Trinity on the fly

I decided to fish LLELA(the Lake Lewisville dam) today after, well, anything. I had no idea what the fishing would be like down there since I haven't been down there since March. They were releasing a little water, around 200cfs, so there was a good bit of flow for me to deal with. I started walking downstream, plopping a fly into a pool every now and then. I really wasn't seeing much so I made a big move- all the way to the railroad bridge. I walked the mile long trail down to it and fished around it for a while. Caught a few bluegill right before I went under it then came to the other side. Then I saw something that interested me, a creek that dumped in another 70 or so feet downstream from me. I walked to it and saw some bluegill and bass holding on a big log in the water. The bank was pretty high up off the water so I couldn't hit it from that spot, so I started searching for a way to get down there.

I found a worn down trail, I don't even think it was a human made trail. Once it led me to the water I saw another ledge but this time some roots provided me a climb down spot. Then I looked beneath the surface and couldn't believe my eyes. Carp, Buffalo, River Carpsuckers, Blue suckers, Redhorses, and assorted other species scattered all around. I just sat there and stood amazed for a few minutes, watching from a clear vantage point at the vast number of fish below me. I then saw a target, a carp that was cruising really slowly, dropping down toward the bottom every now and then to pick up a possible food item. I made my first cast from 15 feet up the bank on that ledge. I dropped the fly in about 2 feet ahead of the fish. I really didn't expect much, maybe a look but no take, but the opposite happened. The fish saw the fly, picked up speed, and inhaled it. I set the hook, Fish ON!

The fish made a few nice runs and finally came to the net. The weird thing was none of the other fish spooked, I even had 2 more carp try to take the fly away from the fish! Turned out to be a nice little fish, an immaculate mid single that was very healthy.

I went right back to fishing. I had a few spook but ended up getting several more interested looks. Nothing for about 40 minutes, at least no takes that is. I didn't have much time down there since it was a 30 minute walk down and I needed to get back so I gave myself 10 more minutes and decided I'd call it a day after that was up. Then I saw a feeding buff pass by, stopping really close to me to feed. I stuck the fly down in it's path and the fish kept moving toward it. Once it was an inch from it, it's head went down again. I saw the fish directly on top of the fly, so I waited a crucial second. Then, a puff of mud went through it's gills. I knew it had the fly then. Hookset and Fish ON!

This was one of the rare occasions where the buff's fight was harder than the carp's fight by a long shot, it took several hard runs and nearly bent the hook straight! I had it in the net soon though, before my 10 minutes was up.

Not bad! This is the first buff on the fly I've caught from LLELA, so that made it even better!

It was time to walk back so I headed back toward the dam. The lighting was perfect for some pictures so I took out the DSLR and snapped a few random pics on the way back.

A great way to spend a Sunday afternoon, I'll definitely be back soon before it gets too cold!