good discussion on setting the hook on carp and its obvious we have some resident "experts" on carp fishing. I have trouble locating carp on area lakes. I know Ray Roberts has a lot of shallow flats and a lot of carp but what about other lakes? I look for them in shallow water but never see them. How do you locate them? I am told that the common carp is plentiful in all lakes. I only see them in the spring when they are spawning.

I think the short answer is as you have to get out the water and look form I've cut carbs on just about every North Texas lake but I've gone out looking for them on the features you want to look for are shallow sloping banks ah you're not always going to find them with their backs poking out of the water and you're going to want to find maybe we're creeks come in and it created sandbars also any areas where there shower water with easy access to deeper water seems to have the fish actively feeding I believe they feel safEr

That was the first time I was using speech to text in the car not a prefecture technology yet

I guess I give up too easily and go on to catch brim or bass; thanks for that info;
I have dragon on my computer and it does not recognize my arkansaw drawl-p-

Go to Joe Pool lake.90 per cent of the fish jumping and playing in the shallows are common carp.You can stir them with a stick.

Oh dont give up on them, I finally caught 2 small ones on my 5 wt and they are a blast.

2nd what lone star carper said. He's an expert. I'm still no expert at actually catching them, but have been able to find them them very regularly. Pretty much the opposite of large mouth. Sandy/Muddy bottoms. Rocky/rip rap areas that hold bass won't usually have them. Sand bars off of creeks and also up in the mouth. Sand bars on the leeward side of a point. Top maps are helpful for this. Large grassy areas can also be fantastic. The wind seems to play some role on which areas of a lake will hold them. I think the downwind/leeward sides of a lake will hold them after a couple days of strong winds. My guess is it is pushing food towards them. My last 2 cents, would be to not to give up on an area too soon. Carp spook easier than just about anything. Get to the area and spend at least a 5 minutes being very quiet and still. Just observing. Look for bubbles, silt clouds and sunlight reflecting off their tails. 10AM-3PM is prime time as the sun will allow you to see deeper with polarized lenses.

If there is any interest, I'd be curious on where to find grass carp as they are on my list for this summer.

good info 44; there are some huge grass carp in purtis Creek; originally put there to control the moss, these fish have ate all the vegetation and are grazing every morsel that comes up. They look like big hogs in the shallows; I have found them all over the lake along the banks and in the shallow coves; only thing is I can't get them to bite. I can ease up on them in my yak; place a fly in front of their nose, and they simply refuse; got one to bite on a black gurgler but didn't land it. I've tried dogfood, catfood, fish food, grass cuttings; teensy hooks in the food, made flies from the grass cuttings; they'll eat everything but the fly/hook. I believe some of them will go 40-50 pounds-p-

I came across some of those grassies on Conroe a few weeks back. Crazy stuff.



The commons are certainly headed up on the local lakes as well - from yesterday -

Awesome video! TFO BVK 7 Wt and the Lamson Guru look like an excellent set up! I've got a Konic and now really want the Guru.

Way to go on those fish in Conroe! The Go Pro Hero3 looks good. I have the head mount as well, but the old camera and it has a tough time in the sun. Your video came out great.


My brother has spotted a number over 40 lbs in the small lake at the navy base he is stationed on right now in GA. He watches them wag their tails at him almost every day, but we haven't found any flies they like yet. I've heard a number of people say they don't fight, but these young ones seemed to give a good account of themselves.


I came across a dead one, maybe 30 lbs or so on Benbrook a month or so back. I had fished there for carp quite a bit, but had never noticed any live grass carp. I've seen plenty in Golf Course ponds so I think I know what I'm looking for. Need to hook up with a greens keeper to follow behind one of his mowers. I nailed a big koi in the trinity doing this once, have heard it will bring the grassies into shore as well.

So can grass carp survive in a stock pond? One of my favorites is over run with moss.

I imagine they would survive until the feed runs out. Remember, they are capable (not sure what size, but I guess big) of eating 5 pounds of vegetation a day.

So I need a guppy ( is that what you call a baby grass carp) .

Just a note on grass carp:
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/landwater/water/habitats/private_water/gcarp.phtml
They need to be triploid so that the joint doesn't get overrun with them.

which is what happeded at Purtis; hard to catch bass in a lake void of vegetation-p-