2023 Carpin’ Thread

[dc410]

I went out this afternoon on a scouting/fishing outing at one of my local carpin’ spots that I haven’t been to yet this season. Mainly, I wanted to see how the mulberries were developing. My main point of this post quickly turned into “don’t worry about how you are going to actually land a carp before you stick it”. I have learned to take shots at them and if it works you instantly get very creative on finding ways to bring the fish to the net (or not). The first fish I found feeding this afternoon was just off of the bank in a very tight spot with tree limbs on both sides into the water. I took the shot and the fish inhaled my Foxxee Redd Minnow. I battled it in tight quarters and managed to put it in the net. I located some really big carp today and ended up leaving two Foxxee Redd Minnows hanging in a couple of real big carp. I was trying to skimp a bit by using 8 lb. tippet but effectively proved twice that it wasn’t enough for these fish.

Oh yeah, it looks like a bumper crop of berries this year and they are really starting to turn pink. The berry hatch should be a blast if you can time it right. It’s not very far away. I love this time of year!!

 

[Kyle]

you are great at carp fishing on the fly! as the temps rise both water and air. i am gonna focus on carp. i had a hook up this past wed. ran me in the weeds and hook came out. went out sat. nothing. ill be back at it next weekend.

 

[dc410]

you are great at carp fishing on the fly! as the temps rise both water and air. i am gonna focus on carp. i had a hook up this past wed. ran me in the weeds and hook came out. went out sat. nothing. ill be back at it next weekend.

Keep after ‘em, Kyle! Persistence will gain you confidence in carpin’. Tight lines and screamin’ reels!

 

[dc410]

The warm weather has ripened the mulberries up quickly and the “berry hatch” is on! I didn’t see large groups of carp staged under mulberry trees early this morning but I saw many individual carp cruising around under the surface like a big rubber lipped vacuum cleaners sucking in berry after berry. I took my first shot at one of these cruisers and my deer hair berry fly plopped about 18” beside the fish. It immediately heard the plop and turned toward my fly, nosed right up to it, inspected it and flat out refused it! Very humbling experience indeed. On to another berry eating fish! I did manage to bring two carp to the net this morning both caught on top with my berry fly. I noticed that some carp in this stretch of stream are still spawning so that may explain why larger numbers of fish weren’t staged under and downstream from producing berry trees. The Catalpa trees are in full bloom right now and that is also an indicator for me that it is prime Carpin’ time. Get out there and get after ‘em if you have a berry hole located, it is a total blast catching them on top! The window of opportunity is not very long. Good luck!

 

[Fly-Swatter]

I told DC410 I would post the results of my first carp outing, so...

A buddy and I went out today to target carp for the first time. Over the years, while bass fishing, I found a handful of places that hold carp. One spot had a guy fly fishing there, a second had some festival going on. Another was very windy, so poor sight fishing.

We stopped next to a bridge and looked over to scout. We saw a handful of smallies, a catfish, and 6 big carp. One was feeding! He volunteered to be the lookout and guide me. I snuck under the bridge and worked my way up to the carp. The feeder cruises downstream and out of the picture. I took a few blind casts and caught two big, fat fallfish. Not too bad. I also, blindly, foul-hooked a big carp in the dorsal fin. Fortunately, the hook pulled out.

We drove back to spot #1 where the guy was fishing. He left! We took our time wading down the creek, catching the occasional smallie and redbreast. A school of quillback spooked. We split up, taking different sides of the creek along this big pool. I waded down the left, 40 feet from shore. I found another feeding carp 30 feet down the creek from me! I tried a bunch of drag-and-drop presentations. A few times he seemed interested but didn't commit. Maybe the high noon sun affected that. He eventually spooked. I was bummed because I know I wouldn't get many chances like that.

Along the shore to my left was at least 5 feet deep, but there was some shade there. Thinking of maybe picking up a smallie, I blind cast into the shade 40 feet away. On the first cast, I got a hit....and it was heavy. Carp on!

I did my best to keep pressure on this bruiser, but I was holding a 6 Wt and had 12# tippet, so not too much pressure. He made a lot of short runs where I just had to hang on, but nothing that came close to my backing. I have decades of experience fighting reds, snook, and other decent-sizes fish, so I know enough to keep my nad away from the reel handle when he ran. As he tried, I slipped my net under him to seal the win.

Sorry for not having a better shot, but I was not near shore and I didn't want to further fatigue or injure this fish.

Big thank you to DC410 for this thread and for generously sharing his carping wisdom.

