I’m thinking of going out after some carp in the near future. Haven’t got a clue as to what to use. The carp I’ve seen gathering in the shallows are four to eight pounds. I think I’ll need a larger wet fly, not a dry, even though I’ve seen them rising. What do I use, crayfish, clousers, woolies, help me out please.Your help would be greatly appreciated.
Short answer, in general, anything buggy looking on the bottom close to their mouth. I’ve caught all mine on a big size 4 nymph with a heavy conehead to get it down. Presentation is way more important than fly choice, its got to be close (withing 18", sometimes withing 6" of their face) without spooking them when it lands.
Use the search feature in the bar across the top of the webpage to search for carp and look for a thread near the bottom of the list started by red diamond, it covers your question pretty well.
Also try browsing carp flies either in google, or on different retailers websites to get some ideas about what other people use.
I’m sure more people will chime in, but that should give you a start.
Best advice I can give is be patient… I spent about a month or better fishing almost every day for carp on the fly before I finally hooked one… Also you need to determine whether or not these fish are spawning or are they cruising and feeding??? If they are spawning they will be much harder to connect with (not impossible just more difficult) fish smaller flies 12-4 really I feel anything more than an inch long is just a waste of material for carp. I’ve taken carp in excess of 15lbs on #12 pretty regular (even though they are big ffish they have a small mouth). Take your time pick your target and hold on tight when you set the hook… they become very unhappy when you hook them.
Steve
This should help. We went pretty in-depth on this topic just a month or so ago.
Thanks for the help. The links provided some great info. As a side note I went smallie fishin last night and was fishing a clouser on some slower deeper water and happened to catch a 14" carp…my first. I think I will call them Iowa Bonefish instead of carp…it just sounds better.
We call them “The Golden Bonefish of the Mud Flats” bbut I like I owa bones as well, they will smoke a reel pretty quick
Steve
And, to toot my horn, you can check out UncommonCarp for all things Carp fly fishing related.
You will run into a few different situations with carp. The first being fish ‘sunning’ themselves. Take a couple casts with an unweighted or lightly weighted fly with a bit of movement and see if you can get a sunner to move. Very difficult.
Spawners. Leave them alone they are more interested in something other than eating
Cruisers. Single or street gangs of fish moving fairly rapidly. If you get your fly in front of their direction of travel, and down to the bottom and twitch, you have a decent chance of one stopping to pick up your bug
Feeders. In full on vacuum mode. Heads down, tails up, mouths opening and closing with puffs of mud or sand etc. These are the high percentage fish. Put something in front and near them give it a couple twitches and hold on.
In streams, it is mostly blind fishing unless you see fish stacking up on flats. In those situations treat them like any other stream fish. Drift nymphs, twitch leeches etc…
But most importantly, have fun!
I just watched a local DVD made by our own carp Guru Sean Mills and I must say that i have a new found respect for carp and will definitely be targeting them from now on. You can get it at the link below.
This is also from him
http://www.break.com/usercontent/2008/9/fly-fishing-for-carp-571089.html
At certain a time of year, in some areas of the country, a fisherman can use a dry fly tied to look like a cottenwood seed. The carp suck the seeds off the surface. This is great fun.
Check out this audio program: best hour and a half program on the web with great detail. You can listen on your IPod or your computer. You don’t have to listen to the whole thing in one sitting either: http://www.askaboutflyfishing.com/speakers/brad/brad.cfm
My best fly for carp is a # 10 Clouser Swimming Nympth.
Carp can be caught when they are feeding. the key is your presentation. I’ve caught carp on dry flies, streamers like woolie buggers, nymphs and even a couple of san juan worms looped together! carp feed in a cone thats about 2 feet long and about 9 inches on either side of their mouth. if you can get your fly in that zone and the carp is feeding you may get the carp to take your fly. another thing to keep in mind is that you need a plan. if you get a carp to take your fly, the carp will run and you will lose. plan so that the fish is doing what you need him to do not the other way around. they are powerful fish that will take ALL of your backing if you are not prepared for their run. i am not ashamed to use 0X tippet when i fish for them. my favorite size hook is #12 or #10. I have used bigger but the profile these flies make are always accepted. always approach a carp area with extreme caution. carp are always on guard. when they are spooked the will flee the area; so walk softly. keep your shadow off the water.
Bill [/IMG]
Carp can be caught when they are feeding. the key is your presentation. I’ve caught carp on dry flies, streamers like woolie buggers, nymphs and even a couple of san juan worms looped together! carp feed in a cone that about 2 feet long and about 9 inches on either side of their mouth. if you can get your fly in that zone and the carp is feeding you may get the carp to take your fly.
another thing to keep in mind is that you need a plan. if you get a carp to take your fly, the carp will run and you will lose. plan so that the fish is doing what you need him to do not the other way around. they are powerful fish that will take ALL of your backing if you are not prepared for their run. i am not ashamed to use 0X tippet when i fish for them. my favorite size hook is #12 or #10. I have used bigger but the profile these flies make are always accepted. always approach a carp area with extreme caution. carp are always on guard. when they are spooked the will flee the area; so walk softly. keep your shadow off the water.
Bill [/IMG]
As Bill said, stealth and a plan are key. Unless the carp are park pond fish that are used to humans (which you can catch on bread flies!) they spook pretty easily. Heading out to likely water without a fly rod and just watching their habits and noting where they like to feed is a great way to get the feel of a piece of water.