My first encounters with carp were from childhood. I remember many days where my father would bring home carp and my grandmother would prepare them for a meal. Since my entire family was from Europe they were more accustomed to eating carp but I never really understood why he would eat them; mainly because of the way they looked. Admittedly, they are a funny looking fish and their looks are probably one of the reasons that many people view them as a trash fish. However, over the years my knowledge of carp grew and I learned to appreciate them more. They can survive in waters where most other fish cannot, they can adapt their eating habits, and are highlty sensitive to smell and sound. Knowing this helped me understand them better and appreciate them a little more; rather than an odd looking fish I viewed them more as a well adapted fish capable of surviving in all types of water.
During my formative years of carping all of my experience came from bait fishing. Ever since I was six-years-old my idea of carp fishing was using doughballs on a hook for bait. My father would often mix cornmeal and water to make the dougballs and sometimes he would add his secret ingredient - beer. Maybe the carp were really after the beer instead of the cornmeal! The doughballs were effective and did catch fish. Many of the bait fishermen/women that I encountered were keen to the carps sense of smell, and some would often chum the water with little pieces of cornmeal. I remember one encounter with a carp fisherman who reminded me of the former wrestler Andre the Giant. He was tall with thick sideburns and he had a big carp laying next to him that he just caught. I admired his carp and he proudly said "Now that's a fish," and it was a very nice carp. This guy was fishing from a small bridge in a creek with relatively slow current. He was chuming the water with little pieces of cornmeal, which was common, but he was also doing something else that I thought was strange. He would bait one of his hooks with a dough-ball. If you have never used dough-balls, the idea is to completely cover the hook with the dough which has the consistency of a thick cookie dough. Once the hook was baited with the dough-ball he would stick his rod straight into the water with the baited hook and make figure eight motions in the water with the rod and bait. He reminded me of the musky fisherman who makes figure eight motions near the boat to entice a strike. The technique was peculiar and I'm not sure if it made any difference, maybe all he needed to do was chum, but he did catch fish. Nevertheless, this fisherman understood carp, because he was using their strong sense of smell to his advantage by luring them with chum and his figure-eight movements. I think that understanding the way that carp feed and their tendencies as a fish is really important when chasing them with a fly. Because unlike the bait fisher we cannot rely on the carps sense of smell and we have to use different tactics in order to catch them.
As with any other fish, we have to understand them in order to be better at catching them. But carp are quite different from most of the fish we target so it takes some adjusting to learn about their behaviors. The subtly with which they eat food, their keen sense of smell, and their weariness to anglers are all noticeable attributes about these fish. Understanding them a little better will likely improve your chances of catching them on the fly rod. During my teenage years, we fished for carp on-and-off using dough-balls and corn as bait. The fishing was productive but it was more of a passive way to fish for them. It wasn't until years later that I discovered a more active approach to catching carp - Carp on the Fly. Catching a carp on a fly rod is an active pursuit because you have to hunt the fish down in order to get close enough to cast to them. When I started fly fishing for carp most of it was second nature to me because I remembered the things I learned earlier in life. For example, when bait fishing, carp takes are often very subtle and it takes practice learning when to set the hook, and when to identify a fish is eating. The rod would usually just tick up and down or the line would slowly tighten up; those were the subtle clues to look for that a fish was eating your bait. The same applies to catching them on the fly (most of the time) as carp will often just inhale your fly which is sometimes difficult to detect; especially when you cannot see the fish well. It has been my experience that many fishermen/women are not accustomed to the carps subtle way of eating flies. In my opinion, it takes some effort from the fly fisher to learn the techniques needed to consistently identify that they have eaten the fly. Many carp fly fishers talk about the techniques they use to detect a strike with the fly rod. Some of them look for specific signs that a carp has eaten, such as a slight turn of the head from the fish, a puff of mud, or a slight tightening of the line; these are all signs that indicate a carp may have eaten your fly. These types of strikes differ from many of the other fish we are accustomed to catching. A little tug on the line or a slight head movement from the carp may be all the information you get from the fish on when to set the hook. It takes some practice and observation on the anglers part in order to develop a good sense of when a carp has eaten the fly, and this can only occur with time on the water.
While the subtle takes can be difficult to detect fortunately not all of the takes are subtle. When fishing in faster water for example carp will have to swim quicker to grab your fly and the take is easier to detect. When you have a bigger fish swimming over to intercept your fly and swiveling his head in the process you are going to feel him on the end of your line. In addition, carp will sometimes strike streamers, and just like with any other fish you will feel the tug on the end of your line. Another one of a carp's feeding behavior is crashing into schools of bait fish on the shore and then swimming by to eat the dazed fish. When they eat the stunned fish they are swimming fairly quickly and you will likely see them pulling on your line, which is more easy to detect. I have seen them do this on a few occasions and it is pretty exciting to watch a 10 lb. fish crash bait fish in shallow water. The fact that there is such a big difference in the types of carp takes illustrates how adaptive they can be, and as a result, the fly fisher has to adapt to each situation. This is the part of carp fly fishing that intrigues me; the fact that there are different approaches to try with each situation. It takes time and effort to become a master at catching carp - I certainly haven't reached that point yet.
In my opinion in order to consistently catch carp on the fly rod you have to change your mindset on how to catch them. The approach to fly fishing for them is different than other fish we target and the fly fisher has to adjust their techniques accordingly. One of the biggest things I noticed that anglers have trouble doing is to shift their thinking from reading water and structure to reading signs of fish activity and feeding fish. Most of the fish that we target require us to read the water in one way or another. In the river, we look for potential fish holding spots behind rocks, at the heads and tails of pools, in riffles etc. In the lake, we look for fish holding structure by weed beds, fallen trees, and rock piles. When we cast to these potential fish holding spots we are hoping that a fish will come out and strike our fly. This type of fly fishing is adequate for many fish species but it is difficult to catch carp when we fishing blind like this. We still need to find good carp water by reading structure but then we have to take it one step further and seek the fish out. Carp need to see the fly in order for them to eat it, and while their vision is excellent; their field of vision is orientated more downwards than straight ahead. I have seen good illustrations of their field of vision online that clarify it via pictures; but if you think about the way their mouths are situated it makes sense. Their mouths are situated at the bottom of their head so it makes sense that their field of vision is in the general direction of the mouth position. As a result, your fly has to enter their field of vision in order for them to see it. This usually means that you have to cast ahead of the fish and anticipate which direction they are swimming. Sometimes a carp will only move a few inches to eat a fly so accurate casting improves hook-up percentage. When casting the fly close to these fish we have to consider things like sink rate of the fly, will it rest with the hook pointed upwards to prevent snags, and how much of a splash will it make. These are pretty important things to consider and there are many different fly patterns on the market for carp that address these issues. As mentioned before casting accuracy is important; particularly for fish that are slowly cruising by. Getting the fly in front of these fish is important because a lot of the carp I see are not moving around very quickly; instead they just meander around looking for food. For the most part, carp prefer not to chase down your fly and ambush it, but instead want it presented right in front of them so they can easily suck it in. One of the first ones I landed with a fly rod was slowly swimming across a rock pile eating plant matter and snails off the rocks. I dropped my fly directly in his path and as he passed over my fly he just inhaled it. There was no way this guy was going to swim a foot to intercept my fly. While they can be challenging to catch carp are a lot of fun to catch on the fly rod. I am always looking to challenge myself when fishing and these fish will test your fly fishing skills.
Fish On!!
Greg Osenko
The Dedicated Fly Fisher
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