Fly in the South: Lessons in Piscatorial Identification

Not a carp. ^

Well, if I were better at rough fish identification, I would have known that my carp quest is still ongoing. My buddy Wade and I got to slip out this afternoon for some creek fishing. This spot is known to have some carp so I figured we would give it a try. Right off the bat, I caught what I thought was a carp... I mean, it had rubbery lips and bronze scales. I was a little disappointed by how it fought. Then when I got home I did a little googling and quickly realized I had caught a dang redhorse. To be fair, It was a pretty big redhorse and I didn't get a ton of time to look at it because it popped out of my hand after this one pic. Ya ya, I know suckers and carp look different but I got excited ok? The trip was definitely not a totally bust. Wade tore up the suckers and chubs and hooked and lost a good smallmouth. Hooked a ton of little bass and bluegill and one decent kentucky bass. We were fishing over what we thought were a bunch of carp in a deeper hole. After hooking a small sucker and watching all the fish try to engulf the little guy, we realized they were all huge largemouth. By "huge" I mean for a little creek with pretty high fishing pressure. The biggest one might have been four pounds. It was weird to feel disappointed that there was a school of big bass in front of me instead of carp. Dang carp. If I could just land one I think I could go back to more "normal" fish. But until I do, the hunt continues. I have been hitting up a local pond quite a bit lately that has one big common carp and a whole fleet of massive grassies. I have hooked that pesky carp three times and he has come unbuttoned each and every time. Man I think I hate carp... but I just can't leave them alone.