carp

[bushwacker]

I received "Carp on the fly" by brad beefus and dave barry for christmas and am currently reading it. I've had minimal sucess with carp fly fishing in the past. Hoping this book will reveal some usefull techniques. It has recipes for carp fly patterns which I'm about to start tying as soon as I replenish my trout flies. A few years ago I accidentally hooked one while nymphing. It sped downstream and got me into my backing before I could even begin to think about how to react. What a rush! After that I couldn't ditch that feeling. Every july and august I take time to pursue them. Looking forward to it this summer. If anyone here is interested in trying it pm me.

 

[jayL]

I hooked one on a pheasant tail in the tully once. I was fishing my 4wt and was convinced that I had a world record brown on. Once I got a look at it, I realized what it was and tried to land it. I fought it for maybe 20 minutes before realizing that I'd have to wade back to the bank for any shot at it. It was too big for the net, and I didn't want to go in head first trying to wrestle with it.

It's the same reason Tim Murphy hates the tully, but you have a legit shot at hooking one there... even on a dry.

 

[dave1432]

Oh no now everyone will know my best carping spot is the tully! Hah plenty of them to go around :0 I can tell you right now if its carp on the tully you want, go with a clouser swimming nymph. I know a spot that always has dozens tailing, once got a twenty pounder! they get huge on the tully. pm me if you have more questions, im willing to help anyone who wants to catch carp. its about time they got some respect! ( ;

 

[bushwacker]

Thanks dave1432, I may have some questions for you once I get into it, but that won't really happen until the trout fishing slows down this summer. I've actually been able to hook them intentionally several times over the years but never landed one on the fly yet. They break me off every time. Its got to be good practice for landing very large trout though right? Used to fish for them all the time when I was a kid with corn on very light spinning rods....what a rush! I remember the dissapproving head shakes of older fisherman when they saw what we were catching. I don't think most of them knew what they were missing. You just can't get the same experience from much smaller bass and trout.

 

[wetnet]

Fishing is fishing and carp fishing is a blast without a fly rod. I've tried to tempt them with my fly rod but never hooked up. My son has landed one and said what ever you do, don't net them. They'll stink up your net forever! I wish everyone wasn't so far apart it would be a blast to have a carp fishing day. The other thing I'd like to try is channel cat fishing with a crappy rod. Don't get me wrong I LOVE trout fishing, but I also just plain love fishing in any form even though I never use a spin rod anymore.

 

[wgmiller]

Perhaps it's just me, but my impression of carp ever since I can remember is that they are the lowest species on the totem pole. I always associated them as being inhabitants of poor quality waterways and not selective eaters at all.

I have since found out they can in fact inhabit clean waterways as well.

Perhaps my impression is based on the fact that always saw 'locals' fishing for carp in the Conestoga River.

I'm sure that they are quite a rod bender and put up a tremendous fight. It surprises me that they are selective fly eaters because I was always under the impression that anything from corn to donuts would work for catching them.

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

I hooked a 30lb carp in the TUlly right at rebers bridge on a white woolly bugger. He probably thought it was bread. It was the first day with my orvis superfine and he ran me to the backing before i snapped him off.

I think flyfishing for carp is like a poor mans bone fishing. Can be very entertaining.

 

[wgmiller]

There's a big boy cruising in Lititz Run by the bridge that leads to the Hess Farm. At least from what I can tell it was a carp. If not it's the fattest trout I've ever seen!

 

[bushwacker]

yeah, there are definetly big carp in lititz but there are also some rainbows that size too. I've managed to hook some of them several times but can never land them.

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

ive gotten a few of those bows but the browns are much much bigger.

 

[JakesLeakyWaders]

A good place to catch carp is at the York Haven damn, on the Susquehanna in York county. They are swimming below the dam dicharge in the back waters all the time in summer there's enough that you could snag them, like I did one day while spin fishing. The carp ran and my rod bent and my lure came flying at me with carp scales on the hook. I stopped there today, I live ten fifteen minutes away. Right at the corner of the power plant where the Conewago flows into the river to meet the water flowing out from the turbines, you could see a definate line of stained muddy water from the Conewago, and unusually clear water flowing out from the dam. I walk the catwalk to the upper end of the dam and could see down 8-9 feet in a slack water area even with the wind blowing with my polorized glasses on. And the water coming out of the dam is very oxygenated, has a blueish color to it. Makes me wonder if there might be a big trout or two somewhere in the river in the winter. I almost want to take my camera there tommorow with a polorized filter to take some pics of the outflow and water seem of clear and cloudy water merging together, fish, sometimes like to feed just inside or outside of the murky water. But seriously I could see freshwater clam shells way down there today in the clear water I think the clearness is attributed to the ice in the river and ice/snow melt with the warm weather break we had. Wading at the dam is difficult unless the water is low.

 

[Eich]

Carp are definitely a blast on the fly rod. Nothing is harder in my estimation than fooling a carp in a trout stream who has seen virtually everything thrown at it. I have had good success on small crayfish patterns as well as a pattern called the puke fly.

Ray

 

[wgmiller]

I always thought carp would hit just about anything - baitwise that is. Are they strong strikers based on scent? Being that they're also "bottom feeders", is it possible that a fly just isn't as effective since it has no scent? I'm just kind of surprised that carp are so picky when it comes to a fly. No doubt those in a trout stream have seen a lot of flies and other bait come their way...

 

[jayL]

When fishing globugs, I've had to frantically get my flies away from them before they took them.

A few times that I've targeted them, I had to sneak up like I was fishing for wild trout in August. They're weird fish.

Scent is definitely a help, but they don't hunt exclusively based on it. If that were the case, they'd mainly forage on dead stuff. They often eat relatively scentless bugs and plant matter.

