Evolution of the Revolution: The Orvis Beginner's Guide To Carp Flies

In the beginning there was the book Carp On The Fly.  A book so timeless, so prophetic and so profound that it still frames the fly fishing for carp discussion over 15 years later, particularly when it comes to feeding moods and behaviors.  For the purposes of this post we will think of it as our Old Testament.

Next came the age of blogs.  Carp On The Fly, Roughfisher, Mr P's Blog, and Colorado Fishing Reports to name just a few.  These institutions turned fly fishing for carp from an oddity into a full blown counter-culture.

Through it all we have learned and evolved, and we have done so to the point where I would argue that fly fishing for carp has, to a certain degree, come of age.  We have our own unique techniques and styles that set us apart from all other species.  We have an extremely wide variety of the most innovative flies in flydom.  We have our own language.  We have our own traditions.

And now, courtesy of Dan Frasier, we have what may very well be our New Testament.  This, the first of two major new carp fly books this spring, brings new concepts and ideas but also builds upon all that has come before.  Its a book that not only gathers all the best carp flies into one massive tome, but also does a great job capturing all that knowledge we have gained since Carp On The Fly.  

  

The Orvis Beginner's Guide to Carp Flies: 101 Patterns & How and When to Use Them

 

NOTE:  This book also features some of the best carp fly photography of all time.  I may have helped with that last part, and modesty may not be my strong suit.    

No Fly-Carpin Fly Swap for 2015

I have been getting allot of requests on when the swap will be. Unfortunately I just ain't feeling it this year. I have another project that I want to do really bad this winter and just wont have the time and energy.

 Sorry fellas, I know that some will be extremely disappointed, and believe me I am bummed in a certain way too. It is pretty rare that out of a bazzilion people you can legitimately sit back and say "I had the best freakin xxx on the entire world freakin web" about anything, but nothing lasts for ever. 

Thanks, McTage

Dry Fly Dreams - By Dan Frasier (Guest Post)

In this, Fly-Carpin's first ever guest post, we are going to hear from Dan Frasier on his favorite dry fly for carp.  Dan, the fly fishing editor at CarpPro.net, is a heck of a writer, better fly-carper and even better friend.  His first book "The Orvis Beginner's Guide to Carp Flies" is currently available for pre-order at amazon.com and will start shipping late January.  

You may also recognize one of the fly photographers.  Some dude named McTage.

 

You came to the stream expecting to dredge a couple of nymphs in the deepest holes and pound up a few trout. That's what works most of the time: getting deep and feeding the fish what they are eating. But as you pushed your way through the brush downstream of the slow moving pool you see that today is different. Today the fish are up and eating. Gently picking tiny sailboats off of the surface. Great pods of torpedoes are casually assaulting the armada of mayflies as they make a break for the tail-out of the pool and safety. This isn't what you expected. You thought you'd be blind-casting to deep water. So you get out of the stream and head upstream, looking for trout that are holding deep like you thought they would. Right? That's how you would approach this situation?  

Of course you wouldn't. Finding trout, carp, or any fish for that matter, actively feeding on the surface is something to be cherished. You'd snap into fly fisherman detective mode, the one we're all constantly trying improve, and look for what bugs were on the surface. You'd tie on the nearest imitation you have and get stealthy. You'd have to contain your excitement at the prospect of catching fish on floating flies for the rest of the evening. Why is it, then, that we react so totally differently when we encounter surface feeding carp? Anglers walk away, looking for tailers. Or they tie on a crayfish and cast it at the pod of rising carp. At best they stumble over themselves looking for a big hopper pattern without knowing if hoppers are even on the menu.

In a sense I’m lucky that I didn't know anything when I first attempted to catch carp on the fly. I carried no preconceived notions, and was immune to the idea that there was a right way to do this and everyone else knew it. Instead I had to figure it out on my own. Don’t get me wrong, I went to the resources available and read and studied them, but they were all trout focused. So there was very little specific information available about carp, but there was a lot written about how to approach and evaluate a fishing situation. That’s the information that proved invaluable.

In my book, The Orvis Beginners Guide to Carp Flies; 101 Patterns & How and When to Use Them, it took thirteen patterns to scratch the surface (pun absolutely intended) of the dry flies a carp fly fishermen should be carrying. Carp rise to a variety of different floating food organisms, and like any fly fishing, a good angler will spend a little time looking and listening and figuring out what the carp are eating. After they have an idea of the forage, they will try to imitate it, and only then will they feel confident in their fly.

Ok, got it. Match the hatch. But what happens when you can’t tell what the fish are eating? Simple, do what you would for trout. Tie on a generic confidence pattern and start there. Get smaller if it’s getting refused and worry most about your presentation. For me, that confidence fly for carp is a size 14 Parachute Adams. The low profile allows the fly to float low in the film, making it easier for the carp to eat with their oddly shaped mouths. Additionally, the Adams is a good generalist pattern, imitating many possible bugs that the carp might be picking off of the surface.

