Looking for carp

[ditz1]

I generally fish small creeks in the Columbia area. I have yet to see any carp to cast to. Anybody know of any holding areas that they are willing to share. I am a C&R flyfisher so I will not ever decimate the fish population. I am looking for some shallow water that is wadeable and accessable. There must be some carp in the area. Thanks for your help.:o

[jad2t]

I am a C&R flyfisher so I will not ever decimate the fish population.

Ahem...people who eat fish do not "decimiate the population".

Aside from that, welcome to the forum. I've never targeted carp specifically on the flyrod but I wade often in the Caney Fork and there are lots of big carp in there so if you can make it out there that's a good place to try. Specifically you can find them so thick you can walk on them right below the dam during really low water. I look down from the steps sometimes and see dozens of them. If you have a canoe or something, float out there and have a blast with them. Just make sure they aren't going to generate that day or you will be in danger.

Talk to bd, he's one of the moderators on the forum. He has a lot of experience flyfishing for carp and can help you.

[nomad60]

Ahem...MOST people who eat fish do not "decimiate the population".

Fixed that for you ;)

Not trying to stir the pot but in Korea, I saw first hand what can happen to lakes once people start fishing for bass and bluegill and keep everything and anything they catch. 2 of my favorite lakes got "decimated". When I first started fishing them, I could easily catch 10-20 2-3 pound bass per day, and I could take a rooster tail and walk the bank and catch 50 or more nice bluegill (all catch and release unless they were gut hooked and bleeding real bad). Once the bass craze started up over there, and people found how how good they tasted, it was all over because in Korea, there is no thing as conservation; no creel limits, no size limits...so the fishermen kept everything and anything they caught. Just a few years later, it was a rare occurance to catch a bass over 10 inches in either of those lakes, and the bluegill were nowhere to be seen or found. Now these weren't huge lakes like JPP or OH...

[jad2t]

I wasn't trying to stir the pot either like I did a couple weeks ago haha. It just highly annoys me when people try to label those who eat fish as "decimating the fish population". Your example is seen here in America too all the time, immigrants are always throwing casting nets keeping everything in the net and it's a shame. I often keep fish, within the legal limit, and I refuse to be labeled as "decimating the fish population" because of it.

[tkwalker]

Guys, I think we are deverting from the question asked by Ditz ... Jad a good number of what you thought was Carp on the caney are actually Buffalo ... Ditz, i'll contact bd to help you out ... He loves to flyfish for carp ... Thanks for all of your input guys ... <'TK>< :)

[Saltwaterwalt]

My son and I flyfish for carp all the time. We love it. Percy Priest is great, if you get into the grass flats up the creeks. Early mornings when they're feeding is best, before a lot of boat traffic as you'll need to sight cast to have success of a hookup. That might be a tad far to drive from Columbia...I don't know, though we drove all the way to the Collins River to catch musky which of course, we didn't, but it was fun trying.

[jad2t]

Guys, I think we are deverting from the question asked by Ditz ... Jad a good number of what you thought was Carp on the caney are actually Buffalo ... Ditz, i'll contact bd to help you out ... He loves to flyfish for carp ... Thanks for all of your input guys ... <'TK>< :)

Are buffalo supposed to be better fighters than carp? I know one of the two are but I don't know much about either species so I'm not sure if I was seeing buffalo or carp in the Caney. Either way I see a lot of them and some of them look in the 10lb range.

[Saltwaterwalt]

Are buffalo supposed to be better fighters than carp? I know one of the two are but I don't know much about either species so I'm not sure if I was seeing buffalo or carp in the Caney. Either way I see a lot of them and some of them look in the 10lb range.

