speaking of carp...

[john montana]

the recent carp talk on the river/lake thread just made me long even more for spring and some carp action. i took a couple of hours this afternoon and hit my favorite carp pond. the fish were there and active, but visibility was terrible and i had a tough time detecting a strike. for an hour my buddy and i cast fruitlessly at tails with nothing to show for it, and i was beginning to think carp in january are just too tough. right after he left i found a good feeding fish, dropped a hare's ear near his head and set the hook when his tail sped up...fish on! not a huge fish (5lbs) but lots of fun on the 4 wt. it was great to get a carp in january, and I can't wait for spring and some serious carp action!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/johnmontana/Misc/januarycarp.jpg

[shelikeschrome]

Okay, guess I'm dumb....why do you want to catch carp? just for fun? Fish stew?

[Abalone]

John Montana: Take me with you next time.



Why ? Because they fight hard..

[shelikeschrome]

Not the ones I have caught. Kinda like dragging in a stick. Guess they weren't big enough?

[john montana]

carp are a great fly rod fish. i started fishing for them this past year and i've seen my backing more since June than i have in probably the previous 3 years. they are great fighters, and can be extremely difficult to catch. very spooky fish, and they feed in a really concentrated zone. if you can't see them, forget about it...100% sight fishing game. the more i fish for them the more they gain my respect...

this spring when the waters warm we should get together for some carp fishing! pretty tough conditions right now...

[Stew]

Is that a Hardy Bougle on that rod? :bigshock: If it is the apocalypse truly must be close at hand :hoboy: Well at least you are not using your cane rod :bricks:

[cphatts]

Nice work John! I may have to give it a go one of these days. I used to catch em on doughballs back in the midwest when I was a kid and you are right, they are extremely hard fighting fish. I can only imagine what they are like on a fly rod!

[SilverFly]

Any Carping to be had along Marine Drive? I've eyeballed the water from I-205 to Blue Lake park many times on my way to/from work. It's trashed right now but in late summer thinking it looks real "Carpy" with the shallow clear water and visible weedbeds.

:shrug:

------------------

[AlseaAssassin]

Kyle would be proud :grin:

[Okie]

Believe it or not I have seen carp on the menu of a restaurant in Ohio.
Good Luck;

[Abalone]

Lousiana Buffalo fish

Troys fish market used to sell a lot of it...

[john montana]

stew, that is indeed a hardy bougle IV. nice reel! and you know i fish for carp with cane too!

[Stew]

stew, that is indeed a hardy bougle IV. nice reel! and you know i fish for carp with cane too!


The representitive from Hardy Bros. will be visiting you soon :grin:

[steel_beaver]

Believe it or not I have seen carp on the menu of a restaurant in Ohio.



It actually tastes pretty good (not as good as salmon/steelhead but definately better than those planter trout they stock in lakes) the problems is it has too many bones that you have to pick through. Everyone in Europe eats it :bigshock:.

Right bellow the Housing development on marine drive(next to blue lake) is a good spot. Rooster rock is a great spot in march when they spawn. Benson lake in the fall is great too(hey stay in the shallows too so they are easy to see). Never tried them on the fly, but we caught a lot of them on corn back in the day when I wasn't such a good steelheader (wait, I'm not :hoboy:)

S_B :cheers:

[Abalone]

Did somebody say " Corn Fly" ?

http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/corn.JPG

[HazMatt]

We would go gigging for them in the Mississippi River back water. VERY spooky fish - you would have to just stand there and let them swim around - eventually one would get close to you. They would detect you 30+feet out and just locomote out of the area. As for eating - We would smoke them! They are a great smoked fish! Had to be a pretty hard smoke, but the oil from them kept the meat pretty moist. This also allowed you to pick out the bones pretty easy...It is a very rich food.
Buffalo - the poor man's walleye!!

[FallRiverGuy]

Holy carp batman...I bet that was fun.

[clacksteel]

I just don't know if I could bring myself to go after the highly regarded carp. To many steelhead to be caught!

[mandinga]

Steelhead are not in the same category as carp....as far as beauty and name brand go. Carp are generally regarded as a "trash" fish...which is fine by me...
The best thing about carp is that noone fishes for them.

I would however put a 15 pound carp in the same category as a 15 pound steelhead when we are talking about fighting strength...blasphemy!blasphemy!



The first year I started flyfishing for carp I broke 2 rods :bigshock:NO JOKE. I broke a scott S3 5 weight that I DID NOT have a warranty(i remember feeling like such an idiot) for and I also broke a much less expensive scientific angler 6 weight...I now chase them with heavy gear, they are beasts...especially in rivers, or swampy areas.

Whoever said that they were logs was probably doing just that, fishing for logs....trust me, if you hook a carp you will not be dragging in a log. I have dragged alot of steelhead, salmon and trout in that barely put up a fight at all, but I would never characterize the entire species based on those limited experiences.

[jfsfish2]

Any Carping to be had along Marine Drive? I've eyeballed the water from I-205 to Blue Lake park many times on my way to/from work. It's trashed right now but in late summer thinking it looks real "Carpy" with the shallow clear water and visible weedbeds.

SilverFly
I Do not go there as I am in Hillsboro. Are there areas that you could use a pontoon?

