Need some Carp help.

[Steve P 0]

Clear water I would look at muted olive, yellow, or softer Brown natural colors. Try a rough dub craw or a hammerhead rough dub. Also with minnow forage give a shot to a small zonker or other minnow imitationn in white or soft gray. Try drifting some nymphs like stonefly imitations to them or hexagenia patterns. Keep it relatively simple but don't be afraid to throw the book at them. Once you connect record everything. Find the pattern and keep on the trail.

 

The 5/6 will be nominal. Be ready to palm your spool. Make sure to revive them well. You're gonna be in for a battle of one of them breaks the 10lb mark, and a war if you exceed 20. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

Steve

[JSzymczyk 0]

NEED SOME CARP HELP

 

Use doughballs made with strawberry jell-o

[Piker20 0]

That or a piece of sweetcorn. A dog biscuit glued to a hook also works well. And if you're really stuck a nice juicy worm from a garden will work. Even if you just get a feel for losing them on a fly rod. Nothing like bruised knuckles from a fly reel to make you feel alive.

[Steve P 0]

Nothing like bruised knuckles from a fly reel to make you feel alive.

Is funny you say that Piker. First time I took the wife after carp I told her repeatedly to NOT reach for the crank when you hook up. First fish she hooked was a 16lb bruiser and the first thing I heard was zzzzzzzzzzzzddddddddddddd as the reel handle busted 3 of her knuckles bloody. I still make it a point to tell her that and she still gives me a dirty look.

 

Steve

[Piker20 0]

Yeah she had the full experience. Only thing I found worse is a barbel on a centerpin reel. They run a bit more freely than a fly reel and barbel are little bruisers.

[Kirk Dietrich 0]

Yeah Steve, I like black, brown and olive and typically tie on size #6 Scud hook. Have been catching them for about seven years now, just one or two a trip, just wondering if there was more I could do. I think the spooking is from me dragging and dropping the fly to close to their face.

Thanks for the invite to the swap but I'm swamped with fly orders and still trying to write a book, then the fishing kind of gets in the way of all of that...

Maybe next time.

 

These are the flies that I have caught the most carp on.

 

 

 

This fly but on the above mentioned hook. It works good on bass and carp tied like that so I decided to try it on a #4 jig hook for redfish, works fine for them too.

 

[outdoorsmanfool 0]

Thanks for the help guys, i really do appreciate it. I will post something tomorrow after i get back from the stream. it is suppose to be 75 so the fish should be pretty active so good luck to me!!

[Steve P 0]

I really like #3 Kirk. I much prefer to sneak up on them with the fly. Or I'll pull it in slowly then make them chase it a little. Grassies will chase a fly on the dead run. I throw in their direction then just strip set over and over until I'm hooked up.

 

Steve

[ditz2 0]

Mr. Kirk......I found a pattern very similar to the second one that was listed as a great carp fly. It is called a Blind squirrel. (no bead chain eyes) I tied on a #6 and #8 and #10......I tied a few and took it to the creek to see how it fished though there are no carp there. I caught every species in the creek in short order. Rock Bass, other sunfish and smallmouth bass. I have many species on it ...except a carp. Go Figure! I do like the rubber legs on it which is not on Blind Squirrel

 

I would like to have the recipe for the #3 leach pattern you have pictured. And I need to try the Squirrely. I have fished one tied like a traditional streamer but never tied like a Crazy Charlie. However mine do not have the tips of the hair trimmed.

[Kirk Dietrich 0]

Steve, that is a good fly and what i like is that you can always blind cast it to a good looking bass spot as they eat it well.

 

Ditz, that leech is just a marabou tail, rabbit hair with ultra fine angel hair flash in a dubbing loop for the body and barbell eyes although I also tie it with a bead head. The dubbing came from a friend in Canada Stu Thompson, he calls it DDH dubbing, the ddh being an acronym for the flash material he uses but any ultra fine flash can be used. Same stuff in the DDH Squirm in the first picture except that is brown although he mixes in a little red and yellow hairs with the rust colored rabbit. It's a great body material, no hackle needed.

I have been tying that Squirrely since the late 1980's and it has caught just about every species of warmwater fish we have down here from Bass to Catfish and Carp as well as every kind of bream including the Rio Grande Cichlid.

 

Kirk

[ditz2 0]

Kirk....Though I have never quite duplicated the squirrely I have recommended it to others for various conditions. Gar and carp especially. Simple tie and effective. What more can one ask for. Fox squirrel tail hair seems to have a certain magic.

 

Thanks for the info on the leech. I think I have only one 'leach' pattern in my box. It is a short rabbit zonker tail and then wrap the zonker around the shank like a hackle. Mine aren't weighted but my waters are mostly shallow and being rabbit it still sinks well. I was hopeing to get a cat fish on it but I am not sure there are many in the creeks I fish. Never caught one anyhow.

[notenuftoys 0]

What size hooks do y'all typically use for carp? I'm going to go after some later this month or next, when the water finally warms up some.

[Piker20 0]

Id say a 10 would be my average. Anything from 2-18 though has a place.

[Steve P 0]

I use almost nothing but a size 6 I just vary in the shank length. Common is the 2nd, standard length (wet) and 1x short egg. I do go up to a size 2 and down to a 12 though I rarely fish anything but the 6.

 

Steve

[Steve P 0]

The real determining factor is the size of stuff they are eating in your area. On the great lakes they fish size 2 articulated flies because they feed so heavily on the goby. Down south of me in clear waters I do fish the 10 and12 more often because that's the forage size. Here it's about a size 6 2xl hexagenia. Our other "bug".

 

Steve