't ever seen one and when I heard that one of my wife's cousins had them come up to the top at night when he feeds the bluegills at his dock I had to check it out.
Through the summer I've been down to the dock a few times and it's entertaining to watch what shows up when the feed hits the water with huge bluegills, packs of large catfish, and group of grass carp all in the mix for a free meal.
I've been trying a few different flies and the other night I hooked two grass carp on a light wire dark colored egg fly that were promptly bent out. DAMN... Then last night not five minutes into a quick session where I was using a small white foam fly on top and a small dark egg (on a heaver wire hook this time) the foam fly when under and the fight was on. Minutes later, after a few runs and screams of the old clicker fly reel, I slid my first grass carp into the net.
"Operation Grass Carp" was finally a success. Next goal is to take one on a dry fly.
What's really going to be interesting is to see how big these grass carp will get over the coming years. There is a lot for them to eat in this pond with a lot of room to grow.
2 comments:
Very cool. They seem like exciting fish.
Hoppers..
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