26 Lb. Carp on the Fly

My good friend Alan Hunter took me to a private ranch on the Devils River to do some fishing. It was a great time and we caught lots of small mouth bass, LMB, sunfish, and Rios. At the end of the day we saw a bunch of carp roaming the shallows so we decided to fish for them.

I was using my 5 weight fly rod when I hooked into this 26.2 lb. carp in the kayak. It took me 48 minutes to land it. Every time I tried to bring it to the surface it would make another run. It drug me around and I didn't think it would ever give up. Finally it tired out. I was able to lift it into the yak with a bogo grip.

Alan has an official scale so we weighed it, measured it and released it back into the river. It swam away to be caught another day. I will be submitting it for a Devils River record.

J-moe, great catch! That's a buffalo species BTW.

Fish of a LIFETIME! Congratulations Jamie on your record!





Side Note: I would have loved seeing that fight!

It's a Common Carp!

Look at the mouth. No Barbels. I have to go with buffalo too. Head is the right shape for buffalo. Don't let the color fool you. I have caught buffs that color out of rivers before. Buffs have black eyes as this fish does.

Well, that's interesting. I have set records for both species but I recon I was wrong in this case.

Nice catch Jamie!

Its a Buff though.

With Anglers who know Carp and say it's a buff they may just be right! I still say Carp but I could be wrong! Anyway still a great fish no matter what it is!

Jamie, think it's a smallmouth buffalo like these.

Wow! Nice fish!
It is a Smallmouth Buffalo, but a neat color for one, typically they're more white or grey. You can tell a carp and buffalo apart by the fact that carp have barbels near their mouth, and carp also have a spine on their dorsal fin. Buffalo don't have barbels or a spine. Either way, fantastic catch! Next time if you decide to go after these brutes, hold 'em more like the pic below. They're heavy and holding them by the mouth or gills can hurt or kill them.

Wtg J-Moe! Even more special on the fly

We had a great weekend of fishing. The Devils River is a special place in Texas. I did not catch any big fish on this trip but watching my friend fight this fish made the trip for me. The Texas Fishing Forum is a great place to discuss all aspects of fishing and I have made several good friends because of this site. Congrats to Jamie for his catches this weekend and I look forward to our next trip!!!

Nice fish and Congratulations J-Moe! That is truly a "Catch of a Lifetime"! Great job.




Side Note: One great thing about the TFF is the anglers who post here and the knowledge they have. I would have also identified this fish as a Common Carp. After reading all of the above post I have really learned a lot. Keep up the great work!

Thanks for all the comments guys. I should have known better as I have 2 carp records and a buffalo record. The color really threw me off. All the buffalo I catch in the Yegua are silver and don't have such a long slender body shape. I saw several carp jump clear out of the water and when I saw all these orange colored fish in the water I just assumed they were carp as well. I also knew someone would comment about the may I handled it but I was supporting the weight with my other hand and had no choice but to lift it into the yak with the bogo grips. I'll do better next time. The fish did swim off with no problem.

Either way, it will still be a Devils River record and my 8th big fish award on the fly rod. I also caught a Rio that I will be submitting for a Devils River record. Alan really did a great job of putting me on the fish and gave me all the best spots to fish. It's great to have unselfish friends who take as much joy out of watching others catch trophy fish as they do catching them themselves. Banker-Always is the same way. Thanks Mr. Hunter.

I do not target carp and it was the color that I was looking at also. The shape also played a slight factor. Really learned a lot. Congrats on both weight and catch&release records.

That is so cool! Congrats

good eyes guys .. another tell tell sign is the lack of diamond shape markings but like mentioned the lack of barbels tells it all ... great catch on light gear btw !