Carp in clear water

[Mike Anderson]

Hey Zach just wondering if you might share some carp knowledge with us. I have very good success fishing for carp in the local lake where I fish, The water is usually cloudy on the flats and the fish don’t seem to be scared of anything, yet,,, My question is, the river where I Trout fish is also full of giant Carp but they are almost impossible to catch. First off, they can see you a mile away and almost immediately go on the defensive as soon as they spot a human figure.
The lake Carp I catch are almost always tailing making them easy targets and as I mentioned earlier they almost never spook unless you just slap them with your fly line. I have never witnessed the river Carp behaving this way. Mostly they hang around deadfall and cruise around.

[anonymous]

I have a similar situation on a Carp fishery I haunt. Fish to 35-40″ and clear water. Your right in tailwater situations , what is probably happening is that they are feeding opportunistically on whatever the increased flow brings, therefore more open/less discerning and easier to take- same situation here.

[Mike Anderson]

That helps a lot! Yellow huh, that seems odd but so does UT orange. The lake carp here love a WB with a copper tinsel body and UT orange marabou tail. I like it because I can see it from far away. I cast several feet past a tailing fish and strip it right up to his face and let it drop. If the fish moves on the fly, set the hook!

For the most part anything shiny scares the daylights out of these Carp. I suspect it’s the gazillion rooster tails buzzed by their heads over the years that gives them this fear.  We haven’t tried plain yellow but we will! I know where several of these “safe zones” you mentioned are located on my river. I will make it a point to watch them next time instead of just casting madly and moving on in frustration.

Thanks for the reply!

Mike

[Zach Matthews]

Hey Mike-

Ok, I fish for carp two ways.  One is the ghetto way, chumming them or imitating bread balls with chenille flies and going after them around docks and whatnot.

That is how this fish was taken:

Incidentally this is slated to run in the January AA and it will be Lauren’s first published shot.

The other way I catch them is in a trout stream.  Basically I search out an area where I can walk upstream for as long as possible – several hundred yards in my favorite spot.  I put in and have either a crazy charlie or an orange-headed egg sucking leech rigged and ready, with about 30 feet of line in a basket and a stout 8 weight rod.  I SLOWLY wade upriver, watching the carp.  They will usually feed in late afternoon, nosing around in the mud.

You want to play this two ways: either cast the fly in front of them a considerable way and let it settle to the mud, then make a short strip when the carp gets close, which will cause him to strike usually if he sees it.  The other way is to cast right behind him, just behind his pectoral fin really, so he’ll spin to see what happened.  About 75% of the time this will spook him but one in four will be thinking mulberries or birdshit and will be looking for a meal.  Wait for them to see the fly then just give one strip and let it settle – usually they will pick it up as it falls.

The trick is that this is a caster’s game.  Europeans who do this all the time all comment on how most fly-caught carp are caught by good casters.  You need to be 30-60′ back to avoid spooking them.  I always wait until the sun is shining where I can see them and they can’t see me.  I also always wade upriver – I have had zero luck wading downstream.  

Love the carp discussion.
Zach

[Mike Anderson]

Got up early and got out for a short trip to the flats. I use a center console with a remote control trolling motor. I can stand on my console and get a birds eye view of the flats. Several fish spooked at the fly (I think they are learning) but I managed to catch four before it got hot and ran me off the lake.

Thanks for the tips Zach. The Striper were not at home this morning. It’s a little early yet. I’ll keep you posted.

Mike

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