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I have never caught a Carp on a fly rod before, so I wanted to give it a try. Last time I went on the San Juan River I saw quite a few carp feeding on the bottom in a shallow section of the river. I wasn't setup for carp at that time and only had a 3wt fly rod with me. So I decided come back with my 5wt and come back for them another day. Turns out a 5wt is not really enough as well and this carp fought me for 21 minutes! Which felt like forever. By the end of the fight, I was so exhausted, I felt like my arms were gonna fall off. He was so large, and I was so tired, that I had trouble picking him up.

They say carp fishing is like fishing for bonefish. They are finicky fish, that spook easy. You can site fish for them, but you need long, thin leader. They fight hard, and feel like your hooked onto the back of a freight train when they run. SO they make for a very formidable sport fish, one that many say is even tougher than bonefish.
This is the first time I am fishing with my new vest, neck gaiter, and gloves. I love them! The vest helped by allowing me to bring water with me, and put extra things in the backpack. And even though the sun was in full blast, the neck gaiter and gloves kept me from getting burnt.

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Those fish you can see cruising, plop a dry fly onto them and they'll come up like a sub. Nothing better for your heart rate. A big foam daddy or a madam X should have enough plop to make them look up. Can't wait to see the next vid,

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Thanks for the recommendation. I went out yesterday and chased them all day with no luck. But it was overcast and I couldn't see into the water at all. By the time I got close enough to see them in the water, I was too close and they got spooked. But I plan on doing it again soon. I will bring dries for sure next time!

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Looks like a fun day there Shawn. I've only caught a few carp on the fly rod myself, one was about the same size as yours and it was on an 8wt and I still remember that fight even to this day, so I bet that was a real blast on a 5wt lol.

 

I've been looking at some sungloves like those this year as well. Gettin' older so gotta start being proactive with how much sun the face & hands total up these days.

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Looks like a fun day there Shawn. I've only caught a few carp on the fly rod myself, one was about the same size as yours and it was on an 8wt and I still remember that fight even to this day, so I bet that was a real blast on a 5wt lol.

 

I've been looking at some sungloves like those this year as well. Gettin' older so gotta start being proactive with how much sun the face & hands total up these days.

These ones weren't badly priced, like $14 or something like that. I'll send ya a link if you want, I like them, they seem to work well...

 

Yeah it was a blast on a 5wt, although I don't think I'll be targeting them with a 5wt again... I think my 6wt sage method will do fine...

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Yeah send me the link. The Orvis ones are about $28 and the other pair I found on ebay were only $12 but they were from China so would take a month to get here. Shoot me the link for the ones you got when ya get a chance.

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Nice carp! As I've said before, it's one of the few things I miss from "up North". Common Carp don't live here.

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Pretty fish Shawn!I bet that was a blast on a 5!

 

Got my first one last month on a GX2 combo with 4 lb test.Never had a fish fight like that!

post-3092-0-09360000-1495149479_thumb.jpg

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Btw-what vest is that?

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Nice carp! As I've said before, it's one of the few things I miss from "up North". Common Carp don't live here.

Thank you Mike... Where up north do you live? I thought carp lived in even colder environments no? Or are they only warm water fish? I mean they are in the San Juan River which is 33-35 degrees year round.

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Pretty fish Shawn!I bet that was a blast on a 5!

 

Got my first one last month on a GX2 combo with 4 lb test.Never had a fish fight like that!

Thank you! Yeah it was really fun, but I don't think I will target carp with a 5wt again... It was fun, but just too much work. I would have not been so exhausted at the end with a stiff 6wt-8wt...

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Btw-what vest is that?

I got it on amazon. I can send you a link if your interested? I didnt put the links in the description here in the fly tying forum because I didnt want to interfere with the sponsors of the forum. But I will private message it to you if you want?

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