Kicking off the 2016 Carpin' season

[dc410]

The 2016 Carpin' season has begun. Over the past 3 or 4 years I have learned lot about this intelligent and very spooky fish. I have become almost addicted to chasing them with the flyrod and I'm hoping to generate some more interest from members here on PAFF. So let's hear some of your stories (successes or failures) as we share info, flies, techniques etc. for chasing the "blue collar bonefish" with the long rod. Most of us probably have some darn good carp fishing very close to home but it does take some time to locate them. Go get after those golden beauties! Here are a few photos from the start of the 2016 season from SE PA.

 

[BigggJack]

Looks like a productive day. What weight gear are you using?

 

[dc410]

BigggJack wrote:
Looks like a productive day. What weight gear are you using?

They weren't all taken on the same outing. I use a 9' 8 wt as my main carp outfit.

 

[GenCon]

Great fish John

Gencon

 

[BigggJack]

dc410 wrote:

BigggJack wrote:
Looks like a productive day. What weight gear are you using?

They weren't all taken on the same outing. I use a 9' 8 wt as my main carp outfit.

I made an impulse buy on a 9' 8 wgt while I was at Cabelas on Satuday, looking forward to going hunting for something that will do the rig justice. The largest Carp I managed was many years ago in the Tully, on a dry fly. I was seriously undergeared with my 7'9" 5 WGT, after a few runs it hunkered down and I couldn't budge it. I finally had to wade over to the fish about 75 foot away and unhook it. A memorable hook-up for sure.

 

[dc410]

BigggJack,

My 9' 8 wt is a Cabelas Three Forks rod and I love it. I paired it up with a Cabelas RLS reel because I liked the drag system on it. It has served me very well. I've caught quite a few carp over the past few years on my 5 wt too and felt a bit undergunned as well whenever fighting a carp on that outfit. Your 8 wt will make an awful lot of difference when hooking up with some good carp. If you are in the area of the Tully again go a little further up into the watershed and sneak around some of the coves around Blue Marsh. There is lots of fun to be had with your new 8 wt in that area. Good luck, I hope you stick a big one!

 

[Fredrick]

Said to say I didn't hook any last summer but plan to make up for it this summer . Dc what are your most productive carp flies for this area ?

 

[dc410]

Fred,

I've done very well and have gained a lot of confidence in bead chain eyed nymphs. Marabou tails, fur bodies (mink, squirrel, hares ear, etc), soft hackle collars (pheasant, partridge, crow, etc). Natural colors - brown, tan, black, olive or rust. The buggier the better and I've done really well with carp flies tied with these types of natural materials.

 

[Fredrick]

Got some pics of these flies ?

dc410 wrote:
Fred,

I've done very well and have gained a lot of confidence in bead chain eyed nymphs. Marabou tails, fur bodies (mink, squirrel, hares ear, etc), soft hackle collars (pheasant, partridge, crow, etc). Natural colors - brown, tan, black, olive or rust. The buggier the better and I've done really well with carp flies tied with these types of natural materials.

 

[GRP]

Will there be a Carp Jam this year? I unfortunately missed last year's.

 

[BigggJack]

dc410 wrote:
BigggJack,

My 9' 8 wt is a Cabelas Three Forks rod and I love it. I paired it up with a Cabelas RLS reel because I liked the drag system on it. It has served me very well.

Glad to hear you love the Three Forks 8 wgt, that is what I grabbed as well paired up with a Prestige III Reel on one of their Combo deals. Grabbed Mini-me a 8'6 5 WGT Three Forks set-up.

 

[BrookieChaser]

I've learned I need to travel to find carp.

Nice fish, DC!

 

[dc410]

Fredrick wrote:
Got some pics of these flies ?

Fred,

I'll try to post up some pics of my two most productive carp flies as soon as I get to the vise to restock my fly box. All of the flies I have right now are really well used and pretty well torn up from last season. The carp box has been a bit neglected and is just a mess right now.

 

[dc410]

Fred,

Here is a photo of two of my most productive nymphs over the past couple of seasons. The top one is a pheasant marabou tail, brown mink fur body and head, crow covert feather soft hackle collar.

The bottom one is simply a Gartside Sparrow Nymph tied with bead chain eyes. Pheasant marabou tail, Gray squirrel/olive rabbit fur body, pheasant back feather soft hackle collar and the after shaft feather from the same back feather wrapped just behind the bead chain eyes.

Both are tied on a size 6 Daiichi 1530 hook (my favorite carp hook) with medium size black bead chain eyes so they all ride hook up.

Last year the Pheasant/Mink/Crow nymph was my "go to" fly. So far this year the Sparrow nymph has been cleaning up.

 

[dc410]

GRP wrote:
Will there be a Carp Jam this year? I unfortunately missed last year's.

I really hadn't planned a Carp Jam this year. I wasn't totally satisfied with the results last year on the Tully. We had to cover a lot of ground and saw a fair amount of fish but with a group of guys wading and trying to get into position proved to be difficult. If someone has a better venue (possibly a Stillwater type of situation) that has a good population of carp and good public access that aren't constantly bowfished for that would probably be a better situation for a group of PAFFers to get together to stalk and stick some carp. I don't have anywhere in mind right now because most of my carp are caught in local WW streams with not much room for a group of anglers to operate.

 

[Fredrick]

Nice looking flies I will have to give them a try . I would of thought the tully would be a good spot for a carp jam . I heard Green lane reservoir is a good spot but I have never fished it .

 

[dc410]

I spotted this fish early this morning feeding and stalked it to within rods length. Dappled the nymph directly in front of it in the direction it was working and it sucked it in! Chunky fish in the 8 lb range and definitely the best battle of the year so far. This is kind of like tight line carpin' for all you nymphing guys. I'm not even sure that my fly line was out of the tip of my rod but it sure was after I stuck it! This can be a very effective technique to hook up with some close in carp but just make sure that all your knots are streamlined enough to feed through your guides after the hook set. The devil is absolutely in the details when it comes to carpin'. If you spend enough time sneaking along the stream bank looking for carp you will eventually find yourself in this exact situation. Take your time and delicately present the fly, sometimes it works!

 

[Fredrick]

Got my first carp of the year today I'm guessing about ten pounds . I caught it on a hybrid.

 

[dc410]

Way to go! Nice fish, Fred.

 

[Fredrick]

Went out today for a little scouting session and ended up with my pb of three carp . I used to pay more attention to my fly when I fished for them. But today I tried paying more attention to the fish once I casted the fly in close enough for them to see it and it definitely paid off . I have to say I'm hooked catching these fish right now . I also found some nice sized goldfish on my trip that I can't wait to catch .

Carpology part two
http://youtu.be/90xOZQI0O2Y