J
john montana
Well, it has been an interesting year to say the least for carp on the fly. I got a late start due to cold water temps, then dealt with the craziest, highest water ever (caught a 31 lber next to a picnic table and multiple fish in road ruts!) and the summer season has been an exercise in strange swings in the water level...still, we have caught some fish. I got out on Sunday with my friend Travis and we found a few.
Despite the sun and blue sky in that picture we spent most of the day dealing with high, white cloud cover. The worst. Visibility goes to zero with those high clouds. You usually deal with poor vis by being ultra sneaky so you can get right on top of the fish (with high clouds you can't see anything at a distance, and with a fly, if you can't see the fish you won't catch the fish) but the water we fished was mostly gravel and cobble...impossible to be sneaky. We had to take longer 50 ft shots at vague shapes for most of the day. Tough going, but pretty scenery.
When we did get some sun the vague shapes became more fish like and we started casting with confidence. It helps when you know which end has the mouth. Best fly for me was the San Juan worm. The trick with the worm is to get the fly to sink and hit bottom within about 6 inches of a feeding (tailing) carp. Also, put the fly a couple of inches to the side of the fish...when positioned right the carp will see the fly when it hits the bottom and be forced to turn it's head in order to eat. Set the hook when the fish turns. It is amazing how fast a carp will take and spit an artificial fly...if you don't force a head turn it is really tough to time the hook set.
We didn't catch any monsters but got 10-12 fish between the two of us. Most fish were 10 lbs or so with two in the 16 lb range. Not bad for the conditions. Overall, a great day n the water.
Despite the sun and blue sky in that picture we spent most of the day dealing with high, white cloud cover. The worst. Visibility goes to zero with those high clouds. You usually deal with poor vis by being ultra sneaky so you can get right on top of the fish (with high clouds you can't see anything at a distance, and with a fly, if you can't see the fish you won't catch the fish) but the water we fished was mostly gravel and cobble...impossible to be sneaky. We had to take longer 50 ft shots at vague shapes for most of the day. Tough going, but pretty scenery.
When we did get some sun the vague shapes became more fish like and we started casting with confidence. It helps when you know which end has the mouth. Best fly for me was the San Juan worm. The trick with the worm is to get the fly to sink and hit bottom within about 6 inches of a feeding (tailing) carp. Also, put the fly a couple of inches to the side of the fish...when positioned right the carp will see the fly when it hits the bottom and be forced to turn it's head in order to eat. Set the hook when the fish turns. It is amazing how fast a carp will take and spit an artificial fly...if you don't force a head turn it is really tough to time the hook set.
We didn't catch any monsters but got 10-12 fish between the two of us. Most fish were 10 lbs or so with two in the 16 lb range. Not bad for the conditions. Overall, a great day n the water.
