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

August 13, 2022

 Flyfished an urban creek on Saturday.  Caught 8 species, only 14 fish.

 Caught 4 Grass Carp, 2 Common Carp, 1 Shortnose Gar, 1 Largemouth Bass, 2 Bluegills, 2 Green Sunfish, 1 White Bass, 1 Hybrid Sunfish.

Early May 2018

Early May has been (mostly) warm, occasionally cool, some light rain every few days....more of a typical "Spring" that we had heretofore been lacking this year.

Bass started guarding beds in most of the local ponds by May 5.  That shut the bass bite down considerably for me, but some have still been caught.

Bluegills have been pretty active...not quite nesting yet.
I did catch this dandy 9.25" Pumpkinseed Sunfish:

Pumpkinseed Sunfish, 9.25"

Crappies have been hitting well, with the males now seemingly guarding nests (I haven't seen them on nests, but they are hitting really close to shore, so I assume this is what is happening).

I finally caught my first flyrod Channel Catfish of the year, 19":

I caught the catfish while flyfishing for carp.  They are SO MUCH FUN!  The biggest one recently has been this 28.5-incher:

And some other ones in the 25-27.5" range (one fatty was only 23.5", but made up for it in GIRTH) ;o)

All the carp and the catfish were caught on Hybrid Carp Fly pattern variations:

Overall, the fishing has been fun...fairly steady....nothing "lights out amazing".  I'll take it!

First part of April

The first part of April 2018 was unusually and unseasonably cold.  We had snows, some ponds even partially iced over as late as April 17th!  The pond ice had initially melted off the ponds back just prior to March 3rd!  Lots of days with highs in the 30's and low 40's.  Water temps have been hovering around the upper 30's to low 40's F...compared to last year's water temps of 58 degrees by this time.  So....we've had about 6 weeks of NOT SPRING-LIKE WEATHER!

Now, as of April 19, the extended forecast is filled entirely with hi temps in the upper 50's to mid 60's F.  FINALLY...SPRING!!!!!

But, if there's open water and temperatures above freezing, I am likely to go flyfishing.  As the previous blog entry showed, some decent fish have been caught.  The rest of the fishing highlights from this prolonged cold spell are shown below:

Crappies have usually been hitting well.

13" Crappie...this is the biggest of the year so far.

Some nice bluegills have been caught, although I usually catch so many bluegills I almost never take pictures of them anymore.
This one might be the biggest so far, at 9.25"...I know that might not sound big, but around my area from public waters...anything over 8" is a nice bluegill.

Since my last blog entry, I've only caught one Pumpkinseed Sunfish:

And one Hybrid Sunfish:

I've caught some bass.  No recent ones over 18", but a close one at 17.75":

I don't recall if I measured this one:

These two measured 16" and 16.5", and were caught when it was 37 degrees, drizzling, with an 18mph wind:

The 33" Common Carp in the previous blog entry was my first carp of the year.  Since then, I've landed 3 more....all 3 from a pond where I've NEVER caught carp before, even though I've known they were in there, and I've tried for them.  So far this year, all 4 carp were caught while flyfishing for crappies and bluegills...I wasn't actually targeting the carp, and in fact I didn't even see them before they hit.  So....that's kinda like getting hit by lightning 4 times within a month!  Crazy!
After the 33-incher (from the previous blog entry), the next one (from a different pond) measured 31":

And the next one measured just 25.5" but had an 18.5" girth....so I used the "length x girth x girth / 800" formula to come up with a weight of 10.9 lbs on this one below:

And the next one was really cool too...certainly not because it was big...but because it was a MIRROR CARP!  I think this is my first Mirror Carp on a fly:
(this picture is just two pictures combined of the same fish, of course)

Mirror Carp on a fly, this cute little guy measured just @17".

So....fishing has been mostly decent, despite this long, cold early season.  Its about to heat up...probably rather quickly.  I look forward to seeing how that affects the fishing.