I was told about some monster carp at the lake near my house. I went down there and found a few cruising in about 4 ft of water. I could only see them while on the dock they were cruising under. With the leader out of the rod tips but no fly line, I lowered a large bead head Whitlock Fox Squirrel nymph on the bottom. It took me an hour, but when one went over the fly, I wiggled it and it picked it up. It was a smaller one, only about 2 ft long and about 12-15 lbs maybe. There was a larger one that was 3 ft if an inch and had to be 20lbs+. The smaller one took off, and doubled my 9 wt rod over, I tightened up the drag, and proceeded to put pressure on him. I figured I would have to be aggressive or he was going to take my fly across the lake. After about 5 minutes the fly came lose . . . . Whew! . . . What fun . . I am glad I had my 9 wt and not my 4 wt!
I did get a bluegill on the 9 wt. Not much of a fight on 1X tippet! But it was the first fish I have caught on that rod! So it’s been used finally.
Congratulations on your patience! I’m not sure I could lay in waiting for an hour for a fish unless it was a fish of a lifetime or it was all I was going to have for dinner. There are several very large grass carp in the lake I live on, but usually the only thing I see when I’m out in my kayak is a swirl of mud where they were.
Good going! I have yet to catch a carp on a fly. Sounds like a blast. I snagged one once while spin fishing on the war eagle. The spinner caught it on the dorsal fin and it was a real fight to get it in. Osage creek runs below my house and I’ve seen numerous 5+ lb carp in it. I think I’ll give it a try this weekend.
Love that Buglemouth! You really need to let them run. With a mouth as soft as they have, too much pressure will rip out the hook. Don’t be afraid of using your 4wt. Just take your time and let the fish do the fighting for awhile.
Carp are some of the easiest fish to be patient with, primarily because you’re sight fishing for very large fish, you have a lot of confidence.
I fished Lake Michigan recently for about 10 hours, only caught one monster carp, and had a blast. The fish were spawning, so it was near impossible to find one that would eat.
Also, if you were fishing from a dock, I hope you either had a net, or a piece of shoreline you could beach him on (get his momentum going in order to beach him, otherwise he’ll feel the bottom and flop around and take off again).
There is a boat ramp next to the dock. I have “beached” a couple large catfish there on night catfish outings along with a large carp caught on chicken livers while targeting catfish.
Yay!! I have finally found someone else who fishes with livers on occasion!! I thought maybe I needed to go to confession for something! :lol:
nen-bran
PS. Even though I now fly fish, I still bait fish and spin fish. I try to keep well rounded, and fly fishing isn’t huge in southern New Mexico, so it’s practically a tradition to grow up on bait.