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FishnDave

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Posts posted by FishnDave

    Carp'n 9/10/10

    in Carp on the Fly

    Posted · Edited by FishnDave

    I was just having fun with the Skunk Ape reference. :)

    I find it interesting what the predator DIDN'T eat. Looks like some scales, gills, and intestines were left behind.

    PhoneBush, fly fishing ain't fiddly

    in Carp on the Fly

    Posted

    Mr. P,

    Earlier this year tied up some flies for Grass Carp that look just like your "real grass" flies...except I used peacock herl instead of the grass. Looks pretty similar, but I honestly haven't put it in front of any grass carp yet, so I don't know if they'd be fooled by the imitation or not. I DO know that in one pond the grass carp go NUTS feeding on grass that gets shot into the water when the lawn around the pond gets mowed...

    The difference would be that the fresh-mowed grass generally floats on the surface of the pond, whereas I'm pretty sure my peacock herl fly would sink (without adding floatant, anyway). I tried it again with some green foam tied to the hook shank, but my initial efforts still didn't use enough foam to float it. Back to the vise.

    Carp pics - but not fishing

    in Carp on the Fly

    Posted · Edited by FishnDave

    Dave,

    You're not kidding us. You're in a public location where the fish are accustomed to being fed. Those pics, including the minnows, has all the earmarks of a marina.

    Phone

    (still cool, I can stand by the hour and watch those stupid fish).

    You are RIGHT ON! Yes, these were taken at Saylorville Lake Marina near Des Moines, Iowa. We were eating a late lunch at the Latitude 41 floating bar & grill. The lake is at least 50' ABOVE NORMAL POOL right now.

    How I would LOVE to get my kayak out there and toss some bread flies at those carp! But...I'd feel a little silly doing it with a bunch of people at the restaurant watching me. :)

    Carp pics - but not fishing

    in Carp on the Fly

    Posted · Edited by FishnDave

    Thought you fellas might enjoy these pics I took this past weekend. Unfortunately, I wasn't fishing.

    Is this carp sipping a fly? Well, maybe its a FRY (French Fry, that is)?

    July2010010.jpg

    Or this one?

    July2010021.jpg

    Speaking of fry....you can see a bunch of small fish swimming around above these carp. I'm not really sure, but they might be shad fry?

    July2010022.jpg

    I sure wish the carp would swarm me like this when I'm actually FISHING! ;o)

    July2010028.jpg

    July2010042.jpg

    I had a video I was going to post, too, but it took too long to load on this page.

    Mulberry Carp

    in Carp on the Fly

    Posted

    I found a mulberry tree with ripe fruit that hung over the water of a small lake. I looked into the water to see if there were any fish visible, but saw nothing. I picked a few berries and threw them in the water. Within seconds, a carp sucked them in. Sometimes, 2 or 3 fish would be visible going for the same berry. They weren't big, but they were there, and feeding. I retrieved my fly-fishing gear, and returned to the mulberry tree. The fish seemed attracted to the berries hitting the water, so I dropped my flies onto the water hard, and then suspended them just under the surface. The first two takes, I missed when I set the hook, and the flies ended up wrapped in the tree branches above the water. Lost both flies. I switched to the opposite side of the tree, and tied on a purple boa yarn leech. I caught 2 carp on that, and though they were small, they were fun. The activity seemed to put the other fish down, so I left after that.

    DM_Carp_mulberryfly_cuttys.jpg

    DM_Carp_mulberryfly_cuttys_head_7-3.jpg

    Lucky Shirt?

    in Carp on the Fly

    Posted

    Here's a couple more pictures from that same outing. My friend just sent me some of the pictures she took with her camera.

    Me fighting the grass carp (I thought this was interesting):

    DM_33inGrassCarp_JP_6-16-2010_Fight.jpg

    She used a flash, and it made the picture look completely different than my camera:

    DM_33inGrassCarp_JP_6-16-2010_E.jpg

    Lucky Shirt?

    in Carp on the Fly

    Posted

    Last summer I fly-fished a local private pond in town. It is surrounded by townhomes, and its owned by the "association". I fish it with friends that live there. The pond has bass, bluegills, crappies, hybrid sunfish, channel catfish...and some GRASS CARP! Over the course of maybe a half-dozen fishing trips there, two of us had numerous hook-ups with grass carp, resulting in many broken lines, some thrown hooks, and exactly ONE grass carp landed. It was 36.5" and 25lbs.

    Well, last night I was able to fish there again, for the first time this year. In preparation for the outing, I studied the pictures from last year. I decided to wear the same t-shirt as I did on the day I landed that first grassie. Maybe there was something lucky about it? I also tied up a few flies I wanted to try on them.

    Sometimes you will see the fish sunning near the surface. But last night, other than a tail sticking up along the shoreline, there were no fish visible. They (my friends) had some stale hamburger buns, so they tossed some small chunks into the water to try to get the grass carp feeding on the surface. We tried some of the surface flies I'd tied, and had some takes. No good hook-ups, though. Wanting to catch fish of SOME kind, we alternated between fishing for the grass carp, and fishing for the "other fish". In the end, I caught all 6 fish species on flies last night. And there were some dandy fish!

