Juniata River Carp Advice

[jifigz]

So I fish the Juniata River almost every single day and do very well for bass. I know bass very well and can catch them with good success during any time of the year. Carp habits, on the other hand, are a little less known to me. I know where the carp spawn in the section of the river that borders my house, but afterwards other than by happening upon them I don't really know how to locate them. I am sure they use the protected waters and small slackwater areas behind the islands quite a bit, as do all fish in the river, but that is about all I know. I used to catch them with spinnning/baitcasting gear and homemade flavored baits utilizing the cast and wait method but I really want some on the fly. The Juniata has huge carp cruising around and I really want to try to fool one before the end of the warmwater "wet wading" season ends in early Autumn. All help and tips would be greatly appreciated.

 

[dc410]

jifigz,

I have never personally pursued carp on the Juniata River but I am sure that it has its share of brutes. Here are a few ideas that may help you out about flyfishing for carp in general. I never actually wade when carp fishing. Carp are super sensitive to any kind of vibrations through the water because they have an ultra sensitive large lateral line. But, if you need to wade to get to where the fish are you need to be able to compensate for that. If you can get to an elevated area and watch a section of river look for mud clouds which indicate carp that are "mudding" or actively foraging for food. These are the prime targets for the flyfisherman as these fish are actively feeding and not just cruising around. Find some feeding carp, figure out which direction they are moving and very cautiously wade out way ahead of them and stake them out until they get into casting distance. Try to minimize false casting but you need to try to lay the fly about of foot in front of the mudding carp. If any part of the fly or line touch the fish it will be "game over". As far as flies go .... fishing the Juniata, any kind of crayfish, hellgrammite or buggy nymph type of pattern should catch their interest. Buggy looking brown, rust or olive colored flies are always good bets for carp producers. Be very careful with your wading, casting and shadows that you present. These fish are very spooky and all of these variables can be instant deal breakers. I hope you can get into one this year. When you set the hook on one of these guys you will get an instant adrenaline rush that will probably be different than anything you ever experienced before. Good luck!

 

[jifigz]

Thanks for the tips. I have gotten close to rather large schools of them while wading and I know that they are pretty spooky. The only boat I have is a kayak so I might attempt to cover water and look for them with a kayak and then wade once I find a school. I think I spooked a small school of them today while bass fishing. They would have been very close to me but I wasn't really paying attention for them...more or less just slowly strolling and casting a clouser for bass, but given the evidence I saw I'd say I got to within 5 or 6 feet of several carp and then they took off. Thanks again for the tips. And seriously....the Juniata is loaded with some serious bruisers....and a lot of them. I see very large carp somewhat frequently and the state record is out of the river at roughly 55 lbs.