Carp Flies: Tying the Carp Crab

When I began targeting common carp in my local rivers and creeks, I wanted to design a versatile pattern to imitate one of their major food items: crayfish. I was looking for it to be an easy tie with a lot of movement that incorporated some of my favorite materials like schlappen and UV chenille. At the time, I was tying a lot of saltwater patterns for bonefish and permit and I really liked a pattern out of the northeast by Dave Skok called the Diablo Crab. It featured schlappen to create the wide flat body of a crab and the use of those feathers creates a lot of subtle movement on the strip or in any type of current. A very popular carp fly at the time was Mctage's Primordial Carp Stew and I used a few techniques on that fly to round out the fly that became known as the "Carp Crab".

The carp crab resembles a crab but is fished and does a great job of mimicking the profile and movement of a crayfish. When sinking or stripped, the schlappen collapses forming the profile of a darting crawdad. When stopped, the schlappen protrudes outwards and the fly performs a slight headstand resembling a crayfish in the defensive position. The fly is deadly fished on my home rivers of the Delaware and Susquehanna for carp. I've watched carp move over ten feet to take the fly and spin 180 degrees to turn around for second look and eat it. It is commercially available from Catch Fly Fishing and a step by step follows.

Spring is for Carp

Gold

It begins slowly at first. The grip of winter casually dissipates and a few warm days get yours hopes up. You decide to check out the local hot spot and quickly realize that the lake is a huge chunk of ice that you can easily walk across. With hopes dashed, you realize there won't be action for quite some time. Much later, you arrive to find the lake only half covered in ice and you see your first mud plume of the year. A few sluggish fish that haven't seen your flies in months, come to hand in the cold water. Your car begins to smell like carp again. Road trips to other venues reveal that the season is on the precipice but the big fish are still lingering in the depths. Weeks go by and the temperature steadily climbs enough where you consistently have results. With the leaves budding, you venture out and find them en masse. It is a banner day marking the beginning of Spring and the fish that define it have finally arrived...

The Fish of 2014

Stripers...

2014 was another fine year for TRIW and our friends. A lot of nice fish were caught and some of them were downright beautiful. The year brought big time stripers with Tyler Nonn of Tidewater Charters, cobia with Kyle Sawyer and Ben Sheppard, tigerfish on the Zambezi, and Adam's first year guiding in Alaska. I held down the home front with the typical trout, carp, steelhead routine. If you happened to fish with us this past year, thanks for all the memories and cheers to 2015!

Enjoy...

Two Saturdays in September

River carpin...

Summer has a way of flying by, even for the teachers that don't have to work. My two months went by so fast, that I neglected a favorite river of mine and the many carp that call it home. Technically, my summer was over by the time I got to fish this body of water but I was able to eek out two Saturday outings with my girlfriend and her Australian cattle dog mix, Zoey. Fly fishing for carp from a SUP with your girlfriend and her lovely dog is not the best scenario, but I made it work nonetheless...

A Fly Rod's Greatest Hits

In memoriam...

The favorite fly rod I have ever owned recently met an untimely end. In a bit of nostalgia, I went back into the archive to relive my Loop AEG 696-4's greatest hits...

Thoughts on Fly Fishing for Carp

McTage's Trouser Worm

This summer afforded me plenty of opportunity to fly fish for carp. In recent years, that hasn't exactly been the case because of travel, weddings, and family gatherings. For the first time, I got to explore some local haunts in July and August. I've come away with several thoughts that have been ruminating in my mind over the years on carp, techniques, and gear...

Tidal Carp

I've lived on the Delmarva peninsula for ten years now and have been carping most of that time. For the most part, my carping experiences have been in still water ponds and lakes and more recently creeks and rivers. In my experiences driving up and down the coast, I've always known that carp existed in the brackish waters of the many tidal creeks and rivers. Unfortunately, I believed that sight fishing in such turbid water would be nearly impossible. I was wrong…

Spawn

A little pre-Alaska carping send off...

Over the past few years of fly fishing for carp, I've come to realize that they can be caught during the spawning period. Carp spawn when water temperatures reach into the upper sixties. This can vary from body of water significantly and it can also span a few days to several weeks. The next time you reach your favorite body of water and find the multitudes of carp spawning, don't dismay, wrig up and look for carp on the periphery.

Pre-Spawn

Late spring and the carp have snapped out of their winter doldrums. More active, they are exploring shallower water and putting their feed bangs on. All of this in preparation for the spawn, which depending on water temperature varies from body of water to body of water. This short period can feature some of the best carp action of the year before things shut down until the spawn is over…

Dude, Where's Your Boat?