Before I got into flyfishing for roughfish, I bowfished for them for about 30 years. I've fought several hundred fish in my lifetime on the end of a fish arrow and line, so I have a pretty good idea of strongest (best fighters) vs weaker. IMO, here's my lineup from strongest to the weakest.
Grass Carp, Asian Carp, Smallmouth Buffalo, Common Carp, and the wussboy...Bigmouth Carp. Which btw, is mostly what I've seen on the Caney. The fight is night and day between a Smallmouth Buff and a Bigmouth Buff, who knows why, but the Bigmouth just throws in the towel right away. A Grass Carp (White Amur) is insane in strength, even with a fish arrow in it, unbelieveable with just a hook and line. I compare them to Tarpon, except they don't jump. Wish we had more of them. I've quit bowfishing them for that reason, I'd rather C&R them. As for the other Carp species, way overpopulated so I'll continue to whack them when I have a bow in my hand and catch them when I'm flyfishing. Plenty of those to go around. I've always said that if Carp tasted like Crappie, there wouldn't be any ... but they DON'T! :)

[ditz1]

I appreciate all the replies. I had no intent of stiring any pot but yes a lakes population can be decimated by fishing..... I have eaten more than my share of wild fish over the years and have no problem with taking and eating fish. I am picky about what I eat. BG, crappy, yellow perch, walleye, speckled trout are all excellent. :D

I have personally never fly fished any rough fish and would be interested in targeting any of them. BG and Bass and some salties are the limits of my experience. I have never fished coldwater either. I am sure there a few small drum in one of the creeks that I fish once in a while but have never caught one on the fly. :(

[jad2t]

My dad caught one on the flyrod during the last cicada invasion and he said it took him like 15 minutes to land. He said it made one huge run at first and then after that it was like dragging up a boot from the bottom of the lake. He didn't know exactly what kind it was, he called it a carp. It may have been some sort of carp, or a buffalo. They look similar and neither one of us specifically target these fish so we wouldn't know the difference.

[bd-]

Hmm - lots to respond to here.

Wadeable carp flats is a tough request! There are some spots on the Caney that aren't too bad. If you start at the Kirby Road access, there is a flat upriver where you might get a shot at some fish, and if you wade downstream, you can access Smith Fork Creek and it has some carp.

You could also wade the Stones River below Percy Priest Dam - there is a greenway that runs along the river that will give you access. It's 99% buffalo though, and not common carp.

Other than those spots, for most of the best water, you really need a boat. I could point you to a ton of great carp flats on Old Hickory, but I can't really think of any where you could wade. Even if you could get access from the shoreline, the bottom on most of the good flats is so soft and muddy that you'd sink to your knees if you tried to wade it.

I think Percy Priest might have a few areas where you could wade fish for carp - there is a sailboat marina near Elm Hill that has some flats nearby, and the bottom on most parts of Priest is hard enough that you could wade it without getting stuck.

As far as what fish to target, I have to disagree with Saltwaterwalt a little on which fish fight the hardest - the common carp DEFINITELY fight better than any of the various varieties of buffalo. Maybe it's different with bowfishing; I don't know. But on a flyrod, buffalo rarely put up a very good fight. A really big one will fight okay, but most of them just resist you pulling them and provide dead weight. Sometimes, if you let the line go slack on a buffalo, they will even just sit there and not do anything until you start pulling on them again. Common carp fight harder and they don't give up. The big ones are smart, too - if there is the slightest bit of cover nearby, you'd better get them away from it, or they will bulldog you into it every single time and break you off.

Buffalo are also much harder to catch than carp. A common carp will take a fly at least 2/3 of the time if you get the fly under his nose with an accurate, quiet cast. In other words, it's challenging, but if you do everything right, you will catch fish. Buffalo, on the other hand, will ignore the fly about 90 percent of the time, even if you do everything right. I'll cast to a big buffalo if I see one while I'm fishing, but it's frustrating because they won't hit often.

When I'm fly fishing for carp, I definitely seek out places with common carp instead of buffalo, and it's important to learn to identify the difference when you're looking at the fish in the water. If you're casting to buffalo only, it gets very frustrating.

