Thanks for the suggestion! I have a few SWW's* in my carp box but I'm going to add a couple per your suggestion!This is a great thread.
Thanks Buzzy for detailing, so much familiar info/ strategy.
Thought I would suggest a simple fly which has caught me alot of carp, in particular in off color water.
Sometime try a red San Juan worm with a larger brass bead tied in mid hook.
The fly doesn't startle carp as much when it hits the water. The brass bead helps sink the fly but also IMO helps catch the eye of carp in murky conditions. Brass is also a little less bright than gold beads which sometime alarms carp if they spot the fly sinking.
Simple pattern.
I think your explanation of when to set the hook on a carp is really good. When I was a younger man I spent a period in the Keys fishing for Bones. I learned to watch their fins and tails for the take. I always associated a certain fluttering which indicated the fish was excited to eat something. Carp seem to exhibit similar behavior. The instinctual hook set comes from understanding if the carp has its nose on your fly and the brief moment when they eat. Frustrating getting the timing sometimes, it might simply be the fish hesitating ever so slightly.Thanks for the suggestion! I have a few SWW's* in my carp box but I'm going to add a couple per your suggestion!
* (several of us used to have secret names for some of our ties so when fishing busy Rocky Ford we could share what was working without letting everyone know, yes, not really a nice thing. San Juan Worm became SWW - one of us couldn's spell very well)
For me at least, it's all about sight casting and cloud cover is the great destroyer for me to be able to see the fish. Blind casting and catching carp? Almost never. (I wish I hadn't sold my Hewescraft).The thing I learned yesterday is that it’s really hard to sight fish in overcast. And that I need to learn to read the tide tables and river level predictions. The levels were forecast two feet lower than last time I was out, but it was way higher. Also need to figure out how to hang an outboard on my drifter so I can cover water.
Thanks!!I think your explanation of when to set the hook on a carp is really good. When I was a younger man I spent a period in the Keys fishing for Bones. I learned to watch their fins and tails for the take. I always associated a certain fluttering which indicated the fish was excited to eat something. Carp seem to exhibit similar behavior. The instinctual hook set comes from understanding if the carp has its nose on your fly and the brief moment when they eat. Frustrating getting the timing sometimes, it might simply be the fish hesitating ever so slightly.
I've caught a few token carp this early summer but mostly just watched them while SUP-ing in local rivers.
Same story, one day earlierI blew every shot he got me into
thankfully that guy isn't a guide....Same story, one day earlier
Any Oregonians chasing these? I did in Colorado, any on the OR coast?
Come down to my neighborhood before you gotta get back to work. I'll make your dreams come true.As someone who has long wanted to try fly fishing for carp I highly enjoyed your write up, @Buzzy
Great stuff!
I'd be the world's worstthankfully that guy isn't a guide....