Latergrams - Week 19

Snoochie boochies! Another #carpcrack addict. #carponthefly #carppro #flyfishing #roughfish #flyfarming #artisanflies

A photo posted by Jean-Paul Lipton (@roughfisher) on Apr 27, 2015 at 8:00pm PDT

Pucker up buttercup #suckerlove #flyfishing #roughfish #whitesucker

A photo posted by Jean-Paul Lipton (@roughfisher) on Apr 28, 2015 at 7:58am PDT

It's Fly Tyer Friday. Here's a shout out to all the fly artists out there who make our sport great! Your imagination and innovation behind the vise keeps fly fishing fun and fresh. Keep supporting those artisan fly tyers and buy their flies! Who are your favorite fly tyers? Who do you think are redefining our sport through their craft? Tag away! #flytying #flyfarming #flyfishing #artisanflies

A photo posted by Jean-Paul Lipton (@roughfisher) on May 1, 2015 at 8:25am PDT

Latergrams - Week 17

Carp smorgasbord #carpfood #flytying #flyfarming #carponthefly #carppro #artisanflies

A photo posted by Jean-Paul Lipton (@roughfisher) on Apr 14, 2015 at 6:26am PDT

Been digging the pumpkin look lately. #carpfood #flytying #flyfarming #carponthefly #carppro #artisanflies #carpcrack

A photo posted by Jean-Paul Lipton (@roughfisher) on Apr 16, 2015 at 2:11pm PDT

Latergrams - Week 16

Open water finally arrived over the weekend with many area lakes shedding their ice cover. Good things to come as water temps are on the rise.

What I wouldn't do to get these flies wet... Winter drags on here in Northern Minnesota. Hopefully Old Man Winter will give us a reprieve and release his icy grip on the lakes around here soon. #carpcrack #carpfood #flytying #flyfarming #carponthefly #carppro #artisanflies

A photo posted by Jean-Paul Lipton (@roughfisher) on Apr 7, 2015 at 8:11pm PDT

Look what showed up on my doorstep this week, "Mud Donkey" a @zporter14 original. Pumped to add this to the collection. #carponthefly #carppro #flyfishing #flyfishart

A photo posted by Jean-Paul Lipton (@roughfisher) on Apr 12, 2015 at 7:45am PDT

Here's a throwback to one of my original patterns from way back, the Dragon Slayer. This version is tied a bit more diminutively than the original with smaller bead chain eyes. Featuring ruffed grouse soft hackle and marabou. Tie it with olive dubbing and you have yourself a Damsel Slayer. I know @zachjanssen can appreciate the effectiveness of this fly. #carpfood #flytying #flyfarming #carponthefly #carppro #artisanflies #dragonslayer

A photo posted by Jean-Paul Lipton (@roughfisher) on Apr 9, 2015 at 6:31am PDT

Latergrams - Week 15

Some slop fresh off the vise. I'm sure the carp won't really mind if it's purdy or not. #carpfood #flytying #flyfishing #carponthefly #carppro #artisanflies

A photo posted by Jean-Paul Lipton (@roughfisher) on Apr 6, 2015 at 8:33am PDT

If I could just get my hands on that box I could do some serious damage! @rossreels has a box of their finest on display with the @flyfishingfilmtour. There are definitely some heavy hitters in there like the F1 and Momentum. I know because I own several of them. #rossreels #flyfishing #flyfishingfilmtour #F3T

A photo posted by Jean-Paul Lipton (@roughfisher) on Apr 1, 2015 at 6:29am PDT

Shout out to my boys Ben and @zachjanssen of @the_midwest_drift who made the 6 hour drive from KC to represent at Iron Fly MSP. These are the faces of fly carping's future. #carponthefly #ironfly #flytying #flyfarming #flyfishingsaveslives

A photo posted by Jean-Paul Lipton (@roughfisher) on Mar 30, 2015 at 10:36am PDT

Latergrams - Week 14

The weekly wrap up highlights the F3T and Iron Fly tour stop in MSP, as well as some obligatory carp fly porn.

