Fly Fishing For Carp

I've caught them on wooly buggers, crayfish and hares ear nymphs.

I have cheated a bit.
I go to the pym spillway with the flyrod and a loaf of bread.
I tie on a large number 1 hook, make a ball of bead, plop it out there, and wait.
Fish on-

Fun, Fun, Fun!

Give Pymatunning a try, get lots of them there every year. They feed so much on the bread that people feed them, I tie a bread fly of out white polly fill and they hit ot pretty good. Also they feed them a lot of dog/fish pellet food there also. You can make a "fly" out of plastic wood filler. Just make a ball of it and set the hook in before it sets up. It will float and you can sometimes fool them with that. They are smart fish and get pressured there too.

Im looking into some fly fishing for carp this summer in PI bay from my kayak. I have seen them cruising but never feeding(could be a problem).  I think I'll most likely try some nymphs and mabey chum them with some corn and cast a corn fly to them.  I have alot to try, but when June rolls around I'll let you guys know how it's going.  Schools out June 5th.
 
 
Mike

I have also caught them on a wooly bugger variation. I have also used the bread fly idea but make mine out of spun deer hair, not packed to tightly though. They are deffinately fun on a 4/5 weight.

"Bread fly" ROTFLMAO!!!  I'll have to try that one.

Whole grain, or potato bread?

Have seen that "Guided trips. Fly Fishing for Freshwater Bonefish" stuff.
Makes me chuckle a little.
Maybe I should try it. May learn a thing, or two. LOL

carpamerica.com

Feeding carp will hit just about any type of fly, the toughest part is getting it in front of them without spooking them first.  Look for feeding fish, the ones big enough worth targeting are pretty hard to miss, if they aren't nose down on the bottom with their hoover sucking, then they probably aren't feeding (not counting the feeding areas at those lakes).    I like enough weight to get the fly to sit on the bottom and not move unless I drag it. Long leaders are a must. You want to cast beyond the fish, let the fly hit the bottom, then drag it back so it's in line with the feeding fish. Normally a feeding carp will keep moving along, hopefully it will head towards your fly, already sitting on the bottom.   Chances are if it sees it, it will eat it.   If you cast right on top their head and try  and sink it directly in front of them, 99% of the time they will spook.

I've caught them on Glo bugs and sucker spawn, bead head nymphs, wooly buggers, green weenies, and probably a few other flies I can't remember.  I also caught them using the same, sink it to the bottom and let is sit method with minifoo jigs and rooster tail spinners on a spin rod. Like I said, they'll eat anything that slightly resembles food when they are on the feed.   Now the carp sitting on the surface sunning themselves, good luck with that. My suggestion would be to chum bread and hope you get them on a feed.

If I were going on a trip to target carp on the fly, I'd take size 10 or 12 white wooly buggers, and oregon cheese, chartruese, or pink glo bugs. You can see them well, and the fish will eat them.


I had several carp chase down a black mini foo jig and eat it at Neshannock creek.  I was using the jig on a fly rod and small strip/swimming it acrossed a deep hole. They chased it 10 feet and sucked it in, somehow I missed them. Caught one that way in Big sewickley creek.  Other than that, the only aggressive carp I've ever seen was in areas at Kinzua where they feed them(those ones at the dam will hammer pennies as soon as they hit the water), or in the rivers below the dams when the gizzard shad are running by the millions.
 
 
I'm not all that impressed with the fighting ablitity of carp, you need to put a bend in that rod.   If you put the breaks on them, they'll stop.

What part of the potomac do you fish.  I was fishing at Pennyfeild Loch on saturday for smallies, but had no luck.  I am in the area often(dad lives in Md.)and would love to learn some more about river carp.
 
Mike