# Couple of questions



## Jmsteele187 (Dec 22, 2011)

I'm fairly new to fly fishing and had a couple of questions.

First; my brother had mentioned fly fishing for carp, which I had never even considered before but am willing to give it a try. However, I have no idea what kind of fly I would use. I have a small assortment of flies on hand and probably have something that will work, I just don't know what.

Second; what do you use as an indicator? I've seem those small clear plastic bobbers at a lot of bait shops, that say they can be used with flies. But, they seem like they would be a pain to cast with a fly rod.


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## nitsud (May 22, 2010)

I think that the clear bobberish things that you're referring to are casting bubbles, which are typically used to present flies using spinning gear. There are a number of things that people use as indicators, from floating putty to small traditional bobbers, but they're all light and small. As far as carp flies, I've not fished for carp before, but I'd try a small wooly bugger.


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## TheCream (Mar 19, 2009)

Jmsteele187 said:


> I'm fairly new to fly fishing and had a couple of questions.
> 
> First; my brother had mentioned fly fishing for carp, which I had never even considered before but am willing to give it a try. However, I have no idea what kind of fly I would use. I have a small assortment of flies on hand and probably have something that will work, I just don't know what.
> 
> ...


Filmed about a week ago by yours truly: 

https://vimeo.com/49626903

I usually use an indicator for carp fishing, in my experience fishing murky backwaters and mud flats, strikes can be pretty subtle. A small-sized Thingamabobber is what I use, it doesn't seem to spook fish, and the strikes typically look like a twitch of the indicator. Don't expect a lot of aggressive charges and hard strikes from carp. In my experience, I basically have not seen it happen. The most aggressive I have seen a fish chase a fly resulted in the same subtle take once the fish got to the fly. 

As for flies, I use mostly damsel/dragonfly nymph patterns, leech patterns, or small crayfish patterns. Some of my carp flies are a mix of all three that don't look like anything specifically but carp take them. I usually have my carp patterns in sizes from say 6 to 10, in the general colors olive, brown, and black. I stick to black where the water is dirty because it's more visible and the hardest thing seems to be getting them to see the fly sometimes. If you're in an area where people feed carp, you can use flies imitating anything from corn to bread to Cheetos, also. My #1 fly the last few years has been Mike's Carp Candy in black:










People with more flowing water experience can help you more with that, since I fish for carp in lakes and ponds more often. Presentation wise, it's all sight fishing for me. Spot a fish working/feeding, sometimes with their tail out of the water, and I usually try to cast past the fish by a few feet. After the fly hits the water, I will strip it as close to the fish as possible and then let it "die" and fall, watching the indicator for any movement. Any movement, set the hook and hold on.


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## jbmynes (Aug 6, 2012)

Size of your indicator depends really on how much weight your putting on. The floating putty is good for small bead head flies and things along those lines. There are also pinch in indicators that are pretty small and can't take a whole lot of weight. The clear ball things your talking about are probably "thingamabobbers" they range in size but are very effective for indicator fishing. We call them indicators because bobbers are for spinners  

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## toobnoob (Jun 1, 2010)

I fly fish for carp pretty often. It's mostly about finding carp that are actively feeding. Look for fish rooting around on the bottom and kicking up silt trails. I try to drop the fly about 2 feet in front of them and leave it sit till they're close and give it a slight twitch. At times they will charge a fly from 6 or 8 feet away if they see it right away. I fish rivers mostly and the flys I've had the most success with are, black woolybuggers (sometimes olive and brown), large stonefly patterns (size 8) and small crayfish patterns. Anything that looks buggy will work. Some people will chum with corn or bread or something and use flys that look similar.

For a strike indicator I use thingamabobbers (not fishing for carp though). Easy to move up and down the leader and take on and off. They only drawback is they kink the leader up a bit.


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## fishinnick (Feb 19, 2011)

I only have experience with carp on two rivers, but the flies I've caught the most on are egg flies(glo bugs, sucker spawn, pink, white , yellow), buggier nymphs, and brown woolly buggers and zonkers. There have been a bunch of times I've spotted carp in very shallow riffles that kind of look like steelhead or salmon spawning, but they're digging up crayfish and other stuff. Most of the time they hit my buggers aggresively. If you find carp that aren't feeding they are VERY hard to catch.


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## Jmsteele187 (Dec 22, 2011)

There is a pond that I fish after work sometimes. It has a bunch of carp and I always see them feeding, so it should be pretty easy to sight fish for them. Thanks for the help guys, I'll see what I can hook up with tonight.


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## fallen513 (Jan 5, 2010)

> so it should be pretty easy to sight fish for them




aaaaaaaahahahahahahahahahahahaha.



that is all.


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## Jmsteele187 (Dec 22, 2011)

fallen513 said:


> aaaaaaaahahahahahahahahahahahaha.
> 
> 
> 
> that is all.


The day I wrote that, the carp were still very active and I could see them working all over close to shore. Getting them to bite, on the other hand, was the true challenge. The fact that I absolutely SUCK with a fly rod didn't help things either.


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## fallen513 (Jan 5, 2010)

I'm wasn't making fun of you at all, just laughing at the notion that seeing them makes feeding them any easier. 

They are one of the most challenging fish there is to feed a fly. 

They will test your abilities for certain. Good luck.


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## ARReflections (Jan 7, 2011)

Carp on the fly. Prepare to have fun. I have had success with small wooly buggers and nymphs. Didn't use indicator since mostly sight fishing. Look for tails indicating they are feeding on bottom. Do not set drag too much or you may break your tippet. The indicator u are talking about may be the thingamabobber as mentioned by others. As mentioned if u get one then congrats. They are one of the more challenging fish and the reason they are aka the golden bonefish.


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## jhammer (Jun 13, 2011)

Head to a river with a low-head dam and tie on a black conehead bugger. You'll get something. Almost guaranteed. Carp love buggers. When they're stacked up below a dam, they tend to let their guard down. (From my personal experience anyway.)


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