Fly Rod Grass Carp FAIL, 9-16-2012

I was able to squeeze in 1 hour of flyfishing (after driving time) this weekend.  I fished a public pond about a 40 minute drive from home.

I started out flyfishing for panfish.  I caught 2 Bluegills and a Largemouth Bass.  Then this 9" Hybrid Sunfish hit.  What a fight, and what a beast!  All fish were caught on a #8 yellow Boa Yarn Leech.

I had seen a few Grass Carp swim by in the shallows.  One nosed up to the surface  to touch my floating fly line.  I tried dropping flies ahead of them, and they showed slight interest, but mainly they just continued swimming on their way.  So, I tied on a "MissouriFlies.com"-style deer hair pellet fly.  I tossed it out and soon had a (previously invisible) grass carp come up and check it out.  It nosed the fly, but then swam away.  A few casts later, another Grass Carp (that I had not seen before) came up and nosed it, then tried to suck it in, missed, and then tried to suck it in again.  I watched the fly disappear into its mouth.  I set the hook, the fish thrashed its head, and my 2x tippet snapped....with a sound like a pellet gun firing.  CRACK!

DANG IT!  I have hunted Grass Carp more diligently this year than ever before.  With complete failures too numerous to count at this point, I still have hooked more grass carp this year than ever before (including a couple years ago when I actually landed 3 Grass Carp!).  I've even had some pretty good fights.  But I haven't landed ANY of them this year!  I know my 5wt is not matched to such a task...but I also know Grass Carp CAN be landed on it, because I've done it before!  Ug.  Another miss.  But this one was especially exciting because I actually got to see the fish come up and suck in that fly.  THAT is a first in my Grass Carp experiences.  It will be a confidence builder for future situations, at least, knowing they will come up and hit this style of fly.