2024 Carpin’ Thread

[acesedgley]

You watch.....I shot 7 over par Saturday when I didn't fish and 13 over for just the front 9 on Monday the day I fished. So I predict when I bring my 8wt and net those carp will ignore every offering!

 

[acesedgley]

So yesterday I did bring the 8 wt and net but forgot the camera! Stuck and netted 2 pretty fat ones....pics next time if they don't roast to death first.

 

[dc410]

Nice job, Darby!! A lot easier with the net, huh? Don’t worry about the carp, they like it hot! I got skunked this morning. Effectively spooked every carp I took a shot at. Some days they seem to be on high alert.

 

[dc410]

Good morning carpers, it’s time to start thinking about getting out there and scouting out your mulberry trees. Which ones are loaded with developing berries and which ones aren’t? If you haven’t located any mulberry trees yet now is the perfect time to nail a few down. Looking back through my carpin’ log book over the past 11 years, the earliest I ever caught a carp on top on my deer hair berry fly was May 30th - the latest I ever caught one on the berry hatch was July 5th. I would estimate that the peak berry fishing window in my neck of the woods is around June 10th- June 15th. It’s a bit of a short window and sometimes storms with heavy winds can shorten it a bit, but if you haven’t figured out the “berry hatch” yet devote a little time to it and if you happen to locate yourself a berry “honey hole” you’ll be hooked big time! Good luck!

 

[mt_flyfisher]

Good morning carpers, it’s time to start thinking about getting out there and scouting out your mulberry trees. Which ones are loaded with developing berries and which ones aren’t? If you haven’t located any mulberry trees yet now is the perfect time to nail a few down. Looking back through my carpin’ log book over the past 11 years, the earliest I ever caught a carp on top on my deer hair berry fly was May 30th - the latest I ever caught one on the berry hatch was July 5th. I would estimate that the peak berry fishing window in my neck of the woods is around June 10th- June 15th. It’s a bit of a short window and sometimes storms with heavy winds can shorten it a bit, but if you haven’t figured out the “berry hatch” yet devote a little time to it and if you happen to locate yourself a berry “honey hole” you’ll be hooked big time! Good luck!

I’ve never eaten any mulberries, at least not that I can remember, but from what I read on the internet they are quite tasty and very healthy. No wonder the carp like them! Do you ever eat some mulberries yourself when you’re out carp fishing?

And by the way, your mulberry fly almost looks good enough to eat too. Except for the big hook. 😊

 

[dc410]

I’ve never eaten any mulberries, at least not that I can remember, but from what I read on the internet they are quite tasty and very healthy. No wonder the carp like them! Do you ever eat some mulberries yourself when you’re out carp fishing?

And by the way, your mulberry fly almost looks good enough to eat too. Except for the big hook. 😊

I prefer to flyfish for carp just after daybreak, so I have to admit that I have eaten my fair share of mulberries for breakfast while out carpin’. They are tasty. However, after sticking and netting the first fish of the day, the desire to eat mulberries after being inundated with carp slime becomes less desirable! 😉

The carp definitely love eating them! Here’s a pick from back in the summer of ‘22 of what they look like after continually sucking in berries for weeks on end. After awhile I do think they suffer a berry hangover!! This stuff is just fun!

 

[Kyle]

getting my carp fly gear ready on june 1st. i do it every year on the same date. i start to ease back on the trout and start targeting smallmouths and carp. its a love hate relationship. i like fishing the the rivers in the summer. but cant cant stand working in it! looking forward to another year wet wading the rivers for carp and smallies.

 

[dc410]

I went out berry scouting early this morning. Checked about 6 or 8 of my normal mulberry spots. The trees are in differing stages of devolpment which is a good sign that it may extend the “berry hatch” timeframe. All the trees I checked seemed to have a solid amount of mulberries just starting to develop.

I saw a few actively feeding carp and took a few shots at some of them. However, they were low percentage shots and I couldn’t connect with any of them. There is one fish that I’m calling the “rainbow carp” with a bright strip of orangish/gold scales on top of its back on both sides of the dorsal fin. I’m hoping to connect with it when the berry hatch kicks into gear. In about a month it will be “game on”!! Good luck, it’s a cool time of the year to be sleuthing along the carp streams.

 

[hooker-of-men]

Finally saw some fish out and about! The most likely eater was in a spot with too much brush that I couldn't get into, and the rest were sexin' and wouldn't give a look.

Did get this nice perch:

And this free sweatshirt that I had to drag 30 feet across the creek bottom (luckily body not included):

Feeling optimistic about the next few weeks!

 

[drakeking412]

Does anyone know of any carp marks in the Pittsburgh region? I’m thinking lower chartiers or duck hollow but I haven’t tried either and still have yet to chase carp at all even though I’ve tied the box

 

[Fredrick]

@hooker-of-men fish looked to match your shoes lol

 

[hooker-of-men]

@hooker-of-men fish looked to match your shoes lol

My new wet wading setup for this summer is these plus neoprene socks. The setup is working awesome, but they are an absolute monstrosity 😂

 

[dc410]

Cool shoes! I’m still a strong advocate of not actually getting into the water when carpin’ until you need to get one in the net!!

 

[hooker-of-men]

Cool shoes! I’m still a strong advocate of not actually getting into the water when carpin’ until you need to get one in the net!!

Same. I very much hoped to not get in this water at all. It was a quick mission, though, so I wasn't putting on waders. Maybe the toxic sludge mud would've dulled the shoes a bit...

 

[dc410]

I stopped by one of my local carp spots today just to check it out. I really have seen very few fish there so far this whole year. Today there were dozens of them (I don’t know where they all came from all of a sudden). They were chasing each other around seemingly in full spawning mode. If the spawn wraps up previous to the berries starting to drop it could be a good berry hatch!

 

[Striperbobby]

Landed 2 perkiomen puppy drum today, pretty sure they would be over the slot! Haha, everytime I hook one it reminds me of red fishing the obx flats!

 

[KennettSteve]

Landed 2 perkiomen puppy drum today, pretty sure they would be over the slot! Haha, everytime I hook one it reminds me of red fishing the obx flats!

Nice fish. I usually fish a little upstream from there. 2 in a day is a good day for sure, congrats.

 

[dc410]

Landed 2 perkiomen puppy drum today, pretty sure they would be over the slot! Haha, everytime I hook one it reminds me of red fishing the obx flats!

Nice job! The Perk definitely has some good fish in it.

 

[dc410]

I went out early this morning to check on a couple of my mulberry trees. Lo and behold, I found two of them that were already dropping some early berries - and the carp were already stacked up underneath them and actively feeding on top on berries. I stuck four fish on my deer hair mulberry fly and put three of them in the net. The “berry hatch” is on in SE PA!! Get after ‘em!

 

[poopdeck]

Nice! That’s a great mulberry fly as well.