When Carp Fishing is Heavenly

There are days when turbid water, wind, and the devil clouds conspire to make carp fishing darn difficult. There are days when the water is clear, the wind blows lightly and the sky is blue; oh, but wait, there are almost no fish to cast to.  Heck that's even worse than the bad conditions!  I have to remind myself that if carp fishing was easy everyone would be doing it.   

There are days when the conditions are tolerable and there are still very few fish.  There are days when the conditions are tolerable but I'm still seeing a good number of targets and getting hook ups; those are great days.  There are days when the conditions are good and I'm getting lots and lots of shots.  When I can cast to those fish rather than reaching out and just dropping the fly in front of them, those days are heavenly.

On my last trip to the Carp Lodge I fished several days.  One of my days was heavenly.  It sounds like kind of a silly word to describe a session but when I got back to my carpwagon as I was getting my boots off I said to myself, "That was heavenly".  It really was.  I was getting so many shots and hooking up so often I just didn't want to get out of the river to take any pictures where I was holding the fish.  I was fishing a two fly rig with a Chocolate Cherry on top and Black Betty as the dropper.  They took both flies.  There were virtually no clouds, the wind was light and the water was clear enough that I was casting a fair distance to tailing fish.  

All the hook ups made me feel more clever than I actually am.  Lets be objective here--I don't have a 20+ fish day when I only see 10 or 12 fish.  It just isn't possible to catch more fish than I see.  On this day I was blessed to be fishing in a very target rich environment with receptive fish.  Indeed, it was heavenly.  

Not your typical carp

An ordinary Columbia River carp is a common, is about 28-29 inches long and weighs 8-9 pounds.  Some, not many, are smaller but typically not very much smaller.  Some are larger.  Some are way larger.  A Columbia River carp can be 29 inches and weigh more than 9 pounds because his tummy is fat.

An ordinary Columbia common.

This common has more girth so he tips the scale over 10 pounds.  

This Columbia River carp is not ordinary.  He is a mirror and he is longer than 28 inches.  When I see a group of fish and I can tell one of them is a mirror I will virtually always target the mirror.   There was a group of three tailing fish but I could not tell this one was a mirror.  He was the largest of the three so I cast to him.  He picked up Black Betty just like I wanted him to.    He was an extraordinary fish; he reminded me how very fortunate I am to be a carp fisherman.  Damn, I love my river! 

Ella the Carp and the Land of Mirrors

The Blackfoot Reservoir appeared on my radar back in 2005.  The body of water has only Mirror Carp.  Seeing pictures of large Mirror Carp made me wide eyed and I knew I would fish there one day.  In 2006, I corresponded with a Euro-style angler from California who had been there with some of his friends.  His stories and his pictures cemented my determination to travel to the Land of Mirrors.

This is Ella the Carp.  She is a Common Carp.  She lives on the wall in the Carp Lodge next to Harry the Heron.

Ella was made by a word worker who lives very near the Carp Lodge.  She has 244 separate pieces.  Each scale is an individual piece.  (Guess how much we paid for Ella.  Seriously, guess please; you won't be offended.)

I am guilty of personifying things at times.  It works for me.  Sometimes it makes perfect sense to me.

Ella is anxious for me to go the Land of Mirrors.  In anticipation of leaving for this trip she and I posed for a picture together awhile back.

Is it that all of the Carp in the Blackfoot Reservoir are Mirrors that piques my interest so much?  It is that in part, but the Carp in that water are big and that really piques my interest!



Yes, I want to catch Mirrors but I want some major phatties!  And I know Ella wants me to hook up with those hogs.  Oh, and John, Ella and  I want you to catch some big ones too.

I have tied some extra Carp Carrots, Chocolate Cherries, Salt & Peppas, and Black Betties just for you.
See you soon fat Idaho Carp...

