carp on a fly rod

[fastribs85]

guys i am going fishing for a week and this lake has some monsterrs in it any tips on catching them on a fly rod have soem dough baits but thought they might be fun on a flypole if i can get them to bite

[camo_fish]

little black looking flies work for me like ants or woolies or use 1/32 or 1/16 jig head with little black twister. And I always sight fish them, of coarse. 
Then hang on 

[Jigwiggler]

The only time I fish for them with a fly rod is when they are feeding on top.  This usually only happens when there is a very heavy hatch.  As much as they eat, anything else isn't worth their time.  The Susquehanna river mayfly hatches can be  blast to fish.  You never know what you are going to catch because everything is feeding on them.  If you are far enough south to have cicadas then I am sure that would be a productive pattern.  Good luck!!

[fastribs85]

thanks guys ill have to tie some up and im going north into the mountains of central pa in august so i dont think they will work then but ya never know

[Jigwiggler]

No problem fastribs.  I would think that the standard match the hatch game would work for carp.  Carp can be fairly selective when it comes to fishing dries but when there is a large hatch and the feed is on I think they will suck down just about anything.  If they are not feeding on top, there are not many fish out there that will turn down a black or olive woolly bugger.

[Fat Boy]

Where ever there is a big brood of the 17 year cicadas, you'll find carp slurping them up.  There is a thread on the General forum on carp fishing where I mention flyrodding for them in Maryland on cicada imitation flies.  I didn't fly fish for them but did improvise on a bass trip and caught them on top, sight fishing, using spinning tackle and a tiny torpedo twitched to imitate a quivering cicada.  I've got some pics on that thread too.  I'm going to try to do some flyrodding for them in the next few days using the cicada pattern.  I know that parts of PA, MD, WVA, VA and OH have big hatches of these insects and the carp fishing should be good right now for them.

I've also heard that if there is a mulberry tree overhanging a river, carp will sit under it and just down stream feeding on falling mulberries.  Carpet flies used for steelies make good mulberry imitations in purple, red and pink colors.  I haven't experienced it though.  I have caught them on streamers while smallie fishing before but could never get more than one to hit, so always considered them accidental and didn't target them so much.

[foxriverrat09]

Use a black or brown wolly bugger, or actually, just about an imitation of any nymph or crawfish.

[Edm87]

I have never caught one on a fly let alone conventional gear, but I've watched my pops catch a few fishing a woolly bugger down stream near bottom.  Watched him land one around sixteen inches and lose one over ten pounds, while fishing smallies.

[stoph]

I watched a guy fish a homemade fly made from foam, cut to look like a piece of bread crust. He was fishing in a spot where people feed the ducks and carp are used to slurping bread off top, i was only walking past and i stopped and chatted, he caught 2 in the 15mins or so i was there.

[bcaiell3]

Nice info id like to see this thread grow a bit more as chasing carp with a fly rod is very interesting

[javnfish]

i've always done well when i chummed up the water with corn and then drifted a yellow egg fly around them

[rgfixit]

A few examples of carp flies.
RG