Earlier this month, whilst on leave in the UK I fished a commercial carp fishery in Notts. (Had previously asked the owner if it was OK to use a fly rod - he said no problem.)

I used my trusty Shakey 9 foot 6/7 wt 6 piece travel rod (all of 30 Pounds worth !!!!), Okuma SLV reel, PP floating line, a straight 7 feet of 10 lb B.S. Maxima tippet and various flies. Tippet to fly line loop was via a 'perfection loop' loop to loop connection and the flies were all attached with a Davy knot.

Used Pedigree Chum mixers to get them up to the surface - didn't take long - big slurps (the water was quite muddy but I could see these large mouths periodically slurping down my free offerings )!!!!! I was fishing very close to a reedy bank so no casting required, just swing and drop.

Initially I used floating deer hair 'pellet' type flies but soon found that they floated too high in the water and when I did get an offer I was missing it due to the 'rigidly' fixed hooks so I changed to appropriately coloured woollen 'pom pom' type flies with more flexibly attached size 12 barbless carp hooks. I had to cut the flies down quite a lot (aren't swiss army knives usefull !) to match the shape of the mixers and also to get them to float with the upper surface just on the surface - if you know what I mean) Used Dilly wax floatant on the flat top only.

In total I caught 3 common carp in a three hour session. The first was about 5 lb, second 10 lb and the third (pic below) was 35 inches nose to tail and I estimate the weight at 17 to 20 lbs. (would be interested to hear what you seasoned carpers think of my estimate ?)

Hooking the last one was literally unbelievable !!!!!!!!!! He fought like a demon! During the 15 minute fight I had the drag as tight as I dared and he still took line on long runs (I still have friction burns on my hand from palming the reel !). As I was using a barbless hook I knew I had to keep the line tight and at least four times he tried to get into the snaggy reeds on either side of me. I knew that if he got into them he would loose the hook or snap me so it was a case of just holding him and praying that the rod (bent double), tippet and hook all held - never mind the knots !!!! (I didn't really believe that my rig could take the kind of abuse that we were both dishing out but somehow, it did !!!!!!!! ) I actually spent the whole fight waiting for the bang as the rod broke or for the remains of my fly to come whistling back at me !!

Eventually, after 15 minutes of pure aderenaline rush he came to the net. As I didn't have an unhooking mat with me I unhooked him in the net in the water, allowed him to rest up and then released him completely unharmed.

My arms were literally aching and shaking - I can only describe the fight as the sort you would get strapped into a fighting seat whilst sea fishing - literally amazing.

A couple of things came to light as a result of this scrap.....If a 6/7 weight rod can handle a fight like this, why would you ever need more than a 3 or 4 weight for reservoir bows ??? (ok, apart from casting in a strong wind) Fighting butts are definitely a good idea ! (didn't have mine fitted and had to rest the butt against my forearm with my other hand holding the rod a little higher up.

As a point of interest, a pole fisherman in the next peg, float fishing on the bottom didn't catch anything bigger then 2 lb ! (of course, maybe I just got lucky ?)

All in all that is one fish I will definitely never forget

Nigel

A nice tale, well told, thanks . . may well try it.

[PS I used to live on Jufair Road ]

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“Let’s TACKLE Cancer” supporter

I'd have thought that most reservoir trout fishers use the heavier rods for longer distance casting and to bring a fish to the boat more quickly. As you say, it's quite possible to land a 3lb (or more) rainbow on a lighter rod although don't forget that trout do not have anywhere near the strength or resilience of carp and if you plan to release them, this could spell their demise.

When I first started fly-fishing for carp (which I did long before I ever went trout fishing) it took me ages to bring them in on a 7# (much like you describe) but with time and experience I have reduced this to more acceptable levels even when using a 4#. I like to dip the rod tip under the water and change the direction of the fight rapidly. This seems to confuse the fish and subdue them more effectively.

I've said it before on here.....try a size 10/12 klinkhammer or emerger instead of imitating the dog biscuits. It takes a bit of a leap of faith but it does work.

Richard,

Would you tie the klinks / emergers on fly hooks or the stronger carp hooks ?

I think a fly hook would have straightened or snapped during my 'battle' ???

BTW I only estimated the weight of that carp and have no real idea of the actual weight. I know it is a lousy picture but in your experience do you think it is about right ???

Nigel

Going by the shape and the 35 inches long I would say you are probably not too far off, very tricky trying to guess the weight from the picture though as there is nothing to scale the fish against. Sounds like a brilliant few hours fishing.

With regards to the pole fisherman, I had pretty much exactly the same thing a few weeks ago. Was fly fishing with chum mixers and managed 16 carp to double figures in a 4 hour session and the pole fishers were catching much smaller fish. I am guessing it is more to do with the carp being up in the water on hot days than anything else and if they were fishing chum mixers with the pole (something i saw for the first time recently) they would have probably had a similar day.

Dan

35 inches is quite a length, something of that size would usually be quite hefty but from the picture it looks like a long lean fish, plus it's a common which is why it fought so hard. Weight is impossible to judge from the picture but certainly 15lb +

would you still feed the carp the dog biscuits to get them feeding then try and fool one with a klinkhammer?

You can do although I try and avoid using the biscuits nowadays preferring to try and attract their attention by slapping the water with some rubbish casts to start with. This will often bring them up to have a look and if your fly is the only thing around they won't ****** about taking all the free offerings first!

One other interesting thing that I've noticed when I've been out; carp are not stupid like trout and will often bat free biscuit offerings with their tails to test them for integrity before eating. If you've never experienced it I can tell you that even a modest 10lb carp, fouled in the tail as a result of batting a biscuit imitation with a hook attached is an almost unstoppable force and you'd better have a generous amount of backing spooled up. For some reason, the more natural looking single "fly" fly offering doesn't seem to elicit this behaviour to anywhere near the same degree

In answer to Nigel's question my heaviest klinkhammer fly-caught carp was around the 20lb mark. I shouldn't really call them klinks as they're more of an emerger being tied on a B110 hook with plenty of hackle and a poly-ball as a post to keep it afloat. As it was one of my earlier efforts it was a fairly large size, maybe an 8 although I may recall wrongly. It didn't bend. Having said that, if you are deliberately after bigger fish than this I would probably be tempted to use something more carpy (and get charged a fortune as a result!). I've had bait caught carp to 25lbs on Gamakatsu size 10 hooks resembling an emerger shape without incident so maybe they'd be worth considering. Give it a go and see what happens!

ATB