Almost Time!

[tjbassmaster]

Only a few more weeks and the suckers and carp will be running. Can wait to get the long rods out and catch some big fish!

[DEADhead]

I wish it was only a few more weeks around here, more like at least another month.... have fun slayin em while we await a thaw up north.

[TonyKay]

Im excited for this as well. Ive never tried fishing these before but im def going to bust out the ultra light this year. Do u guy mostly fish these guys witg worms? I have to find a stream in the metro that holds these fish. I got the open water bug bad thia year and im excited to try somthing new.

[OnAFly]

I'll be out on my Carp lake waiting at the culvert, new fly rod in hand. Hopefully they haven't learned anything since last year

[DEADhead]

Tony, crawlers will work fine on suckers. I know a few of us guys on here target them with a fly rod. Sometimes fishing a nymph with a fly rod can be the most effective way to catch them, especially when they are stacked up tight. It can be a challenge not to foul hook them, especially with conventional tackle.

[Gordie]

looking forward to hooking into some of the monster Redhore angin this year. wont be long

[itchmesir]

Really? Redhorse and carp start to run after thaw? down on the root you don't see a huge run til late april early may

[SalmonSlayer]

What weight fly rod to guys use? I usually don't dust off the fly rod until the sunnies start spawning, but this sounds like fun. Any suggestions on flies?

[OnAFly]

San Juan Worms, hares ear soft hackle. These are the two I use the most.

I fish pretty shallow water, so I don't weight mine too heavily or it tends to spook them. I prefer to use a brass beadhead and no lead for a softer presentation.

Last year I used a 6wt exclusively, this year I've got a 7 that I'll be trying out. If it's not soft enough, I'll go back to the 6. It's able to handle the fish, though I'm not horsing them around by any means. It's kind of like when you hook into a huge pike while walleye fishing. You just hang on for the ride.

[DEADhead]

a 4, 5, or 6 weight rod will work fine for sporing sucker fishing. I like prince nymphs, pheasant tail nymphs, or other simple nymph patterns. I bring a couple of different weighted flies depending on where the fish are holding. In shallow water, light flies are key, but I seem to find fish stacked up near fast water, trying to make their way past an upstream barrier. Sometimes you need some heavily weighted flies to get them to hang in the zone. Not much casting for this style of fishing, mainly just fishing with the leader out and dapping your fly through runs.

@itchmesir: portions of the root will take longer to warm up due to the groundwater influence on many runs. a lot of little creeks up north will have runs of fish earlier due to water coming out of shallow dark bottomed bogs, as the water tends to warm up faster than a spring creek. Water temp is critical to get fish moving....

[MN BassFisher]

I have a 7 wt fly rod that I've been itching to get out and toss! This sounds right up my alley! Now I just have to find a destination!

[TonyKay]

are we talking low 40s for water temps? i have a few spots in mind that are already starting to open up down in the south metro.

[Gordie]

Really? Redhorse and carp start to run after thaw? down on the root you don't see a huge run til late april early may

we got these and many other the last week in march not sure what the water temp was but the fish were there

[roughfish29]

drool....... nice greater elwood!

can't wait until those guys start running

[TonyKay]

Hey roughfish i pmed u

[itchmesir]

my favorite of them all...

[panfishpounder00]

gettin closer! cant wait! starting to just dust off the fly rods now..... but still on the hardwater kick!!! may have to thnk about doin both in the same weekend within the next few weeks! ahhh, i see the "honey-do" list gettin longer already! lol!

[StillwaterAaron]

Not almost time it is only a question of species and location.

Last week with my kid.

[carpmanjake]

yesterday...

first carp of 2010

white suckers

it was quite entertaining how hamy looks i was getting fishing in a like a 30 foot strech of open water lmao. a guy even stopped and laughed saying i wasnt going to catch anything, and right when he said that, i hooked into the biggest white sucker of the day! ( first white sucker pic)

also had a bit of fun watching walleyes!

[tjbassmaster]

Nice work Jake! What were you using as bait? There are alot of areas like that around here and I would like to give it a try.

[TonyKay]

nice fish i gotta get out in this nice weather we are going to be having

[OnAFly]

Great pics!

[carpmanjake]

i was using a tiny 1/100th oz jig, with a little atom wedgie. i love using plastics for early spring carp/ sucker!

[Gordie]

great stuff jake and great pics off the rough fish also

[TonyKay]

Do i guys have any recomendations for spots around the metro. Id like to start getting after. Thrsr guys soon.