The Mulberry Hatch

[dc410]

The mulberry trees are all pretty much loaded with berries but they are almost all still small, unripened and green on the trees. I was fortunate enough this morning to find a mulberry tree that was producing red fruit already and there was enough of a breeze that some of them were dropping into the water. A decent size pod of carp were set up around the tree and holding just under the surface and working the top eating the berries. Having never caught a carp on top before, I couldn't wait to try out my deer hair mulberry fly that I tied up last winter. I dropped the mulberry fly in the area of a few feeding carp and one immediately turned toward the fly. He very slowly came up right under the fly and even more sloooowly opened his mouth and started to suck it in! I couldn't take it anymore, I promptly set the hook before he had it the whole way in and very effectively yanked it right out of his mouth. Every day is learning process. As I was waiting for things to calm down and thought about what just happened, it all made perfect sense. There is no need for a carp to aggressively take one of these flies like a trout would go after a skittering caddisfly. IT'S A FREAKIN' MULBERRY! It isn't going anywhere. The next cast placed my fly right between two carp and they actually got into a scrap while trying to get to my fly. After all the tail slaps and head butts the larger fish won out and sucked in my fly. It was my first carp on top and my first on a mulberry fly and it was a blast. The next couple weeks should be a lot of fun.

 

[poopdeck]

I guess mulberries are not known for their elusiveness. Great report. I'm gonna have to find a mulberry tree somewhere because I have yet to catch a carp, try as I might, on my fly rod. It's maddening when they are all congregated and simply will not eat what I'm offering.

 

[BrookieChaser]

Congrats, dc!

Poopdeck, it sounds like you're casting to suspended carp.

 

[GenCon]

Very cool John. Congrats on the catch!

GenCon

 

[dc410]

Thanks, guys.

Poopdeck - the last few seasons have been a bit frustrating as well for me. I've seen a lot of surfacing carp and many times could not figure out what they were taking. Anything I threw at them were flat out ignored. But, if there are carp in the water and a fruiting mulberry tree overhanging the water - they will find it. When you find some carp actively feeding on dropping mulberries there is no doubt about what is happening. A well placed mulberry fly in the area will more than likely put you into a fish. Also don't try to make that classic dry fly type of delicate presentation. Present it like you would a hopper or a beetle. That telltale "plop" is the dinnerbell for carp. Good luck, I hope you get into one this summer.

 

[wgmiller]

Can you post up a pic of the fly you tied? I saw the one NickR did and am curious what other people are using. What's your terminal setup?

 

[dc410]

Geo,

I have attached a photo of the deer hair mulberry fly that I tied still on my drying patch from yesterday. I also saw the one that Nick tied and that fly is incredibly realistic. This fly is simply red and purple deer body hair mixed and spun and clipped to shape. Size 10 standard dry fly hook and a piece of green rubber leg material for the stem. This is a weird combination, but I do remember putting about 8 wraps of .015 lead wire on first. The concept was to float the fly low in the film with the lead adding to the ability to get the "plop" on the delivery. Yesterday was the first time that I ever fished it and I have to say that I was very pleased with how it fished. Good luck! Keep in touch.

Oh yeah, my terminal set up is pretty heavy. I use 1X for my tippet material. I like to be able to turn some big fish if need be. There is a lot of woody debris in the areas where I am fishing and they usually head straight for it when their hooked.

 

[NickR]

John, I like those deer hair flies too. Never hurts to have an arsenal of different patterns for a mulberry. I tie them out of deer hair, foam, chenille and sometimes even dubbing. Some of them sink, some suspend in the current, some float. Thanks for sharing! Made me want to go fish for carp.

 

[Night_Stalker]

Good stuff Nick

Just saw this now. I had taken notice of ripening berries hanging low last week in CV...soon the action will start

 

[Kill3ducks1deer]

Where do mulberry trees typically range? I don't believe I have seen any along the creeks I fish, but from the sound of it these is the go to bait when they start falling.

 

[Kill3ducks1deer]

Where do mulberry trees typically range? I don't believe I have seen any along the creeks I fish, but from the sound of it these is the go to bait when they start falling.

 

[dc410]

Kill3ducks1deer wrote:
Where do mulberry trees typically range?

I am not sure what the actual range of the mulberry tree is but we have a lot of them along our warm water streams in the southeast part of the state. They are really putting down the berries right now and the carp are totally keyed in on them.

