Lessons from the Carp Lodge: Episode #4--Dragging and Dropping the Fly

At the center of this episode is a demonstration of how to use the drag and drop technique.  It is fun, exciting, and kind of sexy to make a long cast to a tailing carp and see him take the fly.  There are times however, when the water, the sky, or both are cloudy.  And when they are I can't see fish until I am very close to them so I end up dropping the fly in front of them.  It is always fun to catch carp but dropping the fly isn't as glamorous as making long casts.

There are times when the fish is too close to make a cast where I shoot line but too far away to just drop the fly.  In those circumstances I plop the fly out past the fish.  A plop is a short cast or lob where I don't shoot any line.  The fly hits the water first and it makes a plopping sound.  The plop sets up the drag and drop.  After the plop I drag the fly across the water and then drop it either on the carp's dinner plate or in it's path.  It is an extremely effective technique.  There are a good many fish that I would not have caught were it not for the drag and drop technique.  Mastering this technique will increase your hook-ups.

Episode #4 begins with some narration and video showing the joys and frustrations of fly fishing for carp and then finishes with a feeding fish responding to a Chocolate Cherry that has been dragged and dropped in his path.  The fish, the plop, the drag and drop, and the take are all very clear in this video.