Are there multiple species of carp in Lake Natoma?

Hey folks,
I went out today to focus on warm water fishing, on Lake Natoma. I was in a "pocket" on Lake Natoma, with the intention of a bass or carp. I went to a crawdad with only xsmall bead chain eyes, maybe size 6/8? Hook 3x long, 7wt Lamiglass rod given to me by a good friend a few years ago. Sinking line with 30lb mono.

I spotted this bright shiny carp amongst a pod of 10-15 sunbathing at the surface. I've cast into these situations before and no matter what the pod would freak out when the fly hits the water. I made my cast and landed about 16 inches to the side of the shiny fella... A breeze was going, pushing my boat to the bank full of branches so I turned my head to check the drift, while stripping like 6" tugs. Suddenly I locked into a solid object that denied me raising my rod for a check up on what I had just tangle up in....
Suddenly the rod was bouncing so I instantly went tight for a hookset that just stopped the rod.

A gold flash 20' away and hanging at the bottom... I got this feeling I had connected with the target. Before I could even net the fish I just laughed at the possibility of landing the only fish I set my eye on all day. Four runs with my Lamson reel, 80% drag. Pulling my boat across the pocket. By far the heaviest fish I've ever netted by myself. I love this 7wt for it's durability and light weight feel. I didn't bring the carp into my boat as the size was just too much. My best was stretching thin at the hoop, I estimate 7+lbs. I wanted to target this carp because it looked so sharp and colorful amongst the group. Are there multiple species in Lake Natoma or is this a .... Phase, a carp goes through? The fight was great and a flash back to my high school days where I went out at midnight during the week back home in Pennsylvania and toss dough balls for carp at the Point in Pittsburgh. This is by far the cleanest looking carp I've ever held, and my first on the fly.

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I love your post and photo, thanks TW&C.

You are a good writer and that is a nice picture to make it a great post.



I too only fished carp with dough balls in the Sacramento River near my home in south Sacramento.

They are strong fighters but over my lifetime of fishing still warm water it seemed carp had no interest in my flies?


There are some fly fishers in America who have been chasing carp for some time now.

Maybe it is time for more of us to give this a try with a fly?


I think you could easily find dozen of YouTube videos about fly fishing for carp in America.




As I have said before, Lake Natoma is an under fish reservoir.....it has bass, planted Rainbow trout and carp.

In mid-summer at sunset we use to fish the Hex mayfly hatch out there on calm evenings.

Maybe go there at sunset with a good binocular on a calm evening to see if they are coming off still?

I think that someone mentioned that the park does not have favorable hours for fly fishing.

As far as I know, common carp are the only ones out here. They are the only ones I have caught, anyway. The colors run the gamut, from dark bronze to almost white, although they seem to be much more pronounced when you see them in the water vs when you actually land them. There are a lot more carp in Folsom than Natoma, it seems, but I have fished to (and failed to get) some PIGS in a couple of the sloughs on the north side of Natoma (25+ pounds). Congrats on hooking your first carp - they will drive you crazy, but I love those fish.

I was out a couple of weeks ago Bill, and did see a few (very few) hex’s coming off and saw nothing chasing them. They quit planting trout in Natoma probably 15 years ago now, so except for whatever washes over from Folsom, that fishery no longer exists. Still some decent smallmouth and spots, though.

That for the "heads up" on the Hex and Natoma HWC.


Growing up near South Land Park we had some big Gold Fish in the lakes near the Sacramento Zoo.



I wonder if there are any Japanese Koi fish in Natoma? or running wild anywhere?

"Koi or more specifically Nishikigoi, are colored varieties of the Amur carp that are kept for decorative purposes in outdoor Koi ponds or water gardens. Koi is an informal name for the colored variants of C. rubrofuscus kept for ornamental purposes. Wikipedia

There were some massive carp seen all day while I fished the lake. I actually had a very peaceful trip considering it was a Saturday. I arrived and was on the water around 7am, calling it quits around 230pm as the heat was really setting in. The sloughs that I visited were full of sun bathing carp. Spotted plenty of bass but they were always swimming away from the boat and only once did I have a solid bass get flustered spotting my crawdad pattern. Did a bunch of circles around it then charged at the fly..but stopped with his nose almost on the pattern. That pause felt like minutes. I gave it one small twitch and he decided to leave. That was going to be a solid fight if it had taken the fly. Next time. For the carp I was hoping the crawdad pattern I had, looked like a tie I had left on my bench the night before, Carp Crack or something like that, tons of videos on the pattern. The crawdad got me three species of fish on a sinking line during the trip. With the hook bent out its time to whip up some more. Its interesting you mention the variety of color, as when I was leaving I was certain I had spotted a white carp swimming around. Cant wait for the next opportunity to find one, definitely a memorable fish.