almost 30 inches long and fatter than it looks
Nice! What fly did it take? I’m going to give carp on the fly a serious try this year.
Sweeettt!
That beast must of given one heck of a tug on your fly rod!
Lets see the secret fly of yours.
Chris
Phew, a nice fight with that one, I bet.
Bill, congrats on a super nice fish. She looks heavy indeed. I chase the carp pretty seriously with a fly rod and have caught carp on the fly in most months of the year even in Wis. The big secret is location. Find the fish before you even wet a line is the key for me. Congrats on a very nice fish. You made me jealous.
I do have to comment on the fish gripper. If you are going to eat or harvest the fish then it doesn’t matter. If you want to release the fish the grippers are made for toothy critters and the tool will damage the soft tissue of the carp’s mouth.
Again there are many carp in the world and if you want to take some fish to use, I have no issue with that. But if you want to release the fish, the Boga style or other fish grippers are to be avoided. Check out this discussion: http://www.carpanglersgroup.com/forum/index.php?/topic/55150-carp-care-needed/
Very nice fish!
Congratulations, Bill! That’s a real FATTY carp!! 
As (luck?) would have it, my usual lunchtime pond was hosting another angler, and I decided to let them have it (the pond). I went to another pond I seldom visit. And I got MY first carp of the year today too! This one hit a slow-retrieved #8 black mohair leech.
Nice ones @Bill-B’klyn and @FishnDave!
Dave, looks fantastic. Did the fish come out of a shallow water area that is warming up faster than the surrounding waters? I hate to admit it but I’m still playing with my taxes instead of fishing this weekend, but as soon as I get this behind me, I’ll be on the water. You guys are making me seriously jealous that I am missing out on the early action. Again, congrats on a very nice fish. I equate carp fishing with “The Drug, is the Tug”
Yes, the carp were/are in the shallows around here now. Even the Grass Carp were shallow yesterday…like in 18" of water. I still couldn’t catch one. ;o)
You’re grass carp pursuit, is like my buffalo pursuit. Crazy hard to get them to eat. I’ve caught about a half dozen Buffs on the fly, but they are an exercise in frustration. I cast and cast to them and they just ignore most of my offerings. A pink chenille short SJ worm has been successful in the past but just haven’t turned a fish in a while now on that fly for the buffalo. They say that they don’t eat any meat like the grass carp, but we both know that they will eat, SOMETIMES.
Well you are giving me hope that when I get out later this week, I might have some success. Just have to get my crazy taxes done first TODAY. OK, off the boards and back to taxes.
Clay, (and I apologize for this thread getting hijacked!), are you trying to target Bigmouth Buffalo, Smallmouth Buffalo, or both?
I’ve caught both on flies, but not many of either. There’s a guy I follow on Instagram that seems to catch Smallmouth Buffalo with regularity on flies. His fly pattern of choice is something like the following:
Beadchain eyes to get the hook point to ride up, a brown-ish Woolly Bugger body (shorter than normal hackle), and a tan ultra chenille tail. Or, basically something like John (Bartlett) Montana’s Hybrid carp fly, except the color of the tail. Also, the length of the tail appeared to be longer than you’d normally do for a Hybrid.
I was out yesterday catching a few crappies and small bass with the 4wt when I saw a pretty good sized carp nosing along the shore. I was a little nervous about him on the 4 but I figured what the heck, just take it easy and you should be OK. I had a black wooly bugger on and a dropped it and pulled it right in front of his nose. He turned on it and I thought he took it and I set too soon; he turned away at the last second and darned if I didn’t foul hook him. He ran but I got him stopped and was just trying to get him back close enough to cut the leader when the hook pulled loose. So I guess I SORTA hooked my first carp of the year!
I have been catching carp for a long time. The reason I used this this hard plastic grip is that it does not tear the fish’s mouth when used correctly. I only apply the grip to a very small area in the front. I will not apply the grip any place else. Incidentally, this fish was was actually netted. I used the grip for the photo only.
This is a kind of " pop up" the fake corn does not lay on the bottom but floats about 2 inches above the muck at the bottom of the lake. I am an urban fly fisher.
I used a 7 wt fly rod ( 6’ 10 " Fenwick fiberglass fly rod)
nice looking carp!