TARP Program

[TNtransplant08]

BD,

I may speaking a foregin (spelling?) language, so if I make no sense, I apologize but are there any flies that look like corn? If so, might be worth a try? I remember when I was a kid growing up, I'd buy a can of corn at the store, throw a bunch of kernals on the hook. It was like candy to them!

[txnative]

TNtransplant

Try a sz 8 yellow glo bug. I used them in a creek with great success. I would also soak the flies in the water from a can o' corn as an added incentive.


Chris

[TNtransplant08]

I actually don't fly fish, though sometimes I think about taking it up. It was just a thought since I caught big carp using corn

[bd-]

Originally Posted by TNtransplant08

BD,

I may speaking a foregin (spelling?) language, so if I make no sense, I apologize but are there any flies that look like corn? If so, might be worth a try? I remember when I was a kid growing up, I'd buy a can of corn at the store, throw a bunch of kernals on the hook. It was like candy to them!

There is actually a "corn cluster" fly that is commercially sold - it looks like this:



Some people will toss out some corn, chum the fish in, and then cast a fly like this into the middle of the corn pile for the carp to take.

There's not much skill involved in chumming the fish in like that though - it's kind of an beginner's way to fly fish in my opinion. If someone has never caught a carp on the fly and wants to see what it's like, it's a quick way to get an intro to it, but really you might as well just put the corn on the hook and fish with bait. Pretty much the whole point of fly fishing for me is the challenge - it would be sort of like deciding to bowhunt with a traditional longbow and then doing it over a bait pile. If I'm going to get a TARP carp on the fly like I'm after, I'm satisfied to do it the "real" way without the corn.

bd

[Travis C.]

I used to fish for them with minnows on golf course lake behind where I grew up. There were some as big as 25-30lbs in those lakes. I'd use tuffies and a hook then sit while they came up the bank beside me. You would have to pitch the minnow out ahead then once the carp was close if he didn't see it immediately twitch it a little.

Trying to catch them on a flyrod seems like a challenge which is why it interests me and that is just getting the fly to them let alone after its hooked.

[txnative]

The challenge of actually hooking old' rubberlips is my favorite part, also. It's totally visual, and twice as nerve-wrecking as it is fun. I don't lose many carp once I've got a hook in them, but I usually let them wear themselves out on a lighter drag setting. I've never had a problem releasing a carp, they've always swam off fine, even after a long fight.

The light drag setting has cost me, though. I was in my kayak on priest looking for white bass and found some big carp feeding in a flat. First cast put me on a big, big carp. He smoked my 5 wt reel and before I could get in chase-mode, I was out of backing and pop went the tippet.


Chris

[bd-]

I generally use 2x or 3x tippet on an 8wt rod and I keep the drag pretty tight. I want to be able to bring a whole lot of pressure to bear on them.

If you give a big one a light drag, he will run into heavy brush and you will lose him almost every time.

bd

[chaseasl]

I use to catch grass carp in a pond I had access to by putting grasshoppers on a hook with no weight, wait till one was swimming along the bank and flip it out, had a blast doing that

[txnative]

I target carp feeding on flats near deeper water and have been lucky with almost all my fish running to their deep sanctuary. All this talk of carp on the fly is making me carp-y. I believe I may have a species that'll distract from stripey fish now, lol.


Chris

[Travis C.]

How early in the year do you target them on the fly?

I know summer is obvious but how soon do they get up on the mud flats?

[bd-]

They spawn around March or April once the water gets warm enough, and they tend to stay on the flats after they're done spawning. I tend to see the biggest fish of the year on the flats between the spawn and June. Once it gets really hot, only the smaller fish (5 lb and under) seem to stay up all day. Occasionally I'll see a big fish on the flats near daylight, but the bigger double digit fish seem to move deeper as soon as the sun gets up in the summer. Unless it's cloudy, the best fishing in the hottest part of the summer is usually from daylight until about 11:00, and then it's over.

I know Gil Lackey does well on the Cumberland River fish (mostly big buffalo rather than common carp) throughout the day, but he and I seem to have very different fishing styles. We were talking last year during the carp tournament, and we almost seem to look for exact opposite conditions when we're fishing.

bd

[txnative]

Most of my carp are a happy accident. Im usually after other fish and will make a quick detour if I spot carp and have my flyrod with me. I always bring my carp flies just in case, but I seldom make a carp-specific trip. It's a little tricky to stand and cast from my kayak, and spotting feeding carp from a sitting position is tough unless they're tailing or throwing up mud plumes. I will make a trip or two this year with only a flyrod and carp flies on the yak, though. If I dump, I only have to worry about the rod since the flies fit in my pfd's pockets.


Chris