The peacock bass and oscars were sure a lot of fun this year…but I must say the fish that has me in high anticipation for next season’s fly-fishing is carp! Those fish are awesome fun on flies!
The fly that worked best for me was a #8 or #6 hex-nymph fly. But I keep looking for additional flies to add to my carp arsenal. The Carp Fly Swap this past summer was really fun to participate in.
One fly that has me intrigued is the Rainy’s Carp Bread Crumb Fly. Except…I don’t wanna buy one, I wanna TIE one. But the pictures on their website are so crumby (pun intended), I can’t tell what the thing really looks like, much less what I need to use (or substitute) to tie it.
Does anyone have a recipe for that…or have one in their possession they could take a good picture of? I know there’s a number of other bread flies out there, and I’ll probably try/tie several of them as well.
Also, here is the page for my fly shop’s Carp selection. My favorite is the Lil Bugger Beadhead. You can tie them in all black, all white and all olive, but the 2-tone brown seems to work the best.
My best carp fly is the Clouser Swimming Nympth. It looks like there are a couple of ways to do the Bread Crumb. One way might be to just spin a wad of white deer hair (or tan, for whole wheat…LOL) on a suitable hook, and trim it to size and shape. Another way might be to wrap several layers of white dubbing on the hook until you get the size and shape you want, then whip finish. And, here’s my take on it… go to Hobby Lobby and buy a bag of white Pom-Poms in the size you want. Then, just put some Zap-A-Gap on the hook shank, thread the Pom-Pom on the hook, and trim to shape. Another way would be to get some Glo-Bug (white) yarn, and just make a mis-happen shaped Glo-Bug.
I do want to tie up some of the Clouser Swimming Nymphs, too. I usually swim nymphs for carp, rather than drag them along the bottom. But a lot of what I read leads me to believe these usually work best on the bottom, dragged. Maybe its just that I can detect the strikes better if the fly is moving…it helps me keep slack out of my line at least.
About the “pom poms”… My kids have a bag of these in different sizes/colors for making whatever it is kids like to make with these things (my son just usually glues big doll eyes on them). From the larger of these fluff balls, I’ve pulled small clumps of strands to use for tail materials on bluegill foam poppers.
I haven’t fished with just the pom poms on a hook. Do they float, or do they eventually sink? That might work either way…
I’m wondering if the “Rainy’s Bread Crumb Fly” might be made from Fuzzy Foam? I don’t have brown, but not white. Maybe I could overlay the brown on something white…like those pom poms, maybe. But really, I don’t think the brown is all that important, except to the fishermen. :rolleyes:
I tie Glo-Bugs and Spiders with Pom-Poms. They will sink veerrryy sloooowwwly, just like a real spider would. Probably just like a real bread crumb would.
Speaking of carp flies…I finally found some of the “mallard” colored Bernat Boa Yarn that is used in Sister Carol’s Grass Carp Fly. Its no longer manufactured, and just about impossible to find. I’ve been looking for it for about a year now. Anyway, now I have plenty, since the seller I found sold in lots of 10 balls of yarn! :rolleyes:
I have to chuckle when I think of my poor wife…whose husband buys yarn and fingernail polish!
Dave,
Do you have a picture of that yarn? I was in Hobby Lobby & Michael’s this weekend and saw a lot of different yarns some of which looked like they might have potential for grass carp flies.
It is a fuzzy foam. Piece of cake (or should I say Bread) fly. Cut it like a slice of bread, but you need fuzzy foam. You can order it through Rainy’s:
Here is my favorite carp fly ( along with the HEX)
Thanks for the pictures, FlyGoddess!
How do you suppose one can keep the furry foam from spinning around the hookshank? Will glue hold it good enough?
Also, what kind of feather do you use for the white hackle on your popcorn fly? Hen saddle? I tried one last night with marabou, and it didn’t turn out well… :rolleyes:
That’s it for hackle, but even marabou.
I tried the sparkle Chenille also and wasn’t happy, so I bought Yellow Sparkle Dubbing and made a dubbing loop. The thread is smaller than the string on chenille and I was able to get a tighter wrap.
As far as the bread fly…lay down a layer of thread then Zap-A-Gap…it will stay.
One other fly I was turned on to this year, that was killer, is this little Crawfish.
I really don’t know who made it, it could be Rainy.
It is on like a #10 or a #12 Streamer hook so not real big.
The claws are close cell foam and attached with two strands of LEG material.
Pretty cool fly, I wish I could get a real good shot of it, but I am no photographer.
Here are some however:
Its the stuff in this picture that I “borrowed” from Sister Carol’s Grass Carp Fly pattern discription that is on another website:
Thanks for posting the picture FishnDave. Now to find some hairy yarn with that combination of greens, browns, yellows and other colors. There should be something…
Cost was $4.49 each ball. I ordered two which with shipping ($7.50) was $16.48. Their service was exceptional and very fast. Great people to deal with.
Two balls of this stuff will last a LONG time and make alot of flies.
Good to know, I’ll have to check into that. I’ve got 5 colors currently, but there are a couple other colors I would like to have.
Rick Z’s Boa Yarn Leeches caught a lot of bluegills for me this past year!