catchandrelease
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Posts posted by catchandrelease
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It was a fair article, but somewhat general. It didn't really talk about fly patterns to use, other than to show pictures of some. Maybe there was a good reason for that.
I liked the article on exotics, too, and was surprised it didn't mention using fly gear for them. They are a lot of fun on fly gear!
Dave,
Great pics and great fish. Had a chance to fish the Miami area a bit several years back, with similar fishy results! Never managed an oscar, but did find a Jaguar Guapote, which has a serious pair of teeth on it.
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The deed is done. Who has caught bigger fish on the fly? Anyone?
Nice work - wish I could have been there to snap photos.
John's certainly passed my PB
http://www.carpanglersgroup.com/forum/inde...f=26&t=4425
...congratulations, John!
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Raif,
Dave Whitlock has done a lot of "prostletyzing" for carp on the fly, so he'd be a good source as well.
Jason
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The backing happened to be mono. Why is that bad?
Joe,
The concern with mono backing is it's stretchability. Particularly if you wind it on to the reel while under pressure (aka w/ carp attached). The material will stretch to a thinner diameter and is then wound on the spool. Once the pressure is off, the line wants to return to it's normal diameter. If it does so on a large scale, you can create enough pressure to bend/warp/break/etc your spool.
That being said, all of my reels have mono backing. Haven't had a problem yet.
Jason
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Lowell,
Good to see that you and Ray are keeping those fish "honest"! And in February, no less!
Jason
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cnc,
I've hooked and landed carp on hooks ranging from #12 nymph hooks to #2's (or whatever Lowell uses for his bread fly), and everything in between. All fished barbless.
Barbless hooks are actually to the flyfishers advantage, as it requires less force to "stick 'em." It does require, however, that you keep solid pressure on the fish throughout the fight. Encourages smarter playing of the fish, and easy unhooking.
Jason
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Ray,
That second fish is a gorgeous example of some of the smaller mirrors in those ponds. Did you catch it up by the pumping station?
Extra congratulations to catching one on one of your ow3n ties. It's a feeling that's toguh to beat in fishing.
Jason
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James,
Carp can be taken on the flyrod year round, but a change in tactics will be required depending on where and when you're fishing. Like any cold-blooded animal, carp slow down as their environment cools. As a result, presentations should be made more slowly, and a larger fly is often required to get their attention during colder months.
They can be taken in moving water or still, but still waters have the advantage of offering consistent shallows which can warm over the course of the day and potentially provided active carp to target, even on cold days.
In moving water, you're going to want to fish heavier flies for fishing subsurface, to counteract the effects of current flow. Depending on the size of the water that you're fishing, you may even need or want to use a sinking line to help get your offering down to where the fish are. The same applies for deeper stillwater situations.
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Dean -
My top 4 for all-around situations
Wooly bugger #6-8 in brown, black and olive, weighted and unweighted
Lowell's Bread fly #2-4
A generic nymph (hare's ear or pheasant tail) #6-10
Damselfly nymph #8-12, olive
Jason
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Ben,
Congratulations on the fish, and finding a great guide to put you on them!
Jason
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WTG Smitty!
'Bout time you broke that stick in!
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OK.. here's a question...
what size mono whould I use for backing?
I fish for carp with 12 pound test... that should work, right?
Your backing is never going to have any direct interaction with the fish(i.e. them not biting because it's too heavy), so the size/diameter/test is up to you. The lighter you go, the more line you can put on the spool. The heavier you go, the more "stick" you can put to the fish.
I've got 20# on my reels, light enough to put a decent amount on, heavy enough that my tippet *should* break long before my backing does. 'Cause that'd be bad
The main function of the backing is to increase the diameter of your "spool" making it easier/quicker to pick up line. If you're fishing predominantly smaller waters, heavy backing that fills the spool quickly may be the answer. If you're fishing big waters and rivers, you're going to need some distance because you *will* see your backing at some point. You'll need to balance out the amount of line you can spool with the breaking strength and make your decision from there. Go with the heaviest you can get away with and still get the amount of backing you think is necessary.