    As it started getting darker, I put on a bizarre bread fly I'd tied. It is a white fluffy "puff ball" (ok, I don't know the real name) that you can get at the craft stores. I simply ran a hook through the middle of it, trimmed the top and bottom somewhat flat (so the hook gap would be relatively clear), and added a bit of glue to keep it from rotating around the hook shank. In the water, it sinks. So, I cast it out beyond the floating bread pieces, and retrieve it slowly enough to keep the slack out of the line, and keep it somewhat suspended in the water column. This got a good hit last year, so I was hopeful it would work again. It did. And after this long commentary (are you still with me?), I landed a 33" 17.5lb grass carp.

    DM_33inGrassCarp_JP_6-16-2010_C.jpg

    Carp net

    in Carp on the Fly

    Posted

    I have the large Cabela's Measure Net. It's handle can telecope by untwisting the neck to loosen, and twisting it back to tighten it at the length you want. Or just keep it set at whatever length you prefer.

    http://www.cabelas.com/p-0051127320116a.shtml

    I replaced the cloth measure bag with the rubber measure bag, which you can order from here (or just get it from here in the first place):

    http://www.themeasurenet.com/products-rubb...eplacements.htm

    I haven't actually used it to land fish yet (but plan to as soon as I can get out in my kayak maybe yet this week!), so can't speak as to its durability.

    Made friends with a bowfisherman yesterday

    in Carp on the Fly

    Posted

    Unfortunately, Rick, disrespectful folks aren't confined to your area. I've seen my share of disrespectful anglers. One glaring example is an afternoon I was fishing from shore on a rock jetty that sticks out into the local reservoir. There are a number of these around this relatively large body of water. A fellow in a bass boat arrived and methodically worked the side of the jetty to my rear (which was totally fine). He then came around the end of the jetty and proceeded to work his way along the shore towards me. This too was totally fine. As he got to me, I fully expected he would stay about a cast length away from me (I was actively casting and retrieving lures with spinning gear at the time), and resume his fishing once past me.

    Nope. He even went so far as to place about three casts close enough to my feet to splash a few droplets of water on me. I fumed, but said nothing. What does one say to an idiot? He wasn't a young punk that needed to learn a lesson. I can only surmise that he was trying to make a point to ME that I didn't belong there, for some reason. Again...what could I say to someone with that mentality?

    He continued fishing his way along beyond me, and neither of us said a word.

    Grass carp

    in Carp on the Fly

    Posted · Edited by FishnDave

    How about a photo of one of those boa leach patterns? I have read about your success with those on crappie too on that OTTHER forum that we both visit.

    Rick

    Here's THE one I'd just landed the 36.5" grassie on (so its wet, of course):

    DSC05714.jpg

    And here's a bunch of different colors I tied up one night. I haven't TRIED all these yet, but I've caught fish on white, gray, brown, black, yellow, orange, green, purple, tan. I don't think there's a color I've tried that hasn't worked.

    DM_BoaYarnSampler.jpg

    I've caught grass carp, bass, channel catfish, crappies, bluegills, and green sunfish on these things. They are a one-material fly, super-easy to tie. You can weight them with bead heads, barbel eyes, or bead-chain eyes. Great movement in the water. I imagine a common carp would go crazy for one of these, but I haven't put one of these in front of them yet.

    Grass carp

    in Carp on the Fly

    Posted

    I'll have to give Fish Dave a heads up on this thread. He has had some very nice success with them. Have never seen one is Wis.

    Hey now Rick! I've only managed to land two of them, but have hooked several. Thrown hooks and broken lines (I usually use 2X leader, 10lb tippet) usually end the excitement all too soon. The two I landed, and a third that managed to get by the net several times before breaking the line on a rock...were all hooked on boa yarn leech patterns. One was a greenish color, a second was a sort of tan-colored, and a third was a yellow color. I've also had takes on patterns that look like bread (like use furry foam and marabou), for example. I forget now what else they may have hit on.

    They've been observed falling all over each other trying to eat the grass clippings that have gotten blown into one pond. I tried to make a fly using green sheet foam (to float it), and peacock herl for grass blades, but so far no takes on that. Will continue trying it, though, cuz it looks pretty close to grass. I'll have to try the suggest of long thin foam tied to the hook.

    Some excitement, but no fish today.

    in Carp on the Fly

    Posted

    Went fly-fishing to a local pond during lunch. Spotted a pair of grass carp slowly circling in a corner of the pond. My whole body started to SHAKE! What am I... a little kid?? Sheesh! But there you have it. My composure was totally shattered.

    I put a fly in their vicinity a half-dozen times without noticeable reaction, before they finally headed for deeper water.

    Bummer.

    And then a little bit ago I was crossing the bridge over the pond between our office buildings, and saw a BIG ol' orange koi slurping along the edge. Where is my CAMERA at a time like this? No...wait....where is my FLY ROD at a time like this!!!

    :)

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