Not quite up to 'Gonzo's standard but getting there!

Arrived at the fishery at 4.30pm, walked around till I found a group cruising near the surface. It took till 5.30pm till I had my first fish and from then on until 8.00pm it was fairly busy taking ten fish the smallest around 6lb and the biggest and my biggest so far on the fly 19lbs exact a beautiful Common.





Along with this fish there were 5 other doubles between 10 and 14lb. I had just wrecked a tippet in the bushes behind me try to cast a bit too far, so packed up and started to walk back to the car, when I was set upon in a freindly way by a group of 'Carp' anglers, who had heard of my catch via the bailiff, 'show us how you catch carp from this swim, was the challenge!! talk about being put on the spot, but seeing that there was at least one fish within my limited casting range, I accepted the challenge - first cast the fish rose took the fly and a few minutes later a 7lb Mirror was in the net. I tried to get them to put a bet on to see if I could repeat the challenge but no takers, so out of spite I took 3 more to 9lbs. Packed up gave them all a good evening and walked off - with murmerings about 'Bloody fluff chuckers, been here all day for two fish??, should be banned?? Me I just laughed and offered to show them again another day, Oh total take for the evening 14 fish, back home 9.15pm and still smiling!

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Alan

That's the way to do it Alan. I had a few out yesterday between 12 and 16lbs on an otherwise dead lake and a small Jack on a spinner for light relief (forgot my pike flies) while I waited for the carp to surface again. Good fun isn't it?

What a cracking fish DD. Commons are so much nicer looking IMO and at 19lbs, it's a superb achievment.

It is suprising just how easy it can be, if they are on top. It beats me how the Carp boys can just sit there watching and not bother to use a controler or bubble float and have a go themselves, but they don't.

The fly does land very gently though and you can move it from fish to fish quickly so you are probably covering 4 or 5 times the amount of fish a static bait would in the same amount of time.

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~Gonzo~
Member of B.A.S.S www.ukbass.com

Best fun I've had for a long time, I suspect that its the contantly being busy that makes it so! Shame we have such lousy weather! the wife still asks if I'm going, but I fear it would be a wasted journey as the fish would not be within a few feet of the surface!

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Alan

Your not wrong there pal, but I still think that the Carpies only use the fishing bit as an excuse to go camping how they expect good returns from so much inactivety beats me and I agree that fly fishers cover much more than any static angler. As for them putting floating baits out! they do!! but its the same attitude of casting out and waiting for the fish to find it whereas we see a fish and cast to it, ok the odd errant cast will always spook them but not for long and then its wooohoo time again. What I omitted from my report was that since I spoke with the bailiff he has just reported that my fish is the biggest officially weighed in from that fishery carpies 0 Fluffchuckers 1 can't wait for the sun to shine again.

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Alan

Alan, yours and Gonzo's fish are both pretty special. Most carp anglers haven't caught anything like that in their time. The best I've managed on a fly is a shade under 18lb from May 2005 and I only just beat that (for weight, not kudos) recently with one of 20lbs on a camping trip (sorry Gonzo, I still do that from time to time!) with a 2.25tc carp rod at 3am in the morning - so that doesn't count to me anymore! Most of the big carp I've caught have been mirrors or leathers so I'd love to get a big common like you did.

In the meantime, I've finally managed to tie something worthwile! After much swearing and a few Marlboro Lights I came up with these two Daddy Long Legs imitations (!!!!!) to replace the shop bought one recently wrecked by the local carp population! I even managed the little "knees" in the legs of the one on the left. Hope they work as well as the original did!



Kamasan B175 Size 10 hooks, black thread, head and detached body from natural deer hair, tail and legs from pheasant tail fibres and hackles from bleached white deer hair. Not a purists approach I'll grant you but I'm made up with them!

More purist than my flies WK. I use spun deer hair cut to shape... dog biscuit shape!

Yours look like they'd be good for Chub as well?

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~Gonzo~
Member of B.A.S.S www.ukbass.com

At the moment I am using spun deerhair, mainly because there are white willow bushes around the fishery and they are shedding their blossom, which once on the water the Carp rise and slurp at before rejecting. What the fish think these dead flowers are I have no idea, but matching the hatch so to speak works for me, shortly I expect the craneflies will be more evident and then I will change, after that I will wait to see what they are rising to and make my offering to suit! WK your fly looks good, please let us know how you get on, I must invest in some pheasant tail! as I reckon you are coming back to say they work well.

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Alan

I'm sure they will work for chub Gonzo. I've used the spun deer hair biscuit/pellet flies a lot as well, both on their own and in conjunction with the catty and biscuit approach. As my early attempts at tying the biscuit were nothing short of a disgrace I found eventually that I was able to get the fish to rise to just about anything regardless of shape even without the chumming although they were definitely fussy about what they actually ingested. The lake I fish gets a lot of hammer from dog biscuits so obviously this is one shape that sticks in their memory. Why on earth the Daddy works out of season beats me as there are none about at all yet! It must be a memory thing. What does everybody think?

I think Carp will check almost anything out that is on the surface - even blossom! Maybe that's why?

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~Gonzo~
Member of B.A.S.S www.ukbass.com