Whatever you use, don't spool it too tightly as mono will stretch and get thinner under pressure, and once on the spool, that pressure has to go somewhere, and can cause damage to the reel/spool when it does.
Jason
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^ that is what i mean
i dont go after the "crashers and thrashers"
i mean when i cant find feeding fish what do i do
Joe,
Look for fish cruising. They may be in open water, they may be near shore (near shore is preferred). Target them with nymphs, something slow sinking that's going to fall into their line of vision and stay there for a bit. They may not go for it, but it ups your odds.
If there's something edible hatching (or falling out of trees), match the hatch and look for fish cruising up high in the water column, they may be looking for a "target of opportunity."
If all else fails, go catch bluegill for an hour or so, and then come back and check on the carp
Jason
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Joe,
Congratulations on your first flyrod carp!
As for finding fish that aren't actively feeding, try locating fish that are schooling or cruising. They're not as easy to convince to bite, but you can sometimes turn them on.
Jason
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FM,
You *definitely* need to add backing to your reel before going after carp on the fly
You're sort of at an advantage in that regard, though, since your reel is already spooled with flyline. Tie your backing loosely to the tip of your flyline. Fill the spool. Cut.
Strip the line back off carefully, respooling it as you go. Pull your flyline. Tie on your backing and wind it up. Tie your backing to the flyline, and finish spooling.
Instantly full spool without having to guess at how much backing you need and over/under doing it.
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WTG Louis!!
And, here, I thought we were going to get to "break you in" at Marburg
Congrats on some nice fish and the joy of seeing the backing!
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I had hit the local river yesterday. It was high and off color, but I had managed a couple of smallies, although the best one threw the hook. So I had the itch. I needed some smallie action.
I hit the Susquehanna below the Route 30 bridge. I had hoped the river levels would be down enough to work out to mid-river and fish some big Deceivers but it was not (safely) to be. So, I kept on the small hopper pattern that I had on from the previous day, and began working the flat pool inside the first bridge piling. I covered the expanse of the pool, but no luck. I clipped the hopper free and had to make a tough choice, switch over to the deceiver and see if I could pull some toads out of the slower current runs or go with something smaller, increase my chances of catching *something*.
I decided on an olive marabou bugger that I had received from a friend. It had a nice, beefy bead head on it fight down through the faster water. Two casts later, something started rising, taking flies off the top downstream of me. Figures. I waded down a few yards and placed some casts in the vicinity of the rising fish. No luck. And then some motion caught my eye.
A fat carp had moseyed up into the flats of the pool, not actively mudding, but on the prowl, probably for one of the numerous crawdads that had been fleeing my clumsy wading. My adrenaline level skyrocketed and the first cast flew wildly behind the fish.
A couple deep breaths, calm it down. Next cast was a bit ahead of the fish and it redirected before getting in the vicinity of the fly. The fish turned to backtrack and my cast fell right on its nose. Lined it! I was sure the fish was a goner as it moved off at a more rapid pace toward the depths.
Either it was really hungry, or I hadn't spooked it as much as I thought, because it turned back up into the flat again, the tip of its tail occasionally breaking the surface of the water. I measured the cast and placed a beautiful one, about 4 feet ahead of the carp, and a foot deeper than its line. I wanted to get the fly to the bottom, but the fish was closing fast. I gave a quick strip of about 6" of line, and the fly danced up and toward the oncoming fish.
If you've never had the experience of watching a carp take a fly in clear water a couple of feet deep...it's the reason guys like me live for this type of fishing. When you're on the opposite end of that flyrod, trying to tempt that strike, moments draw out into hours. You know it's right when you can tell the fish has sensed the fly. It's rarely obvious, and often, not even something you can put into words. It's a slight alteration in the speed of the fish, a tiny side slip, a wavering of the fins that slows the carp's travel ever so much.
And then there's the turn. The head, pivoting, locking on to the fly. Then, the bend of the head uncoiling across the length of the scaled body as the fish swings over on the bait.
The flare of the gills as the carp commits. That sometimes imperceptible tic, as the fly line registers all that you've watched unfold. And then, infinity is shattered in an explosion of water and the screaming protestations of a stressed reel.