The curtain is about to drop at the first @flyfishingfilmtour show in Minneapolis. Seats are getting packed. There's still time to make it to the 8pm show! #flyfishingfilmtour #F3T

A photo posted by Jean-Paul Lipton (@roughfisher) on Mar 28, 2015 at 1:57pm PDT

Hey I know that guy! @johnmontanacarp slaying some carp slabs in @beattie_outdoor_productions film Carpland. Pure awesomeness on the big screen. @flyfishingfilmtour #F3T #flyfishingfilmtour #carponthefly #carppro

A photo posted by Jean-Paul Lipton (@roughfisher) on Mar 28, 2015 at 4:22pm PDT

A call to arms, there will be a seriously bitchin fly tying event known as the Iron Fly coming to Minneapolis this weekend. The throwdown will take place at @mendprovisions following the @flyfishingfilmtour shows at the Parkway on Saturday Night. So come one come all. We are looking to mix it up at this event. Bring a fly tying material of your choosing to the event and be eligible to win some special prizes from @mountainkhakis that I will be giving away. Whoever brings in the most materials will get a shot at bringing home a $75 gift card. Now that's what I'm talking about. #flytying #flyfarming #ironfly #pigfarmink #flyfishingsaveslives

A photo posted by Jean-Paul Lipton (@roughfisher) on Mar 24, 2015 at 8:51am PDT

Yeah, that happened last night. Iron Fly is always such a bitchin time. Glad to have the #pigfarmink crew back in MSP. Big thanks to @sifarone and @mendprovisions for putting on an epic evening of fly tying. #flyfishingsaveslives #ironfly #flytying #flyfarming #cockandballs

A photo posted by Jean-Paul Lipton (@roughfisher) on Mar 29, 2015 at 9:22am PDT

Mango is THE hot color on the Dome Lakes in Colorado, just ask @flycarpin. What's the hot color for carp in your neck of the woods? Or does color not even matter? #carpcrack #carpfood #flytying #flyfarming #carponthefly #carppro #artisanflies

A photo posted by Jean-Paul Lipton (@roughfisher) on Mar 26, 2015 at 7:18am PDT

It's getting to the point... The spring sucker run is just around the corner here, almost time to bomb some fresh prince nymphs in their face. #flytying #flyfarming #suckerlove #roughfish #artisanflies

A photo posted by Jean-Paul Lipton (@roughfisher) on Mar 24, 2015 at 3:25pm PDT

Some rusty Come At Me Craws headed west to @calicarpin. Those West Coast carp won't know what hit 'em. #carpfood #flytying #flyfarming #carponthefly #carppro #artisanflies

A photo posted by Jean-Paul Lipton (@roughfisher) on Mar 25, 2015 at 6:58pm PDT

Latergrams - Week 13

Wrapped up a great weekend at the Great Waters Fly Expo. Already looking forward to next year's show! A big Thank you to Loon Outdoors and Mountain Khakis!

It's been a busy start to the Great Waters Fly Expo so far. Tying up some trusty favorites and spreading the carp gospel. @umpquafeathermerchants @loonoutdoors @orvis #carpfood #flytying #flyfarming #carponthefly #carppro #artisanflies

A photo posted by Jean-Paul Lipton (@roughfisher) on Mar 21, 2015 at 1:23pm PDT

Getting set for the last day at Great Waters. Let's do this! @loonoutdoors @umpquafeathermerchants @mountainkhakis #carpfood #flytying #flyfarming #carponthefly #carppro #artisanflies

A photo posted by Jean-Paul Lipton (@roughfisher) on Mar 22, 2015 at 8:09am PDT

@dcfrasier of CarpPro fame talking carp at the Great Waters Fly Expo. #carponthefly #carppro #flyfishing

