Quote Originally Posted by inrll View Post
Very nice!!

I'll be honest, carp fishing has never really been too appealing to me. Probably because its been drilled into my head that its a trash fish since I was a kid and sitting waiting for a dough ball bite is just too boring.

Your approach seems really exciting though. Kind of like a spot and stalk hunt! I fish from a stand-up kayak and I bet poling around in the shallows looking for carp would be an absolute blast!

Whens the most active feeding time of the year for carp? Do you just patrol the bank or stick more to flats or shallow coves? What are the best flies for carp?

Thanks for sharing!
They do get a bad rap, but sight fishing these guys can be fun, challenging and frustrating all rolled into one! If you fish from a kayak, then yes, you have the perfect boat for these jokers and poling around would be awesome fun!

The best time of the year is when everything else has slowed down.... The middle of the summer when it's too hot and muggy for anything is the best! Carp are up on the mud flats "mudding" and tailing just like a bonefish. I've spotted tons of carp up so shallow that I couldn't get to them. The Yak could be the advantage! This year though the mud flats for me (Barren River Lake) were cover in weeds and vegetation so I had to search for them on rocky banks or spots with no weeds. Shallow coves would work as well!!

This is the latest time of the year for me hunting these guys so they've been up on rocky banks with some muddy areas coming off the banks. I'm sure the sun is warming up these areas much quicker and the fish were feeding hard.

Lately I've been throwing a olive colored "backstabber" fly, but during the summer I was using the rust colored back stabber and a fly called Barry's Spork. Check out Feather-Craft Fly Fishing here for the fly along with some other good Carp flies. http://www.feather-craft.com/wecs.ph...y&target=JF490 Both these flies were very productive for me, but since the fish is gaining popularity in the fly fishing community they have a increasing selection of Carp flies. I've talked to guys that use bead head nymphs and other trout flies too! Anything that rides "hook up" is best since you're sliding it through some mud, rocks, etc.

Hope this helps and once you hook up get ready for a kayak sleigh ride!!!


Good luck!

TC