Grass Carp on Fly

 ***I haven't shared much regarding techniques for quit a while, my recent posts being more about the fish with which I am so enamored.  I'm going to start sharing more specifically what I've learned for the various species I've caught.

We all know fish in different waters can behave differently and have different preferences.  But I think overall this will give folks who want to try for certain species more info that can hopefully get them started off on the right foot, rather than going blindly.  We can all shorten our personal learning curve by first learning from the experience of others.***

This blog post is about Grass Carp.

Grass Carp on Fly

Grass Carp are not native to the United States, but they have been stocked widely, and in some cases have escaped the closed systems and have established breeding populations, especially throughout the Mississippi River and Missouri River drainages.

They are reasonably common in most rivers within this range, as well as in reservoirs and lakes.

Near my area of St Louis, MO, I tend to catch them during the warmest months of the year.  They seem to feed less and "disappear" once the water temps drop to 55-60F or below.  During the middle of the hot summer is a great time to pursue them with a fly rod.

In my opinion, there is a BIG difference between the triploid stocked Grass Carp in lakes and ponds, and the naturally producing ones in creeks and rivers.  I struggled for YEARS trying the catch the stocked fish on flies...managing about 5 in 10 years of trying.  I had plenty more Grass Carp on the line, but it seemed like they would capitalize on any weakness in my gear or some strange situation would prevent me from landing them.  But even more often, they would not eat anything I cast their way, or they'd spook way before I even saw them.  Frustrating!

Then I moved from central Iowa to Saint Louis, Missouri.  In the creeks around the area, I found naturally reproducing Grass Carp that were very in tune with their surroundings, and very hungry.  I discovered that if they were around, a fly hitting the water with a splat would make them turn and APPROACH the fly to see if it was something edible.  And they'd often hit it!  In 2021, I got after the Grass Carp a fair bit with the fly rod, and caught 167 in one year!  Most in one day was 18, and I caught double-digit numbers during 7 of the outings that year.  To date (January 2024), I've caught a total of over 250 Grass Carp on fly.  Crazy fun!

I feel it helps immensely if the water is clear enough for sight-fishing....where you can present the fly to an individual fish or spot, and see how they react.  But I've caught them in muddier waters, especially if I know they SHOULD be around.  I find them in and just below rapids, as well as near deeper pools.  Often they will be along shore feeding, but ESPECIALLY under overhanging trees.  That's where they will wait for food to drop into the water.  When mulberries are ripe, if you can find trees next to the water dropping fruit in, Grass Carp love that, as do Common Carp and even catfish.

I've caught some on topwater flies, but I've caught most on subsurface flies such as small woolly buggers and nymphs.  But BY FAR the most consistent technique I've tried is to use a 1/64th oz microjig with a #8 or #6 hook (I prefer Waspi Super Jig Heads, because they have a strong hook), tied with greenish Chartreuse chenille bodies with chartreuse marabou tails.  And I change depth as needed, but often fish these about 20" below a Fish Pimp brand Original size strike indicator.  The combination of the jig and the indicator hitting the water, many of the Grass Carp want to see if something good to eat just landed in the water.  I cast near, but not right on top of, visible Grassies, if possible.

I've heard folks claim that Grass Carp don't fight.  That has NOT been my experience at all.  They will fight as hard as I do....meaning, if I try to horse them in, they fight harder.  If I try to ease them in, the are more calm...until they get too close to shore!  Then they freak again! So, in my experience, Grass Carp are very good fighters...you'll LOVE 'em!  I've caught them on 5wt to 9wt rods.   In fact, my biggest one yet was on a 5wt.  That lighter rod probably helped protect my bad tippet.  I've had my butt handed to me using a 6wt... where I was putting as much pressure as I thought I could on the fish without potentially breaking my tippet, but the fish eventually just sort of quite fighting and sat in one spot in the current.  Humiliating!  I kept at it and DID eventually land that fish.  And it happened again where I felt totally undergunned, so I feel a 7wt or even an 8wt is probably the best wt rod for these Grass Carp.  I use a weight forward floating line, and tippet should be 12 lb Fluorocarbon. You can go lighter if the fish seem to be leader shy.  Sometimes they are, sometimes they aren't.  I VERY MUCH recommend using a landing net for Grass Carp, it can shorten a battle considerably.

Its not often a fly angler can pursue fish that frequently exceed 10 lbs (28"-30", as seen in the table below), and I feel learning how to fight and land big fish is a very useful skill when pursuing these and other bigger gamefish. Practice it! :) 

Grass Carp are very challenging and fun, a decent-sized one will impress you with it's strength!  I really enjoy catching them on flies.  Do some research, find some fish near you, and get after them!  Good luck! 

When you catch some, if you want to know what they should weigh, based on length and whether its a lake or stream fish.... here's a handy spreadsheet I created.  The formula for the lake fish (typically heavier) is shown at the top.  If you catch a Grass Carp longer than 42", you can use that formula to calculate the estimated weight.

Here's some pics of Grass Carp I've caught while flyfishing:

My biggest Grass Carp to date... 41.5", calc'd weight of 35 lbs.  On a 5wt with scuffed up 8 lb mono tippet!

The sour-puss face is due to a very hot day and overheating.