Carp Key?

I'm no expert by any measure though I do catch them.

I have noticed many ask about how to catch them and get great advice here but picked up something today that may be really key.

Went out to hunt some Carp this AM and didn't see but one or two strays scattered arouns until it started to rain a nice light rain seemed to bring out pods of them activily feeding near shore.

The kicker was that they were not nearly as spooky under the rain fall, I could easily walk within 5-6 feet of them and simply flip the fly out to them...had two chase and eat the same fly 2x each!

Dummy me hadn't bothered to bring anything greater than 4X tippett and in my early season trigger finger mode...I promptly broke off 2 of them that I did hook and like I said earlier, watched 3-4 simply spit the fly back out.

Next time 0X and wait for the turn and let 'em run...I'll get 'em.

Carp have such soft mouths that a hard hook set isn't really necessary (and 4x is plenty strong enough for most carp). Simply lift up on the rod and the fish will take off, which will be more than enough to get a good hook in them.

I tend to get that itchy finger early in the season....the success rate goes up as I gain patience.

I have done OK with 3X but the 4X was simply snapping when they did that sort of tail push and roll thing they do when they realize there are hooked...great fun nontheless.

That's pretty cool, thanks for the tips! :D

One thing I make sure to do when I'm carp fishing and about to hook up with a fish is to keep a lot of extra line in my left hand. This way, I can let the fish run for a ways before he puts himself on the reel. This keeps from "shocking" the tippet when the fish first realizes he is hooked and makes his first break. It's cut the number of fish that break me off by about 75%.

Also, if you're getting to within 5 or 6 feet (which is how I usually catch my carp), make sure that if possible you have the tip of your fly line past the end of your rod. If conditions don't allow it (if the fish is tight into cover and you need to bring your fly closer to the tip of your rod to control it or it's very windy), at least make sure you have enough loose line in your hand to allow the end of your fly line to get past the end of your rod before the fish gets on the reel.

You are braver than me...line has always been out of the tip...otherwise, I imagine a break would be too real.

Here's a video of me hooking a carp. As you can see, I only have about 18" of line out the end of my rod. Then as soon as I hook the fish, I immediately release the line from my left hand to get my fly line past the end of the rod.

Poke 'Em,

I have always loved that video! Great way to sneak up and catch carp. I should have used that in the flooded timber the past couple of days, instead since I was scouting I poled the boat in and made way too much noise and spooked the buggers.
Great technique, a bit different from the far off approach I usually use.