Carp

[moon1284]

Carp seem to have gotten really trendy and popular the past few years. I don't like them at all and think they are an invasive trash fish that muddy up the water and outcompete more desirable native and non native species. Carp are one species I'll never target.

Does anyone else feel this way?

 

[afishinado]

moon1284 wrote:
Carp seem to have gotten really trendy and popular the past few years. I don't like them at all and think they are an invasive trash fish that muddy up the water and outcompete more desirable native and non native species. Carp are one species I'll never target.

Does anyone else feel this way?

I lived along the Susky, and as a kid I dreamed of catching big carp measured in pounds and not inches. I caught quite a few of them and may be carped out. Today I will not go out of my way to fish for them, but I have been known to target them if the opportunity presents itself.

Carp are foragers and not predator fish. I have no idea if the presence of carp in some way depresses or harms the population of other species of fish. Not likely.

Everyone should fish for whatever species floats their boat. I will say that carp fishing can be difficult with a fly and takes some skill to be really good at it.

As far as being trendy, I guess it is. There are some really good carpers on here. Codym is one. I've fished with him, and if you you can get past the hipster look with the blue plaid shirt and tennis shoes, he's really a good FFer carpster and enjoys his sport.

 

[moon1284]

I would agree they are tough to catch, especially on a fly rod. I've caught my fair share growing up (on spinning gear), but now I really have no interest in fishing for them.

I have nothing against the guys that fish for carp, and acknowledge it takes skill to catch them. It's just not my thing and I wanted to see if other people felt the same way.

 

[DanL]

I'll say this much. This is my 3rd year of being dedicated to mainly just fly fishing, and I've never seen a carp muddying up the little J, spring, penns, spruce, neshannock, a dozen other streams i've tried...

If I was fishing ponds and lakes, maybe it would be a problem, who knows.

Is there a specific fishing location that you are referring to that you can see harm caused specifically by carp?

I think the allure/trendiness is that its just the biggest fish that is easily accessible to the entire country, so why not fish for them...

 

[BrookieChaser]

Fly fishing for carp gave me a new respect for the species.

 

[icyguides]

I fly fished for years thinking the same thing, that carp were a stinky, ugly, invasive, "rough fish".

Once I heard about people catching them on the fly, I started tossing flies at them while trout or bass fishing. Around the same time the bass population on the susquehanna was in the dumps so I also learned to fish for and appreciate what was still around. After I hooked a few I really started to like it more and more.

They are challenging, they are larger, and fight harder than any other freshwater species around here. Sight fishing to a tailing carp, presenting the fly delicately and precisely, getting the eat, the hook set and having it run you straight into your backing, to me it doesn't get much better than that.

The "invasive" label is a moot point because almost everything else i fish for is non native and could probably be termed invasive too. They are here to stay now so I'm going to enjoy them.

 

[streamerguy]

Just be careful when throwing around the term "invasive" when discussing carp outside of the Ohio River and Erie watersheds, cuz your precious smallmouths ain't native either ;-)

 

[dc410]

moon1284 wrote:
Carp are one species I'll never target.

Does anyone else feel this way?

Nope, can't say that I do. I enjoy many types of flyfishing but fishing for carp has become a huge part of my flyfishing life over the past three seasons. I have spent many hours fishing and reading as much as I can find on flyfishing for carp. I have leaned a lot through my experiences but there is much more to learn.

I think that enticing a carp to actually take a fly is the biggest challenge that I enjoy. However, the required stealth, patience, persistence and pin point casting accuracy on that first cast have all been a big part of the learning curve. I feel the skills needed to consistently catch carp on a fly rod would make anybody a better all around flyfisherman.

There is something about fighting a 15+ lb. fish on a fly rod as the reel "screams" and your fly line disappears from it. The adrenaline rush when you set the hook on a really big carp is just hard to describe.

I have never seen another flyfisherman targeting carp in my past three years of fishing for them. The solitude out there is for real. I'm constantly scouting for new carp spots to add to my list as I know there are many untapped resources out there and many carp that have never even seen a fly. I always have my eyes and ears open for waters with bowfin populations as I would love to stick one of them as well with the fly rod.

