Carp On A Fly

[billynwtf]

Just wondering if anyone fishes for carp? I have been reading alot about it lately. Since I cant always get to favorite trouit river this might be something I could do around here. There plenty of the big gold fish around here. Any advice on flies? I have a 8-weight rod I use for bass guess I could turn it into a carp rod.

[flyfisheranonymous]

Just wondering if anyone fishes for carp? I have been reading alot about it lately. Since I cant always get to favorite trouit river this might be something I could do around here. There plenty of the big gold fish around here. Any advice on flies? I have a 8-weight rod I use for bass guess I could turn it into a carp rod.

An 8 weight should do fine if you have enough backing. I would suggest at least 100 yards if not more. As for flies the best thing you can do is some investigating around the body of water you are fishing. Up here we use small baitfish patterns, leeches, crawfish, and mayfly nymphs. All will catch Carp. At certain times of the year they will eat grass, cottonwood fluff and elm seeds. Just have to present the right fly. This could be you.

[OKFlyFisher44]

I tried "carping" for the 1st time a few weeks back and it was a lot of fun. Honestly, I only caught 1 small carp (16 inches) but it was just fun because its a big challenge. We fished a small creek earlier in the day by walking up high on the bank till we spotted a fish and then we'd try to "stalk" them by getting as close as we could to make an accurate cast. It was tough to say the least...but very fun. They are very spooky. I also ended up catching a few drum in the 2-3 lb range which was a blast....

Next we fished some shallow weed beds at a large farm pond....it was over-cast and raining so it was very tough to spot fish but we did get to cast to a few fish but they were very picky. I think if the weather had been better where we could see the fish better....we'd had more success. Most of the time, we spooked fish before we even saw them because of the over-cast skies. It was still a lot of fun....

I'm fishing a 9' TFO 7-weight....works good for bass and carp.

[billynwtf]

Thanks for the information I think I will go try to catch a few when this weather blows out of here. I have the book carp on a fly I bought last nite at the book store kinda got me fired up. Sorry about my sloppy first post it was 4 something in the morning and my coffee had not kicked in yet. You know one eye open and the other one closed. Keep a tight line.

[billynwtf]

Went out today in search of a big carp. When I got to my local lake I didnt see any feeding fish so I just fished blind. I finally drove around to the other side and right at the boat ramp there were feeding carp. I tied on a crawfish carp fly from I think Bass Pro shops anyway and made my first cast to them. Spooked everything in the hole. Alittle later I could see one right next to the bank with his back out of the water feeding. This time I stalked up the bank and made a cast . I noticed a little bump and as I lifted up on the rod the whole lake exploded. I had him but a whole 3or 4 seconds and he threw the fly. Well anyway I will try it again in the morning.

[SteveP]

Hope you did well this morning. Make sure when you set that hook on a carp you really drive it home hard as they have a very tough mouth. Sounds like you have at least the right idea so keep at it and let us know how it goes.

Steve

[billynwtf]

No luck today. Darn things are hard to sneak up on. I cant wade because the bottom is very soft. You would sink up to your knees or better. Will try again in the morning.

[flyfisheranonymous]

Don't give up keep on them and you will get one.

[Grant Miller]

My only carping experience was in a clear pool in a lake spillway. The carp would spook and head for deeper water, but would always come back to cruise the shallows for food. After I spooked the fish casting and figured out their pattern, I cast my fly in the shallows and waited for them to come back.( 3 - 5 min) As the carp got within a few feet of my fly, I gently twitched it. It got their attention and I was able to hook up. I used this same procedure on several fish until it got dark. One key issue here is that the fish really had no place to go. I'm thinking that they would have been long gone if they could have escaped the pool. Any way, fun stuff!!