July Means One Thing: Carp Masters Tournament

It was hot today. HOT. 109 degrees to be exact. A record for Nashville. And I, like a fool, sought to satisfy my fly fishing urge in the heat of midday.


I lasted an hour and a half before throwing in the towel. Not a long time, i know, but it was an enjoyable 90 minutes. A drum met me as I stood at my usual perch below the Percy Priest Dam. I didn't even need time to scan the water. It fed at only a rod's length in front of me, and I took the opportunity. Dapping my size 6 olive woolly bugger into Mr. Drum's feeding zone, I was presented with my first catch.



If I had to choose one word to describe my experience below the dam this year, it would be this: lucky. There has not been a day that I haven't left the place with my head held high. Today would continue my success.



Immediately after releasing Mr. Drum, my following cast targeted the "must cast to" spot, and I was rewarded for my faith. Crappie are always in the depths of this dark pool. This one actually let me see it follow my fly before engulfing my woolly bugger into the depths of its mouth. For anyone scoffing at fishing in 109 degree weather, there's your proof. Fish are always around. YOU just have to be around to catch 'em.

If my first catch was Mr. Drum, this would have to be the missus. Pretty...for a Drum. And at this point, I had caught 3 fish within 5 casts, within 5 minutes. Lucky. She took the same woolly bugger as the last two fish - the same exact fly that had led me to my first Caney Fork Grand Slam a day before. Both of the Drum had a particularly oily slime today. Not pleasant, though I did take a moment to appreciate this one's color. Pretty....for a Drum.


After my first string of good luck, I spent the next half hour pretty much doing what I usually do below the Percy Priest Dam. No, not that (locals will get the joke), but I did spook every species of bottom feeder for the whole stretch until shortly before the I-40 bridge. A pool held a group of carp, and I decided to see if my luck would turn for the better. This time it did. I cast to the right one, not looking all that big, and it took a big gulp. I might also mention that I had changed flies at that point, turning to my number one carp pattern of the year, My Pink Thing. That little guy has been catching just as many species of fish as any woolly bugger, though it was intended to be a high visibility carp fly.

This Carpsucker FOUGHT. From the water, it didn't look as big as it really was, nor did its first few minutes of lackadaisical fighting lead me to believe it would end in a battle taking over 20 minutes. I nearly landed it in 10, but it got the first of a handful of second winds and darted back to the other end of the pool. Another 10 minutes later and we were both ready to call it in. And that's exactly what I did after releasing my biggest catch of the day.

After a day like today, I am excited. I am excited because I will be entering my first Carp Masters Tournament at the local fly shop, Fly South. They host it every year for the month of July. I have followed it for the two years I have been practicing this sport, and now feel like I have the confidence to throw my name in the hat. Will you join?