Peter C

That was supposed to be "Kreh Knot". Need an edit function in lieu of proofreading skills . . . .

Not that one (Keh Knot is another name for it) -- the one I'm refering to is simply two overhand knots. Here's a crude drawing of it. Yes, I do have to change mono leaders if the fish hs roughed it up but it only takes a minute. Peter

Found the name of that knot I refered to for wire -- it's the Loop Knot. Peter

Not when using hard mono of 25 lb. test or better. A good plastic coated wire that will accept knots (e.g. Tigerwire) is a simple solution if you don't trust mono. While they claim it will accept knots, only a few will actually work well without distorting the wire. I use a Double Surgeon's Loop for the loop-to-loop connection and a simple variation on an Arbor Knot for the fly end. Make an overhand knot a couple of inches from the end. Pass the tag through the eye of the hook and back through the overhand knot. Pull the overhand knot snug but not tight and pull the loop as small as you want it. Then using tag end, make another overhand knot as you would a standard Arbor knot, running the main line through the loop of the knot. Snug that overhand knot up against the first one then pull tight. I've pulled tested a number of these leaders to destruction and the Double Surgeon's Loop always lets go first. The beauty of that Arbor knot variation is that it connects to the fly via a small loop, leaving the fly free to move naturally. Peter

I agree that they should. However, we have a hard enough time getting people to handle trout and bass properly when releasing them, especially with all he atrocious examples being shown on TV. Perhaps with the importation of UK carp gear will come the angling ethics as well, but I won't hold my breath waiting. Ontario has over 100,000 lakes and rivers with free public access on virtually all of them. With that sort of abundance it's hard to get people to take these issues seriously. Peter

I agree about the business of educating people on proper handling, however one things should be kept in mind about this side of the pond. Carp are a non-native species and in most waterways are considered a nuisance so they have no protection uner the law nor is their any angling tradtion here that will afford them any. Bow fishing for carp is quite legal and accepted. To make matters worse, the TV fishing personalities here have the worst fishing handling habits iimaginable. It is routine for them to break all of the small bones in bass's lower jaw while they mug for the camera. This was the first time using a Bogagrip and I think it's a good tool for toothy species as it lets the angler get the hook out with a minimum of fuss. At the time I felt a bit bad about hoisting the fish in that fashion to get the weight but consoled myself with the knowledge that our Ministry of Natural Resources would be quite happy to have them eliminated. Had that been a chinook or steelhead, it would've been treated much more niceless. I promise to be nicer to them in the future.

Thanks for the welcome. Since the fly neither tastes nor smells good to the carp, fly fishing for them is mostly a sight game, both on the part of the angler and the fish. We look for feeding carp, then plop the fly in front of their noses, let it sink, then one or two pulls -- and with luck the carp grabs the fly, thinking it's a prey item it has flushed out. In creeks, I've also caught them using trout nymphing technique. We've had accidental catches on them as well, from everything from little P & Os, to steelhead flies, Black Ghosts, and honkin' huge saltwater streamer patterns (in the Niagara River Whirlpool). In the latter case, the carp exist by vacuuming up the dead and dying minnows produced by the massive hydraulics in the place. I got to watch one carp rise steadily in a back end, picking off these minnows like a trout rising for duns. At first I thought it was a big, lake-run brown but those lips were a dead giveaway. Speaking of duns, I've also seen them sipping hex duns (our largest mayfly) from the surface one evening while I was out fishing for mooneyes. I've fished for them occasionally for the past seven or eight years but I'm still on the bottom of the learning curve. Peter

Here's another fish from Canada but this one caught on a fly. I realize guys are gonna have hairy over the use of the Bogagrip but carp here are non-native and in this water are considered a nuisance. We've started targeting them with fly rods as they're great summer fare when the water is too hot for trout. There are thousands of naturally reproducing common carp in this bay and most of them are angling "virgins". Carp heaven for the UK angler. We're starting to see the imp0rtation of UK carp gear and there's even been a TV program on the subject, but stalking them with a fly rod is a hoot. That fish took about 20 minutes on an 8 wt. to land. We were using a weighted fly that looked a bit like a tadpole. This fish maxed out the 30 lb. scale on the Bogagrip. My buddy landed a 25 pounder at the same time on the same fly. I've registered on this board to learn a bit more about the species so i can get a bit more understanding of their behaviour. They eat bugs like a trout so why not, eh?