When you close your eyes at night, do you picture a rising trout in a spring creek, gently coming up to take a mayfly, or are your dreams haunted by tailing carp, rooting up a trail of mud while eating clams? I used to find myself firmly on the trout side, but the longer I’ve been fishing, the draw of the carp has gotten harder to ignore: big fish, sight fishing, and technical presentations. After you hook one of these brutes, they take your backing, burn your hands on the line, and break your spirit when they break you off, leaving you longing to do it all over again. Carp, while not the typical stuff of fly-fishing dreams, offer everything you could want from a fish caught on a fly.
While sight fishing for these smart, brutishly strong fish would seem to be every fly fisher’s dream, it’s also as if a dry-f ly purist had a bad trip on acid. Many people never give the golden bonefish the shot they deserve because of their reputation as a “trash fish,” “ugly,” and various other not so PG-13 names. For a country built on immigration and a state largely reliant on nonnative fisheries, this general attitude toward the carp remains baffling. Reaching sizes well over twenty pounds, tailing in ultrashallow water, and repeatedly making runs into the backing, carp are an angling force to be reckoned with, and they’re deserving of respect for a combination of intelligence and strength that should make any fly angler salivate. Plus, fly fishing for carp is a humbling endeavor. From detecting takes to not spooking one of the smartest freshwater fish in the country, carp require you to be on your A game with every cast.
In some ways, carp are the ultimate realization of the American dream. Originally brought to this continent to feed the growing population and introduced into California in the 1870s, carp have spread to every state in the lower 48 and can be found from polluted urban streams to clear foothill lakes. Because they are a nonnative species, they often get unfairly blamed for the degradation of ecosystems, since their ability to live in a range of environments often leaves them the last ones standing. But carp are here to stay, and while they’re here, there’s nothing wrong with heeding the call of the ghost of the flats.
Approaching the Golden Ghost
Understanding what spooks a carp is paramount to success on the water. The golden ghost is an extremely angler-shy fish — it can sense anything from the crunching of leaves under fumbling feet to the smell of sunscreen on your flies. Utilizing this knowledge to your advantage is half the fun of chasing these fish.
The most obvious tactic is to go slowly. And if you think you are moving slowly, move slower. Many anglers will walk the shoreline of a lake looking for carp, but won’t see a fish, because they’ve spooked them long before they’re close enough. A light step will help — stepping with your toes first, before planting your heel helps avoid loud sounds with each step. Often when approaching carp, the angler is faced with walking through a shoreline choked with branches, leaves, or crunchy rocks and shells of clams, making it difficult to approach stealthily. Check the ground before each step in such areas, taking care not to step on anything noisy. If such a step is impossible, minimize noise at all costs. Make sure to step on solid footing, as well, because any fast movements to keep your balance can and will spook carp.
One attribute separating carp from trout, bass, and other common fly targets is smell. Carp use all of their senses to feed, including smell. Carp anglers need to be careful about which resins they use while tying flies for carp and keep sunscreen and other scents off the fly while it’s on the water. Resins that give off scents, such as superglue and nail polish, should be avoided. UV resins don’t give off scents when they’ve been fully cured, and thus work well. Once on the water, I always rub my flies in the dirt and sand before fishing them, covering any scents from the fly-tying table, and I take care to not handle the fly with sunscreen-covered hands. When you finish putting on sunscreen, as you should rub your hands in the dirt to rid them of any residual scents, and be sure to do the same after eating and drinking. Often, I’ve forgotten or been lazy with these steps, realizing my folly only after multiple refusals from the fish. Once I fix the error of my ways, I usually see a positive change in f ish reactions.
