Topwater Cats

Dave and I attempted to try our bread trick on some grass carp in a few smaller community ponds recently.  At the first stop we did not get any fish feeding on bread, or I should say any grass carp.  We caught some bluegills, and I managed to catch a nice little largemouth while we waited for the grass carp to start sucking down the bread.

They never did eat our bread.  On to pond number 2.  We breaded the surface and waited.  The some big fish started popping the surface in our slick of bread!  It really got the pulse racing.  We assumed some big grass carp were responsible for the big boils on the surface.  Something smacked Dave's fly and bend his rod over.  It got into the moss but he waded out and got his line free.  The fish was still on and it turned out to be a large channel catfish!  Not a grass carp but a really nice catch on the fly rod.

We did not know if any grass carp were in the mix creating the big boils on the bread or not.  A bit later Dave hooked up with another nice cat!  I think my fly may have been sinking a little too fast.  I think the fish were really focused on the top.  Somehow some bluegills managed to get caught on the big size 4 hook I was using on my bread fly.  No grass carp were caught but it was a fun evening out on the pond.

Mulberries n' Hammers

Ted and I headed out again for gar. The action was so intense during the first gar trip that we returned with high expectations. We each got a fish right off the bat but the action proved to be a lot slower than our previous trip. We still got plenty of follows but the fish seemed more hesitant this time round. Gar are most active in warm water and I believe the flooding of the river into the lake cooled the water off considerably. The level of the lake was a good two feet higher and the water was more stained than the previous trip. I felt a bunch of cold spots while kicking my tube around. We also did not see nearly as many fish so they may have scattered in search of warmer water or some of them went deep. Regardless of what happened exactly I believe the action will pick right back up once the lake drops below flood stage and things get more stabilized.


While kicking along the shore I noticed a rise after something fell off a tree above. At first I thought it was maybe an insect that fell in but on closer inspection I noticed it was a mulberry tree.

I had read about how carp will often hang below mulberry trees and eat the berries as they fall into the water. I did not have any mulberry fly patterns but I decided to tie on a fly called the Hammer my friend Scott had tied up for me. It supposedly was a good fly for carp so I gave it a shot. I casted right under the tree and let my fly sink. My line went tight and I set the hook. The fish shot out from the bank fairly quickly and I was not really sure if I had a carp on or not. Whatever it was I knew it was not too big however it was fighting very hard for its size. I really had no idea what it was. Once it got near me it shot straight for the bottom. This fish had was very strong willed. Finally I lifted him and to my surprise it was a nice little channel cat! It went about 14 inches and I regret not taking a pic of the nice little kitty. I decided to cast in the exact same spot and bam! The same thing again although not quite as nice of a cat.

Then the same thing happened again and again. I got four in a row and had a fifth on. I would have continued but we had to get going at that point. Maybe it was channel cats eating the mulberries, who knows? One thing for sure, I'm going to return to the same spot with some mulberry patterns and more Hammers.