Spawning Carp
- This topic has 24 replies, 15 voices, and was last updated Apr 4, 2010 at 3:09 pm by
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I’m interested in hearing some expert responses on this because I’ve typically been spurned by early spawners on the flats. I saw some nice fish crashing around in the weeds on Sunday and didn’t even cast at them. Where I’ve had very minor success with “spawners” is in rivers where carp are stacked below an obstruction like a shoal or dam. I’ve landed a handful of fish on tiny clousers in that situation—by accident as I drifted the fly under an indicator targeting crappie. I’ve always believed that actively spawning carp just won’t eat; and that the only hope is to find the lone wallflowers. That tactic is much easier said than done in my experience. God, I’m glad carp season is coming.
G
Zach,
What body of water were you fishing?
I have never caught one OTF but a month from now may be a good chance for me to get out and try.
KeithDon’t bother with the spawners………….they won’t touch your fly. I know it is very hard to see a 10 lb fish launch out of the water and not cast to it, but all you will be doing is practicing casting.
There will be some that aren’t involved in the spawn so search for those. You will have much better luck getting them to eat your fly.
Keep a small bottle of pure vanilla in your vest and dip the fly prior to casting to carp…30% more eats.
Good idea. I have put some carp flies in a bag of coffee grounds before…….but I can’t wait to try this.
I too have not had success with fish that are actually spawning. When I do see groups spawning, there are generally some individuals around the perimeter that can be caught. Generally they are smaller males and its hard to cast to them when you can see a big fat female a few yards away. This is especially true earlier in the spawn.
I’ve fished some areas where the fish were spawning so much your fly had eggs on it when you brought it back. Moving to the edge of the flat i found some receptive fish.
I must make comment on this one.
I take great offense at the somewhat cavalier attitude of this so called ‘baiting’ of flies. Any type of dipping flies in this or that is purely un-sportsman and you might as well use bait.
That being said- I find that one of my best carp flies uses a body of natural rabbit body fur- but- (this is key) dyed using pure vanilla. There is something about the color that makes this work for me with about 30% more hook-ups.
Dan — Flies dyed in pure vanilla retain a lot of scent, even if dried for weeks!
Like Mark said….they are carp! Where I fish for carp I’m usually fishing alongside people bow fishing for carp and gar!!
Zach,
I haven’t read all the responses throughly, just scanned through them (need to head out to go fishing!) but thought I’d throw in my 2 cents and hope to not repeat anything that has been said above. I’ve fished carp on the flats of lake michigan during the spawn a few times and have had days where there were thousands of carp up on the flats. In my experience, there are large “balls” of carp that are actively spawning. No sense messing with those. However, you will see single carp following these balls of thrashing spawners. These single fish are often looking for food kicked up by the large, thrashing ball of spawning fish. That’s where I’ve had my best luck.
Another tip for carp, and I’m not sure if this is relatively common knowledge or not, is to try to get in position to cast to a fish coming toward you. That way, your fly will be mimicking a baitfish/crayfish trying to flee from the carp, which is what they normally see with natural food (as apposed to a relatively unnatural presentation of the fly traveling perpendicular to the fish’s path).
As far as flies, natural colored crayfish and smaller (4″ and under) sculpin patterns have worked well for me. Rainy’s Carp Tease is a great carp fly too.
This fish came from a situation similar to above…a single fish swimming in and around the large groups of spawning fish. Target the fish at the back of the groups, and hold on.
Good luck,
TimDan — Flies dyed in pure vanilla retain a lot of scent, even if dried for weeks!
Like Mark said….they are carp! Where I fish for carp I’m usually fishing alongside people bow fishing for carp and gar!!
Grant and Mark-
You should also see my sturgeon fly- no dipping in any scents- but it is made with squirrel fur dyed with anise oil.
Ok – I am new so I will explain this once- when dealing with an upper mid-west person- especially of the Wisconsin variety- understand that they are Norwegian-generally- and very much so a bunch of wise a@#&*es.
Example-
I have a good friend that when asked by someone to watch his cast so as to see what errors he had in casting- he calmly replied- “mostly good – it’s just that you’re standing too close to the fly when you finish your cast”Dan
Look for lurking fish amongst the spawners who are pre-spawn and are very aggressive. Forget about the ones thrashing. My site carolinabonefish.com has alot of experienced info on carpin the SE in a question and answer format. Catch my talk at the SE FFF conclave or Va Fly Festival. Check out my fly selection that works more often than not.Email with any questions and your experiences any time.
Disclaimer:This is not a shameless self-promoting plug just one of my things
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