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Okay, let me take a minute to pat myself on the back here: Although I certainly wasn't the first
fly fisher to go after carp, I think I was probably the first person to write and publish an article
on fly fishing for carp. Since that article appeared back in the early '90s, we seen a bunch of
other articles on the subject (many of which were published in Warmwater Fly Fishing), and
even some books on it. The sport has not caught on like wildfire, and that's cause for some mixed
emotions. On the one hand, it leaves the carp unpestered and solitary carp stalkers are pretty
much guaranteed to have the fish all to themselves. On the other hand, you'd figure that a fish
that's hard to catch, grows huge, fights like hell, and can be found all over the country would
at least develop some sort of following. Ah, well.
I'm a big fan of carp, and I heartily recommend you at least try fly fishing for them. You're
most likely to have your first carp encounter with a tailing fish. In clear, shallow water, you can
often find carp tipped nose-down while rooting on the bottom in search of nymphs and crayfish. You'll
have to stalk carefully to within casting range, then plant your fly delicately within a foot of the
carp's head. Make an extremely slow hand-crawl retrieve, and tighten up on the line if the fish
picks up your fly. Strikes are very subtle, and your only indication will probably be slight resistance
at the end of the line.
If you're lucky, you will have some carp water with overhanging mulberry, cherry, or ficus trees.
Carp love these fruits and they'll stack up like cordwood under the trees to grab berries as they
fall to the water. The fish feed competitively, and they're almost too easy to hook.
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