First eight photos by Ethan Beazley
Today was a giant day of fly fishing for me. I expanded my resume of water fished down here in Phoenix, Arizona, I made some new fishing buddies and I added a new species to my list. This memorable day started with Steve Berry and I meeting up with Kris Bare (nick named “Baretrap”) of the Pheasant Tail Fly Fishing Shop and photographer Ethan Beazley.
We fished a canal I’d never fished before. Steve had been a few times. It’s loaded with the challenging common carp and a heap of non-rising grass carp. What’s unique here is that the commons are very catchable. We used a slightly weighted bead-eyed concoction designed by Baretrap. I don’t divulge other anglers’ secrets but the fly is chartreuse in color and rides beautifully with the hook point up, reducing snags. The pattern is similar to an old carp fishing buddy of mine Lance Egan’s Headstand.
As you would expect, anyone with quality carp fishing in their backyard can get it done. It took Baretrap no more than 15 minutes to connect with a hefty common. This fish ran him down the canal over 100 yards. Finally the fish slowed enough to climb down an exit ladder to net him.
Baretrap landed a true specimen of a common carp. To go along with their selectivity, the power of these fish is impressive. They’re also attractive fish with perfect scale patterns throughout and bronze color not found in other species. Their beauty is overlooked by most fly fishers.
Thanks to Baretrap we busted out of the gates fast. As he released his common it ran through my head that we were about to rack up some unusually high numbers of carp in a day. But that wasn’t the case. First of all, when you catch one carp, that carp releases pheromones signaling danger to all others in the area. Furthermore, Baretrap let out the fact that he fished here yesterday and landed eight. Eight is a ton of carp on fly in a day so these intelligent fish were elusive to say the least.
We covered a mile stalking and hoping for another carp from this shallow canal. For more than two hours to be exact. It was a scorching 92° under the Arizona sun. It was Steve who first suggested calling it a morning. He coaxed us all with talk of chicken wings and a cold beer. At the very second those words came out of Steve’s mouth I was stripping Baretraps concoction under the nose of a tailing common. And the largest member of the minnow family ate it!
It was my turn to do battle. This fish ran upstream against the steady current of the canal stealing my entire 5-weight MPX line followed by about 20 feet of backing. I was trotting along trying to shorten the distance between us. The fight was so strong I was worried I snagged the fiery fish. Luckily I did not.
The nice thing about a fish taking you to the cleaners in the first few minutes is that they eventually give up and there’s less havoc at the net. After about a four-minute battle Baretrap made his way down the ladder with is net. It would be a tight fit but we landed our second common of the day.
After the release of my fish the heat felt intense. I glanced at my phone for an updated temperature. It was 94° now. It was time for those wings and beers. We all wanted a place out of the sun, something equivalent to a dark cave. We hit one of Baretraps and Ethans favorites, The Bar, and it was swell!
Ethan and Baretrap went to work after lunch. Steve and I joined up with Mike Faulkinbury and he led is to a small urban lake. Our target would be a new species for me, the Rio Grande cichlid (Herichthys cyanoguttatus).
It wasn’t the cichlids that caught our attention at first like expected. It was more common carp. I was off on my own and ran into one in very shallow water. I nailed him and landed him. Meanwhile, Steve was encountering similar luck. Just as I headed over to he and Mike to tell them my story, Steve was landing his own.
The cichlids were described to us as “would be easy to catch”. I’ve learned in my long life of fishing that any time fishing appears easy, its not. And when someone tells you its going to be easy, it definitely isn’t. Catching these gorgeous little Rio Grande cichlids was a challenge. While Steve and Mike caught quite a few with a nymph under an indicator, I stubbornly kept sight nymphing without an indicator. I’m lucky I didn’t get skunked. It took me at least a couple hours before I got my first. And they are gorgeous little fish. Make that 486 give or take a couple.
I didn’t have a presentation today. Yesterday was my last of the week. Tomorrow will be another fishing day here in Phoenix. We’ll see what Steve has up his sleeve. I’m sure it will be another fun urban adventure.
And remember to check out the podcast I did with April Vokey and her Anchored Podcast last week. You can listen/watch by clicking here.
Rios are beautiful fish.
I am certainly impressed with them Seth. Feeling lucky to have held one now!