Carp

[JustFish]

Who is fishing for Carp in SEPA? Been doing research for a couple months on it. Seems like a hoot and a game fish over looked by many anglers. Once these stream levels go down I am gonna get after them! I’ll probably first start targeting the Perkiomen. It’s loaded with big carp!

 

[jifigz]

dc410 is the biggest carp guy on the forum that comes to my mind and I believe that he is in SEPA.

 

[sapper6]

If you want to target lots of fish I suggest you try the Lehigh Canal between Bethlehem and Allentown. I used to slowly walk the towpath and watch for feeding carp. They usually saw me first but of the fish I could cast to I usually hooked up on about 20%. If you walk for a couple miles you can usually find 50-60 carp. I never saw a really big one in there though. I’ve seen some giants in the Lehigh while in my kayak but I could never get close enough to target them with a fly rod.

 

[Dave_W]

jifigz wrote:
dc410 is the biggest carp guy on the forum that comes to my mind and I believe that he is in SEPA.

Yep.
Hopefully he'll see this thread and chime in. He has posted a lot of info on carp fishing in past writings. Try the Advanced Search box at the bottom of this page to read old threads on carping (please just read old threads, don't re-fresh them).

 

[Solitariolupo]

Just went out for them they are in the creeks. The bass seem to be hitting and the carp seem to be doing their thing. They are a blast to catch on a fly rod.

 

[dc410]

Hey Justfish,

Thanks for getting my carpin’ blood flowing again. I’ve spent the past five years targeting carp with the fly rod in SEPA and it has been an absolute blast! Unfortunately, life and work has seriously gotten in the way the end of last season and the beginning of this year. I haven’t even fished for them this year yet. Normally I’m already about six weeks into my carpin’ season by this point.

Here are a few carpin’ tips that I have learned over the years.
1. Scouting- locating fishable populations of carp to give you options on different areas to target carp.
2. Focus on targeting feeding carp. Learning to key in on silt clouds and “carp bubbles” are critical. They are by far the most catchable carp on a fly rod. Taking a shot at certain carp that are not actively feeding can be a complete waste of time.
3. Presenting your fly into the “zone” of a feeding carp without spooking it is a very important part of the game. It can be a very short line type of game, until the hook up!
4. Stealth is critical. Stay out of the water and watch your shadow and walk gingerly. Carpin’ will make you an all around better flyfisherman.
5. Do not keep fishing over the same fish. They will quickly become very difficult to catch if highly pressured.

When you put all that together and manage to stick one on your fly rod and you feel the weight of the fish and your reel starts screaming it is a serious adrenaline rush. One word of caution, it is totally addicting! Good luck with your carpin’.

 

[icyguides]

Caught my first mirror carp this morning. Got a couple others too.

 

[dc410]

Nice! The streams were extremely muddy yesterday from the heavy storms. I did manage to catch three Mirror Carp yesterday morning as well. Found them feeding in the cattails along the edges of a local pond. The muddy water made sneaking up on them a bit easier.

 

[raftman]

Nice Icyguides! I think I gotta get out for carp this week.... have yet to land one on the fly.

Thanks for the great info. dc410!

 

[jifigz]

I've never caught one on the fly rod either. Every year I tell myself that I'm going to put in some serious effort to make it happen and then I never do. The Juniata has some huge carp but they are so hard to sneak up on in that setting. Some of the lakes around me may be worth a shot but I just hate driving so far when I have so much fishing so close.

 

[afishinado]

Lol....carping is fun.

Here's over a hundred pages of carp fishing articles in one place to read: https://issuu.com/carppro/docs/issue_1/108


...and the mulberry hatch is right around the corner.....

 

[Fredrick]

Here is another good carp site http://www.flycarpin.com/ . BTW I taught iceguides everything he knows about carpin :lol:


Also Nick the mad greek Raftus has a great mulberry pattern made out of foam on YouTube check it out .

 

[dc410]

I noticed this evening while mowing the lawn that the mulberries on several trees I have along my back property line are starting to turn pink! I have a couple berry “honey holes” and always enjoy watching the carp stage up under and downstream from these overhanging fruiting trees. It can be a fairly small window but it is definitely worth trying to cash in on it. Taking a 15 lb. fish on top on a berry fly is an absolute blast!

 

[dc410]

The “berry hatch” is on! I stuck my first berry carp of the season early this morning. I took it on top on my deer hair mulberry fly. When I first got a visual on my “berry honey hole” there were about 12-15 carp actively feeding on the dropping berries. It looked like a shark tank. After hooking up with one and the ensuing battle you would have sworn there wasn’t a fish in the creek. They were being selective and not eating every berry in site. In fact I had several hard look ats with blatant refusals before I found one that wanted to play. Catching them on top is such a blast. Get out there and try to get into one! The window of opportunity is short.

 

[1manwolfpack]

dc410, I think we share the same honey hole. Recognized a picture a year or two ago. Hit the honey yesterday afternoon, fresh tramped grass at each spot. Berries were dropping, but not a single fish to be seen. I'm no longer local to the spot, but had to check it out. Happy hunting.

 

[dc410]

1manwolfpack wrote:
dc410, I think we share the same honey hole. Recognized a picture a year or two ago. Hit the honey yesterday afternoon, fresh tramped grass at each spot. Berries were dropping, but not a single fish to be seen. I'm no longer local to the spot, but had to check it out. Happy hunting.

Could very well be. Someone was there as well before I got there. I’ve never seen another fisherman flyfishing for carp at that location. I have about 6 or 8 decent berry spots. I rarely get the time to hit them all in one season. However, this one has been the most consistent and productive for me over the past few years.

 

[Mwheaps32]

https://flic.kr/p/25vN3cy
Caught my first one of the year on a girdle bug it was 31.5". I use a 6w with a fighting butt and it's an absolute blast. There was a group of 3 occasionally tailing and one of them couldn't resist.

 

[dc410]

Mwheaps32,

Nice fish! I bet that was a whole lot of fun on a 6 wt.

 

[dc410]

I had a fiesty Mirror Carp take me hard into the backing this afternoon. Always fun to dump the whole fly line every now and then!

 

[jacob]

I’ve been doing quite a bit of carpin this year - I’m in SEPA in Conshy. PM me if you ever wanna do some carpin together!