What to do when its 100 degrees outside

**wingnut** · 07-22-2011, 07:08 PM

Hit up a local hot spot for river carp this morning. Fish were super spooky on the flats but I still had multiple shots at some big fish before they shut down at about 10am. These guys keep my summers interesting. Fish in the photo was caught on a crayfish imitation I tied the night before. He was about 9lbs. Stuck two more but one threw the hook the other made a hard right around a boulder and broke off after screaming into my backing.

**chadroc** · 07-24-2011, 05:49 PM

sick fish. nice job in the heat. beats what i am doing on this sunday afternoon: laying on the couch with a fan blasting me. nice fish man.

**AaronJasper** · 07-24-2011, 11:15 PM

Well done!

**Flydaddy** · 07-26-2011, 10:14 AM

Wingnut,
Do you think you could give me some advice for a go at this?
Flydaddy

**Clema74** · 07-26-2011, 10:19 AM

Nice fish!

i'm actually trying to spoend the summer on them. very spooky and so hard to make them bite.

I'm still searching for the good fly...

**wingnut** · 07-30-2011, 11:33 PM

Flydaddy
I don't fish still water for carp so keep that in mind. The river I fish has shallow "flats" that have a steady current in between its long slower pools. First thing is never fish downstream. The carp seem to sense it and will shut down and potentially you can ruin a whole flat. Wade upstream and be as stealth as possible. The fish I target are in water that is 4 inches deep to about 18 inches deep and feeding. I don't target fish that are cruising. Never had much luck with them. I look for fish that are tailing or feeding in the shallows. In deeper water you will see a mud plume behind the feeding fish. You cant miss them in the shallows as a tail or sometimes youll see their whole back will be out of the water. I try to approach at an angle and place my cast upstream and just past the fish. Let the fly then drift in to the zone and give it a couple of strips. Ive had carp follow my fly 5 feet or more. If they do then get ready to set the hook when they turn. It usually means they ate the fly. Other times you may only see the fish turn its head when the fly passes the fish. I use an eight weight because most of the fish seem to be in the 8-12 lb range. All though on Thursday I caught two over 15lbs. Flies include some home made creations but weighted wollys work as do sparsely tied crayfish patterns in grey and tan. Also leach patterns but I guess that depends if they are in your home waters. Some of the commercial carp flies work well also. The JS fly fishing catalog has some good choices. I have found that have the hook point up flies are the better choice. Again I use an 8wt with floating line and 10lb florocarbon leader. I also usually use a short 7-9 foot leader. Ive found it makes it easier to guess where your fly is on long casts. Hope this helps. gotta get back to work....