Grass Carp

Last week, the Damsels (the North Arkansas Fly Fishers ladies organization), had an outing and invited my wife, Lori to attend so that she could coordinate their involvement with the Outreach Program at this years Federation of Fly Fishers Southern Council Conclave. I thought it was a great idea until I learned that the outing was to be at Dave and Emily Whitlock's home and I was not invited. Worse yet, there was to be a pot luck dinner (I have attended a Damsel pot luck dinner before and the food was fantastic). Everyone was told to come early so they could fish the pond. The email even stated that the pond was loaded with fish.

I was excited. Dave has been my fly fishing idol since I began fly fishing over twenty five years ago. He does it all, teach, write, draw, tie, and of course fish. He is one of the great innovators of our sport. Emily is no slouch either. She is a renowned teacher, lecturer, conservationist and angler in her own right. Lori patiently explained that this was a Damsel outing and the only way I could attend was to dress in drag. I don't look that good in men's clothing let alone women's. Reluctantly I accepted my lot in life. To console myself, I went fishing at Rim Shoals with my cousin Quin. We did well and caught some nice fish.

Meanwhile over at the Whitlock's, Lori was having the time of her life. The outing was a farewell party for Emily (she and Dave are moving to Oklahoma). There was a festive atmosphere and most of the ladies were drinking margaritas and chatting inside. Not Lori. She and a couple of diehards were out at the pond fishing their hearts out. She caught a nice bream on a marabou jig.

About that time, Dave came out. He went to the dock and began tossing out handfuls of fish food on the pond. The surface of the water literally began to boil. Large catfish started to feed voraciously. Dave clipped off Lori's fly and tied on a small fly that matched the fish food. He attached a strike indicator about six inches above the fly. He then instructed her to cast into the maelstrom. She cast and patiently watched the indicator for a couple of minutes. The fly absorbed water and began to slowly sink. All of a sudden, the strike indicator went down like the titanic. She quickly lifted the rod driving the fly deep into the fish's mouth

The fish made a long run bending Lori's rod almost double in the process. She was fishing a Sage six weight rod, a Ross reel with a disc drag, floating line and 4x tippet. This is heavier tackle than Lori usually fishes and during the fight she was wishing for more. The big fish took several runs, but Lori hung with him. She regularly fights large trout on light tackle, but this was something different. The fish was larger and more powerful than anything she had ever hooked. Several Damsels noticed the commotion and walked down to the pond to get in on the action. Some one asked what size tippet she was using. Lori said 4x. They gasped and said that 2x was the norm for the large fish here. Dave said that it was a challenge to land big fish on smaller tippets and besides Lori was doing fine. Finally, after a long struggle, Dave deftly netted the fish. It was a huge Grass Carp. Dave estimated it to be well over nine pounds. It was the largest fish Lori had ever caught. She continued fishing until dark catching a 6 and a 1/2 pound catfish in the process.

When it was all over, Lori thought about how much she enjoyed the outing and how great it was to have someone rig you up and net your fish. Normally she is guiding and does this for other people. To have Dave Whitlock do this was a thrill. She had read several articles about carp fishing but never realized just how exciting it was. Now she understands.