Fishing Northern Colorado: Ditch carping

I have been fishing small creeks and ditched around town for quite some time now. I have found that they are great for chub fishing, but I always had a suspicion that there were other fish in there. Last fall, I got 2 new species, a little largemouth and a pure bluegill. , I didn't think much of it, and went on with my chub fishing throughout the winter. I fished it up until runoff started, and then left it be. But when runoff should have started to die down, it kept going. it went on for almost 3 months, and I had given up on fishing it this summer. I decided to hit it in early September, and immediately saw changes. I was rigged up with a hopper dropper for chub, but something immediately caught my eye... a tail up on the far side of the pool. I bushwhacked my way back through the brush to get to that fish, and that was the start of my downhill slide into ditch carping madness.

I unfortunately spooked that fish, and through that that was my only chance. I made a half-hearted throw into a secondary current seam, and let my fly drift along. I gave it a short strip, and felt weight back. I set back, expecting a snag, but the rid went right back down. The fish was only like 16in, but it was a start.

Cut to a week or so later, and I was out there again with carp on the mind. I was drifting a hybrid under an indicator in the main current, making cast after cast. after about a half hour, the indicator went under, and I set back, only to get smashed! The fish definitely had more weight to it, and considering that I had a light 5wt to fight him with, I was a little concerned. Well after a heck of a fight, he finally got close enough to be netted. It was a solid 24+in fish, and I was ecstatic!

I tried again a few days later, but unfortunately, the creek was blown out, so we went elsewhere. I went out Monday, and hooked up right off the bat. Unfortunately, He flopped out of my net right at the shore. I went out again yesterday, and hooked up 3rd cast. I saw the fish roll on its side, and swung. Well it turns out that half of his mouth was gone!