Pedernales River 5/24

Took a drive out to the Pedernales for a change in scenery and hoping to get away from the Memorial Day crowds that infest the Guadalupe. Other than a few families out and about, I had the river to myself.

There were a bunch of small carp feeding away in the running water.  They were acting like hungry redfish - actually chasing down flies.  Something I've heard about but never been able to witness.  It was quite a sight and great fun.

Who said carp live in ugly places?

Upstream

Saw a whole lotta this

After catching a few small carp I was thinking I made a mistake bringing my 8 wt out here.  On my usual Guadalupe haunt, there are not many carp, but when you do finally see one they average around the 10 pound mark, which makes the 8 wt a perfect match.  Just as I was thinking the 8 was overkill, a darker tail popped up.

Could it be the elusive buffalo?

I edged as close as I dared, and managed an (ugly) cast upstream of the feeding fish. the fly was moving fast on the far side of the fish, which meant he either was going to have to pounce on it or my leader would hit him and he'd spook, crushing my chance.

He pounced.

Buffalo on.

After taking me deep into the backing I was happy the 8 came along with me after all.  The fish would take multiple runs, but get closer to hand after every one...

Closer...

Got him.

Buff defeat.

Release.

Glad to finally scratch that fish off of the list, and looking forward to exploring this river more.


Brandon