Ctr your going to have to come clean on some details!!!!! Are those flies a carp crack pattern? Do carp actually "attack" the fly or are you placing it in front of their nose to be picked up as they root around? Looks like you have a little clarity to your water so the fish can see your fly. Mine is straight mud!
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Curious how you fish those flies. They kinda look like you could drop them in front of them and they might look like vegetation. Gotta link to the pattern recipe?Originally posted by CTR0022 View PostComment
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from the blog posted last year
Trash fish, rough fish, and non-game fish are some of the bleak references made in regards to carp. But for anyone who has chased them with a flyrod knows how much fun they can be. To me its all about stalking carp on foot. Closing the distance and delivering a well placed fly to unsuspecting fish. A few things that will put the odds in your favor to closing the distance. Don't step on sticks, there is nothing more that alerts a carp to your presence than a stick snapping under your foot. Don't wake the water, you'll want to move fast enough to cover some ground but don't move so fast your pushing water with each step. Don't get caught just looking at the water you can clearly see into. What I mean is generally you will be able to see clearly into water that is 5-10 feet in front of you. As you look further out visibility starts to diminish. As most the carp you will catch will be in the 20-30 foot range it is important to look for signs of fish out to 100 feet. Look for shadows, tails, and mud clouds from feeding fish. And one last suggestion, put your fly rod behind you. You'd be surprised how much a 9ft rod waving around distracts your eyes. Your looking for movement, flashes and other signs of fish. You don't need your eyes to continually be distracted by flashes, glare and movement from your flyrod. I move my rod to the side out of my immediate view. When you find feeding fish, slow down, its not uncommon to have fish just appear in front of you. Carp will routinely come out of hydrilla mats or other vegetation right in front of you. When the fish get to tight to you they are tough to catch. Normally if you can see their eye they are aware of your presence as well. A flick of a fly rod or any sudden movement will normally blow these fish out. Its best to remain still and let these fish get a little distance from you before making your attempt. There's a happy medium of about 20-30 feet that seems to be the sweet spot where you can see the fish and fly and detect the take while the fish is still unbeknownst to your presence. Which brings me to the next most challenging aspect of carp fish; detecting the take. At times carp will hit a fly with enough of a jolt to be felt. However most the time they will just swim over and suck the fly up. I won't lie, half the time I set the hook just because. Sometimes you see gills flare, their bright lips flash, or they bull rush the fly, or make a sudden movement towards the fly. Mother nature likes to throw her curve balls in with glare from the sun, ripples on the water and lake bottoms that make your fly disappear. Sometimes its hard to tell what is going on, all you have is your intuition to rely on. In my opinion its better to set the hook when in doubt. As far as flies go, anything buggy looking in size 6-8 seems to work best. Smaller is typically better from what I have found. You'll want a fly with enough weight to get down to the bottom quickly but not so heavy it gets caught up in vegetation and debris on the bottom. For sub 10lb fish a 5-6 weight rigged with 8lb tippet is a good all around setup. For larger fish you'll need to step up to an 8 or even 9 weight if fish are pushing high 20's. Other than that you just need to get out there and get a few fish under your belt. Once you've seen these fish take a fly a few times and observe their body language things get a lot easier. You'll have good days were the fish are very aggressive and there is no doubt when they eat the fly. Other days due to high pressure or just lethargic fish they just seem to sip the fly up and spit it pretty quickly. Those are the days you have to be on your game and have a little luck on your side.Comment
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What am I doing wrong?????????????
7 hours on the coast with a fly rod and one hit/catch. It was an 8" speck. I threw every type if fly I had in every bit of the water column i could reach and used every type of presentation that I know. The entire time my kids were with me using jig heads and shrimp. They caught rat reds, sheep head and croaker all day long right next to me while I had nothing. Fish were there and hungry, why would they not hit flies?Comment
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Did a little fishing with my brother in the South Platte in Colorado. Both of us walked away with 9 fish each for the day, nymph fishing the whole time with the high flows.
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Well I had to cancel my trip to Montana at the end of October. I was pretty upset, was really looking forward to being back up there catching browns.
Before anyone feels too sorry for me I already replaced it with a trip to Campeche in two weeks.
Can't let that vacation time go to waste!
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Had a good week in Island Park Idaho on the Henrys Fork. Here's a few I caught
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That looks like an awesome trip. Have to add that one to my hit list.Originally posted by keep View PostHad a good week in Island Park Idaho on the Henrys Fork. Here's a few I caught
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Went out Saturday. Right at daylight, schools were actively feeding. Caught one out of a big school, broke off a couple and missed a couple eats. Then they all tucked into the grass. Still plenty of shots, but with the high water, they were way back in the grass making it impossible to present to them. It's about to get epic as it cools off more and the tides start to lower.
Took the boat out, dropped it off and drove to Matagorda to wade the surf. If you want a tug on your line right now, hit the surf with a popper and cast at bait pods. Spanish Macks are THICK right now. Big ones too, lots of fun on an 8 weight.Comment
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Just got back from Campeche yesterday. That place is incredible. Fished with Campeche Tarpon and the customer service is first rate. The owner Alejandro is a very friendly and sincere guy who wants his clients to have a great trip. The guides know where to find the Tarpon. The amount of tarpon we saw daily is mind blowing.
Campeche is a very clean, nice, friendly city with great culture, some fantastic restaurants and great street food. If you ever get a chance to go do not hesitate!
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those are fun size tarpon right there. where they happy and eat pretty good?Comment
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Originally posted by CTR0022 View Post
They were aggressive everyday until about 11. If you put the fly in front of them they would eat. After a couple hours of it being insanely hot they would tuck into the mangroves and kind of shut down. You could still get eats, but they weren't as easy. Not a big deal since the day ends at 2.
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Few more from Campeche.
Getting set up on a group of rollers
Rollers
Casting at feeding fish in a creek
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