A photo posted by Jean-Paul Lipton (@roughfisher) on Mar 22, 2015 at 11:14am PDT

Getting the kids of Minnesota started on the youth art movement @twincitiesurbanfly @joshdesmitart #flyfishart #flyfishing

A photo posted by Jean-Paul Lipton (@roughfisher) on Mar 22, 2015 at 12:54pm PDT

The Midwest Drift 2015 Carp Swap

The Midwest Drift graciously agreed to take over the reigns of the world's best carp fly swap after Mctage from Fly-Carpin handed over his labor of love this spring. Organzing a swap of this magnitude, actually more of a vector since the swap possesses both direction and magnitude, takes serious effort and time commitment. So a big tip of the hat to the TMD crew!


Check out all of the photos and recipes from the fly swap, and even a few step by step tutorials. The Come at Me Craw is featured here.

Latergrams - Week 12

It's damn near spring, so there's plenty going on inside the Roughfisher Command Post, including some monster fly tying sessions and some epic mail days.

Another round out the door. This batch is headed to re-supply @rusuperfly world headquarters. Get some while they're hot. #carpfood #flytying #flyfarming #carponthefly #carppro #artisanflies

A photo posted by Jean-Paul Lipton (@roughfisher) on Mar 12, 2015 at 10:11am PDT

Now that's a mail day. Hopefully this will last me a couple days. @loonoutdoors #carpfood #flytying #flyfarming #artisanflies #loonoutdoors #fishingwithaconscience

A photo posted by Jean-Paul Lipton (@roughfisher) on Mar 11, 2015 at 7:14am PDT

Looks like we've got a solid year class here! #saclunch #carpfood #flytying #flyfarming #carponthefly #carppro #artisanflies

A photo posted by Jean-Paul Lipton (@roughfisher) on Mar 9, 2015 at 9:03am PDT

Yahtzee! Jay Zimmerman's "Best Carp Flies" just landed on my doorstep this afternoon. A SOLID collaboration of some of the most tried and true carp patterns on the planet. Check out page 201 for a step by step of my Admiral Akbar pattern. There's even a shout out to Carp Crack. #carpfood #flytying #flyfarming #carponthefly #carppro #artisanflies #carpcrack @umpquafeathermerchants

A photo posted by Jean-Paul Lipton (@roughfisher) on Mar 11, 2015 at 5:51pm PDT

A murder of black crows. And you just know they're up to no good. Jet black carp crack tied with a gill red underbody. #carpcrack #carpfood #flytying #flyfarming #carponthefly #carppro #artisanflies

A photo posted by Jean-Paul Lipton (@roughfisher) on Mar 13, 2015 at 6:36am PDT

Oh hell yes, my swap flies from @the_midwest_drift arrived today. #carpfood #flytying #flyfarming #carponthefly #carppro #carpflyswap #themidwestdrift

A photo posted by Jean-Paul Lipton (@roughfisher) on Mar 13, 2015 at 7:42pm PDT

Soon my friends. Soon... #minnesota #ottertail #flyfishing #springisnear

A photo posted by Jean-Paul Lipton (@roughfisher) on Mar 14, 2015 at 2:19pm PDT

Latergrams - Week 11

I'm back from the annual meeting of the Minnesota Chapter of the American Fisheries Society. Here are a few interesting tidbits to pass along of the work on #roughfish. Bigmouth and smallmouth buffalo, common carp, and other roughfish species have been captured, tagged, and tracked to monitor their movement and migration patterns in the Upper Mississippippi River in order to better understand the movement of asian carp. The side benefit to asian carp research is finally having some of our underutilized native fishes get the research attention they deserve. Also, for likely the first time, anglers participating in a creel survey in SE MN identified white sucker as their primary target species, so much so that they represented a statistically important 0.02% of anglers. Small potatoes perhaps, but definitely a start! Roughfish are finally starting to get some respect! #fisheriesmanagement #minnesota #fisheriesresearch #suckerlove

