Yesterday at the local pond across the street I watched in amazement as several big carp were feeding on top. It appeared as though they were eating fresh grass clippings which had collected on the overflow corner of the pond. I was really surprised to see how high out of the water the carp had to stick their noses so that they could sip what they wanted from the top. This was the first time I have seen carp do this but apparently this is somewhat common. I had no idea carp would feed on top like that. Are these standard carp or are these “grass carp”? Or do all carp do this?
I didn’t have my full arsenal of flies with me but I did throw some ant and hopper dries. But to no avail. So what else can I try? I’ve yet to find a grass fly pattern, nor have I been able to dream one up.
Another light bulb went off lastnight…the 5wt ain’t gonna cut it. Time to pull the trigger on the 8wt. Oh well it’s like my boss says “I guess that’s just the cost of doing business…”
I have only heard of grass carp doing this but I cant say for sure. Do a google image search and compare pictures of common carp and grass carp to see what it is your trying to fool.
For a grass imitation maybe a small clump of green or brown deerhair or bucktail to mattch the color of the clippings? Use the heaviest wire hook you can get to float to avoid it being straightened by a big fish.
I have often seen grass crap doing this and have posted it in other threads here.
and there have been recommendations to use the grass flies recommended above or berry flies…of course you could try trolling a bale of hay:rolleyes:…sorry I couldn’t help myself:p
Thanks for the tip, Celltech. I have never had the pleasure of catching a carp on the fly but I have been following some posts elsewhere and would really like to give it a try. Smallies are my favorite, but I would love the challenge of a carp. I have some monsters in my small creek in the park.
Be careful buddy, you might never look at another 10" brook trout the same way. Carp feeding on the top are called cloopers. Here is a specific question that I asked about cloopers on another board that you might find helpful: