03-19-2007, 01:56 PM
[cool][#0000ff]Good question. Lotsa answers.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I have been catching carp on flies and jigs...both accidently and on purpose...for as long as I have been fishing. That goes back to the days of the stone fishing rods and braided mastodon hair for line. I have also read a lot about them and compared notes with other anglers who open-mindedly pursue those rascals. I have developed some insight and opinions (naturally).[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]First, I have observed that most species suffer from unfounded rumors, hearsay and downright stupidity on the part of anglers. A lot of fisherfolk THINK they know a lot of things about which they don't gots a clue. Some of this is based upon one time freak happenstance. Some is merely passing on the same kind of info they get from other clueless goobers. And, there are a lot of things proposed and assumed about carp that people REALLY believe.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]One of the most common misconceptions is that carp are strictly bottom feeders or strictly vegetarian. Not so on both counts. Anyone who observes carp under "natural" conditions will see them cruising near the surface or at least above the bottom most of the time. They root in the bottom at times, both to obtain roots and aquatic vegetation, but also to find worms, leeches and other invertebrates upon which they regularly feed.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Carp have excellent vision. That is one of the reasons they can be difficult to stalk in clear water. In the clean waters of many lakes and rivers, carp become "sight feeders", and actively look for bugs, worms, crawdads and even live minnows. I have witnessed them chasing and feeding on live food on numerous occasions. And, even if the water is murky, carp can find and capture live food. Like many fish, they have sensitive lateral lines and their barbels are receptors for minute traces of edible grub in the surrounding water. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]All of that being said, it is not surprising that carp will take flies and lures. There are many trout patterns that make a "good enough" representation for the sometimes finicky carp, for the food items they are used to finding and feeding upon. Similarly, if they are used to dining on meaty items, they will hit spinners, spoons and minnow imitating hardbaits. Carp that feed on crawdads jump all over diving crankbaits and jigs bounced along the bottom. The funny thing is that you often have to make a better and more realistic presentation to fool carp than you do to get a bass to whack your lure.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The key thing for flies and jigs seems to be first to put your offering well in front of the fish, so that you do not spook them with the cast. Let them settle to the bottom...where the carp are usually looking for their food. Then, when the carp is close enough to see the movement, bring the fly or jig up off the bottom with a lift or twitch. Often that is enough to get the fish to move to your offering and slurp it in.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]That is where it becomes difficult if you are not sight fishing. Of all the carp you have taken, I would bet that most of them were hooked because you saw them take it rather than feeling them. And, that is why the results go down when you are "blind casting" into deeper waters or in waters with a bit of "color". You will get more takes than you ever know and will hook nothing if you feel nothing. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Carp can take in a fly and spit it out before you even know they are there. Only rarely will they keep the fly in their mouths, turn away and move off with it...creating a tug.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]When I fish jigs, I become a "Jedi Knight". I use the "force" to keep me in tune with what is going on at the other end of my line. I refer to this as "touch fishing". I love it when a fish smacks my jig and hauls my rod tip down, but the truth of the matter is that many fish of many species do not hammer a lure. Like the carp (and bass, etc.), they often just flare their gills, open their mouths and vacuum the light jig or fly into their mouths while remaining stationary in the water. An angler not in tune with how his offering feels...without interference...will completely miss those takes. They happen and they are over without the fishermen even knowing that they missed an opportunity.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I developed a philosophy long ago that "Hooksets are free". Whenever I am retrieving a fly, jig or lure, I watch the line and the rodtip while concentrating on the feel while retrieving. Whenever there is the slightest change in "the force", I either raise the rod slightly to detect resistance...or I snap my wrist for a preliminary hookset. If I stick something besides "real estate", I double set the hook and it's game on.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]It would be fair to say that most of the carp I hook...fair or foul...are hooked accidentally. I am usually fishing for other species, in carp country. But, if I am using something that looks edible, and I am fishing it in an acceptable manner, I am not surprixed when a light tick on the end of my line becomes a reel screamer wearing big scales.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]One of the techniques I use for fishing carp on a fly, when fishing "blind", is the same as the one I use for bluegills under similar conditions. Bluegills are also notorious for swimming up behind a fly, sipping it in and spitting it out without creating much of a commotion. My "trick" is to point the rod directly at the fly while retrieving. I simultaneously watch the line and hold it constantly with a finely tuned forefinger while stripping. ANYTHING that changes is my signal to pull straight back a few inches with my stripping hand. If I feel the desired resistance I simultaneously pull back more and raise the rod tip to complete the hookset. If there is no fish when I do the "test tug" I just pause a few seconds and resume the strip. No harm no foul.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I believe that some weighted bead head bugs would do a good job of getting deep and keeping more "feel" on the end of your line. Work them like active numphs or small crawdads and they should get some attention. You might also try making some up in bright colors. I have found that chartreuse is especially appealing to carp. I once taok a 25 pound mirror carp on a size 10 chartreuse fly being fished on 4# tippet for crappies. Gave me and my six weight rod all the action we could stand.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Wow. That is a lot of rhetoric about a nasty old fish that many people don't think is worth the effort.[/#0000ff]
