Picture this: You sit on the bank, watching the water’s surface for heads popping up to feed on the hatch that is just beginning. The fish sit in a feeding lane, picking out ballooning spiders hovering across the water. The golden bronze of the fish gives away their location as they gently sip on the floating protein bars being delivered into their world. This is purist dry fly fishing at its finest. This is fly fishing for carp.
Most anglers picture fly fishing for carp as a spring or summertime endeavor. Carp are often lumped into the “warmwater” fish category but can be caught on the fly in near-freezing waters year-round.
In California’s mild winter climate, cooling temperatures kickstart a different phase of life in the lakes. Midges hatch, spiders balloon across creek channels, and carp start looking up for easy food and the security of the deeper water beneath them. This awesome winter fishery is one of the main reasons I love living in California.
“The key in carp fishing is presentation, as carp will not move to poorly presented flies, especially in the winter.”
TIMING
The carp in my area tend to start looking up and feeding in the surface film around the full moon in mid to late November or early December. During this time of the year, I see the carp starting to group in scattered schools in the creek channels, picking off bugs in the afternoon wind. In mid-November we get big movements of spiders ballooning across the water surface, mainly in narrow creek channels. Ballooning spiders are baby spiders that deploy silk threads to catch the wind and spread out. They fly over the water and land in the lake, becoming a prime protein source for hungry carp.
By mid-December the spider hatch is mostly over, replaced by midges that hatch in good numbers throughout the colder months. From December through mid-March, carp feed in the surface film on tiny flies. Generally the biggest hatches happen in the late afternoons, but carp will come into the surface film to feed on emergers from noon onwards. Watch the fish’s body language to see whether they are feeding just below the surface, in the surface film, or on the surface. Like with trout, matching the emergence stage can be critical in solving the surface-feeding carp puzzle.
Following big rain events, debris enters the water from surface runoff. This debris is often dead plant material, wood shavings, and burnt timber from wildfires. The debris carries terrestrial insects like ants, beetles, and spiders. During the weeks following rain events, it pays off big time to find these “islands” of debris that get clumped together by the wind. Often on the edges of these “islands” you’ll find carp feeding up top on the terrestrials caught in the debris clumps. The debris clumps also offer a visual indicator of where the wind carries food, making for some of the most productive dry fly fishing for carp you’ll find anywhere.
FOLLOW THE WIND, FIND THE CARP
One of my favorite aspects of chasing surface-feeding carp in the winter is how mobile you must be, as carp often move miles daily while feeding on the surface. On windy days, you’ll find “windrows” where the wind creates slick lines, concentrating the food items the carp feed on. Think of these windrows as a buffet line for the carp. Follow the windrows,and eventually you’ll find the carp.
Finding the carp can be more hunting than fishing when chasing the dry fly-eating golden ghost. I try to find a high vantage point and use binoculars to spot signs of carp. Sometimes, that can be as obvious as a mouth breaking the surface. But often it is just a slight variation in the waves or a bit of nervous water where there shouldn’t be any. Always assume something is a carp until proven otherwise. Sometimes the slightest hint of a carp can lead you to the holy ground of carp angling. And sometimes it turns out to just be a piece of wood floating under the surface film in the waves. That’s a price I’m willing to pay.
Wind is the single most important variable during the winter months. Not only does the wind bring the food, but the surface water on the windward side of the lake—the side where the wind is blowing onto the shore—can be two to four degrees warmer than the other side of the lake. Carp, like most fish in the winter, tend to search out the warmest water they can find. Follow the wind, find the carp.
FLIES
Matching the hatch is essential for these golden ghosts, but you can be more generalistic than with trout. You have to match the action and silhouette of the prey item, but carp won’t count the thread wraps.
A problem I often ran into when I started to chase the midge-eating carp was that the trout-style midge imitations I was using got the carp to eat, but the hook bent out soon after setting the hook. Now,I generally don’t go smaller than a size 16. When they are picky on the size, I tie my flies with the body matching a size 16 to 18 but on a size 12 to 14 hook.