Tyler- "Dude, where's your boat?"

Kyle- "Where's your boat?"

Those aren't exactly words you want to hear after driving four+ hours. We planned on fishing for two days for stripers, reds, and maybe some cobia but the situation was looking rather bleak. After the realization set in that we didn't have a boat, Kyle set to work planning a backup plan that featured another hours drive. Despite the misfortune and misunderstanding, we made the most of the next two days and still left the south with big smiles across our faces. 

Carpin Tales

As I approached the bank of the pond for the first time this Spring, I immediately saw an image I had not seen in quite some time. A long dark shadow prowled a few feet off shore obscured by turbid water and freshly disturbed detritus. I hunkered down and tied on some fresh 4x and paired it with a size 14 glo bug. When I arose, the fish was nowhere to be found but I knew it would only be a short time before I saw him again. That moment came fifty yards down the bank. Fresh mud billowed from the depths and my eyes strained for any sign of the carp. As my contacts began drying, I finally remembered to blink. Amidst the plume, a dark shadow lurched forward. A flick of sixteen feet of leader and my fly slowly descended at the carp's ten o'clock. As the fly approached the zone, the shadow shifted 45 degrees to the fly and moved forward. The carp paused and I set the hook into my first respectable carp of the season…

Carp Flies: Damsel in Distress

A few years ago, Adam Hope created the Carp Damsel, which is a hybridized version of a damsel and dragon nymph designed to target carp. The fly excelled across a wide range of conditions but made its name fishing mid-column to prowling carp and to bank feeders where the fly was delicately dapped in front of the fish. The fly was developed out of necessity due to the wariness and intelligence of the carp we target on our home waters. After learning of Adam's success, I developed a very similar version to call my own and fished it as successfully over the past few years. It has accounted for some of my best carp on fly, all of which took the fly in the middle of the water column, as it slowly parachutes down.

The Fish of 2013

2013 was another great year for my friends, family, and I. As 2014 begins, enjoy this photo montage of the best moments we had on the water catching a wide variety of freshwater fish...

Summer Sessions

Taking a look back, my last days of summer were well spent. I fished a lot of new water and got to try some new techniques in the process. I had an absolute blast. As summer came to a close salmon and steelhead took my focus away from carp. Carp are #1 in my eyes but swinging flies #2. I’m ashamed to say that in the past two months I fished for carp only once. When winter hits and the temperatures plummet I’ll be back in search of carp. Ice in the guides from constant casting will be too much for me to handle, so swinging flies will be out. Winter carping is more my style anyway, casting once or twice a day if I’m lucky and the rest of the time spent clutching hand-warmers. 

Until then I’ll use this compilation of photos to get my carp fix...

Plans B & C

It is late August and there are sporadic reports of good numbers of salmon running through the lower end of the Douglastown Salmon Run. Naturally, my mind wondered to two handers and swinging flies for fresh kings, cohos, browns, and steelhead. The reports elicited enough of a response that I decided to break my one rule for salmon fishing: wait for the main push of fish before dropping everything and going for it.

The Calm Before the Storm

I laid awake, flanked by two spoiled labs, and unable to sleep. I slowly realized that summer was drawing to a close and the school year was about to commence. I wasn't worried at all about school. However, I was worried that I didn't fish as much as I should have over the summer. The hot doldrums of July and August had me trapped in a lazy funk full of late nights and extended periods of sleep. It slowly dawned on me that I fish more during the school year than I do when I have off for the entirety of the summer. It only took a few years, but its true. Priorities have a way of emerging the more your time is constrained. The school year forces me to fully take advantage of my days off and I am almost always fishing. The summer calm has me spending time with family and friends. I am recovering for the real season, where I work to live, rather than live to work. Summer is my calm, while the school year is my storm. 

As I arrived back in the area for another school year, I returned to my usual carp haunts to say hello to a few carp that I hadn't seen in awhile. They fully obliged and I satiated my fishing appetite for the time being. I even got the SUP out and into a few river fish on large crayfish imitations. There is nothing quite like sight fishing to carp to reinvigorate my soul for another school year of work and play. 

Cheating

Like most fly fishermen on the east coast, I eagerly awaited Brood II of the magicicadas. I dreamed of trout and carp feasting upon hapless cicadas floating in rivers and ponds. As we all know, they ended up being a major disappointment and not many people ventured out to find trout or carp to catch on size 4 dry flies.  I was lucky enough to find some phenomenal trout fishing but was left disheartened with the lack of carp action. I decided to take matters into my own hands and thus, have a confession to make.