A photo posted by Jean-Paul Lipton (@roughfisher) on Mar 5, 2015 at 12:52pm PST

Thinking spring and the white sucker run, feeding Fresh Princes to unsuspecting suckers. Still seems so far away. #carpfood #flytying #flyfarming #carponthefly #carppro #artisanflies

A photo posted by Jean-Paul Lipton (@roughfisher) on Mar 5, 2015 at 9:19pm PST

Not exactly sure where the direction of this color scheme is going, or its application in freshwater. It's kind of a shrimp and crab mutation. Regardless, the #carpdemon tied with coyote is deadly on any flat, salt or fresh. #carpfood #flytying #flyfarming #carponthefly #carppro #artisanflies

A photo posted by Jean-Paul Lipton (@roughfisher) on Mar 7, 2015 at 7:42am PST

Latergrams - Week 10

Do you fly fish for carp? Do you tie flies? If you answered yes to either of those questions then you need these books: "The Orvis Guide to Fly Fishing for Carp" by @kirkdeeter, and "The Orvis Beginners Guide to Carp Flies" by @dcfrasier. Both of these books will set you on the path to enlightenment. And yes, I do have content published in both books so if you've ever wondered about the mystery of carp pheromones or the magic behind the Darth Clam give both of these books from @orvis a read. #carponthefly #carpfood #carppro #flytying #flyfarming #artisanflies #carptheotherwhitemeat

A photo posted by Jean-Paul Lipton (@roughfisher) on Feb 28, 2015 at 10:08am PST

A choked out version of my CZE nymph resembles a scud with egg sac. @bozemanflygoods @loonoutdoors #carpfood #flytying #flyfarming #carponthefly #carppro #artisanflies

A photo posted by Jean-Paul Lipton (@roughfisher) on Feb 25, 2015 at 9:20pm PST

Here's your clam served with cocktail sauce @mhieronymus49 To see where I'm going with this follow along the next few posts. #carpfood #flytying #flyfarming #carponthefly #carppro #darthclam #artisanflies

A photo posted by Jean-Paul Lipton (@roughfisher) on Feb 24, 2015 at 8:00pm PST

This version is au naturel: Darth Clam served up with nori. For folks desiring a more bold presentation, wasabi is optional. #carpfood #flytying #flyfarming #carponthefly #carppro #darthclam #artisanflies

A photo posted by Jean-Paul Lipton (@roughfisher) on Feb 24, 2015 at 8:23pm PST

Who knew that you could transform a Darth Clam into an alevin? Talk about ninja stealth. #carpfood #flytying #flyfarming #carponthefly #carppro #artisanflies

A photo posted by Jean-Paul Lipton (@roughfisher) on Feb 24, 2015 at 8:38pm PST

Sparkle tail version of the darth alevin. @mhieronymus49 this is a total "G Smolt"! #carpfood #flytying #flyfarming #carponthefly #carppro #artisanflies

A photo posted by Jean-Paul Lipton (@roughfisher) on Feb 24, 2015 at 8:43pm PST

Larval fish like this alevin are good eats for foraging fish. High protein from the egg sac and low motility from the lack of development make for an easy meal. This version is anatomically correct with a body about an inch in length and weighted with a tungsten bead to keep the fly down in the gravel where sac fry hide and consume their egg sac until they are forced to venture out and forage on plankton. #carpfood #flytying #flyfarming #carponthefly #carppro #artisanflies #saclunch

A photo posted by Jean-Paul Lipton (@roughfisher) on Feb 24, 2015 at 10:07pm PST

Boom. Thanks to @mendprovisions for inviting us all back this year. #ironfly #pigfarmink #flytying #flyfishingsaveslives

A photo posted by Jean-Paul Lipton (@roughfisher) on Feb 27, 2015 at 7:58am PST

Latergrams - Week 9

Been on radio silence the past few weeks while I was visiting the homeland with the family. But now I'm back from Hawaii, and back in the saddle as it's prime time for fly production and show season. No rest for the weary.

