Ventured out to Old Mission Point on Grand Traverse Bay this morning. My goal was carp on the fly rod. Thanks to some timely advice by another online fly angler, I was successful.

The water there is extremely shallow, ranging from six inches to waist deep. I encountered carp from the instant I got there until I left. I landed nine carp to (estimate) 25 pounds. I lost three-four others. I used crayfish flies, Wooly Buggers and my worm jig fly. I was told that the schools of spawning carp would have their minds on nature and not feeding. So, as advised, I targetted single cruisers. What worked for me was to cast, let the carp swim up on the fly, then twitch it. That was how I hooked every fish. Head-on shots were almost guaranteed hookups.

I used a 6-weight rod, floating line and 10-foot, 10-pound fluorocarbon leader.

Special thanks to Tim Angeli, who turned my on to these fish, and to Kirk Novak, owner of The Northern Angler in Traverse City.

Tomorrow, I want to start out on carp, then try to tangle with some smallmouth bass.

Carp on the fly was very similar to redfish on the fly. In fact, the carp look a lot like reds in the water. The fight is almost identical (with reds being just a little stronger and heartier).

Fly fishing for carp is everything it's cracked up to be.