I totally cheated.

At a local pond, the mulberry hatch coincided with the magicicadas. Carp were actively devouring semi-ripe and ripe mulberries falling into the water. When I arrived, I found a dead cicada next to the water and thought, what the heck? Let's give it a go. My size 4, black magicicada was devoured on cast after cast. The problem was, that the carp were too small to properly suck it off the surface. I fully took advantage of their gluttony and utter lack of selective feeding to catch one on a cicada. I apologize for my wrong doing. Seventeen years from now, maybe I can make up for my injustice. I fully and sincerely apologize.

Go For the Trout, Stay For the Carp

I met my buddy Dan a few hours north at the Hale Eddy put in on the West Branch of the Delaware River early one morning. He was already fishing, tossing a dry dropper into one of the more pressured riffles on the entire system. I watched from atop the bridge before my eyes noticed the show unfolding downstream. A thick morning fog enveloped the river, a product of 48 degree water combining with the warmer summer air. As the morning progressed and the sun began to rise in the sky, it slowly broke the fog's grip making for an awesome sequence. I was able to capture the moment in several shots, even through the dew dripped view of a spider's web. As the sky brightened, our true purpose revealed itself. We were there to float and hopefully pick up a few trout on dry flies. The notoriously moody fish and insects of the Delaware failed to rise with any consistency during our sunny floats. This prompted me to change my strategy a little bit.

As Dan and I drifted towards an island and a side channel, my Diablo Chupacabra drifted over a calm flat with a bottom of sediment. I was startled to see a vertically feeding carp that promptly spooked from my presence. After fishing the side channel for an extended time, I paddled up river and anchored over  the flat. There were more than one carp to be seen. I waited for a break in the wind and cloud cover to get my shot. I tied on a brown carp crab and struggled to get a good presentation without any rock snot or drifting algae ruining my fly. I finally got a good one on the bottom two yards in front of a prowling common and gave a short strip. The carp broke from his original line just as the clouds came into view. No longer able to see my fly, I read the carp's body language, saw him pause, and could barely make out the protrusion of his more lightly covered vacuum as it sucked in my fly. Game on.

My six weight Cross S1 switch rod was perfectly matched to subdue the weight of a carp in the mid to high teens. The Multi reel did the rest, subduing two long runs towards structure. The 3x held, I unanchored my SUP, and drifted toward the island. My intention was to beach the fish but a surprise was in store for me. I was backing up to force the carp into shallow water when I backed up too far. I fell off one of those notoriously high meadow Delaware banks into the river. I emerged laughing my ass off to find the humped-backed carp beached in a few inches of water. I took a few shots and sent her on her way.

Later on down river, I cruised by a nice pool and discovered some trout hanging out by those grassy banks. I paddled back upriver and tried anchoring in position. After a few tries, I successfully anchored in position and was able to spot a large trout chilling on the bottom. I threw everything I had at him for about half an hour. He moved for a size 22 flashback pheasant tail but didn't take. I eventually tied on a wiggle ISO nymph and got a strong initial reaction. The next cast, I put a huge mend in the line and swung the fly up as it crossed in front of him. Fish on. It was a chunky brown about 18 inches. Looked like a stocked holdover, but I was pleased. Later, Dan and I got a few fish on top and a some below.

After Dan left, I was actually driving home before I pulled a U-turn. I found carp and they were green. Too hard to pass up. I re-launched my kayak solo, and caught two carp in rapid succession, both on the carp crab while performing mudding headstands. I anchored and went to shore to do some stalking. That's when another fly fishermen took notice. He asked me about the 12 lb. rainbow trout I just caught. I told him it was actually a carp. He replied, that his goal of the year was to catch a carp on fly. We talked tactics, situations, and flies for about 20 minutes. I gave him a damsel and my best producing egg for a pond by his house. We then talked about fishing for river carp when a good one meandered into view. I gave him a play by play of my every move. I casted the crab out, did a drag and drop. Gave a good strip and watched the carp's body language change. He took it.

College Kid- "that was the coolest thing I have ever seen"

Me- "yea...that was awesome"

I offered to let him fight the fish, but he refused like a normal fishermen would. I talked him through the fight as I absolutely horsed a good carp on the Cross S1 5 weight. We talked about how much stress I could put on 3, 4, and 5x and for certain situations. He helped me land it and even took a picture. We talked some more before I headed home. Another carp convert successfully in the bag. I traveled to the Upper Delaware for its amazing trout fishery but ended up turning back for its small carp fishing.