[signature]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I have been catching carp on flies and jigs...both accidently and on purpose...for as long as I have been fishing. That goes back to the days of the stone fishing rods and braided mastodon hair for line. I have also read a lot about them and compared notes with other anglers who open-mindedly pursue those rascals. I have developed some insight and opinions (naturally).[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]First, I have observed that most species suffer from unfounded rumors, hearsay and downright stupidity on the part of anglers. A lot of fisherfolk THINK they know a lot of things about which they don't gots a clue. Some of this is based upon one time freak happenstance. Some is merely passing on the same kind of info they get from other clueless goobers. And, there are a lot of things proposed and assumed about carp that people REALLY believe.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]One of the most common misconceptions is that carp are strictly bottom feeders or strictly vegetarian. Not so on both counts. Anyone who observes carp under "natural" conditions will see them cruising near the surface or at least above the bottom most of the time. They root in the bottom at times, both to obtain roots and aquatic vegetation, but also to find worms, leeches and other invertebrates upon which they regularly feed.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Carp have excellent vision. That is one of the reasons they can be difficult to stalk in clear water. In the clean waters of many lakes and rivers, carp become "sight feeders", and actively look for bugs, worms, crawdads and even live minnows. I have witnessed them chasing and feeding on live food on numerous occasions. And, even if the water is murky, carp can find and capture live food. Like many fish, they have sensitive lateral lines and their barbels are receptors for minute traces of edible grub in the surrounding water. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]All of that being said, it is not surprising that carp will take flies and lures. There are many trout patterns that make a "good enough" representation for the sometimes finicky carp, for the food items they are used to finding and feeding upon. Similarly, if they are used to dining on meaty items, they will hit spinners, spoons and minnow imitating hardbaits. Carp that feed on crawdads jump all over diving crankbaits and jigs bounced along the bottom. The funny thing is that you often have to make a better and more realistic presentation to fool carp than you do to get a bass to whack your lure.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The key thing for flies and jigs seems to be first to put your offering well in front of the fish, so that you do not spook them with the cast. Let them settle to the bottom...where the carp are usually looking for their food. Then, when the carp is close enough to see the movement, bring the fly or jig up off the bottom with a lift or twitch. Often that is enough to get the fish to move to your offering and slurp it in.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]That is where it becomes difficult if you are not sight fishing. Of all the carp you have taken, I would bet that most of them were hooked because you saw them take it rather than feeling them. And, that is why the results go down when you are "blind casting" into deeper waters or in waters with a bit of "color". You will get more takes than you ever know and will hook nothing if you feel nothing. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Carp can take in a fly and spit it out before you even know they are there. Only rarely will they keep the fly in their mouths, turn away and move off with it...creating a tug.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]When I fish jigs, I become a "Jedi Knight". I use the "force" to keep me in tune with what is going on at the other end of my line. I refer to this as "touch fishing". I love it when a fish smacks my jig and hauls my rod tip down, but the truth of the matter is that many fish of many species do not hammer a lure. Like the carp (and bass, etc.), they often just flare their gills, open their mouths and vacuum the light jig or fly into their mouths while remaining stationary in the water. An angler not in tune with how his offering feels...without interference...will completely miss those takes. They happen and they are over without the fishermen even knowing that they missed an opportunity.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I developed a philosophy long ago that "Hooksets are free". Whenever I am retrieving a fly, jig or lure, I watch the line and the rodtip while concentrating on the feel while retrieving. Whenever there is the slightest change in "the force", I either raise the rod slightly to detect resistance...or I snap my wrist for a preliminary hookset. If I stick something besides "real estate", I double set the hook and it's game on.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]It would be fair to say that most of the carp I hook...fair or foul...are hooked accidentally. I am usually fishing for other species, in carp country. But, if I am using something that looks edible, and I am fishing it in an acceptable manner, I am not surprixed when a light tick on the end of my line becomes a reel screamer wearing big scales.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]One of the techniques I use for fishing carp on a fly, when fishing "blind", is the same as the one I use for bluegills under similar conditions. Bluegills are also notorious for swimming up behind a fly, sipping it in and spitting it out without creating much of a commotion. My "trick" is to point the rod directly at the fly while retrieving. I simultaneously watch the line and hold it constantly with a finely tuned forefinger while stripping. ANYTHING that changes is my signal to pull straight back a few inches with my stripping hand. If I feel the desired resistance I simultaneously pull back more and raise the rod tip to complete the hookset. If there is no fish when I do the "test tug" I just pause a few seconds and resume the strip. No harm no foul.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I believe that some weighted bead head bugs would do a good job of getting deep and keeping more "feel" on the end of your line. Work them like active numphs or small crawdads and they should get some attention. You might also try making some up in bright colors. I have found that chartreuse is especially appealing to carp. I once taok a 25 pound mirror carp on a size 10 chartreuse fly being fished on 4# tippet for crappies. Gave me and my six weight rod all the action we could stand.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Wow. That is a lot of rhetoric about a nasty old fish that many people don't think is worth the effort.[/#0000ff]
[signature]