Back at it. I've got a bit of catching up to do after an 11 day hiatus in Hawaii. Time to crank it up to eleven. #carpfood #flytying #flyfarming #carponthefly #carppro #artisanflies @loonoutdoors

A photo posted by Jean-Paul Lipton (@roughfisher) on Feb 19, 2015 at 7:52pm PST

Like father like son. The Lipton boys checking out the koi pond. I believe casting a fly to these fish are frowned upon. #carp #hawaii #koolina

A photo posted by Jean-Paul Lipton (@roughfisher) on Feb 7, 2015 at 9:41am PST

My goody bag from the @thelaughingfly fly materials swap arrived today. Lots of choice materials to work with from @thelaughingfly, @rusuperfly , @omfflyco , @sidelinghillhackle and Early Rise Flies. Plus a bonus deek featuring the artwork of @twincitiesurbanfly. #nofarmsnoflies #growyourown #flytying #flyfarming #artisanflies

A photo posted by Jean-Paul Lipton (@roughfisher) on Feb 20, 2015 at 6:05pm PST

Swap flies are done! Now time to ship them off to @zachjanssen #tmdflyswap #themidwestdrift #comeatmecraw #carpfood #flytying #flyfarming #carponthefly #carppro #artisanflies

A photo posted by Jean-Paul Lipton (@roughfisher) on Feb 2, 2015 at 8:04pm PST

Clams are a very important part of a balanced diet! Know your forage! #carpfood #flytying #flyfarming #carponthefly #carppro #artisanflies

A photo posted by Jean-Paul Lipton (@roughfisher) on Feb 23, 2015 at 7:50pm PST

Lipton's Carp Crack: An IGFA World Record catching fly pattern

Meredith McCord recently swept all seven IGFA tippet class world records for smallmouth buffalo, under the guidance of Captain Kirk Kirkland. That's a pretty remarkable feat, and congratulations are definitely in order! Meredith is quite the accomplished angler with several IGFA records under her belt, and Capt Kirk is the foremost authority on guiding for gar. He has ammassed over 100 IGFA world records for all gar species. He's even guided Jeremy Wade of River Monsters fame for alligator gar.

Capt Kirk Kirkland and I took the sweep of all 7 tippet IGFA world records (from a 9.5lbs fish on 2lbs on up to the 20lbs class) for the Smallmouth Buffalo. Caught on the Trinity River near the Livingston Dam all on the "Carp Crack" fly. Orange was the most popular. (The brown and black that worked as well, stripping very long and slow) #igfaworldrecords #kirkkirkland @smithoptics @abelreels @romaboots @patagoniaflyfish

A photo posted by Meredith McCord (@meredithmccord) on Jan 31, 2015 at 6:37am PST

I love fishing for buffalo, and it's always great when buffalo and other native roughfish species get some positive press and publicity. They certainly deserve respect! It was a pleasure to see Meredith's records show up on my social media news feeds and to observe all of the positive feedback she recieved for her catches. It wasn't until I read the photo descriptions and comments that I noticed something that came as a complete surprise, her record catches were caught using a Carp Crack fly! I messaged Capt Kirk to verify that the fly Meredith mentioned using was indeed my pattern and not another pattern of the same name. After seeing a photo I sent him of my pattern, he confirmed that the pattern supplied Meredith with was indeed my Carp Crack pattern. Wow, I was truly surprised!


I have another item to add the growing list of life accomplishments, and perhaps one of the more flattering (and unexpected) ones, I designed a world record catching fly pattern. Ha! Time to add that one to the résumé.


A big congratulations to Meredith McCord and Capt. Kirk Kirkland for your accomplishments, thank you for using my fly pattern, and thank you for letting me share your photos and story!