 

[dc410]

I told DC410 I would post the results of my first carp outing, so...

A buddy and I went out today to target carp for the first time. Over the years, while bass fishing, I found a handful of places that hold carp. One spot had a guy fly fishing there, a second had some festival going on. Another was very windy, so poor sight fishing.

We stopped next to a bridge and looked over to scout. We saw a handful of smallies, a catfish, and 6 big carp. One was feeding! He volunteered to be the lookout and guide me. I snuck under the bridge and worked my way up to the carp. The feeder cruises downstream and out of the picture. I took a few blind casts and caught two big, fat fallfish. Not too bad. I also, blindly, foul-hooked a big carp in the dorsal fin. Fortunately, the hook pulled out.

We drove back to spot #1 where the guy was fishing. He left! We took our time wading down the creek, catching the occasional smallie and redbreast. A school of quillback spooked. We split up, taking different sides of the creek along this big pool. I waded down the left, 40 feet from shore. I found another feeding carp 30 feet down the creek from me! I tried a bunch of drag-and-drop presentations. A few times he seemed interested but didn't commit. Maybe the high noon sun affected that. He eventually spooked. I was bummed because I know I wouldn't get many chances like that.

Along the shore to my left was at least 5 feet deep, but there was some shade there. Thinking of maybe picking up a smallie, I blind cast into the shade 40 feet away. On the first cast, I got a hit....and it was heavy. Carp on!

I did my best to keep pressure on this bruiser, but I was holding a 6 Wt and had 12# tippet, so not too much pressure. He made a lot of short runs where I just had to hang on, but nothing that came close to my backing. I have decades of experience fighting reds, snook, and other decent-sizes fish, so I know enough to keep my nad away from the reel handle when he ran. As he tried, I slipped my net under him to seal the win.

View attachment 1641230865
Sorry for not having a better shot, but I was not near shore and I didn't want to further fatigue or injure this fish.

Big thank you to DC410 for this thread and for generously sharing his carping wisdom.

That’s awesome, Fly-Swatter! Congrats on closing the deal on your first Carpin’ outing. A feat that is definitely much easier said than done. Thank you for the great post with the kind of pertinent detail from your first hand experiences that can be very enjoyable to read as well as quite beneficial to others here on PAFF that might be trying to figure out the whole Carpin’ game. I’m curious what fly the carp took in that deeper shaded area? It obviously was interested in feeding but must have been suspended higher up in the water column. Congrats again on your first carp on the fly! May there be many more in the future. Welcome to the club, it is kind of addicting!

 

[Silent Ocelot]

Not too bad. I also, blindly, foul-hooked a big carp in the dorsal fin. Fortunately, the hook pulled out.

View attachment 1641230865
Sorry for not having a better shot, but I was not near shore and I didn't want to further fatigue or injure this fish.

I've been foul-hooking a lot of fish this year for some reason, trout and bluegill alike. Not sure what the cause of it is but it could be because I am running a tandem rig.

I don't think you would have hurt the carp by posing for a pic with it, they're fairly hardy fish, perhaps the hardiest of all. Still glad you showed respect to the fish. Also, sick Radian, looks like that rod has seen some SERIOUS combat. The #12 should have been more than sufficient for combatting carp. I have fought steelhead on tippet strength rated at half of that, though I suspect carp are harder fighting fish that have more room to move and more structure to go into. A good read, fly swatter, I enjoyed the report!

 

[Mike]

There are some ripe mulberries in the Lehigh Valley right now, but most are still green. Nevertheless, the green ones have been falling from trees as well and I don’t know whether or not the carp are particular in that regard.

 

[hooker-of-men]

The park at the end of my block has a pond with a couple carp and a number of mulberry trees. Unfortunately, the two features are not near each other. What a coincidence.

 

[bdhoover77]

What type of water should I be looking for if I’m interested in FF’ing for carp?

 

[Silent Ocelot]

The more I read this thread the more I want to get into carp, and I think I have finally reached my breaking point. I befriended a friend in Birdsboro who enjoys carping on the Schuylkill. I think he may bait fish for them. I'll fish with him but will do it on the fly (obviously).

 

[Silent Ocelot]

What type of water should I be looking for if I’m interested in FF’ing for carp?

