The Most Overlooked Gamefish of All by Xavier "Carp" Molina, Puebla, Mexico
I don't know when or how this passion for flyfishing for Carp started, but maybe it was born long ago.
I was fishing a national trout tournament on a beautiful lake surrounded by farmlands; fishing hadn't been exactly cooperative, so I started walking along the shore towards a place where no people were fishing. The water had flooded the corn field so its otherwise gin-clear state was a little stained by the soft soil.
By the base of a corn stalk I could see some activity. I couldn't see the fish; however, I knew something was going on there. I tied on a large black nymph. My cast was not a long one, traveling around 40 feet or so before the fly hit the stem of the plant and splashed down into the water. What happened next was really amazing. As the fly hit the bottom I felt a little tug on the line. I set the hook and the water exploded as the fish took off. There I was, a 15 year-old boy staring at the reel melting in my hand and a flyrod bent like it had never been bent before. The fight was long, maybe twenty minutes. Finally I landed the fish.
By this time lots of people had gathered around to see what was going on. When the other fishermen saw the carp they all started to laugh! But it didn't matter, I took my fish to the scale where it weighted 16.5 pounds! It was a really big fish and I was as excited as I could be. Everybody had told me how ugly and sluggish carp were but I was unconvinced after this battle. Later that day I managed to hook and land a ten-pound rainbow which gave me my first National Championship. But, let me tell you, it wasn't half as strong as the carp I'd caught earlier. Since that day I have been chasing carp with fly gear and I haven't found anything like a sluggish carp- they are always strong, vigorous and big.
Let's face it - every one of us wants to know, what do anglers seek from a gamefish?
First, they should grow big; second, they should take artificials and third, they must provide a good fight. In Carp you find all those attributes. I think the main reason for a fly-fisher not to seek carp is that most of us think of carp as bottom-feeding, mud-eating "trash" fish that live in very polluted water.
That isn't completely right.
Yes, Carp sometimes feed on the bottom and yes, they often live in water where no other fish could, but they also live in pristine lakes and rivers and feed on the surface and anywhere in between! Carp can be as selective as any trout I have met. Spooky? Well, have you ever been to a bonefish flat? Then you might have an idea how spooky carp can be. Another myth is that carp are slow fish. Again, not true; in fact, carp can be faster than sockeye salmon. Moreover, carp don't know when to stop fighting; they keep fighting up to the end when they are in the net and even then they keep fighting!
I think something else keeping anglers from trying to catch carp on flies is that most fly-fishers are not really convinced carp will take flies, and that is a major issue. To solve this problem let's analyze the carp's diet. While it's true that carp can eat plants, they take what we can call "bycatch" when they hunt for food. A carp's primary food sources are nymphs, damsels, dragons, mayflies, stones, caddis, crustaceans such as amphipods and crayfish. When fruits and seeds are falling to the water they take them from the surface as they do aquatic insects. Carp also take advantage of terrestrial insects that find their way into the water, so you can see a carp's diet is much like that of a trout. Taking this into account, why should a carp not be taken on flies? No reason, except that some fly fishers have preconceptions that limit their angling opportunities.
I hope you are convinced that carp can be taken on flies and that they are a worthy opponent.
Let's analyze some techniques to catch this magnificent fish.
The most exciting thing about flyfishing for carp is that it's almost always sight fishing. In order to do this you should be able to locate carp first. You might think that if carp will eat almost anything, they could be anywhere. And, the answer is yes, they can be anywhere, but, as with other fish species they need two things, food and protection.
We'll start by looking for them in places where shallow water meets deep water, where food items are abundant, where there is aquatic vegetation or on soft or gravel bottoms. It wouldn't hurt to take samples of the aquatic life and make some observations before we start casting and walking along the shore. Carp feed much like bonefish; you can find them tailing in really shallow water, rooting in the shoreline vegetation or mudding in a shallow bay; and you can find carp clooping on the surface taking insects or seeds or fruits.
In order to succeed at catching carp you must be a very accurate caster; if you are not now, you will be after fishing for carp. Sometimes long casts to a target of one square foot are needed because the window of a clooping carp is very narrow. At other times you should perfectly time your presentation with the movement of carp to intercept it.
Speaking of equipment, you should already have what is needed. Most trout flies will catch carp, as well as some saltwater patterns. For most cases, a 7 weight with a floating line and a reel holding 150 yards of backing will be enough. Just make sure that your knots are really good because carp will take you to your backing. I strongly suggest you use braided leaders because they are more sensitive than monofilament. The tippet should be fluorocarbon and not smaller than 3X because carp have great vision and can get very leader shy. Another useful item is a stripping basket since carp fishing is done better by walking shorelines, and fly lines have a special fondness for every brush, branch and rock they can tangle with. Another important thing that you shouldn't leave behind is a landing net- a large one, because carp are usually bigger than other gamefish and since they don't know when to quit, controlling a big carp by hand is a hard job.
As you can see, carp are gamefish, and one of the best things is you can find them almost everywhere. I'm pretty sure that there is a pond or lake close to where you live that holds carp, don't underestimate the water's potential. I have caught fish exceeding 20 pounds in small city park ponds.
So take your fly tackle to the limit- accept the challenge-
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