Episode #3 is Coming Soon

I had hoped to have episode #3 of Lessons from the Carp Lodge published this week.  I didn't make it.  It is almost finished now.  I'm planning to finish it up, render it this weekend, and the post it to YouTube.  Episode #3 focuses on the transition from early season, close quarter fishing to some distance casting.  It shows some of the problems, well one anyway, that I have when I make the transition.  There is no pitching, plopping, or dropping in this episode.  It is only casting and stripping.  There is also some discussion of when to set the hook and video demonstrating it.  One segment has a Carp making a decided move to a real bug and then doing the exact same thing for the fake.  The Carp in this episode fall for the Chocolate Cherry.  Somewhere, I have a picture of a box of Chocolate Cherries; alas I am still looking for it.  I wanted to put it in the video. Episode #3 is  almost ready.

Klint's Comment about the San Juan Worm

This is a continuation of my conversation with Klint from Washington State. Klint wrote in two emails: "My best fly has been the SJW. I have tried quite a few other patterns but the fish just react better for me when I am fishing a worm. I have yet to find a fly other than the SJW that carp will even look at." The SJW is definitely a consistent producer--as consistent as any Carp fly can be. Nothing works all the time. Some flies work some of the time. Some don't work at all. I started a blog post months ago about great flies that don't work for Carp. I have experimeted with flies for Carp that have produced well for other species and can't get a take from a Carp. I'll finish that post someday. I think that the seasoned Carp fly rod angler, at least in the Pacific Northwest anyway, should always have some SJW's in his box. They don't always work and sometimes other flies do actually work better. Somedays the SJW definitely works better. I would say one thing about the SJW worm versus most other Carp patterns. I fish them differently and so do the guys I know who also use them. I tend to be willing to let the SJW sit longer than I do a Carrot, a Carp Woollie, or pretty much anything else I use. I fished a few days last week and did not get a fish on the SJW. I got them all on Carp Carrots and Black Betty's. It probably was an even split. I would also say that if you come on what my friend Keith calls, "a violently tailing fish" and you can put the SJW on his dinner plate then you have as good a chance of getting that fish to take as with any other pattern and maybe better. Think of the space around the front and sides of a tailing fish as a dinner plate or spaghetti platter. They typically won't move far to pick up a fly even when they see it. If it's on their dinner plate then get ready to set the hook. I do think that fish that are cruising slowly, or more importantly, ones that are what I call shopping, are a bit more likely to pick up something else than a SJW but I'm not sure of that. A fish that I see stop and pick something up and then move a bit to look for something else to eat, are what I call shoppers. When it comes to picking up fish in the water column versus on the bottom, I think that the SJW isn't as effective here. John Montana, what's your take on this? All of that said, at any one time I always have 3 dozen SJW's with me when I'm Carp fishing. It's a go to Carp fly to be sure.

Gerhard's Questions and a Few Answers

This post and the two preceeding it are answers to emails from readers. I have cut and pasted the emails.

Caller three is Gerhard who is from Aurora, Ontario. Go ahead caller:

"Mr. P.,

I tremendously enjoy your web site and the information provided.
My fishing is primarily done in Southern Ontario, Canada and the metropolitan Toronto area, where favourite spots are storm water ponds with sometimes impressive and very picky carp. The Great Lakes also hold very big fish but they are hard to find in the summer, especially in lake Ontario with the exception of the Bay of Quinte maybe.

The carp carrot is very good fly in some areas, especially with crayfish I believe, but sometimes other colours might be preferable, like olive or green or even black. In your blog you mention different colours, but it does not say anything about what goes together like the orange body and yellow hackle for the carrot.
Do you use yellow pheasant for all other body colours as well or are there other combinations recommended? It would be interesting to get your view on this as when I switch colours now it also means a different pattern. I really would like to see how far the carrot could go, even around here.

Thanks for your thoughts and please keep up the excellent site."




Some answers (and a couple questions of my own):

Thanks for the props about my blog Gerhard; I'm glad you enjoying reading it. I enjoy writing it. Is the water you fish clear, somewhat cloudy, or muddy? Do you wade or fish from something that floats?

Yes, I have tried several other body colors of the Carrot. Variations I have used successfully are red, brown, black, burgundy, white, green, olive, and peacock.

For the hackle on these other variations I have used natural pheasant, pheasant dyed olive, wine, black, green, crawfish orange, purple, and black. I have tied Carrots and the variations with partridge and like using it also.