They're in a lot of different kinds of waters. I would explore ponds/lakes with a lot of shallow areas if I were to attempt going after them. Rivers with large slow stretches should be good too. When you are targeting carp you are mostly sight-fishing for them so you want to fish an area where you can spot them. Shallow water fishing is tough in general as you have a great sight picture of what is going on, but those fish can also see you and can also get spooked by bad casts or even good casts that just so happen to spook them. It's good to have a stealthy approach for these fish. Some people wear camo and apply face paint when fishing for carp. It's incredible how wary these fish are. I have no doubts that Maryland should have some awesome carpin' waters for you.

 

[dc410]

The Carpin’ thread is heating up and the Carpin’ is screaming hot right now. I was out again this morning and a pod of about 6-8 carp were set up directly under an overhanging mulberry branch in one of my carp honey holes that I affectionately know as the “Shark Tank”. I’m starting to wear these fish out because they seem to be wise to my deer hair berry fly. I only caught one on top with it this morning but had dozens of classic refusals. These fish are very smart and have above average memories for a fish.

At another one of my berry spots I watched a big carp cruising and picking berries off of the surface. It wasn’t the longest carp but it had a huge tail and was very heavy. When it came straight toward me it looked like a submarine. I had two great presentations with the deer hair berry fly and the fish flat out refused both of them. I pulled out and let it rest for about a half hour. I went back later and it was still actively feeding. I threw it a change up with my chenille berry fly fished under the surface and it took it confidently on the first cast. It was one of the better battles I’ve had this year with the weight of this fish. I’m blowing them up and they definitely are on to me but I’ll keep hammering at them until the “berry hatch” fades away. Get after ‘em!! Good luck with your carpin’!

 

[Fly-Swatter]

That’s awesome, Fly-Swatter! Congrats on closing the deal on your first Carpin’ outing. A feat that is definitely much easier said than done. Thank you for the great post with the kind of pertinent detail from your first hand experiences that can be very enjoyable to read as well as quite beneficial to others here on PAFF that might be trying to figure out the whole Carpin’ game. I’m curious what fly the carp took in that deeper shaded area? It obviously was interested in feeding but must have been suspended higher up in the water column. Congrats again on your first carp on the fly! May there be many more in the future. Welcome to the club, it is kind of addicting!

Thanks for the kind words. It was mostly luck that this carp ate. I spend a good amount of time researching carp flies and tactics. It seems a lot of what's on YouTube is based on flatwater fishing out west. My takeaways;
1. Carp are super spooky
2. Target carp that are actively feeding (happy carp)
3. Go small and light, but use stout hooks.
4. Carp will test your gear!

So, my plan was to look for carp in shallow areas with good light for sight fishing. You know what they say about the best-laid plans...

Oh, and it was quite breezy. The wind was blowing directly up the 500-yard-long pool, collecting all the floating leaves and seed debris at the end we were trying to fish. I had to clean my fly after every few casts. PIA.

Regarding the fly, it was a hybrid carp fly with a sparkly red tail. The tail material is something I've had around for many years. I'm sorry for the blurry image. It's mainly to show the tail material. I lost one of these and the one the carp too lost it's dumbbell eyes. The hackle is a few turns of soft hackle under a few turns of very short marabou (or whatever you call the fluff at the bottom of normal feathers. The body is peacock. #8 hook.

 

[dc410]

What type of water should I be looking for if I’m interested in FF’ing for carp?

Good info provided above by Silent Ocelot in post #72.

Also, I would not overlook your local small to medium size, low gradient warmwater creeks. These types of creeks are usually very slow moving with silty bottoms from years of agricultural runoff. Carp seem to thrive in these types of waters and spotting the mud clouds and bubbles on the surface produced by actively feeding carp isn’t too tough once you figure it out. The stealthy approach mentioned above by SO is absolutely critical. Staying out of the water will get you closer and into more carp. More than likely there is some good carp fishing within pretty close proximity to where you are located. Hope you find some.

 

[Fly-Swatter]

They're in a lot of different kinds of waters. I would explore ponds/lakes with a lot of shallow areas if I were to attempt going after them. Rivers with large slow stretches should be good too. When you are targeting carp you are mostly sight-fishing for them so you want to fish an area where you can spot them. Shallow water fishing is tough in general as you have a great sight picture of what is going on, but those fish can also see you and can also get spooked by bad casts or even good casts that just so happen to spook them. It's good to have a stealthy approach for these fish. Some people wear camo and apply face paint when fishing for carp. It's incredible how wary these fish are.

This!

Ok, so I fished for carp one time. You can take the following in that context, but I suspect dc410 & SO will agree with these observations.

