Common 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 Common Carp.

35" Common Carp on Fly

Common Carp are found in many of the waters across the USA, from creeks and rivers, to ponds and lakes.  Carp are omnivores, if you can put a fly near them that they think is food, they will eat it, and you can catch them.

It definitely helps tremendously if the water is clear enough for sight-fishing....where you can cast toward an individual or group of fish, and see how they react.  I've caught fish that I didn't see first, but the visible fish are your best and easiest targets.

Common Carp are typically more active in warmer water, but folks catch them during the winter as well, sometimes even under the ice.

Sometimes Carp seem to rest.  Just sitting on the bottom not moving.  In such a situation, they are unlikely to eat a fly, so move on.  When they are actively feeding, an not just swimming from one place to another, that's when you can catch them.

The best place to look for them are in shallow waters near shore, where they will come in to feed.  If you don't spot them right away, also look for mud trails in the water that show a carp may be feeding there, and sometimes they also produce a stream of bubbles when they are  feeding.  Look for any and all signs.

I use a 9' long 6 wt fly rod most of the time.  I've also had my butt handed to me by some larger carp, where a 7wt or 8wt would certainly have helped land the fish more quickly.  These fish are very strong.  They are also smart, so I prefer to use 6 lb or 8 lb test Fluorocarbon tippet.

For fly patterns, beadchain eye nymph-like patterns, such as a John Montana's Hybrid Carp Fly in a size #10 to #6, have been my most consistent producers.  I've caught them other ways as well... from microjigs under an indicator, to woolly buggers.  On occasion a fly moving steadily will take a carp, but the highest percentage game is to use the "drag and drop" technique (cast beyond the fish, then swim the fly shallow in the water until it is nearly over the head of the carp, then let the fly drop down to the bottom, within a foot or so of the fish's mouth).  Carp are used to picking food up off the bottom, so let them.

In cloudy, muddier water, sometimes a fly with a body of a shiny, flashy material, can help the carp spot the fly.  Otherwise, flies of dark, natural colors often work best, although I've caught some on chartreuse as well.

I would guess that egg patterns could also work well.  

Common Carp are challenging, fun, and strong fighters.  I really enjoy catching them on flies. Find some fish near you, and get after them!  Good luck! 

Here's a few pics of Common Carp I've caught while flyfishing:

Full-Scale Carp

Blue Heron Lake, 5-10-2013

On Friday I had the day off work again, so I went fly fishing at Blue Heron Lake in West Des Moines.  I wanted to target short nose gar.  Mark D had tipped me off about gar spawning there a week or two before when we had a very warm day...right before some really cold weather that then shut the fishing down.

Anyway, I got to the lake around 11:30am.  I put on the hip waders I had gotten for Christmas, put on my waist gear bag (big glorified fanny pack), grabbed my fly rod and headed down the trail to the lake.  I hadn't gotten far when I saw a fellow with a fly rod walking towards me.  What would the chances be?  "Mark?" I said.  "Yeah."

I had corresponded with Mark for several years, but we had never before met in person.  This made my whole day!  Mark didn't have to leave right away, so he very kindly offered to walk back to the lake with me and show me some spots where he had been seeing fish lately.  The first spot held plenty of gar, he assured me, but the fish weren't showing themselves yet.  We moved to a second area.  Mark said there were carp spawning there around some shallow flooded weeds.  There wasn't much action there at first, but as we stood and talked, the action picked up.

Turns out it was Bigmouth Buffalo that I saw spawning, but there were a LOT of Common Carp around feeding behind the spawning buffalo, and also feeding in the shallow weeds.  Since gar didn't seem to be active yet, I decided to chase some carp.  They were quite serious about their feeding, and were fairly oblivious to my presence.  Some swam right up to my boots!  After catching a fish or two, I realized I  could just dangle the fly straight down under the rod tip to present to fish that were quite close to me.

I stayed until @ 2:15pm.  In that time I managed to catch 6 carp on flies.  I used a Mr. P's Carp Carrot pattern.  Here's a picture of me hooked up with the first carp of the day.  Mark snapped the picture right before he had to leave.

Here's some pictures of a couple carp I caught.  One measured 25", and the other measured 26".  I didn't measure the others, but one or two might have been a bit bigger.

You can see a large hook in the bottom of this one's gill plate.  I removed the hook before releasing the fish.

I ended up spotting 7 gar in the shallow weeds.  One ate the fly, one I snagged on the outside of the jaw.  Both jumped and threw the hook.  I could have caught more carp.  It was fun, but the wind was picking up, making line control more "work".

On the way out, I almost stepped on this Garter Snake!