River fish aren't dumb. They know that their advantage is in the current, and this fish was no exception. My thoughts were on the fragile 4# tippet that was the weakest link in the chain tying me to this fish which was streaking off into the expanses of the water before me. I palmed the reel as much as I dared, but basically had to give the fish its way, hold and pray.
The fish was into the first current run off the shore, thankfully not too strong, but the fish wasn't looking for this advantage. It outpaced the flow of the currrent, the fly line making a sizzling sound as it ripped through the water. I looked down at my reel to realize that the bright yellow of my fly line had long since disappeared and the clear mono was evaporating at a frightening pace.
I began wading as rapidly as I could downstream. I leaned back into the rod, trusting in the flex of the rod and the long expanse of flyline to protect the tippet. The transmitted pressure was just enough, and the fish rolled over not but a few feet shy of the current seam that was kicking along at a blistering pace. I quickly tried to gather line as the fish headed back toward me, trying to keep pressure on as I collected some of my missing fly line back on to the reel.
The fish was still running hard, skiving off at a diagonal to the pressure until it found itself in shallow water between two rock outcroppings. The shallow water panicked it, and it wheeled quickly, turning the water a creamy coffee color as it ripped off downstream again. The second run didn't get nearly as far into my backing as the first, and I grew more confident that this battle was mine to win or lose.
The fish headed into the same shallows as before, but I managed to turn it before it spooked and with as much muscle as I feared the line could take, brought the fish up into the flat water pool where I had first hooked it. A slow lift of the rod above my head guided the fish in until I could grab the fly. Yes!
A bit of back and forth wrestling about who exactly had who, and I popped the fly loose. Perfect placement, top of the upper lip. The fish slid down into the water at my feet and I wrapped its tail, turning it into the current and giving a couple of gentle back and forth passes to reinvigorate it. With a burst of energy and a flick of the tail, the fish was off to the safety of deeper, faster waters.
Fat, thick and heatlhy, it was better than 15, maybe up to 20. The numbers aren't what matters. It was the power, the energy, the connection between man and fish. A battle from getting the strike to landing the fish. It's ultimately about losing yourself and your worries in the flow of the river, and having the opportunity to burn another memory into the recesses of the mind, to be pulled out again on some quiet day, as the kids at your feet clamor for "just one more story, please."
Oh yeah, got a few smallies too, including a nice fat 17"er that gave a beautiful 3' high display of piscine aerobatics.
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... i think i am now hooked on flyfishing for carp.
Come to the dark side Lu...err Vinny...carp on the fly is your daddy...
Congrats on another great couple of fish, Vinny!
Got into my own river carp today...post to follow...
Jason
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Hi Jason, have you landed any monsters on the flyrod? must be one hell of a fight, especially with such a low geared reel ! Do you wear gloves?
ATB, Carpsava
Carpsava,
Biggest was a 20+ mirror, see Here
It was possibly even the same one Lowell caught Here
Have also landed several high teen - low 20 river fish but in that case, you've got the advantage (sometimes) of chasing them
No gloves, just use the rod to your advantage and work 'em slow and easy. Now the caveat is that both of those mirrors were taken out of a small pond. In open water...might have been a different story
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Sask,
I was tinking about doing one here in PA earlier this spring, but couldn't get the timing together. And the spring sucked for flyrod carp locally, anyway
Jason
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WTG Vinny!
It'd getting close to time to hit the Mulberry Swim here......can't wait.
Dave,
Got any black platic corn on order?
You might also check out the local craft stores, see if they have any purple foam. Might be able to "roll your own".The mulberry swim here usually starts up round Father's Day...I've got the itch for top water carp, lemme tell ya!
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Vinny! Congrats, and welcome to the dark side
There are waters where you;ll definitely have to fish carp "traditionally." but any water where there's a possibility of getting into the carp on a fly...you'll start to feel the itch.
Jason
An Observation
in Carp on the Fly
Posted
Lee,
Just one note for you...if treated well (bled, kept cool), bonito can be an excellent eating fish.
Best,
Jason