Hey guys,

I went to Lake Grapevine yesterday and cough 2 buffalo carps on corn - one probably around 10 pounds and second one close to 20 I would say. Battery died on my scale so couldn't weight it but it was heavy and fat lol. Since this is the first time I cough buffalo carp, I have a question. When I was carp fishing in NJ, you either have to open the drag or you will lose your fishing rod when carp hits - they take the bait and run. These buffalo carps, even thought they were big, didn't do that. I actually thought a very small catfish was hitting my corn, just pulling it very gently and when I pulled the carp out, he already swallowed the hook and I had to cut the line lol. Maybe Texas carps are different or maybe it's still winter and they are slow and lazy? lol


Thanks.

Carp almost always run, but Buffalo are different, and that's why it pays to perhap start using "bite indicators" to let you know what the fish is doing. Buffalo will indeed run at times, but more than often they will pick up the bait, spit it out, over and over, pick it up, move towards you, stop, move again, stop, move away from you, repeat over and over, etc, etc. Yep...very similar to a small catfish. The trick is, when you see this happening, that's when you set the hook or pick up your line and let the hair rig do it's job. Timing the hook set is critical when Buffalo fishing. And this is the behavior they use at Grapevine almost every time I fish for them there.

edit: Nice fish btw!

Buffs are pretty lackadaisical in fight usually, they like to sit there and pick up and drop your bait several times before they actually eat it, and when they do they don't seem to really run or anything, just either come toward you or move off in another direction slowly. The odd one will fight but for the most part they don't, it's not what you call easy to pull some of the larger ones in though when they are so damn big lol.

Nice buff! No one's really been going to G Vine lately since the water's been so low, although we're having a WCC North Texas fish in there this weekend if you're in the area. Lakeview Park, 7am to 7pm

One thing before guys jump on you for it, try to avoid holding them with fingers in the gills, it can damage the fish. Dunno if you have any fish care stuff at the moment but a good fish safe net and a cheap unhooking mat is a good investment to keep the fish from getting banged up on the ground. It's especially important at rocky lakes like Grapevine where they can rip scales off and bloody themselves up if there's nothing down there to prevent it.

Thank you for great advice guys - I will surely be careful and invest in some fish care stuff. I didn't mean to hurt the fish, especially since I am not keeping them, but it was bleeding already when I pulled it out, possibly do to the hook stuck in there somewhere.

Try to make it to the event if you're in the area, we'll get you going in the right direction and you'll get the chance to learn more than you ever thought was possible to learn about carp fishing in only a couple hours of bank time with some of us. Check us out on Facebook if you're on there, Wild Carp Club of North Texas group

Thanks man - I will try to make it. Is it on Saturday or Sunday?

Saturday, sorry forgot that part lol

Nice Fish! Good job.

Some articles on Carp Care:
http://texaseliteangler.com/category/carp-care/

Includes info on landing nets, unhooking mats, holding and posing with carp.

Differences between Carp and Buffalo:
http://texaseliteangler.com/2014/01/19/vampires-unicorns-and-buffalo-carp/

Thanks - unfortunitely I will not be able to make it Saturday but good luck. Is there any other type of carp at Grapevine, or just buffalo?

Grapevine is great for smallmouth buffalo, but it also has alot of common carp and a few mirror carp too.

Awesome - thank you.

Any other good lakes in the area with bank access for big carp?

Buffalo are not Carp btw. Actually, in the DFW area metroplex, you can find Carp (and limited Buffalo) in just about any section of the Trinity / Brazos river system. Google Earth is great find new locations to fish.

White Rock is good, may even catch a Koi there. Plus the added bonus of eye candy running around.

Haven't found a good spot on Lewisville for carp yet.

Lake Worth has some big chunks in it, but its been a bit off since they started dredging it.

Grapevine is probably your best bet. Decent fishery for carp and buffalo.