It was a wild and crazy evening tonight fishing the mulberry hatch. I hooked 4 really good fish solidly (2 on the surface on the deer hair berry fly and 2 on a subsurface chenille berry fly). I didn't land a single fish this evening. One took me into a brush pile and broke me off. The other 3 actually straightened out the hooks. I proved to myself that I can't land fish of this caliber on a standard size 10 dry fly hook. I used up every mulberry fly in my box tonight. Back to the tying table. I am going to try to tie up some berry flies on size 10 2x heavy wet fly hooks for more durability. Also, not taking the net along this evening proved to be a really bad idea. Every time I go out after these fish it is a learning experience. What a freakin' blast!

 

[Kill3ducks1deer]

I am over in the Southwest corner, will have to pay closer attention when I go out again.

 

[dc410]

Tied up some new mulberry flies last night on a size 8 Daiichi 1530 hook (2x heavy wet fly hook). I hooked 3 carp today on my subsurface chenille mulberry fly. Landed the first 2 which were both 24 inchers. I lost the last one at my feet (still wasn't smart enough to bring the net) which snapped my 1X tippet. The knot didn't fail - the tippet snapped. This fish was significantly longer and much heavier than the first two were. I hooked these three fish in an area where there is not even a mulberry tree in the vicinity to my knowledge. I am starting to think that "plopping" one of these flies in front of a carp this time of year in any location could produce a hook up. Granted, I know that there are plenty of mulberry trees upstream of this location so these fish may have been feeding on submerged berries for quite some time. I gained a lot of confidence in the strength of these 2X heavy Daiichi hooks as all three fish were hooked on the same fly which never bent. The chenille mulberry fly is about as easy to tie as they get. 1/4" piece of chartreuse rubber leg material tied in at the bend for the stem and two layers of medium purple chenille. Whip finish and that's it. It sinks immediately but when it hits the surface it has that resounding "plop".

 

[dc410]

The berry hatch is still on! One of my favorite local carp streams was a bit high and off color from the front with embedded thunderstorms that rolled through the area last evening, but I decided to go out and see what was happening at one of my most productive berry spots. There were a few carp still feeding on the berries on top even with the totally off colored water. I can't imagine how many berries one carp must actually eat as it has seemed that the fish in this area have been keyed in on and feeding on them soildly for the past three weeks.

I noticed one good sized fished cruising around and I waited for the best chance to take a real clear shot at it. It finally presented me with that opportunity and I was immediately into the fish with a solid hook up. This fish took two or three really good solid runs on me and I finally thought I was starting to win the battle when all of a sudden all hell broke loose. The carp absolutely went crazy on me which is very odd for them to do this late into the battle. All of a sudden the fish turned and came straight toward me. I was reeling like crazy just to keep in contact with the fish. I got the net into position just as I noticed a second wake forming directly behind the fish. As I was preparing to net the fish I noticed that there was a large snapping turtle attached to the tail of the carp. I made a very quick decision, and readjusted the net and swung it and cracked the snapper right on the back of the head with the net. The turtle left loose and sunk into the depths of the murky water. Moments later I netted the carp, a 29 incher, my best carp so far this season.

 

[bigslackwater]

Not to change the subject away from fishing but mulberries are good people food too! They are packed full of vitamins, protein, antioxidants...they are a super fruit! The short shelf life ( about a day) is what keeps them from being a mainstream fruit you'd see in stores. So once you've had your fill of top water carp action, pick yourself a snack!

 

[GenCon]

John, that is so very cool. What a story. HE TASTED STEEL!!!!

Great catch Gencon

 

[dc410]

GenCon wrote: HE TASTED STEEL!!!!

LMAO!!! Thanks, Mike.

I was out again tonight in a light drizzle and the berry hatch is starting to subside. I guess I went to the well one too many times in my main berry hatch hole for this year.

I saw one good carp cruising around although it was a bit hard to see with the rain on the surface of the creek. I saw the fish hit the surface well downstream from me and it was working its way upstream sucking mulberries off of the surface. I cast in front of the path that the carp was coming. After taking about four natural mulberries off of the surface the fish came up directly under my deer hair berry fly - inspected it - and flat out refused it! I was totally busted.

I was so amazed at the fact that the fish refused the fly that I put the fly onto my hook keeper on my rod, leaned the rod up against a tree and sat and watched this area for the next 15-20 minutes. Sure enough the same fish made another pass up through the hole, he systematically came up and looked at every natural mulberry on the surface and totally refused every single one of them! These fish absolutely know the game, they are very smart and they really took me to school tonight. I will be back next year to tangle with them again come berry time.