Being stealthy also applies to your choice of gear, everything from clothing to reel choice. Dull-colored clothing should be worn, with no major contrasts. (Bright pink preppy shirts with purple pants might be a bad idea.) I choose light blue shirts when fishing against an open sky, like on the flats, and tan or brown shirts when fishing against steeper banks and trees. Flashy watches and jewelry should be avoided, as well as reflective backpacks and other shiny items. Reels used for carp fishing need to have a solid drag system to handle the strong fish and protect lighter tippets, but they should also not be flashy — matte colors and nonreflective finishes seem to help when sneaking up on wary carp. Clear fly lines are definitely a boost to presentation, because you will need to overshoot the fish. Although it will still cast a shadow, a clear fly line helps not spook the fish, compared with a traditional solid-color fly line.
Somewhere between choosing your footing wisely and wearing camouflage clothing, an important thing many aspiring carp chasers ignore is the choice of beer cans. Sorry, fans of Coors Light or White Claw, leave the shiny cans at home and bring on the matte black IPAs, or else you might spook your quarry when you raise that flashy can of pisswater.
A typical setup for a day of carp fishing does not need to be complicated: a 9-foot 6-weight to 8-weight rod with a floating line, a 9-foot to 11-foot leader, and a large-arbor reel with a smooth and strong drag are all you need. Fiberglass rods are great for short distances and delicate presentations, but when faced with wind and longer casts on wide-open flats, fast-action graphite has the advantage of accuracy at distance. I taper a fairly stiff leader down to an 8-pound to 12-pound tippet, adjusting according to water clarity. Finally, test your knots — these fish will find the weak links.
A Mental Game
Certain personalities might have a hard time with carp fishing, because the angler is faced with dozens, if not hundreds, of rejections per day. The ability to bounce back after a series of defeats is crucial during a day on the water. A frustrated angler has a harder time after each rejection, at which point things start unraveling — casts don’t hit their target, stealth goes out the window, and frustration grows. These inconsistencies will send the carp vacating the flats, one by one, until the lake seems void of fish. A good fishing partner can help keep up your spirits. Your buddy who likes to get drunk and blast music might not be a great asset on the carp flats, though.
Long days of wading the f lats can be hot and exhausting, and keeping your wits about you can become difficult if you’re not properly hydrated and fed. When going from one fish to the next for hours, it gets easy to forget to drink water and eat. When angling for a fish with no room for error, such as carp, keeping your body running smoothly helps keep your fishing skills sharp. Feed the body, feed the mind, catch carp.
Locating Fish
The golden ghost is prolific throughout California, from huge carp in the Delta to Southern California lakes where they can be found feeding on grasshoppers in the flooded trees of the flats. Carp inhabit most warmwater (and some coldwater) lakes and rivers in the state, but locating them in each can be tricky. Look for long flats at the river end of canyon reservoirs. In some lowland reservoirs, the whole lake can offer flats, while others are steep and offer only rocky dropoffs and shelves. Using Google Maps can provide insights on where to locate fishy areas, but an even better tool is Google Earth, where you can use the timeline feature to explore different water levels in each body of water, showcasing flats and structures that otherwise would have gone unnoticed.
While on the water, finding carp is all about using your eyes. Catching a golden brute without seeing the fish first is like finding a needle in a very, very large haystack. In most cases, carp won’t chase a fly or track it down, so searching for them by repeatedly blind casting is laughably inefficient. Instead, sight fishing is the only effective way to target carp, and knowing how to spot the signs of feeding carp is para-mount to success. Perhaps the most obvious sign of a feeding carp is a tail coming out of the water — it’s cleverly called “tailing.” A tailing carp is usually feeding on the bottom of a shallow flat with its head down and the tail coming up. Generally, the tail will twitch and turn as the carp roots up food from the bottom of the lake, and when it’s straight and moving the fish is cruising along looking for food. Knowing the difference between feeding behavior and cruising behavior is important — you can’t always see the fish suck in the fly, so it’s important to put the fly in the right location: their feeding spot. When you see the tail twitch while the fish is on your fly, set the hook.
