Is it still summer?

I had a very busy end of the summer, but finally was able to get back on the water on Saturday. Fall made a rapid appearance last week with some fairly cool temps all week. I had no idea what to expect for the fishing.

I first hit Lock 7-8 on the Canal to tune up on sight fishing. The water was high again. In fact, I've never seen more water above Lock 8. The first section of water below 8 was crystal clear, but quickly became pretty muddy after a couple hundred yards. I could only find on fish that was mudding and visible. A few more were throwing silt, but were too deep. There were quite a few that were feeding on something off the surface, but I couldn't figure out what it would be this time of year. Needless to say, after a couple hours, I struck out and moved on to the main stem of the Potomac.

The water was lower than I ever fished before on the main stem. It was also crystal clear. I thought this might be good because the fish would stack up in some of the holds and I'd be able to see them from further away. I'm not sure if it was the low water that made it too difficult for fish to get into the normal places I find them or if the cooler temps made the shallows less appealing, but I didn't see a single fish. I'm sure it didn't help that it was overcast and windy, two things that don't help finding these guys when the bottom is dark as is. I did find tons of crawfish though. Oh, and my scale randomly broke as I was walking around.

Lastly, I went off to Fletcher's Cove. I walked for a while before I saw my first fish. As I was prepping for the delivery, an interested lady ran over to see what I was looking at and promptly spooked it. I thought for sure that would mean a skunk for the day. Luckily, a little while later, I found another fish, delivered the cast and watched it suck in the fly. Several minutes later, I landed a fish I'd estimate in the 8-10 pound range. I had one more shot before I called it a day, but couldn't coax an eat.

Carp on the South Fork of the Shenandoah River

I went out on a smallmouth float on the South Fork of the Shenandoah River this past weekend. Of course, With the possibility of carp, there was always a rod rigged up just in case we saw a feeder. We floated the section upstream of Elkton, almost at the beginning of the South Fork. Within the first 5 minutes, we saw a silt plume, and the guide handed me the carp rod. I patiently waited for the fish to turn any direction except away from me so I didn't line him. Once my opportunity came through, I got the right amount of line out, went to drop it in front of him.... and hooked my smallmouth rod on the forward cast. By the time I got it untangled, we lost track of the fish. Bummer. We saw a few more feeders, but never actually got a shot off before the fish spooked away. There were a lot of other BIG fish we saw in some of the deeper holes. It really makes me want to try a float dedicated to carp, but there probably wasn't quite enough water conducive to fly fishing for carp to make it worth an exclusive trip on this section of the river.

Virginia Grass Carp

One of my friends had me get out with him on Sunday to chase some grass carp, and hopefully show him how to catch them. We went out to a reservoir in the middle of no where in the western part of Virginia to hunt our quarry. I started off with the same nymph I used during my last outing in South Carolina. I managed a couple nice sized sunfish, crappie, and largemouths, but I couldn't get the grass carp to eat. After a few fish ignored the fly, I threw on my favorite beetle pattern in size 12. It didn't take long before I got a refusal. Next shot, the fish tips up, and sucks it in. I set the hook and break the tippet.

I tie back up and go at it, this time with a size 14 or 16. I see a few more fish coming along, drop the beetle right in front of it and I get another sip from a 15-20 lb grass carp. This time, the tippet holds. The fish fought exactly like a typical grass carp - an initial brief run before letting me bring it in, then taking a hard 20-30 foot run whenever you try to net it. Unfortunately, after 5 minutes, I misplayed the fish and raised my rod tip to try to help my friend get a shot at landing him. I didn't know the hook had bent ever so slightly under the weight of the fish, and the angle I gave the line was just enough to pop the hook out of the fish's mouth.

I was a little unprepared for the trip - I tried running to Orvis to get more beetles the day before, but they closed just before I got there. That was my last beetle pattern, so I bent the hook back into shape and hoped for the best. Unfortunately, that fly was gone. I got another fish to suck down the fly, but this time, the hook almost straightened completely.

We called it a day not too much longer after that and headed off to the Shenandoah to try to find some common carp. Our venture was unsuccessful though - the water was a little too high, fast, and dirty to get many places safely.

Don't forget to check out our article for more tips on fly fishing for grass carp.