Carp & Gar on the Fly

[Chris_in_Louisiana 0]

Did a bit of urban fly fishing a few weeks back in preparation for the The Mayfly Project's upcoming 25 on the Fly tournament.  I generally fare poorly when it comes to rough fish, but ended up having a great few hours.  Clouser's Swimming Nymph did most of the damage.

Full story & a few more pics at the link for those who are interested:

https://fatfingeredflytyer.com/rough-fishing/

[skeet3t 0]

Outstanding! Many don't know what fun it is to catch carp and gar on the skinny stick. Carp fishing in the shallows is the same as bone fishing the flats of Florida or the Bahamas. And, it's a lot cheaper. I caught my first and only carp, so far, last summer. Looking forward to catching more this year. Thanks for sharing the photos and link.

[Chris_in_Louisiana 0]

On 5/7/2021 at 10:10 AM, skeet3t said:

Outstanding! Many don't know what fun it is to catch carp and gar on the skinny stick. Carp fishing in the shallows is the same as bone fishing the flats of Florida or the Bahamas. And, it's a lot cheaper. I caught my first and only carp, so far, last summer. Looking forward to catching more this year. Thanks for sharing the photos and link.

Thanks Skeet!  I managed another yesterday morning along with a second lost to a popped tippet.  I think swapping out lines on my 7wt has been a big part of my recent success.

As my 7wt is primarily used for the marsh, my primary reel is loaded with SA Mastery Redfish Warm line.  Great for turning over heavy wind resistant redfish flies, but doesn't really allow for the delicate presentation I need for carp in 12-18" of water.  Recently, I used some gift cards to pick up a cheap backup reel and a SA Amplitude Infinity Smooth 7wt line.  Not great at turning over the clunkier "drag and drop" carp patterns, but has really improved my success with smaller, unweighted carp flies.  Much more accurate placement and significantly less line slap.

Chris

[skeet3t 0]

Allow me to share here. I had an 8 wt. but somehow got crushed and was tossed. My present rod is a South Bend fiberglass 8 ft. D wt. which is equivalent to 7 wt. (shows the age of the rod). It does have the 8 wt. WF line, braided leader and whatever tippet I put on it. I'll see if I can get a photo of a similar fly I used. which is the result of a vivid imagination.

[Poopdeck 0]

So I have caught just about everything that swims in my area on a fly rod with the exception of a carp. I've tried but failed on only a handful of carp on the fly only trips. I have also tried in vain only to switch to a spinning rod where I've caught them. I will try again this year but I'm done taking only a fly rod on a carp fishing trip. I like to tie my swimming nymphs belly scrather style with a bead on the belly so they ride hook point up. Never caught a carp on one yet but the bass don't seek to care which way the hook points. Depending on depth and current I'll tie them with 1 to 3 beads.

 

[Steeldrifter 0]

Nice carp & gar. I have caught big carp on the fly, but never a gar. That's one I would like to get on the fly some day.

[Chris_in_Louisiana 0]

2 hours ago, Poopdeck said:

So I have caught just about everything that swims in my area on a fly rod with the exception of a carp. I've tried but failed on only a handful of carp on the fly only trips. I have also tried in vain only to switch to a spinning rod where I've caught them. I will try again this year but I'm done taking only a fly rod on a carp fishing trip. I like to tie my swimming nymphs belly scrather style with a bead on the belly so they ride hook point up. Never caught a carp on one yet but the bass don't seek to care which way the hook points. Depending on depth and current I'll tie them with 1 to 3 beads.

Interesting.  I'll have to give that style a try for bass one of these days.  For mine, I tie them with only a small amount of lead-free wrap to help overcome the buoyancy of the rabbit fur tail.  The sink rate is incredibly slow to the point that it almost suspends.  This has worked to my benefit with skinny water carp as I can make a prolonged pause right as the fly passes in front of the carp's eye.  If the strike comes, it is usually on the first short strip following this pause. 

Chris

[Chris_in_Louisiana 0]

3 hours ago, skeet3t said:

'll see if I can get a photo of a similar fly I used. which is the result of a vivid imagination.

Looking forward to seeing what you came up with.

Chris

[Chris_in_Louisiana 0]

11 minutes ago, Steeldrifter said:

Nice carp & gar. I have caught big carp on the fly, but never a gar. That's one I would like to get on the fly some day.

Gar are a blast.  They don't seem to have a lot of endurance, but the initial fight is fairly explosive.  From my limited experience, small hooks seem to fair better than larger hooks when it comes to landing them.

I came across a spotted yesterday that likely could have challenged the state fly rod record, but couldn't even get it to glance at my offerings.  I'll definitely try to track that dinosaur down again one of these days.

Chris

[Steeldrifter 0]

I don't think we have a lot of them here in Michigan, but I did see one that was about 30" range a few years back in the Clinton river when I was steelhead fishing one late spring. Looked to be a spotted gar best I could tell. Neat looking fish for sure.