Natural Pheasant:


Pheasant Dyed Yellow:



As to preferences I still like the orange body with the pheasant dyed yellow best of all. Olive and peacock versions have been good to me along with black and burgundy. I didn't start this blog until 2009 but had been fly fishing for Carp for many years before that so I have had a chance to experiment with a lot of different patterns before I was blogging.

It sounds funny to me Gerhard to call a black version of my Carrot, a Carrot. I don't know what to call it, a Black Carp Carrot I guess; I don't know. I have tied the black bodied version with natural pheasant and black pheasant. I like them both.

In my typed fishing journal, the first time I used the green version I wrote, "I caught some fish today on a 'Green Carrot'--what do I call it, 'Celery'"? Heck a guy could fish a topper and a dropper and be fishing with Carrot and Celery.

I have tied the green and olive bodied ones with green, olive, black, and natural pheasant. What do I like in this group? I think the olive body and olive hackle in this group.

I have tied the peacock bodied fly with an olive and natural hackle, along with a black hackle. Pheasant died black turns out in a surprising way. It has a peacock kind of shimmer to it and changes color as it catches light differently. I use the heck out of the pheasant died yellow but also really like the black. The black is easy to find by the way. A peacock herl body with a black pheasant rump hackle is my favorite in this group. It's not really all black but I call it Black Betty.


Pheasant Dyed Black:





Here is a Black Betty.




And here it is with a red tail.

As an aside, I have fished a peacock body fly with a palmered brown saddle hackle for decades. I tie it very sparsely by stripping barbules off one side of the feather. For durability I counter rib it with fine wire. I have used this for trout and am going to try it for Carp this year.

For the red, brown, black and burgundy, I have used mostly the natural pheasant hackle and also a partridge hackle.

The white version I have only tried half heartedly. My friend, Keith, fishes a white fly that looks like a grub with a tail. I have tied this and fished it but honestly not very much.

I have experimented a bit with purple, crawfish orange, and wine hackles on brown and black bodies and I've also tried the wine hackle on a burgundy body. I haven't done this much so I don't have any thoughts on them.

A Whole Skin Dyed Purple:



Pheasant Dyed Crawfish Orange:


As I said, I use the heck out of pheasant dyed yellow. I use it for Carp flies but also for Trout flies. Several years ago I took a couple "empties" back to the fly shop and told the owner I was there to complain about a couple bad pheasant rump patches he had sold me. He showed genuine concern and asked what was wrong with them. I took them out of the bag and told him they didn't work anymore; they were empty. He laughed and told me he sold refills. I bought two refills and put them to work the same day.

Two Views of An "Empty":




I am committing myself this year to at least one, three day trip where I only fish new water. On that trip I have been telling myself that I am going to really work to fish two or three flies, or versions of flies, that don't usually get first billing when I'm out. If I'm getting shots at tailing fish and they won't take, well then it will be a good day of learning for me with some new flies, or flies I am revisiting. In particular I am going to fish Black Betty, the peacock body fly with the pheasant dyed black, and the olive body with olive or black hackle. I have caught Carp on these flies before but they have taken a back seat the last few years. Its time to bring 'em back.

Thanks again for your email Gerhard.

It is drizzling lightly here at home. I am dreaming of warm Carping days in the weeks to come.

Carp Carrot Questions and Answers

I receive a number of emails about Carp fishing and about my Carp Carrot. Here are some of the questions that people have asked along with answers.

Do you have a favorite size or version of your Carp Carrot?

While I fish it from sizes 6-12 I prefer 8 & 10. I prefer the two versions I have pictured here. Gold dumbbell eyes with a white rubber tail and black or nickel eyes with a black rubber tail. (I spread the hackle a bit to show the body.)



Why do you use the dumbbell eyes?

Using dumbbell eyes was initially about weighting the fly sufficiently to get it down but I have also found that I like that the point of the hook is up when the fly settles down. I think that I get fewer snags and more hook ups. I think the dumbbell eyes create a different look or profile. I would emphasize the word “think” in these sentences though.

Will you sell me some of your Carp Carrots?

Sorry, I don’t sell flies.

Is the Carp Carrot available in fly shops?

Not now but it may be next year.

Will you give me some of your Carp Carrots?