Good luck - hope this helps at least a little bit.

bd

[ditz1]

BD... I appreciate the response. I believe that PP is the closest non-flowing water. Yes, common carp is at the top of my target list. Several years ago I caught a large Buf. and he gave me no fight. He probably went between 30 and 40# too but not on a fly rod. Like you said you just pull them in. I have caught 5 to 7# carp and they did give me a run for my money on UL spinning.. I am considering either a kayak or a Gheenoe which is a small skiff to use between here and Fl. Just not sure which yet. At 64 I am not sure I want to wrestle with a yak on and off of a roof top. If I have to trailer it may as well be a boat and motor. Sorry for ramble.

You gave me some place to start. I made a trip up to a city park just east of downtown off of I-65 that has a small lake with an island. I thought I might find some carp there but saw no signs of ole whisker mouth.

[Doc Marshall]

Marrowbone Lake in Joelton is full of carp, particularly in the shallows. They're easy to locate and you can rent a john boat if you wish.

Failing that, why not simply do this:

www.theonion.com/articles/new-zipcarp-service-offers-shortterm-carp-rentals,29494/
(http://fishingtn.com/www.theonion.com/articles/new-zipcarp-service-offers-shortterm-carp-rentals,29494/)

[Reel Tune]

Failing that, why not simply do this:

www.theonion.com/articles/new-zipcarp-service-offers-shortterm-carp-rentals,29494/ (http://www.theonion.com/articles/new-zipcarp-service-offers-shortterm-carp-rentals,29494/)



Zipcarp, brilliant.

[Mnfishingbum]

How do you catch grass carp? Is that the same as Asian carp?

[wsm2c]

There used to be a shallow lake where the Columbia Dam project was stopped. You know where the 20 million dollar wasted hunk of concrete is at next to the ramp on Iron Bridge Rd. It has been several years since I have been there but I remember there being several 4 or 5' carp swimming around out there. If you live in Columbia you may already know where I'm talking about. It is still water with little or no current.

[txnative]

I have a suggestion for grass carp: nashboro public golf course.

Don't laugh, I've caught several 10+ lb grass carp on a 5 wt with a size 10 black beadhead wooly bugger. The only problem is the best spot is directly in front of a tee box, and the course marshal will ask you to move quickly. If you can manage to go when no one is golfing, you're a lucky person.


Chris

[bd-]

BD... I appreciate the response. I believe that PP is the closest non-flowing water. Yes, common carp is at the top of my target list. Several years ago I caught a large Buf. and he gave me no fight. He probably went between 30 and 40# too but not on a fly rod. Like you said you just pull them in. I have caught 5 to 7# carp and they did give me a run for my money on UL spinning..

Yeah, every once in a while I've hooked a buffalo that has some fight in him, but it's rare. Most of them are just dead weight. In the spring during the spawning run, you can catch big buffalo on the Caney if the river is low. Using a 5wt and fishing to fish 15 pounds and up, they fight okay - but even the strongest ones fall way, way short of the fight that a common carp will give you.

My biggest common this year was around 16.5 lbs, and I lost a couple that were over 20. Common carp that size will give you a serious fight even on an 8wt.


I am considering either a kayak or a Gheenoe which is a small skiff to use between here and Fl. Just not sure which yet. At 64 I am not sure I want to wrestle with a yak on and off of a roof top. If I have to trailer it may as well be a boat and motor. Sorry for ramble.

I fish out of a Custom Gheenoe Classic, and I'm very happy with it.

You gave me some place to start. I made a trip up to a city park just east of downtown off of I-65 that has a small lake with an island. I thought I might find some carp there but saw no signs of ole whisker mouth.

Are you talking about Centennial Park? Yeah, I went and looked a couple times myself, but I haven't seen any carp in there. There are some bass, bream, and catfish, though they had a couple really big fish kills last summer during the extreme heat, so I don't know what's left. The water just got so hot there was barely any oxygen left. I know it decimated the bluegill in particular - I'm not sure if the catfish might have made it through.

