Carp from the margins (flats?)

[Guest Newt]

Thanks Nightwing. I'll try the smallest that seem to have a serious hook in them.

 

As for the fly rod - mine will do nicely as long as the carp are all 6oz or under. At least I think it would as it does for sunfish in that range and surely a tiddler carp couldn't fight that much harder.

 

Come to think of it, I've never seen a really itty bitty carp except in a pool. Wonder where they hide?

[Guest Mike Connor]

Originally posted by Steve Burke:

I haven't had any carp on a fly rod but have had a few up to about 10lbs on a 7½foot light lure rod and 6lb line. The successful patterns were 1/16oz jigs dressed with hair and also twisters in the same weight. I also caught on dog biscuits.

 

I find this intriguing. Not once in all the years have I caught a carp on a jig. Indeed I have never even heard of anybody else doing so. You guys obviously have, and I would dearly like to know how!

 

Like you, I fish a lot for perch, apart from seatrout in the ocean, my favourite fish in fact.

 

Twisters, rubber fish, plastic worms, and all the other usual lures and techniques, have usually eventually resulted in success for perch, and plenty of pike as well. But even though the large lakes I fish have a fairly large contingent of carp, I have never hooked one when jigging, spinning, or plugging.

 

Three times in the last twenty years, I have "accidentally", hooked carp on flies (on all three occasions, floating minnow imitations made of hair with buoyant heads), which were actually destined for pike, and I have had quite a few while specifically fishing for them of course.

 

Invariably by sight fishing with damsel nymph imitations around weed beds, lily-pad zones etc, and also when they are "grubbing" in clear water from four to twelve feet deep, by casting to the "bubbles", or "mud clouds", using weighted "woolly bugger" type flies, using a "slow draw", when one estimates the fly is near enough to the carp. My pet theory here is that the fish imagines it has "grubbed up" a large titbit, and grabs it.

 

This method also has the very considerable advantage that one is fishing to actively feeding fish. Always a a better bet than fish which are just cruising around.

 

The main trick here is to accurately estimate the direction the carp is swimming, and drop the fly to where you think it might be in the next minute or so. With a bit of practice, this works very well, but is still a bit "hit or miss" of course. Fast sinking flies are required, and longish leaders, to ensure that you get down quick enough. Unless the flies are dead on the bottom when you draw, the carp ignore them.

 

If you get one out of every five fish you cast to, then you are doing very well indeed. This method is somewhat easier than "direct sight" fishing, as when carp are so engaged, it is not so easy to spook them with a sloppy cast. They tend to ignore minimal surface disturbances.

 

It never occurred to me to even try specifically jigging for them. Do you use a specific technique? Specific jigs?

 

TL

MC

[Guest Newt]

Mike - I'm hoping you'll get a better answer from Steve and Nightwing but a couple of thoughts.

 

Have you spent much time fishing the really tiny jigs?

 

Also, something I plan to try when the water warms up again is a good soft-plastic crayfish immitation with appropriate (craw) scent on it for ole brother carp. Gary Yamamoto Baits (US firm) has a line of soft baits that are heavily salt impregnated so they sink nicely without having to use extra weight. Not sure about carp but bass, at least, will hold on to one of their lures and chew it a while. The theory I've heard is that the salt makes them think blood and body juices.

 

I know Tim Kelly (lure guy who posts here) has bought some of the Yamamoto baits so you could check with him if interested. Last I'd heard, they will not ship directly outside of the US and Canada but many of their dealers will.

 

As a BTW - their soft-plastic line is a bit more expensive than most, more fragile than most, and outstanding for catching fish. I just consider that a fish per bait is OK and am happy if I occasionally get two fish from the same soft lure.

[Guest Steve Burke]

Originally posted by Newt:

Mike - I'm hoping you'll get a better answer from Steve and Nightwing but a couple of thoughts.

From Nightwing yes, from me no. I'm a beginner at this. I mentioned it only as I had caught carp on jigs, which it seemed was unusual, at least in the UK.

 

The only thing I can add is what started me off was when Wingham hosted the England v South Africa lure match. The Springboks use micro jigs under a float very successfully for a lot of species, including carp as I recall. They gave some to us Brits and a couple of the lads hooked and lost big tench on them in the match. However, it wasn't these that I caught carp on but ones 4 to 8 times heavier!

 

 

 

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Wingham Fisheries

http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/fisheries/wingham.htm

[Guest Nightwing]

Tim, little tiny jigs, 1/16 and smaller, are the ticket. You just fish them in a similar way flies, in that you cast to sighted fish or to where you think the fish will be, and work the jigs along the bottom. When I don't want to mess with a fly rod(not often), I use small jigs or soft plastics in the form of small crayfish, or yamamoto hula

jigs, and just place them and work them as if they were a fly. The jigs are particularly effective, using either twist tails, or marabou in black, brown or olive. on a long light rod, it is just about as much fun as fly fishing!

Another good lure(or fly), is a Clouser minnow. Heavier ones can be cast with ultra light spinning gear as well as fly gear. They get to the bottom faster than any other fly, and once there, can be worked slowly and efficiently. They also seem to stir up the silt a bit more than others, which is certainly a plus when trying to attract carp.