I went out last night to catch some Bronzebacks. I was fishing my favorite stretch of river when someone above, on the bike path, starting throwing rocks into the river (they couldn't see me down below). Seeing that my hole was all messed up I wandered down to the wing dam to try my luck for carp. This is a real treat, perhaps 20 or so carp all sucking on the surface. I tied on a 16 Royal Coachman and stuck it near the pile of fish. It is not really a take as much as it is a suck, but once they do suck, set the hook and hold on, cause these babies will take it to the backing. I ended up catching two, both similar in size. I think they are really neat.
Yes it was on the Cedar. The Smallmouth fishing has been fantastic. It is below Look Out Park in Cedar Falls. Look for the old wing dam, right below there you will see a large hole with lots of scum and floatables. Throw out a dry that is big enough to see, and sturdy enough for a good fight. Serious fun. Gray
Rubberleg GRHE nymph, about a size 6 or 8, can be really good for carp in smaller streams - caught one in Ralston Creek just above the Benton St. bridge in Iowa City a few years back, just like upstream nymphing to trout. San Juan Worms in many variations can be good. There are also more and more carp-specific flies, look up Montana Carrot, Legion of Doom, etc.
Carp on a fly can be really tough to catch, especially when they are rooting around in inches of water along the shores of ponds/lakes in early summer, but totally fun to stalk.
And the cool thing is, carp represent some of the biggest and hardest running fish you can catch on a fly within 10 miles of your house.
You parking at the Park St (Ave, whatever) trail lot and walking in?
Yes that is what I do. For Smallmouth I recomend fishing above the wing dam. The only time I nymph for carp is when I can see them do the take. This is a dry fly approach, or sorta..haha. RMaas is totally on target, hardest running fish nearest your home. TallGrass just pm me and we can go out and try for these. It needs to be sunny and the scum needs to be perfect. But when everything aligns it is good fun.
