Sorry ahead of time for the long post... I spent the holiday weekend visiting my parents outside of Hilton Head, SC. I got a good four days of fishing in, one of which was a guided trip. Report:
-- The guide day was Sunday. We were going after cobia and redfish. Conditions were terrible. Apparently the cobia season just never really happened this year - a couple fish here and there, but that's about it. We couldn't find a single one cruising around. The redfish fishing wasn't much better. We had overcast skies and dirty water. Our visibility was about nil, and to top it off, the wind was blowing about 25-30 knots. I got a few shots at sharks, but bonnetheads don't go crazy about flies. I had one lemon take a swipe, but turned away. We hit some back creeks for protection from wind, and wound up with one ladyfish and I lost two reds.
Now the interesting part... I fished my parents lagoon in the back yard. A lot. I also learned a boogle bug will catch literally anything. I also learned quite a bit about those grass carp I've been asking about for a while with not even a second glance at anything I threw. When I first went out Friday, I tied on a chartreuse boogle bug. I saw a couple grass carp cruising the mud flats, so I said what the heck and tossed one out. It dropped perfectly, about 12 inches in front of the first fish. To my surprise, it tipped up, and slurped it in. I ripped on the line, but came up empty. Apparently they eat really slowly. About 15 minutes later, I get another shot, and the fish tips up and eats again! This time, I gave it a two count, and ripped on the line. I felt the connection, then I felt nothing. The line broke on the hookset. The smallest of these fish is about 7 or 8 lbs, and the largest probably pushes 20 lbs. I pulled the hook from a couple more fish, and another tried to eat it, but missed it.
Saturday, more of the same. Another couple fish missed it, and I pulled the hook out of the fish's mouth again, despite trying a slow down the set even more. I started getting a couple refusals like they were a trout turning down a dry fly, so I switched to a beetle - maybe a size 18. First cast, a fish comes up and eats it. I give it a two count, strip set, and feel the weight. Then nothing. The fish bent the hook completely. I had a couple more shots, but nothing more the rest of the day. Sunday (after my trip) only gave me another one more look. I was about 0 for 10 or 12 at this point. I even tried trout setting instead of strip setting, but no difference pulling it out of the fish's mouth.
Finally, today. I started getting more and more refusals on the chartreuse. I think the fish started getting smart, so I changed colors. I tied on a green boogle bug. I had quite a few fish ignore it, so I began losing faith. Until that next fish tipped its head up and sipped it in. Another two count, another strip set. More contact, and once again, broken line on the set. I finally got the brilliant idea to stop using 3X tippet and switch to 0X.
With no more green boogle bugs left, I tied on blue. A couple casts in, I got another to sip. Solid contact on the set, and the line held. Unfortunately, the fly didn't after about 5 seconds and it popped free. I was starting to lose light and visibility. I drop one more shot in front of a medium sized one, and it eats. I set the hook, and the line holds again... and this time, so does the hook. I've got a 30+ inch, 10lb+ fish stuck and making a tear across the mud flat. This is the first freshwater fish I've had that pulled drag. A five minute battle ensued before I got my first attempt to land it. Of course I don't have a net here (and even it I did, the fish was WAY bigger than my net), so I get my hand on the leader, but it doesn't like seeing me. It goes on an angry tear (I can't be THAT ugly) and runs off. I got the line back and went in for the second attempt. Same thing. Third time is a charm, so I grab the leader. The fish starts thrashing again, but I decided the line would hold, so I stuck through it. BAD idea. The line popped, and my biggest freshwater fish ever swims off home free. What a letdown. Of course, my mother got the majority of the fight on video, including my reaction to losing it...
If you find yourself going after grass carp, here's a couple pointers. You have to drop the fly no more than 1-2 feet in front of the fish, and DO NOT move that fly. The fish needs to see it and eat it within about 3-5 seconds of it hitting the water or it won't eat it. I got one single look when it wasn't that scenario. If you're finding them on mud flats, you can cast to tailers, but it's a very low percentage chance compared to ones that aren't rooting around on the bottom. Your best shot is finding a fish that's slowly cruising or, better, grabbing stuff off the surface. I have no idea why they ate this trip, and not over Thanksgiving, Christmas, or any other time I've been down there. Perhaps it's the season, perhaps my placement was just way better. Maybe next time, I'll be able to give some real proof.
http://www.tpfr.org
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