Found this in my notes when I was learning from a member here, maybe it will help
Carp on the fly
-----Original Message-----
From: Rick Ingle
Sent: Wednesday, March 18, 2009 12:51 AM
To:
Subject: carp on the fly
So did you listen to the Ipod carp program on askaboutflyfishing.com?
That is as good of a primer as I know of on the internet for free. The
short version is to look for fish that are tailing. Tailing means fish
that are head down, tail up - sometimes the tail actually breaks the
surface. These fish are in shallow water. Hopefully the water has
enough visibility to see the fish or at least part of the fish. Carp
are NOT bass and can't be fished with the same mentality. They will NOT
chase a fly. You have to deliver the fly within the strike zone. The
strike zone for me is within 10" of the nose of the fish and within a 45
degree angle to the left and to the right of the point of the nose.
Many times the sweet spot is off to one side just a few inches so that
it makes the fly easier to ID.
How not to fish carp. Go where you think there are carp and blind cast
in the water. The way to catch carp is to find fish first before even
getting the line wet. I have walked the banks for well over an hour
without ever wetting a line. It just isn't worth it to blind cast for
me. Find the fish, then put the fly in the sweet spot. Another point
about fly delivery. It will be much easier to put that fly exactly
where it needs to be if the fish is closer to you. I probably catch
more fish within 20' of me than I do with fish that are over 30' away.
If you have a 9' rod and a 7' leader that means that you almost use it
like a cane pole instead of fancy casting with only 4 foot of line out
of the last guide at the tip.
Minimize sound. Carp have a webarian apparatus which allows them to
hear more sounds than a fish just relying on a lateral line. Be quiet
and refrain from large movements close to fish. You are asking, how do
I cast if I can't move that much. Still cast, but minimize movements.
Speaking of casting here is a nice link of casting lessons:
http://www.tightlinesflyshop.com/?cat=17 There are three separate
lessons here. Even though I catch MOST of my fish close, to be a fly
fisherman you still have to cast sometimes to fish that are farther out.
Third main point - the bite. Again, not bass fishing. Most fish I
don't feel anything or see the line move at all. With trout and bass
you will feel a bite or see the fly line move some. Not so with carp.
Matter of fact you probably have had many bites but didn't recognize
them as a bite. I call this signal vs. noise recognition. If you are
expecting a bass slam, you will miss over 90% of the fish. Let me run
through a typical carp fishing day.
I go to where I know fish are, then I use polarized lens to see the fish
in the water. Do you wear glasses now? I fished for season after
season with a flip up pair of Polaroid's, like these. I can send you a
pair if you don't have them. If you can't see the fish it is very hard
to be effective. So I walk and look for tailing fish, not fish just
sitting in the sun resting. I want actively feeding fish and tailers
are doing just that. I will cast to any fish I see, but sunners are not
my target, but will throw a couple of casts at anything, just don't
waste a lot of time on a low percentage fish.
So you now find fish with your Polaroid's, you cast beyond the fish,
bring it in so it is within the strike zone, twitch once or twice and
let the fly settle in front of the fish within the zone on the bottom
and then just leave it there and don't move it. The fish will either
reposition in a positive way toward the fly or snub it completely. You
will get more snubs than positive responses - that's fishin'. Best case
scenario, the fish will move the very short distance to the fly, the
head will go down, tail up. You won't feel a damn thing. Count to two
and hook set. I see most of my fish take the fly with my eyes and you
must have Polaroid's to be able to do this.
This is my way, this isn't the only way. If you have to blind cast,
move the fly slowly along the bottom. You still won't feel a strike,
but as you raise your rod to move the fly the next foot you will feel a
little resistance from the fish having the fly in it's mouth. It will
feel like a weed on the end of the line - hook set. I much prefer the
visual method, but have caught fish blind casting, but of the 100 plus
fish in the net from last year, I would guess that 85% + came from me
seeing the fish and not blind casting.
If you have any questions just ask. To recap:
Find the fish FIRST with polarized glasses
Put the fly in the zone
Distinguish between signal and noise. Learn when to set the hook.
When in doubt, hook set.
Hope this helps put some fish in front of the camera lens.