My wife and I just returned from a short vacation to NE Missouri and the Dallas area to visit family. While in Missouri I took the opportunity to visit the river where I originally got hooked by the fishing bug, a small tributary of the Mississippi. My intended targets were pre-spawn walleye and white bass, instead I ended up coaxing a 10-12 lb big head carp to inhale a chartreuse & white clouser. I was a bit surprised that the fish grabbed a fly since it's pretty much a filter feeder, but it seemed to be a solid take during a dead drift and the fish was hooked from the inside of its mouth.

After that long winded introduction, I've got two questions. First does anyone know of fly patterns that have been designed to take silver and big head carp? And second, does anyone know of recent work that documents the impact of the population explosion of these two invasive species? As an aside we've noticed a tremendous falloff in the number of spawning walleye & white bass since the appearance of silver and big head carp.

Thanks,

trouting_thomas