BIG Asian Carp

A buddy of mine has a pond that is infested with both Asian and Common Carp.  I feel bad for him because he stocked bass, bluegill, and catfish in the pond in the hopes of providing some fun fishing opportunities for his kids and friends.  However, a nearby creek flooded, backed into the pond, and some less desirable fish (at least in his opinion) were introduced into the ecosystem.  The Asian Carp are responsible for consuming large amounts of plankton as they are filter feeders.  The Common Carp consume large amounts of vegetation and muddy up the pond in a way that makes it difficult for other species to survive.  My buddy Pat and I try to eliminate a few of the carp every time we visit but I'm not sure how big of a difference we make by taking one or two fish out every once in a while.

Alright, enough of the doom and gloom, let's look on the bright side.  Common Carp are formidable opponents on a fly rod which is A LOT of fun.  It is possible to catch these carp in this particular pond on leaf flies, pellet flies (which imitate floating fish food that we use to bring these critters to the surface), and Griffith's gnats.  I have caught Common Carp as large as 12 pounds out of this pond on a fly and I am certain there is one that is MUCH larger than that.  As far as the Asian Carp go, they are either Bighead Carp or Silver Carp, I'm not sure which.  I don't think it is possible to catch these fish on a fly because I don't know how anyone could imitate plankton.  However, they can be snagged, gigged, and shot with arrows while bowfishing.  We have only successfully landed two of these fish while snagging but have hooked many more.  Regardless, I guess one man's trash (fish) is another man's treasure.