Another easy way to spot feeding carp is when they nose in on the shoreline, most often on gravel bars and steeper banks. Often, they’ll come clean out of the water, sucking on the rocks right on the shoreline, feeding on clams, crayfish, and nymphs. Presenting the fly to fish can be difficult in these situations, because there’s not much room to present the fly when they are facing the shore. Your best bet is to wait and watch the fish, paying attention to the direction they are moving and trying to place the fly in the path of a fish as it moves from one area to another.
A rising carp, feeding on the surface, can be a treat. Carp will rise like trout to a variety of insects and even to berries and plants, if they are available. They often make a slurping sound as their round mouths break the surface film and suck down whatever they are feeding on.
An especially fun event is when the wind blows from inland, sending grasshoppers and beetles onto the water’s surface. You can find the carp gorging on them in the waves, dark bodies popping up to “cloop,” or rise, on the big terrestrials. As with other feeding carp, it’s important to note where a fish is moving and place the fly in its path. These are the most common signs of feeding carp, and a big part of fishing for carp is fishing for active fish. Casting at a fish that is just sitting still in quiet water or cruising the banks at a faster pace will usually spook them, and that will spook other fish in the area. Thoughtfully picking which fish to cast to will likely increase your hookup rate and allows you to work a specific area for carp without spooking a whole group of fish.
Presenting the Fly
Once you’ve spotted a carp and gotten yourself in position to cast to it, the last piece of the puzzle is presenting the f ly and setting the hook. Presentation choices depend upon what food item the angler is imitating. Clams don’t move much, while crayfish swim on the bottom and dragonfly nymphs scuttle along the mud. Each of these behaviors requires a different presentation style, which in turn affects how you set the hook.
When fishing gravel f lats or areas where the main forage is clams, the “drag-and-drop” technique is the best way to present the f ly. This consists of casting in front of the carp, slightly past where you want the f ly to land, then, before letting the fly fall to the bottom, picking up the rod tip and dragging the fly to your target in front of the carp. This imitates a clam darting back into the bottom as a carp approaches, dropping right in front of its path. Once the fly lands on the bottom, keep it completely still and hope to see the take.
Dragonfly and damselfly nymphs scuttle along the bottom of the lake, usually around vegetation roots and muddy areas. This allows the fly angler to move a dragonfly imitation more than when fishing a clam pattern. Cast past the target in front of the fish, let the fly sink to the bottom, then slowly strip the fly, using small movements, right into the fish’s path. This gentle movement of the fly also allows the angler to feel the take as the fish sucks it in, making this a great way to fish muddier and stained waters, where seeing the fish take the fly can be difficult. This same technique can be used to fish crayfish patterns. Just adjust the retrieve accordingly and make your strips slightly longer, with more pauses.
Fly selection does not need to be too complicated. A few sizes of clams, damselfly and dragonfly nymphs, leeches, and some basic crayfish imitations will get you through most subsurface situations, while a mix of beetles, grasshoppers, and ants should have you covered for most dry-fly action. On rare occasions, I’ve encountered groups of carp feeding on midges in the surface film during the winter on a reservoir on the Central Coast, but imitating such a small food source for carp can be tough. I’ve successfully landed fish on a size 18 Klinkhammer, but only after losing a few due to the light tippet needed to tie on the fly. Proceed at your own risk.
A Ton of Fun Close to Home
If you’re finding yourself a bit carp curious, heed the call of the flats and find some action near home. From big reservoirs to small creeks, carp have found their way into waters across the United States — immigrant fish, now a part of ecosystems throughout the country. For the adventure-seeking angler, this means there’s most likely a good carp fishery near you with its own unique challenges and puzzles to solve. After all, a lot of the fun in chasing carp — aside from the finger-burning runs — is solving the puzzle that is getting them to eat a fly. Carp can completely change how you view your home waters when you realize that you can reasonably go out and expect to tangle with a 10-pound-plus fish that tests your skills and gear, and that forces you to enjoy higher-quality beer than the shiny Coors Light or, God forbid, a White Claw.
