Bigmouth Buffalo on the Fly

Sunday, September 30, 2012 Fly Fishing , Kansas 2 Comments

I have a new goal for myself, a project if you will. To catch an Asian Carp on a fly rod. There is not much info currently but there are a few patterns circulating out there, some whispers in the nefarious shadows of the fly fishing world, and I have a few ideas myself. That being said, this week I tied up various patterns and headed to the Wakarusa River. I didn't see any Asian Carp, surprisingly, and am convinced that with any of these patterns I will need to sight fish them. However, what I did see was a Bigmouth Buffalo holding steady in the current on the opposite bank. I made my cast, had the ideal drift, she only had to move her mouth inches for the take--then it was game on. The fight lasted 5 or 6 minutes, with no long runs, she instead was merely a bulldog at about 15-20 feet out that just refused to come in. I was pretty excited, caught a new species, and feel I may be on the right track with a pattern as Bigmouth's are also predominate filter feeders though not exclusively. All else equal, it may be the ugliest fish I have ever caught in my life.