Let the Carping Begin!

Pittflyguy

Pittflyguy

Member
Joined
Jun 17, 2009
Messages
303
After a long Pgh winter, I can't even begin to tell you how excited I was to see Mr. Big Lips this week! Woo Hoo! Game on!

photo.jpg
 
What are your flies of choice for the "poor man's bonefish"?
 
WG,

Happy to share. To be really honest, I am not convinced that fly selection is nearly as critical as presentation and making sure the fly is down. The two biggest fail moments I have seen not only from my own rod but from others is the fly not getting to the bottom, and not making a natural presentation.

Having said that, I use a few different flies that I have confidence in.
-Blood Dot
-Head Stand
-Back Stabber
-Wooly Bugger

I tie multiple variations on all of the above. I think another thing to keep in mind is most people make the mistake of throwing flies at carp that are far too big. I approach them much the same way as trout since their sub surface diet is pretty similar. I more often than not am tying on a size 10-14 hook and 3x-4x tippet. As far as color with the back stabbers and wooly buggers, I tend to stay with brown, black, or green but will occasionally venture into some brighter color combo's depending on water clarity.

The blood dots I will use a similar color selection that I would throw at Steelhead. The fish above took a Chartreuse with an orange dot. I think my most successful color combo is peach with orange center.

I will make one disclaimer. Most of my carping is in moving water throwing at fish that range from 5-15lbs. If you are fishing ponds, lakes, etc.... for larger fish on bigger water, the game changes quite a bit.

Good Luck and Tight Lines!
 
Nice I can't wait till I feel the tug of a carp this year
 
I agree that presentation is more important than the fly. If you watch a carp as it is "mudding" they root in the dirt and then slightly drift back to grab the now floating treats dislodged from the river bottom. I don't think they really discern what exactly it is that they are eating as long as it reasonably looks edible and is close enough to their mouth to suck it in.

Getting the fly in front of them is more important than actual fly selection. And that is where I usually fail.

The best carpers are the best casters. You need to be able to drop a fly on a pie plate at 30 feet to be a good carp angler.

Carp angling with a fly rod is a very humbling pursuit.
 
CPR... I couldn't agree with you more. It is truly an underrated profession. I know without a doubt that carping has made me a much better trout angler than I was prior. I think more about how I approach the fish, more about being stealthy, and much more about fish behavior than I used to.

So far this year is off to a great start even in really crappy conditions so I am optimistic about the months to come!
 
PFG,

Thanks for the feedback. Carpin' certainly appears to be a challenging pursuit and one worth of an angler's respect. Interesting that for the longest time the "golden ghosts" were referred to as "trash fish". I can't imagine the run these things take while watching your rod bend and reel dump...
 
just as an aside...

I have been so smitten by these damn fish that I bought the domain www.carpinainteasy.com ( a play on pimpin aint easy)

I haven't had time to do anything with it yet so I have it pointing to my friends website but we do have plans for it.

Seriously, the game is addicting.

 
PFG... if you are ever around Pittsburgh and have a few hours, let me know and we'll chase a few!

CPR.... that is hilarious and true! Keep us posted on what you do with the URL.
 
Oh yeah! Just went out the other day, saw some active carp. Actually two tailing, in Mill Stream. Tomorrow I should have some!
 
Oh yeah! Just went out the other day, saw some active carp. Actually two tailing, in Mill Stream. Tomorrow I should have some!
 
We should try to organize a Carpin-Jam for this summer.
 
Well, went today. Here's a video. (sorry, its an ultralight spinning rod, but I was using a fly)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VBqI2LMFFI
 
Doesn't Count Doesn't Count :-D

I would to go to a SE PA Carp Jam
 
Carp fishing the Pequea today also yielded a 17 inch smallmouth, my personal largest!
 
trevor... I think you need a bigger net!!!! lol

Nice golden bone!

 
Thank you, and yes; I definitely could have used a bigger net
 
I like using either tan or olive crazy charlie flies w/ 2 rubber legs at the end. It seems the slight wiggle of these as the fly rests arouse the carp into taking. In general, I try to throw about 5 feet of where I'm guessing the carp will swim
 
Guys,

One thing to say about all this carp talk....

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

(I want it all to myself.)
 
I am from Minnesota and in the Altoona area for work. I was wondering if there was any carp to be found on the fly around the area.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Montana Angler Fly Fishing
Montana Angler Fly Fishing
Harman's North Fork Cottages


Real Time Data From
the USGS Site

Share this page

Back
Top