Carp Carp and Carp!

[Pittflyguy]

This elongated winter has delayed one of my favorite times of the year for carping! Hopefully mother nature has finally given up and we can get some good sight fishing weather. Landed my first decent fish of the year this week and looking forward to more.

For those of you that are avid carp chasers, I started using a new pattern this year that John Montana and Trevor Tanner collaborated on and I am loving how it swims. The carp seem to agree!

Anyone else get out there yet?

 

[streamerguy]

Awesome!! I haven't been targeting them yet, but I have caught 2 already this year on spinning gear while fishing for walleye. They actually hit small swimbaits!

I'm gonna have to tie up a few of those flies. It looks killer.

 

[Crawdad31]

Nice fish! I've always wanted to catch a carp on the fly. To many fish to catch so little time. I'm going to tie some of those up myself sometime.

 

[boychick]

Nice fish. No carp yet this year, I did catch my first smallmouth of the year yesterday while swinging for steel with the two hander.

 

[dc410]

Pittflyguy,

The only one I caught so far this year is my current avatar. Got that one during the nice spell of weather at the end of March. One of my goals this year is to catch a 30 inch carp on the fly rod, that one was 3 inches short. Your fly looks like it would be real good for carp. Thanks for sharing the picture. I'm really hoping we can hit them on top here in the southeast this season during the cicada hatch. Should be a flat out blast if it happens! Good luck and keep us posted.

dc

 

[Pittflyguy]

DC, I was just asking about that. Do you know what bodies of water the hatch is supposed to encompass? I tried looking at some maps and it is hard to tell where the boundaries of that particular brood begin and end.

Thanks! and good luck!

 

[Pittflyguy]

Boychick, gotta love the smallie bonus catch. I started spey casting this year and I am in LOVE with it! I went out and bought a switch and a full spey rod and swung up my first king and my first steelie this season. I was pretty stoked. Needless to say I don't quite look like Simon Gawesworth or Ed Ward yet but I am getting the hang of it quicker than I thought I would. Good luck with the carp!

 

[dc410]

Pittflyguy,

There was a recent thread in the PAFF General Forum about the 2013 cicada brood with some embedded links. I bumped it to the top for you, it was buried in the second page. It's entitled "cicadas 2013". I remember from the last emergence some areas definitely are more intense in the amount of bugs. I don't think they are related to any particular stream or river because they are totally terrestrial insects. I'm just hoping for some heavy hatches near some of my favorite WW beats for smallies and carp.

dc

 

[Pittflyguy]

Thanks DC... will check it out. Yeah, I didn't think it was body of water specific, just trying to figure out what bodies of water are in that hot zone with great numbers. Seeing massive carp gorging themselves on these just gives me the shakes!

 

[DJBerg]

cool fly seems like a pretty simple pattern, and if it works!!! AWE YEAH!

i'll have to whip a few of these up. my carp hole is still blown out as soon as the spring rain dies off they'll be back.

 

[nealfish]

36 inch grass carp yesterday on spinning gear, next weekend its off to the bigger pond with everything, fly and spin. lets see what happens!

 

[boychick]

Pittflyguy,

I used to swing for steelhead with a single hand 8 wt, man was a chore. I got the switch rod in March and have been fishing as much as time will allow (working and being a part time student is a b!tch). I love the two hander, it really makes fishing big streamers so much more effective. The casting was tricky at first. I'm no Ed Ward either, but I managed to become proficient enough to get the fly in the zone and catch fish. I just ordered Skagit Master to learn the jedi secrets . I plan to fish for bass with the switch rod over the summer to work on casting so I can put it to the steelies next fall!

 

[Pittflyguy]

Boyckick... sweet! Hope to see you on the water. Just look for the guy with the stinger hook in the back of his neck because he scrwed up his anchor placement.

 

[dubthethorax]

I'm 1 for 10 on carp hookups so far this year. It's really tight quarters where I fish for them (only fish one stretch of a stream after dark under a street light) and they know to tear off downstream when hooked because there's no way in hell I can go after them. I've gotten spooled, wrapped around a log, and tangled in branches. It's still fun as hell and definitely an addiction.

 

[boychick]

Pitt,

I'm not big on jewelry; I have been concerned I'd get an unwanted ear ring... I've had a few close calls! I guess its all part of learning. No pain, no gain... right? I went out on the Grand yesterday. The water was stained and up a bit from the rain the night before, but I had a few grabs. Not bad for two hours of fishing. I also saw a beaver swimming too. When he saw me he gave a loud tail slap and dove under the surface. I knew there were beaver on this river because I’ve seen the chewed up trees in the flood plain, but this is the first I’ve seen.

Dub,

Spooled, wow! I think I've had to chase just most of the carp I've ever caught. The carp is not a fish you can land easily without a bit of a chase. Still lots of fun.

 

[codym21]

Nice thread guys, Im new here but this is my second year fishing for carp. Caught this on 2nd time out for carp.

 

[The_Sasquatch]

I will hold off on posting pics till I start landing a few on dries this summer ;-)