Spawning Carp

[Michael Exl]

Spawners will eat.

All of these flies will work on spawning carp.

Here is proof:

Large female loaded with eggs.

If you look carefully at some of the fish you wil notice some of the sores they get from spawning.

As some of the others have said, targeting spawners is the must productive way, but it can be done. There are times when thats all there is is spawners sometimes when I go out and I have no trouble hooking up. As Tim stated the best position is to be taken the fish head on. That being said though, I do take a large amount of spawning carp on the swing. I have found that flies less then 2 inches are the most productive. I have also found that I hit more females then males. It is funny when you hook a female though, the males rush her and at times will lift her out of the water as they are bumping in to her.

The best tips that I can offer are:

Try to get the fish facing you.
Fish smaller flies with some contrast( Like a brown body with an orange tail)
Be patient and keep trying.
Match the color of the bottom with regards to the fly.
If that doesn’t work try something bright, like chartreuse.

-Mike

[rob chicky]

rod weight for carp?

[Michael Exl]

rod weight for carp?

It depends on where you are fishing and the size of the fish. A 6wt. is a good all around rod for most carp that range from 5-10lbs. for most anglers. Larger carp I would suggest an 8wt.

If you really know how to fight a fish by getting down and dirty, you can use as low as a 4wt for carp up to 15lbs. and still catch them quickly.

[paul rose]

Nice fly box shot and fish.I add

[brian aherne]

Hi all. First post here. I am a carp flyfishing junkie and thought i might be able to give you a few new ideas to try without resorting to bait fishing 😛

I have noticed that a lot of the flies that are used on carp in the US seem to be weighted with lots of lead or dumbells. I very rarely use flies that are weighted in any way, especially when fishing water that is only a foot or two deep.

The same as a lot of you guys i wont bother fishing to carp that are actively spawing and splashing in the shallows but there always seems to be quite a few fish hanging around the edges that will eat.

The fly i use most is a small black crystal/ice chenille woolly bugger. Soak the flies body in the water before casting and leave the tail dry. Most times the fly will hang in the surface until you give it a strip. Great for slow cruising fish.  

I want the fly to almost hover at the depth the carp are swimming and most often it is very shallow. When i cast to sighted fish i try and put the fly a couple of feet in front and past the direction the carp is travelling. A long slow strip as the fish nears the fly to pull it right across the carps face will normally get them to eat. They will just open their mouths as they swim along and hoover the fly in. This works very well when you get a conga line of males following the lady carp about to drop her bundle. Sometimes a couple of fish will pass the fly but there is always one that cant help himself when he see’s the woolly bugger slowly sinking. If they dont eat straight away a slow figure 8 retrieve or sometimes a little twitching retrieve will change their minds.

Some Aussie Carp

This hook was straight before the fish above got hold of it.

[Author]

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