Adams Parachute Dry Fly (Example of Photography From Dan's Book)

Using an Adams allowed me to catch nearly a third of all my carp last year on dryflies. If you’re keeping track at home, that means a third of my carp were on dries, a third on nymphs and a third tailing to crayfish or other larger organisms. Not a bad split and a good way to keep things interesting when you approach your carp water.

2014 MVF (Most Valuable Fly)

It was about this time last winter when I started working on the Chubby Chaser Leech.  Pat Cohen had sent me some of his Carp Dub and it gave me an idea and about 30 prototypes and several landed carp later I had finalized it and named it.

Well, I was going through my log last week and figured out that it only took one year for the Chubby Chaser to become my second most productive carp fly ever!  I caught more carp on it this year than I ever have on a single fly pattern in a single year before - by a wide margin.  I therefore declare the Chubby Chaser Leech my MVF (Most Valuable Fly) of 2014.  It is probably the name.  Must be the name.

I would have never guessed that this fly would work as well as it has.  It worked in ponds, the Denver South Platte, big lakes and little lakes.  It worked in the Spring, Summer and Fall and has been ridiculously effective in the Winter.  I caught tailers, shoppers, cruisers and even sunners (on a lightly weighted version).  I caught carp varying from aggressive to ultra passive.  I caught big carp, little carp, medium carp and mutant carp on it.  It fooled carp in clear water and absolutely destroyed them in dirty water.  Essentially, what I am saying is that it seems to be a shockingly flexible carp fly that works across a wide range of scenarios.

The crazy thing is that this is a pretty big fly.  Actually this is a ridiculously big fly to be as universally effective as it was.  Somehow it defies expectations.

I love you Chubby Chaser Leach.  Is that so wrong?

Houston Fly Fishing Added to The Guide Directory

Houston Fly Fishing has been added to the Texas entry in the Fly Fishing for Carp Guide Directory.

Carp On The Fly On THe SUP: Event Horizon

The finale to Carp On The Fly On The SUP is finally up on Youtube. It took so long because I wanted to get this one just right - and I am extremely happy with it. I really wanted to try and get across how it FEELS to catch carp on the fly.  How did I do?

CARPTORIOUS: November to Remember

I have caught hundreds and hundreds of carp since starting Fly-Carpin.  I have posted about quite a few of them.  At some point, however,we have all been here before.  I saw a carp.  I cast at a carp. The presentation was perfect, I timed it just right and I caught the carp.  

Nevertheless I need to write about this November.  I need to write in order to remember.  To remember the differences.

You see, after you have done this long enough, carpin is like the movie Groundhog Day.  Everything repeats over and over, except everything is actually just a little different every time.  If you look hard enough you find that every single year is different.  Every month, every day and every single carp is different.  

This carp was resting with three others 15 feet from the bank in the back eddy of a small seam in 8" of water.  It was the smallest of the bunch, but because it was between me and it's bigger brethren it was the best shot.  Nothing new, except I had never seen a single carp in this section of river. Evidently construction had driven a well-know pod of carp downstream from their normal holding water.  

That is not all that was different though.  As usual I presented the fly with a drag and drop.  The current was a little more energetic than I expected though, and the fly ended up landing a good 6" upstream of where I wanted it.  Then things got a little crazy as this carp charged the fly with summer-like vigor as soon as it hit bottom.  That is certainly unusual in November, but to my surprise she somehow changed her mind and put on the breaks.  I usually avoid the term he or she for carp - but this was clearly a she.  Changing her mind is, after all, a females prerogative. 

And this is where everything is different.  Just a year ago I would have stripped the fly, or twitched the fly, or wiggled the fly.  I would have somethinged the fly in a desperate attempt to re-capture the magic.  I would have failed.  This time I just left the fly (a Chubby Chaser Leech) sitting there on the bottom, tail up and gently wiggling in the current.  A split second passed, and then another and finally an eternity as she held in position and carefully inspected my fly.  Then my fly just disappeared. 

 

This carp above was circulating in a clear pool.  I must have presented the same fly to it 15 times.  On the sixteenth it just swam through the fly and ate it so quickly and subtly that if I didn't see the fly go in it's mouth I would have never known.

This one was tailing in inches of water in a sewer outlet where I have never seen a carp.  The carp was so shallow that when it charged it threw a wake.  Feeding all those crazy primordial belly scales must make it hungry.

I was blind jigging my fly a couple of inches off the bottom in a deep run next to the bank as a steady stream of carp swam by.  I never saw the take, or the carp for that matter, but it actually worked and my line just came tight.

As much as everything is the same, it is always different.  I will remember.