When midges are emerging, you can get away with larger hooks as the body of a midge pupa emerging is longer than that of the adult. Most of the emergers I tie are on size 8 to 12 hooks, and I tie them to a separate piece of foam. This keeps the fly just underneath the surface film but still highly visible to the angler. This style of fly works well when you can see just the top of the heads of the fish as they scoop emergers right underneath the surface film. Sometimes these fish will look like strange logs in the waves, a dark back popping out of the surface now and then.
Trout flies that imitate spiders, ants, and beetles will work when the fish are keyed in on terrestrials. I often use a size 8 to 12 foam parachute-style for the spider hatch. Otherwise your basic beetles, ants, and grasshoppers in sizes 8 to 14 will work. Just make sure they’re tied on strong hooks—once you start going smaller than size 10, thin wire hooks bend out easily on carp. Foam plays a big part in carp dry flies as the fly needs to float a heavier wire hook than your general trout patterns.
PRESENTATION
The key in carp fishing is presentation. Carp will not move to poorly presented flies, especially in the winter.
The wind is your friend in the wintertime. During calmer days, carp will be more scattered while searching out food items in the surface film. However, when the breeze picks up, the tasty morsels carp crave will be concentrated in the windrows. The carp will sit in feeding lanes, using the current similarly to a trout in a river. Here, carp don’t need to move much. They just open their mouths to be greeted with a clump of food. This works to the angler’s advantage, as you can cast in front of the fish and let your fly drift into the strike zone.
When faced with a windless day your casting must be even more accurate and delicate. Watch to see where the fish are cruising and try to cast where they’re headed, ideally about 6 to 12 inches in front of them and an inch or two to the side of their heads. Carp have a blind spot right in front of them, making it impossible for them to see a fly that lands directly in front of their heads. A half-inch to the left or right can make a big difference.
Dry fly fishing in lakes often requires longer casts, especially when fishing from the shore. Seventy-foot casts seem to be the limit in terms of accuracy and visibility of the fly. If you can’t see the fly, you won’t see the eat.
LEADERS AND GEAR
Your gear for chasing carp doesn’t have to be complicated. A 6- or 7-weight rod with a floating line, similar to what you’d use on flats fishing for carp or bigger trout, is perfect. I prefer to use a stripping basket while shore fishing in the lakes to keep my line off the rocks and roots around the shoreline, making it easier to cast and keeping my line cleaner and extending its lifespan. My favorites are the flexistripper-style baskets made by Ahrex, Loon, and Scientific Anglers. Flexistripper baskets consist of a flat piece of plastic with flexible rubber pegs that stick out from the base, keeping your line looped at your side. Easy to use, light, and nonrestrictive, flexistrippers are superior to bulky traditional stripping baskets in carp-fishing situations.
Carp leaders vary widely based on conditions. Most of the time, a 12-foot monofilament leader tapered down to a 3- to 4-foot section of 3X fluorocarbon is a good choice. I like the fact that the mono butt section will float while the fluoro tippet sinks, minimizing wake on the surface and allowing you to fish emergers just underneath the surface film. Some days you’ll find groups of 10 to 20 fish feeding up top close to each other. To pick out the bigger fish, a leader of 20 feet or longer is required to cast over fish you would prefer not to catch in order to present your offering to a more desirable fish.
A 20-foot leader can be difficult to cast if you’re used to casting a 9- to 12-foot leader, so don’t make the jump all at once. Add a foot or two at a time until you feel comfortable lengthening it more. Just like there’s no point in casting further than you can manage, there’s no point in having a leader that impairs your presentation.
THE PINNACLE OF FLY FISHING
Dry fly fishing for carp in the winter is some of the most fun I’ve experienced as a fly angler. It’s also the best chance to catch the larger carp in your fishery, which are more willing to come up to feed over the safety of the deeper waters than on exposed shallow flats. The reward–catching the Golden State’s golden ghost.