As far as city park ponds go, I know the pond at the World's Fair Park in Knoxville has some good-sized carp and I've seen them up shallow feeding, but I don't know if they'll allow you to fish there or not.

bd

[MNfisher]

Whether they are carp or buffalo, I don't know, but centennial park had some absolutely giant ones! 25-40 pounders!

[ditz1]

I believe that the park lake that I went to was Shelby park. I was only there once and only spent a few hours looking for carp. I walked the entire shore line and also walked the shore line of the island. There may be carp but I saw no signs while I was there. Someone indicated that there are carp in the Centennial park. Do they allow fishing there?

I know where Iron bridge boat launch is located but I am not familiar since I have no boat I do not frequent the place. I also do not know where the dam was. It was removed several years ago. One of the creeks that I fish would have been part of the head waters of the lake that would have been created by the dam.

[MNfisher]

I work for Metro and am in Shelby park daily, no carp there. Just catfish, bluegill and bass. Then they stock trout there in the winter.

Yes, you are allowed to fish in centennial park. Actually some really nice bass, and big bluegill in there. And the carp/buffalo, whatever they are, are absolutely huge.

But metro is proposing a lake restoration project for centennial. It includes draining and dredging it, reactivating a spring and refilling. May not happen for a few years. But in the long run, might make it a better fishing pond! Who knows!

[bd-]

MNFisher, maybe you are at Centennial Park more than I am, but I have walked the banks of that lake a number of times, and I've never seen any 25 to 40 lb carp in there.

If they are there, they haven't been up on the shallow end of the lake feeding (where they'd be reachable with a fly) on any of the times I have ever been there.


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[Travis C.]

I used to try and catch those big carp on my lunch breaks from work. There were at least three from what I remember. About the only places I'd ever see them cruising was on the back side of the lake from west end where it has that shallow strip next to the walk way.

[MNfisher]

MNFisher, maybe you are at Centennial Park more than I am, but I have walked the banks of that lake a number of times, and I've never seen any 25 to 40 lb carp in there.

If they are there, they haven't been up on the shallow end of the lake feeding (where they'd be reachable with a fly) on any of the times I have ever been there.


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There is only about a dozen or so in there, most I have seen at once was 7. Maybe that's all of them. I took pics of them one time, but must have deleted them. I will take more next time I am there! They are BIG!

[bd-]

Sounds like I will have to go back and take another look.

[Travis C.]

Sounds like I will have to go back and take another look.


Definitely, you will probably be able to catch them. From what I remember they must be used to people being around as they weren't as spooky as I would think. My carp skills just aren't up to par to catch those fish.

[ditz1]

Again, thanks for the responses. My skills are probably not up to required standards either but I would like to give them a try at Centennial Park. If I get some kind of water craft I will also spend some time on PP. I bet the Duck river has some too if I can find them but a boat would be required on the Duck as well.

[bd-]

One place that has a whole lot of buffalo and some drum is the Harpeth. You can wade in at the Highway 100 access and go upstream, and you'll see a lot.

The buffalo are hard to catch though. I've had days where I've fished from sunrise until dark and only caught one fish. They're very frustrating because you can present your fly perfectly and they'll just ignore it.

I envy the guys in the midwestern states that have wadeable small creeks and rivers with good populations of common carp. I haven't found any really good ones full of common carp around here.

bd

[MNfisher]

Soooooo many carp in MN. Have caught hundreds! But of course on crawlers and corn....not quite the challenge of you chasing them on the fly! That's impressive!

[MNfisher]

Sounds like I will have to go back and take another look.

BD, took a run around the lake today at Centennial, I say 4 of the big guys and one smaller one. They just cruise around, so big that there tail is sticking our of the water a few inches! The smaller one was, I believe some time of koi fish. It was black and white with large, longer that normal fins that waved in the water like feathers, haha. But it was stilll in the 10-15 pound range and they have to eat too right? Could be a new species for you! HA!