Glamour Fish

…well, maybe not. But I was pretty excited all the same. 28" Bigmouth Buffalo, hit a Hybrid carp fly. They are native…and usually nearly impossible to catch since they spend most of their time filter-feeding for plankton. But they will on occasion eat nymphs and whatever else it is they find palatable.

Congratulations. I usually catch a few from a trout tail water every winter. i actually had one this winter that rose up off the bottom right in front of me and took my top fly which was a hot pink san juan worm. they are easiest to catch when you can spot them laying in current. you can drift a nymph past them and set the hook when they roll to take the fly. they fight real well on a trout rig

Great observation! Sounds like maybe they have a fondness for wormy-looking flies! :smiley:

I would add that the buffalo I have caught are i believe are small mouth buffalo. They are deeper in body, have smaller mouths and are not filter feeders like the big mouth buffalo so they are probably easier to catch

I’ve caught a (very) few of those as well. For anyone interested, Smallmouth Buffalo look like this (very similar overall coloration, really):

When I first saw the photos I thought ‘Carp’ but looking up both species, I see there is a difference. While I do not target Carp, I know from catching them that they can fight like crazy. I assume the Buffalo fish do as well?

Larry —sagefisher—

Do you drag and drop fly or suspend fly for buffalo?

This one was feeding on the bottom… I did use the drag and drop.

Nice fish, Looks like lots of fun.

Rick

Very nice sized fish. I’ll bet he put up a good fight, especially if he was in moving water when you caught him.

Jim Smith