Dillo

the rod has put up with a lot already! My first carp will not be my last

I bought a new 5 weight fly rod a couple of weeks ago and I think it came with some mojo. Some noteworthy catches so far include some of my biggest crappies and trout, and my first carp!

I'm considering getting a new fly setup, either 7 or 8 weight. I plan to use it fishing in the Florida keys and on the gulf coast of Florida mostly for bonefish and snook for a couple weeks this summer, and also for carp and bass here in Colorado. Basically I'm looking for a "big fish" freshwater rod that can double as a "not so big fish" saltwater rod. Should I go with a 7 or eight weight rod?

Only caught one fish today, but man it was a beauty.

suckers, and crappie. Ive caught some pretty lame trout, too, but also some amazing fighters, I think that's more of an individual fish sorta thing. Pound for pound, Bluegill are consistently the hardest fighting fish I target.

I think this is a chub but I'm not sure. I caught it in a warm water pond that had bluegill, bass, and crappie.

According to Colorado Parks and Wildlife, the Colorado River cutthroat is the only trout native to this area, so now I'm pretty sure both are that subspecies. every fish other than the bottom one looked like the top one, so maybe the top one was just a little different. Maybe the difference is male vs female?

I hiked to lower Mohawk lake near Breckenridge, CO today and caught a few cutthroats. It is my understanding that these are all wild, native fish. These aren't the best pictures but these two trout are very different. Anyone know what they are?

I was fishing at a local reservoir the other day. I have never caught a fish from this reservoir, but I've seen plenty of carp and trout recently so I brought my fly rod with me while I was trying to kill some time. I found an open sandy beach and waded out about 20 feet and into knee deep water. Carp were swimming under my rod tip, but when i put my brown wooly bugger in front of one (even when I didn't spook it) the fish just ignored it. How can I stack the odds in my favor to catch these fish? I'm looking for tips on flies/ lures, time of day, presentation, and anything else that might help me catch these giants. Also, I was using a 9 foot 5 wt Echo Carbon rod with a Lamson Liquid reel. I feel pretty confident in this setup, especially the reel's drag, but would you feel comfortable catching a mid-sized carp on a 5 weight?

An outdoors store in my neighborhood is going out of business and having some great deals, so I though this would be a good time to jump into fly tying. I don't think they have a great tying section, so I want to know what i need. I'd like to tie flies for trout and bluegill. Are there any essential materials that I should buy? I figured that if i got some thread, dubbing, elk hair, hackle, foam, and beadheads i could tie a lot of different basic flies. Is there anything else that I should have to start tying for these species (I know I need a vice and bobbin and other tools).

they sure are pretty fish, and great fighters! The first fish I caught by myself (no dad to unhook it) was a green sunfish, and I almost had a heart attack watching it smash a spinner from under a rock

there are dozens of cutthroat subspecies

No salt in Colorado, but i'll definitely be going back to Florida!

What did you catch it on?

I planned on fishing brushy rivers from the bank, so I bought a 5 foot ultralight- this is a bad idea! You can get away with a longer rod than you think, and a long rod often comes in handy. A 6 to 7 foot rod would cover a lot of situations.