Maybe. If you email me and ask me to just send you a dozen, nope I won’t do it. (It has happened more than once.) If we have corresponded some, then I might give you a few flies. If we fish together then I will definitely give you some.

Why do you think this fly is so effective?

I don’t really know. It is though. I have some thoughts on some of the common elements of effective Carp flies and will mention that in the answer to another question.

You fish this fly on your Columbia River, have you fished it in any lakes?

Yes, there are two lakes, one in particular where I have fished it quite a bit and the Carp respond very well.

Have you tried the Montana Carrot?

Well that’s a bit of a funny question to me. I was fishing with John Montana and his dad two summers ago on the Columbia. It was July 26, 2008 actually. Let me say that John is truly a stellar Carp fly angler and a quality person. At that point I had been fishing the Carrot for three years already. On that particular day I had caught a few fish and John Jr. or John Sr. had not got a fish yet. That’s not a normal day for John by the way. They saw a fish move to my fly. When I released that fish I gave each of them a couple Carp Carrots. The one I gave John Jr. and John Sr. is one of my preferred versions I mentioned above. I have tied the Carrot with a dubbed body and two shades of orange yarn. To say that my Carrot is lighter or darker in color or lighter or heavier in weight compared to another Carrot is also funny to me since I had been tying it for three years before I started giving any away. During those three years I had already tied it in sizes 6-12. I had tried it with a lead wire wrap, beads, dumbbell eyes, and no weight at all. I had experimented with different hackles and body colors too. I had tried it with a rubber tail and without. I made an earlier post in my blog about the history and variations of my Carp Carrot. Like I said, it's a bit of a funny question to me.

Are there other flies you fish for Carp that you feel are equally as effective? If there are will you post pictures of them?

No fly works all of the time for Carp. It’s not an easy game which is one of the things that makes it so engaging. There are some days, not all days, when the Carp will noticeably move to the Carp Carrot. I sure like those days. Other Carp fly fishermen across the country have had the same experience with the Carrot. Still, there are days when the fish prefer the SJW. There are other days when I seem to do better on a Hare’s Ear, a Leech, or on one of my Carp Woollies. I made a post earlier in the year showing some of these flies. I will post additional pictures of some of my other Carp Woollies soon. I should add there are some days when the Carp prefer to nap, look for love, or to eat real food and not my fakes. And there are days when the wind is blowing like heck, or the sky is cloudy, or the river is high, or my casting is bad, or my feet are clumsy, and all of my flies are equally ineffective.

Through these last seven seasons I have experimented with a lot of different flies for Carp. I can give you a good serious list of flies that just plain don’t work for Carp, at least not for the Carp I have chased. I have tried a number of different Salmon flies for Carp and got no love. I really thought that I could get Carp holding in current to pick up small baitfish imitations. I believe that at some point at least some of them actually eat small baitfish but I have not had a take on any of my Clousers or other Salmon patterns, even the small, sparse ones. I have swung baitfish patterns in front of holding Carp and I have dead drifted them and not got a single Carp to take. I have tried some other brightly colored patterns and they don’t seem to work nearly as well as rust, orange, brown, black, grey, burgundy, and olive patterns.

The Wild Thing

I'm not sure when I tied my first San Juan Worm. Decades ago anyway. I do remember thinking that it wasn't a fly. I guess I thought that because it was so simple and because it had the word, "worm" in the name. Well whatever, the fly worked. It really hasn't been a pattern I had fished much the last 15 years, that is not until I started Carp fishing. I came back to it. Experimenting with different materials and different ways of tying the materials I have come up with The Wild Thing. I have fished The Wild Thing with positive results and plan to do a LOT more field testing. The Wild Thing is certainly more durable than other versions of a blood worm. It is also three dimensional and will hold the 3-D posture while it is patiently waiting for a Carp to come along and slurp it up.

Thoughts on Winter Fly Tying

Where has the sun gone? It is cold out; in the morning the roads are icy and slick. It is the end of December; I am tired of the rain and I am particularly weary of the long, dark days. The Carp were good to me this year and I am thankful. Most of the ones that were tricked by my flies, took the fake so very subtly. Some of them jumped on the fly and just took off. I am thankful.