I was in stalking mode as one would be fishing for tailing reds or bones on a grass flat. Slow movements and minimal water disturbances if wading are critical. I used a wading staff for extra balance, although I rarely use one trout fishing.

I wore a camo long-sleeve tee and a camo boonie. My buddy wore a pink fishing shirt. I caught a carp, he did not. Coincidence? I think NOT! 🤣

I made sure to not smile for fear of spooking the Golden Ghosts (I have very white teeth). 😁

OK, I made that last part up. You get the idea, though: they are crazy spooky.

The interesting thing I observed is that they don't necessarily bolt when spooked as a brookie would. They will stop feeding and cruise back and forth. These are unhappy carp. Either rest them or move on. It's very tempting to cast at them each time they cruise by, but it's fruitless. I get the sense that they cruise back and forth when spooked so they can keep a wary eye on us.

I hope this is helpful. I plan on going back out this Saturday to see if that carp I caught was a fluke (pun absolutely intended).

 

[Beweav]

I went out around 6 this morning to a place where I regularly see carp. I had a blast trying to stalk these guys… I may have gotten but by the carp bug! I had one perfect scenario, with a carp close enough to see we’ll and actively feeding. He moved and came for my fly which got me too excited and I set the hook too early. I completely missed him.
My question is for cloudy water. Most of what I’ve read in this thread is about sight fishing but what if they are feeding where you can’t see a take. Are you able to feel a take? Or see your line twitch or something of that sort. Most of the area I was fishing it is hard to keep sight of the fly. Any tips?

 

[Silent Ocelot]

the fish flat out refused both of them.

Carp are the biggest fly critiques in freshwater.

 

[Silent Ocelot]

I wore a camo long-sleeve tee and a camo boonie. My buddy wore a pink fishing shirt. I caught a carp, he did not. Coincidence? I think NOT! 🤣

The interesting thing I observed is that they don't necessarily bolt when spooked as a brookie would. They will stop feeding and cruise back and forth. These are unhappy carp. Either rest them or move on. It's very tempting to cast at them each time they cruise by, but it's fruitless. I get the sense that they cruise back and forth when spooked so they can keep a wary eye on us.

The attire does make a difference. I used to call BS on people who wear camo for fishing but that is no longer the case, ESPECIALLY in the realm of carp fishing. I have a buddy who wears camo face paint for carp. These b******* can see your face! You better be John Cena when you fish for these! I doubt my white T-shirt effected my trout fishing yesterday, but I was trout fishing, and yes, I checked the temps, and fishing downstream of the fish so they wouldn't have seen me anyways. Now if someone tells me I should have gotten my SAGE X in that UGLY OD green as opposed to my preferred electric teal variant so that I could prevent rod glare spooking the fish, I'd laugh and have some unsavory things to say to them.

Yes, FS, your observations on the carp sound like they are unhappy, and they get quite unhappy easily. Think of these fish like disgruntled Karens, they wish to speak to the manager! Or so it seems. A carp angler, who is an advocate for face paint as well as camo, and an angler whom I respect, once talked about something called the "spy" or "sentinel" carp. When a pod of carp is spooked and starts thrashing about they release a danger pheromone. They quickly pack up and leave the area they have been spooked out of. That pod will appoint a lone carp to investigate to see if the danger is present. This carp will swim about observing. They will even look on land. Better hope that fish doesn't see your stupid grinning mug or thrashing will commence and the carp will report their findings back to the pod. If the carp likes what they will see they will swim back to the pod and bring them back.

 

[Silent Ocelot]

He moved and came for my fly which got me too excited and I set the hook too early. I completely missed him.
My question is for cloudy water. Most of what I’ve read in this thread is about sight fishing but what if they are feeding where you can’t see a take. Are you able to feel a take? Or see your line twitch or something of that sort. Most of the area I was fishing it is hard to keep sight of the fly. Any tips?

I'm probably going to get excited and do this on the first carp that goes after my fly. It's pretty nutty thinking about a fish of that size eating my fly. This is why it's important to never anticipate the strike and wait for the feel of it. Sight is great at setting you up to get the take, however, feel is more important when the fish actually takes the fly. I will employ a sight-setting method when dapping for bluegill. I try to see when they take the fly and set after they have close their mouth. This aids in avoiding swallowing of the hook.

You could definitely fish for carp in turbid water, though because you are not directly seeing the carp you could catch any number of species that are in that particular spot of the water body. In this circumstance a tightening and/or twitch of the line would be a good indication of a strike. Carp don't smash flies, they simply inhale them, so they have a softer take... but a most blistering run.