I realize that carpin' certainly isn't for everyone but I have had a lot of fun over the past three years and I know that flyfishing for carp will be a real big part of my annual warmwater flyfishing adventures for many years to come. Really tight lines!

 

[gfen]

I know a reknowned guide who says that there's only like five guys in like the whole everywhere who flyfish for carp.

 

[McSneek]

Once there was a picture of someone holding a carp in the Orvis catalog you knew it had arrived. Such a hipster fly fishing thing to do now.

 

[JackM]

Meh, glorified bonefish.

 

[dryflyguy]

I've caught some carp occasionally over the years - although I wasn't targeting them.
And while the do put up a great fight for sure, I don't really like handling them. Reaching into that big sucker mouth to unhook the fly isn't very appealing to me

 

[JackM]

OK, fish for whatever species you want. I have no right to carp with you.

 

[henrydavid]

I was on a float trip on the North Branch of the Susquehanna last weekend and saw a group of carp slowly making their way up a channel. They were just below the surface but not rising for anything that I could see.

I had a hopper on and tried to serve it up to them but no takers, what flies would you carpers recommend, and is that usual behavior.

 

[The_Sasquatch]

Definitely a hipster fish...but also fun. As far as invasive, so are brown trout. So what?

 

[codym21]

Fish for whatever you want to fish for Moon, I really enjoy carp fishing and the whole sight fishing element of it. I never did it because it was the cool new apparently hipster thing to do. Carp are close to me and catching one is a blast.
Afish I guess that makes me a hipster?? lol

 

[dc410]

Hipster ...... Hmmm, sounds like a great name for a carp fly. :-D

 

[troutbert]

Plaid shirts are hipster?

I've been wearing them since the 1960s.

They are starting to show a little wear around the collar.

 

[moon1284]

codym21 wrote:
Fish for whatever you want to fish for Moon, I really enjoy carp fishing and the whole sight fishing element of it. I never did it because it was the cool new apparently hipster thing to do. Carp are close to me and catching one is a blast.
Afish I guess that makes me a hipster?? lol

I never called it hipster...

I have no problem with the people who fish for them. I think they are hard to hook, BUT you need to put the fly right in front of their nose (similar to lining steelhead) and I think their fighting is greatly exaggerated (they have slow strong runs). No doubt they are one of the biggest easily found with (with the exception of Muskie, but muskie are wayyyy harder to catch).

To me, lb for lb a carp is nowhere near the fight of a salmon or steelhead (or for a 4 or 5 lber, a trout or smb). 15-20 years ago I would spin fish from a pier where there would be all sorts of lake run fish, Kings, Cohos, Browns, Steelhead, occasional stocked Atlantic Salmon, and Lake Trout. It was not unusual for all of those fish to be at the pier at the same time from Mid Sept to Mid Oct (after that it was mostly Steelhead and Lakers). This pier is located at the bottom of the largest hydro electric plant in the northeast, so the water is extremely fast. In addition to these lake run fish, it wasn't unusual in Sept to hook up with resident Walleye, SMB, Carp, Sheepshead, and Silver Bass. When you hooked a salmon, steelhead, or brown, it took some time to figure out what you hooked and the fish go nuts. When you hooked a carp, right off the bat there was no mistaking it for a Salmon or Steelhead, or even Lake Trout. Slow, steady pull. Lake Trout (the only wild, native lake run fish in the fishery) are poor fighters (in this river) and to the locals are an accidental by catch when targeting steelhead (and are out of season in the fall) and they still fought better than carp. You could tell a lake trout right away by the violent and long headshake (sometimes you'd think you had something hooked in the tail). There was also the occasional sturgeon caught here, it is a hell of a place to fish in the fall, but not suitable for fly fishing.

Again, nothing personal, I'm just not on the carp bandwagon.

 

[dc410]

I wouldn't be on the carp bandwagon either, if I had to put up with that! :-D