I've been trying to catch carp on the fly for the last 2yrs and have yet to land one or get one to bite. What flies are you using? I have tried many different colors of wolly buggers, stone flies, crayfish, and many others with no luck. I feel I approach stealthy enough don't dunk the fly on their heads, I'm sure it is a combination of fly type and color, any tips?

You're right, koldkut, and that's exactly why they're going out of business--especially the fly shops with that attitude that are within walking distance of a carp pond and 50 miles from the nearest trout water.

Dcast, apparently you should drag a piece of fried chicken in front of them.

Dcast, you've got the right flies, took me a good while to get the first one, after that, it's fairly easy. Just don't spend too much time trying to feed fish that aren't eating.

jbell6826: Kirk Deeter and I are friends and would most likely agree with one another 90 percent of the time about any particular thing. I don't think either of us knew ahead of time what the other was writing about today. Just worked out as it did.

Back in the day we used to catch carp on doughballs, chicken livers were for catfish! Wouldn't a flesh fly be atractive to old rubber lips?

John and I are indeed good friends, and I do more than agree with him on 90%, I seek out his advice and counsel. Still, our opinions split on this one--a fairly common thing to have happen among fishing buddies. I will say that it was just luck of the draw that we came down on opposite sides of the fence this particular day.

And on your "what flies to use" question Dcast... carp are so unpredictable--sometimes extremely finicky, sometimes like hogs at a trough. I have caught them by rolling a Babine double-egg fly across a dirty pond with a two-handed Spey rod in downtown Denver (it's a long story that involved a pink school bus, several carp nuts, and a Bloody Mary). I've also caught them on large streamers... and a Copper John nymph with rubber legs can be deadly too. Or completely worthless, given the day. I think that's part of what turns people on to--and off of--carp fishing with flies.

Carp are increasingly becoming a viable target for fly anglers in the US and, in some ways fly anglers are the evangelists of the sport in the US. At US Carp Pro magazine,several of our pro-staff target carp as their primary objective. US Carp fly anglers, including our pro staff and Barry Reynolds, who we interviewed recently, are ahead of the curve even compared to the Euro-powerhouse carp fishing scene and are bringing carp into the mainstream as a valuable sport fish. Add to this the growing numbers of carp anglers joining local, carp-specific, fishing clubs, such as the ones run by Wild Carp Companies, the popular but somewhat underground PayLake scene in the Carolinas and adjoining areas, and the hosting of more and more carp tourneys for prize money, such as on renowned bass-lake, Lake Fork in Texas later this month, and I think carp fishing is going to become more popular than ever.
It may be a maligned fish in some quarters, but one thing that is not in question is its fighting prowess and the readily accessible sporting opportunity it offers to many.

Tony Cartlidge
USCARPPROmagazine Features Editor
www.uscarppromagazine.com - FREE to read Online

Please no more articles on how great carp fishing is. Let the purist turn up their noses at something they know nothing about. I repeat Carp are not any fun to catch. They live in stretches of water surrounded by trash, needles, bums, etc. Again, carp aren't fun if you haven't fished for them you probably shouldn't waste your time.