[lilnorthfork]

Ate some smoked carp once. :food: :food: :food: good stuff. Took my first one on a fly last spring on the John Day... I can see what the attraction is... and why you use 'the grip'. :eek:
lnf

[Mark Vickers]

I'll tell a story...

Last spring, on the dock that runs parallel to the river at our old house, you could stand and watch the carp eat the leaves that had been submerged by the rising spring waters.

What thought entered my mind? What thought enters the mind of any fisherman that sees fish actively feeding?

I ran back to the house, grabbed my 4 wt, tied on a wooley bugger, and cast just in front of one that I would estimate was between 8-10 lbs. Mr. Carp sucked it down and I jerked the rod back. I've never seen line depart a reel so quickly. I watched as the end of the fly line exited the end of my rod, and subsequently, the backing quickly being reduced. I might as well have been hooked to a passing barge. I palmed the edge of the spool trying to slow him down, to no avail. At the point I could see the metal of the spool starting to show through and Mr. Carp showing no sign of ending his journey to Bonneville, I pointed the rod at him and clamped down on the reel. The 6 lb tippet snapped. I had a couple of turns of backing still remaining on my reel. I had close to 80 yards of backing and a full floating line limp in the water in front of me.

I respooled my line, and headed back to the house.

I'm probably wrong, but in my experience, there is no stronger freshwater fish, pound for pound, than the common carp.

[R Jackson]

When I was a kid and you could still fish there, I used to fly fish for them in the pond at Westmoreland Park. A yellow #10 tied down caddis worked well. They tore up my old 7wt.

[mandinga]

Nice story mark.

:bigshock:

[Chrome Bumper]

The slough near the airport and west is loaded with carp. Can probably find some good water by I-5 over the dike from the race track.

[Abalone]

Every winter we talk about Carp and talk about going fishing for them. I think the best way to handle this maybe a Carp Flyfishing Challenge just like we do for Steelhead. Etc.

So who's game ? Same rules would apply and their could be extra points for picture of you eating your catch.

Catch and Release won't be manditory....

[PittsburghD]

Man, with the river levels dropping, I thought we'd at least be talking about last year's trout or the Summer dream trip right about now. Carp? This is Oregon, where water flows from mountains to the oceans. It must be getting really cold miles under the Earth's surface...


_D

[steel_beaver]

I'm up for a challenge... I haven't fished for them in a few years, and never on a fly, but that is why it's called a challenge :grin:. I hope I get some free time this spring to try it :dance:
are scents allowed?
:shrug: :shrug:
S_B

[mandinga]

"There are 2 classes of fly fishermen. There are purists, who regard fly fishing as something that was meant only for trout in moving water and who only fish with a dry fly. Purists will consider fishing for any warm-water species strictly taboo, and might believe that fishing for carp with a fly rod just wasn’t meant to be. Kind of like driving an E-class Benz down a rugged dirt road, you just don’t do stuff like that. Then there are fly fishing enthusiasts. The enthusiast will go after any species of fish with his fly rod and will rarely touch any other type of tackle except for his 9’ graphite casting sticks. The latter classification of fisherman has a year round fishing season and does not have to stray far from home or spend much time behind the wheel tweaked out on caffeine. "



I'm an enthusiast...and an opportunistic fly fisher.

[AndyK]

I agree with all that :yeahthat: except the


except for his 9’ graphite casting sticks



Blasphemy :noway:!!!

[Doryfisher]

As a kid in England Carp fishing was and atill is the staple in the canals and pits.

[john montana]

carp are definately underappreciated. i started fishing for them this summer, and they have quickly become my favorite species to pursue. the sight fishing aspects, combined with the power, size, and difficulty in getting a fish to take the fly make them a great fly rod target. there is something about standing in ankle deep water while 10+ lb fish cruise by with their backs out of the water and their eyes peeled for food! if you can't see the fish, your chances of hooking up drop drastically because they spit the fly so fast, and they don't chase flies nearly as far as trout or steelhead will. you pretty much have to put the fly right in front of them to entice a take.

i'm game to get out and fish this spring...there are lots of places around pdx to chase carp. the columbia slough has lots of smaller fish in the 3-6 lb range, and there are some much bigger fish in the gorge and out on sauvie island. my biggest of the year was 17 lbs (hence the boga grip...built in scale) with lots of fish in the 9-12 lb range. my goal for this year is to catch a 20 lb fish...i should have a good shot in MN this may!

if anyone wants to go this spring let me know. i am not an expert, but i'm always game for company on a carp fishing trip!

[Doryfisher]

let me know when you're going. I'm licensed in both Wa and OR.

:cheers:

[PittsburghD]

Open season! I'm going for frogs and snakes this Spring on the coastal rivers. Now that's a challenge!



All love aside, I admit, I'll fish for anything anytime. I'm not picky. Anything beats staring at this computer talking about it.


<font color="yellow"> Huge Steeler Fan </font>
--D

[lilnorthfork]

Mark - that'll teach you to fish underneath a house. When we were kids we thought we were clever dropping a line through the little grate on the bridge over the Erie Canal at Mill St... until a big crappie took the bait. :hoboy:
lnf

[McKenzie]

John, not sure where you're based, but I'm game for a carpin' trip sometime. I'd love to learn from the master :smile: I'm as of yet unsuccessful - I'd love to catch even a 1lb fish on a fly!

[steel_beaver]

:jester: :jester: :jester: