I went out this morning just to bend my fly rod. I caught five carp on a fly, including a big round 17.5 pound, 31.5” screamer lol. The carp are still feeding slowly in the mornings, but are starting to move up shallow.

Hopefully you ended their lives shortly thereafter! Bass spawn interrupters!

Nope, I let them all go. Most of the lakes in Texas have great populations of both bass and carp, and I like to catch both of them. I will say that while carp go into my fly rod backing much of the time, I have never had a largemouth bass even get close to my backing, and I have never caught a 25 pound largemouth bass on a fly rod lol.

Nice fish . I have chased Carp several times with the fly rod and have not had any luck yet . I try to sneak up on them in my boat and put the wind to my back to help with making accurate casts but they just ignore what I offer including live worms . Some of you guys make it look easy .

It has taken me years to learn to consistently catch carp on a fly, and it is far from “easy.” Finding numbers of fish, getting them to feed, and learning to hook them with a fly takes a lot of practice. Although you will occasionally get a carp to eat a worm, it is not their preferred food. They are looking for carbohydrates like plants, corn or grain. To be consistently successful with a fly, you need to find large concentrations of fish that are feeding. One way to catch them is to concentrate the fish with chumming. Throw out range cubes in a spot where carp are around and then after a few days, throw out more chum and slow strip a fly through the area. You have to set the hook immediately when you feel a bite. Carp are experts at spitting out something that is not a food item.

Long Haired Dave would be proud, Barry.

I caught big carp on my crappie pole when they mistook my white jig for bread people feed them. Carp outfight LM Bass by a whole lot. They are a trash fish but really fun to catch.

Whoa, awesome! That's a heck of a fish, especially on the fly!

Interesting reply. So if carp outfight largemouth bass by a whole bunch, and carp are a trash fish, what descriptor would you use for a largemouth bass? Lol.

Lunch. EAT MORE BASS (if you can stand the taste).

Good to see they’re moving shallow. Time to break out the rig.

I love the taste of bass; it's one of my favorites. But I hate to kill them, and the only time I do is if they are deep hooked or gill hooked and unlikely to survive release. But I fish fresh water so seldom any more that I rarely catch bass now.

So are they still up shallow! What would be some of your go to flies, that a guy can buy from Cabelas? I've always wanted to try this and I'm finally going to get the boat out this weekend!

Thanks!

Yes, the carp are still up shallow and will remain that way through the summer. After trying hundreds of patterns, I have settled on a fly I call the Osborn Carp Slayer lol. I have documented several world and state records with this fly. Many of the consistent carp anglers have come up with a similar pattern. The idea is for the carp to be able to inhale the fly with the least amount of resistance possible. I have a floating and sinking version of the fly in various sizes. Hopefully, you can find something similar at Cabelas.

Thanks for sharing, great post!