Carp on Fly Rod, 5-25-2011

I fly-fished Saylorville Spillway during my lunch hour today.  A couple of different friends had noticed the carp sort of "schooling" in the eddies and along the foam lines at the edge of the current.  They are somewhat frustrating, because the fish appear to be sucking the foam off the surface, and seem very reluctant to take crayfish patterns near the bottom.

I've had an idea for awhile about using a nymph fly pattern set 12" or less beneath a strike indicator.
And this is exactly what I tried today.  I was also breaking in a new rod & reel...a Lamson Konic reel and an Echo Ion 8wt rod.  Both worked great!

Anyway....I'd drift the nymph/indicator rig through the eddy near the visible pods of surfacing carp.  Occasionally I'd get hits and the indicator would jiggle or get pulled underwater, and I'd set the hook.

The first strike I was so excited to land the carp that I put too much pressure on the leader/tippet and broke it.  Lost the fly and the indictor...bummer!

Re-rigged and repeated the drift.  Strike 2 broke the line almost immediately after I set the hook.  Lost the fly and indicator again!  UGH!

Re-rigged and repeated.  Strike 3, fish on...fought...and ...LANDED!  Not an easy task amongst the rocks with no landing net.  Released the fish.

Repeated the drift.  Strike 4, and soon another carp was landed.  Took pictures of this one and released this fish too.

I had to be patient...but this technique definitely worked!  I was setting my nymph at 12" or less beneath the indicator.  I don't know that there is anything magical about that, its just what I was doing because I wanted the fly close to where the visible carp were feeding on the surface.  Maybe you'd get bigger carp at 18" or more?

My gear is in the background of this picture.  I didn't notice the plastic bottle in the rocks there....lots of trash in this area!

 Mouth shot with the fly pattern visible...this one was a #6 Hexagenia Nymph pattern.  I tried 2 other patterns, that were different from this one, and both worked, so I think any nymph will work, but its a good idea to stick with #6 or #8 sizes with a reasonably stout hook.

If you see carp performing this behavior in your local streams, give this technique a try.