It is 4:40 AM and I am wide awake this Saturday morning. At times being awake on a weekend day at this hour makes me edgy or even down right crabby. I lay in bed for awhile thinking I might go back to sleep; I don’t. This morning I’m glad I don’t go back to sleep. I get dressed and head down the hall to my fly tying bench. The house is still; pattering rain and trickling water is all that is heard. I sit down at the fly tying vise and pick up where I left off last night. Twelve Mr. P.’s Carp Carrots are neatly lined up from yesterday evening; the head cement dried during the night. I plan to tie 3 dozen of this pattern in this size before moving on. Twelve more hooks, with the barb pinched and the bead on the shank, wait patiently to be married with fur, feathers, and artificial materials.

Sometimes I believe that I am tying my own flies for the cost savings. One could say that, and I certainly say it, but saying it doesn’t necessarily make it true. It may be true for me; it may not, heck, in the end it may be costing me more money to tie my own flies, in the final analysis I don’t care either way.

The continuing study of entomology provides an endless source of learning. There was a period of many years where I seined nymphs, photographed them, measured them, described them in a journal, preserved them in formaldehyde, and then worked meticulously to imitate them.

There is orderliness and precision to fly tying. Results are immediate and tangible. Repetition and production are relaxing. It is rewarding to fill storage boxes with dozens upon dozens of flies. It is even more satisfying to line up little armies of flies in the boxes I use when I’m fishing.

There is a creative, imaginative part to fly tying. It is fascinating to experiment with new tying materials and to play with variations of tried and true patterns.

The anticipation of time at the vise starts with planning my tying, and then selecting the materials out of my tubs, bins and containers. I lay out the materials and savor the beginning. I proceed at a measured pace. Tying as fast as I am able, produces more flies but it distracts me from my day dreaming.

Most enjoyable of all is the day dreaming while fly tying. I am at the vise tying my Carp Carrot. I have tied this fly many times; I don’t need to think about what to do next. The repetition makes it easier for my mind to wander. Captures from the past months are relived; they blend with anticipation for the coming year. At the vise, all trips are good, all sessions are good sessions, the sky is clear, the wind is just a slight breeze, and there are plenty of feeding fish. At the vise, those feeders just LOVE my Carp Carrot! They move to it assertively, pick it up and take off. They fight well; occasionally one of them even leaps out of the water. Fishing itself regenerates me but fly tying renews me in a different way. In the dead of winter I yearn for long, hot, summer days chasing the world’s greatest sportfish. These dreary days tying flies and daydreaming about trips past and present almost feels like it is more fun and more satisfying than fishing itself. Perish the thought but it does feel that way sometimes. Tying flies makes the chase more interesting; it makes the hunt personal. Fly tying is about hope. Hope is the breath of the soul. In its own way winter fly tying helps my soul to breathe.



Five proven Carp Catchers:



Rubber Leg Hare’s Ear

Hook: 3769 sizes 8 & 10
Thread: black
Weight: bead
Tail: white rubber
Legs: white rubber
Thorax: gray or tan dubbin
Abdomen: gray or tan dubbin
Rib: flat gold or silver tinsel





Rusty Bunny Leech

Hook: 5263 size 8
Thread: orange or black
Weight: lead wire or lead eyes
Body: rabbit fur
Legs: rubber (optional)






Chocolate Cherry Carp Woolly

Hook 5262 or 5263 sizes 6, 8, or 10
Thread: black
Weight: lead wire or bead
Body: brown chenille
Hackle: grizzly saddle hackle dyed red




San Juan Worm

Hook: 2457 sizes 8-12
Thread: red
Weight: bead
Body: vernille or ultra-chenille



Mr. P.’s Carp Carrot

Hook: 3769 sizes 8 & 10. 5262 size 6 or 8
Thread: black or orange
Bead: bead or dumbbell eyes
Tail: The tail is optional. Rubber legs are my definitely my first choice though there was a time I used philoplume or web.

Body: orange yarn or dubbin
Hackle: pheasant rump dyed yellow











Jim is a freelance writer who lives in Bothell, Washington.
This article is from the winter of 2007 and was pubished in North American Carp Angler Magazine. Jim is the Fly Fishing Editor of the magazine. All rights reserved.

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