I've been approached by an editor about doing a story about flyfishing for carp..anyone ever used a flyrod for these unruly beasts? :eek::confused:

I used to flyfish Gretchen, but not for carp,

Oh Bob !

Get the video cam ready this is going to be a good one and we wanna see. :D

Ah, the ol mulberry fly. Yes it has and can be done... especially to smoopers. They are a wary fish and you have to be delicate.

Ah, the ol mulberry fly. Yes it has and can be done... especially to smoopers. They are a wary fish and you have to be delicate.

If it can be done no doubt Team SILO can do it.
Make sure its the video hat cam. ;) :D

Okay..I give...what's a smooper?

I have heard of people flyfishing for channel catfish. Large lakes tend to get covered with japanese beetles which gets the cats to surface feed in the open water.

Okay..I give...what's a smooper?

Smooping is a term created by my bud who now lives in AK. When you see those carp lips sucking at the surface film and crud... that's smooping. Not something you'll find in Merriam Webster.:p

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hO80SCAXpDQ

If you go on Youtube and type in flyfishing for carp there is quite a few more videos. Not sure if that helps you though.

Smooping is a term created by my bud who now lives in AK. When you see those carp lips sucking at the surface film and crud... that's smooping. Not something you'll find in Merriam Webster.:p

So "smooping" could be considered a SNIGLET?

I've watched some of those videos also. They say it's easier in the spring, but you can catch 'em anytime they're up in the shallows. They mostly use small crayfish patterns, or wooly buggers. Something tied with the hook up would probably be best, because you want to drag the fly along the bottom so it kicks up a little poof of dirt. Just sight fish 'em and try to put it in front of them. From what I've seen you have to be pretty stealthy though. I was trying it the other day and actually had a small one on for a minute, but he came unbuttoned. I was using a w-bugger that was about a little over an inch long.

Its not as hard as everyone wants it to sound. I fish for carp a lot and we catch a few. Any goo crayfish or larger nymph pattern is a good start. All I can say is you will have to really pay attention but they are a worthy adversary on the fly and to much fun.

Thanks Troy! I'm hoping to have my first fly carp this spring..practice..practice..practice LOL

Well, I would think if you would use a night crawler on a fly rod and was fishing below the dam at Rend Lake, you could most likely catch a "Smooper" on a fly rod. You would need to use a 9 weight or bigger fly rod in case you hook into a biggin'.This prolly wouldn't be considered actually "fly" fishing though....:D

Actually a "smooper" is the hardest carp to catch. The trick to catching carp is learning to watch carp. When a carp eats off the bottom its very visible if you watch. If a carp is not actively feeding all your getting is casting practice. They are a very spooky and unforgiving fish so stealth and good casting are critical for success. Of course if there are cicadas on the water none of that matters as we boated 100 carp over 12 pounds in three afternoons last season when the cicadas were hatching. It was crazy.
Rods are easy a good 7 wt is the norm as you need the finesse that the smaller rod allows.