 

[Maurice]

Once on a slow day of stream bass fishing with a fly rod I came upon a mud plume and discovered a carp at the head of it. I watched for a while as he moved through this shallow part of the Conowago creek near York. I got a little devious and thought I would circle around to the upstream side of him and drift a fly past him. A few tries didn't get his interest. Then I put a crayfish pattern on and cast it a few feet past and above him and then twitched it along the bottom till it passed his head. He moved a foot toward me and then ran like hell. My drag sung for about 4 seconds and then it snapped off.

It was exhilerating!

 

[Maurice]

JakesLeakyWaders wrote:
A good place to catch carp is at the York Haven damn, on the Susquehanna in York county. They are swimming below the dam dicharge in the back waters all the time in summer there's enough that you could snag them, like I did one day while spin fishing. The carp ran and my rod bent and my lure came flying at me with carp scales on the hook. I stopped there today, I live ten fifteen minutes away. Right at the corner of the power plant where the Conewago flows into the river to meet the water flowing out from the turbines, you could see a definate line of stained muddy water from the Conewago, and unusually clear water flowing out from the dam. I walk the catwalk to the upper end of the dam and could see down 8-9 feet in a slack water area even with the wind blowing with my polorized glasses on. And the water coming out of the dam is very oxygenated, has a blueish color to it. Makes me wonder if there might be a big trout or two somewhere in the river in the winter. I almost want to take my camera there tommorow with a polorized filter to take some pics of the outflow and water seem of clear and cloudy water merging together, fish, sometimes like to feed just inside or outside of the murky water. But seriously I could see freshwater clam shells way down there today in the clear water I think the clearness is attributed to the ice in the river and ice/snow melt with the warm weather break we had. Wading at the dam is difficult unless the water is low.

Jake,

A few years ago when I was searching for the remaining bass in the river with a tube jig and spin rod I spotted a fish tailing through a riffle accross the river from York Haven at Falmouth. I made a few long casts ahead of the "tail" and each time I was behing hime until the fourth cast when I guess I got it right. I got hung up and then the drag started to sing. He took me across the river to the last layer on the spool, over 100 yards. I fought him for over a half hour before bringing him to me and my buddy. By then it was dark and it was swimming around us still out of sight. I kept telling Mike it was a big, big fish. He kept saying lets see it. Finally it came to the surface right between his legs in waist deep water. (you do the math on that one) He gilled it and held it up.

HOLY CRAP.....it was 3 inched longer than my arm with my fingers extended. A later measurement of that estimate was 36" It weighted about 20#.

Then I put the spin rod down and started catching 20" catties on white flies in the light s of Brunner island. When the river gives you lemmons, you make lemonade.

 

[Acristickid]

That's what I'm talking about! I look forward to that action!!

 

[JustFish]

Maurice wrote:

JakesLeakyWaders wrote:
A good place to catch carp is at the York Haven damn, on the Susquehanna in York county. They are swimming below the dam dicharge in the back waters all the time in summer there's enough that you could snag them, like I did one day while spin fishing. The carp ran and my rod bent and my lure came flying at me with carp scales on the hook. I stopped there today, I live ten fifteen minutes away. Right at the corner of the power plant where the Conewago flows into the river to meet the water flowing out from the turbines, you could see a definate line of stained muddy water from the Conewago, and unusually clear water flowing out from the dam. I walk the catwalk to the upper end of the dam and could see down 8-9 feet in a slack water area even with the wind blowing with my polorized glasses on. And the water coming out of the dam is very oxygenated, has a blueish color to it. Makes me wonder if there might be a big trout or two somewhere in the river in the winter. I almost want to take my camera there tommorow with a polorized filter to take some pics of the outflow and water seem of clear and cloudy water merging together, fish, sometimes like to feed just inside or outside of the murky water. But seriously I could see freshwater clam shells way down there today in the clear water I think the clearness is attributed to the ice in the river and ice/snow melt with the warm weather break we had. Wading at the dam is difficult unless the water is low.

Jake,

A few years ago when I was searching for the remaining bass in the river with a tube jig and spin rod I spotted a fish tailing through a riffle accross the river from York Haven at Falmouth. I made a few long casts ahead of the "tail" and each time I was behing hime until the fourth cast when I guess I got it right. I got hung up and then the drag started to sing. He took me across the river to the last layer on the spool, over 100 yards. I fought him for over a half hour before bringing him to me and my buddy. By then it was dark and it was swimming around us still out of sight. I kept telling Mike it was a big, big fish. He kept saying lets see it. Finally it came to the surface right between his legs in waist deep water. (you do the math on that one) He gilled it and held it up.

HOLY CRAP.....it was 3 inched longer than my arm with my fingers extended. A later measurement of that estimate was 36" It weighted about 20#.

Then I put the spin rod down and started catching 20" catties on white flies in the light s of Brunner island. When the river gives you lemmons, you make lemonade.

And who says catching carp is like bringing up dead weight!! :-D I was really looking forward to going after them with some mulberry flies in June on a local stream where I located a mulberry tree. Unfortuneately last year I broke my leg! :-o I I'll have my chance this year though!

Good story Maurice! :-D

 

[brookieaddict]

When the fisihing starts to wane I break out the eight weight and visit the local waters for Carp. Carp flys may produce more fish but i have learned to be ready for anyting. I have hooked them on #20 dry flys only to have the hook straightn and they get off. Mike OBrien published some flys same years ago and they all seem to work although Carp are as fussy as a hard fished Brown some times.

 

[flyfisher101]

I caught a carp last year's opening day (SE) on a yellow wooly....I saw him hit and thought I was in for the fight of my life but he just stayed in the same spot and barely put up a fight...Could this be because water temp was still fairly cold??