Wondering what kind of fish is hitting the surface of my local pond in the evening? I was thinking its either carp or gar. During the evening something big hits the surface and makes big a big splash but we don't know what exactly it is. Any opinion would be great, thanks.

Gar is usually a quick distinctive "snap". Don't think I've ever seen a carp do that. You don't think it could be a largemouth?

I was fishing Towne Lake in McKinney one night and a man there said the fish that were doing what you described were drum.

I say gar is a good possibility. Carp usually jump clear out of the water they don't usually "hit" the surface in my experience. They will spash around in the shallow when spawning right along with the gar. Gar or bass are usually the only fish I know of that hit the surface in a violent way. Anything is possible though I guess.

And at Towne Lake in Mckinney I have seen a ton of gar I would suspect gar over drum, I don't thknk I have ever heard of drum doing anything on the surface. Who knows.... maybe they do.

Well I think I'm going gar fishing tomorrow, got the day off work so we'll see what I get.

Gar will make two ripples that will overlap when they surface. One when their mouth breaks the surface, the other one with their tail as they swim back down. They won't be loud. They're just getting a gulp of air. Carp will usually almost clear the water and are very loud. Hope this helps.

Beaver will slap the water with their tail.

Seen lots of carp do this personally. They tend to jump all day at marine creek.

Carp will go airborne on a whim, and slam the water broadside as if trying to splash all the water out of the lake or pond. Have seen many of them do it over the years. My guess is carp slamming, gar dimpling or swishing.

rudy