I was probably lucky to catch ANY of those fish this year. Water clarity was such that I could usually not see the fish, or if I saw the fish, I couldn't see the fly. In short, I had to watch my line to detect strikes, which invariably came while slowly swimming the fly.

I've read a lot about watching the carp's behavior to help detect the strikes, but was never able to use those methods.

And...I plan to try targeting fish in the river this year. My carp this year were all reservoir/pond fish, although there was usually current nearby.