# Favorite carp flies?



## musclebeach22 (Feb 15, 2012)

Just wanted to know what everyone's favorite flies are for targeting carp. Pictures would be nice too.

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## imalt (Apr 17, 2008)

I haven't landed one this year but of the four I have hooked. Two have been on a bead head greenie weenie pattern that I added 4 rubber legs to. And the other two were on a chartruese and black wooly bugger. Both size 10. If you can find them tailing anything that has a buggy look to it though seems to do the trick. I don't think they are too picky when they are actively feeding.


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## garhtr (Jan 12, 2009)

These are some of my basic flies, {I tend to use crayfish type patterns} but as imalt said ---- go smaller if the fish are not tailing or actively feeding. You can't go wrong with small woolly buggers, hares ears,pheasant tails or san juan worms. Staying well hidden sure helps  Good luck !


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## TheCream (Mar 19, 2009)

I'm by no means an expert, but here's my take on carp flies that work for me. They have to be visible. I know this sounds obvious, but when the water is not clear, a strong profile that is visible is very important. If they don't see it, they won't take it. Weight is very important and depends on the depth you are fishing. You have to get the fly to their level. In shallow water, your flies may be weightless or maybe have bead chain eyes. Deeper water, lead or brass eyes. Really deep water, weighted eyes and some wraps of lead wire might be needed. A kicker that I look for in my carp flies is motion at rest. I want the fly to have subtle motion when I kill it on the bottom. Marabou and rabbit is great for this, as are rubber legs. I am starting to incorporate Senyo Shaggy Dub in my carp dubbing brushes which are micro spandex legs that move very easily. The way I fish flies is mostly to cast beyond a fish, strip it back to their face, and kill it. Let it fall to the bottom and see if the fish picks it up. As for what they resemble, I don't fish "craw patterns" or "damsel patterns" or many specific flies. Most of mine I call critter flies. They are more ambiguous and can be taken for multiple different food options. I haven't found carp to be that selective that they have to see the right size and color of the exact item they are feeding on. My take is that they are more opportunistic and if they see something edible and easy to catch, they are going to eat it. They don't get that big being stupid, but they also don't get that big by being anorexic.


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## garhtr (Jan 12, 2009)

garhtr said:


> These are some of my basic flies, {I tend to use crayfish type patterns} but as imalt said ---- *go smaller if the fish are not tailing or actively feeding. You can't go wrong with small woolly buggers, hares ears,pheasant tails or san juan worms*_._ Staying well hidden sure helps  Good luck !


 I wasn't suggesting any one use hares ears or san juan worms for fish that are feeding. I only resort to the smaller stuff if I see fish{normally suspended off the bottom} and obviously not feeding. Normally I will see these fish{ often mid-day} under a overhanging limb or tight to a root ball or log jam. I TRY to drift a tiny offering as close to the fish as possible, hopefully right on his nose. In my limited experience, these fish will often refuse a larger offering but will often suck in a small fly. If i see a active fish I'm tossing him what ever is on the end of my line, which for me, tends to be a crayfish pattern. Luckily most are tied with rubber legs, marabou or rabbit fur


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## TheCream (Mar 19, 2009)

Here are a few pics of what I carry. This pattern has no name and hasn't been tested yet:










Magic Head Backstabber, this fly went 1/2 on the only day I have fished it:










Mike's Carp Candy, solid producer for me. I added some Shaggy Dub legs to this one:










Goddess, caught a 26"er on the only day I fished it:










Starting to fill the new carp box I made:










You can pick up an obvious pattern here in my carp flies: black is my color of choice. In murky water I think they see it better, it shows a profound profile in low-vis water. 90% of my carp fishing takes place in dirty water.


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## imalt (Apr 17, 2008)

TheCream said:


> Here are a few pics of what I carry. This pattern has no name and hasn't been tested yet:
> 
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> ...



I know where you fish those cheeto flies. If I lived close to there I would be there every day. What size hook are the majority of your carp flies? I fish a lot of clear water but when it does get muddy I agree most of my stuff is too small to be seen or heard in the murky water.


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## TheCream (Mar 19, 2009)

imalt said:


> I know where you fish those cheeto flies. If I lived close to there I would be there every day. What size hook are the majority of your carp flies? I fish a lot of clear water but when it does get muddy I agree most of my stuff is too small to be seen or heard in the murky water.


Most are 6-10. I use a lot of Mustad 3366 #6's.


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## garhtr (Jan 12, 2009)

REALLY NICE flies CREAM 
Basically carp are a ''target'' of opportunity for me. Once the canoe crowds hit the larger rivers {THIS W/E } I seek out smaller, often overlooked streams mostly fishing for Sm-mouth and Rk-bass. These tend to be very clear and often less than 10 yards wide, many much smaller but most deep holes{deep is often less than 4ft} hold carp. These tend to be loaded with crayfish, hence my choice for a cray pattern. With the often low and almost always clear conditions I lean to more neutral colors and somewhat smaller size, normally 8 or 10 size hooks. Fish in these waters will have no problem spotting prey. Other than my ''sometimes'' _sloppy casting _ my greatest obstacle is approaching a hole without being spotted. Here are a few more I use for Bass and feeding carp. This and a few smaller nymph patterns mention previously wind up my carp arsenal. Good Luck.


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