When people think about fishing for carp now a days, at least in the UK and most of Europe, they mainly conjure up the image of 'carpers' with all their gear and baits, not a lot would imagine someone fly fishing for them.
As many already know, carp are among some of the strongest fighting fish we have in our freshwater systems, but normally, here in Europe, caught mainly on heavy gear compared to fly fishing gear. So, it goes without having to point out, that on fly fishing gear it's a battle of the Titans!
To find out more about the rod in the picture, either click here or the image above.
On the other side of the pond, in the US, they have for some time now been catching carp on the fly and considering that until a short time ago, carp over there were looked upon almost as a pest species, things have really changed. Carp fishing like we do here in Europe is growing over there and at rather a good rate, but so is fly fishing for them with many a trout angler deciding to start targeting the humble carp.
There are even quite a few sites/blogs popping up on the subject of fly fishing for carp with stories of strong fought battles, fly patterns which the carp seem to prefer and even some great videos of them in action. Watch some of these videos and we think you'll see that the carp have a lot to offer when it comes to fly fishing.
To find out a bit more about the rods in the image, just click on it or here.
As for what tackle to do battle with these carp, well, as you can gather, something that will stand up to the punishment that these fantastic fish will give. Anything from a 6 to 9wt line should do on a 9ft rod, but the most important thing to remember is make sure your reel will take at least 100 to 150m of backing (even more wouldn't be a bad thing). Carp can and will strip well over a 100m off a reel, so you want to be ready for some really big runs especially from these mad Portuguese fish which do not understand the meaning of giving up easily. Even a 10Lber will give you a run for your money.
As for what type of flies to use for carp, well a lot of what you might use for trout will work, but as with everything else in fly fishing, there are patterns that seem to work better than others, the Carp Carrot being one. To see what the Carp Carrot and a couple of other great carp flies look like, please click on the following link and download the Zip file I have made with some images and the recipes for some of these patterns.
Click on the following: Carp Flies
The following 3 links are for an interesting little article written by a gentleman over in the States who was an avid trout angler, but one day he made the mistake of hooking into a carp... I'll let him tell you all about it.
Welcome To The Revolution Part I, Welcome To The Revolution Part II and Welcome To The Revolution Part III.
And here is the same gentleman's list of Carp Flies.