Orvis presents Carp Central

The secret is out, Orvis loves carp!

Well maybe it's not such a secret anymore, but it is true, Orvis gets it when it comes to fishing for carp on the fly. And now they want to help you get it too, with the help of CarpPro and their Pro Staffers Carp on the Fly, Fly-Carpin, Mr. P, and many others. Carp Central is full of instructionals and how-to's when it comes to carp on the fly. Check out what The Orvis Company has been doing with carp. This is a great site to lean on, it's definitely worth the look folks.

Spring Sucker Nymphing Tactics

Fly selection when working the spring spawning run can be critical. Hatches are very sporadic and light when they do occur and the pickings are slim, as there just isn't the diversity of emerging insects during early spring as you find later on in the season. Caddis and midge nymphs are always a safe bet to fish through out the year as they are always present. With early spring, however, I often think of the other March Madness, the stonefly hatch.


Staging fish aren't always interested in feeding, as they have one thing on their minds, spawning. And rarely do I find suckers feeding on the surface due to their subterminal mouths. So I fish low and slow. I like fishing tungsten weighted stonefly and drake nymph patterns like my Thunderbird, Boreal Bomber, and Fresh Pimp nymphs and bounce them along the bottom. Every so often a fish may take an emerging fly on the rise, at the end of the drift, but this is not typical during the prespawn phase. If you need more weight to reach bottom, throw on some extra lead. Suckers will hold tight to the bottom and will only feed if a fly is easy pickings. I like to utilize tightline nymphing during this time of year, as I can better detect the subtle takes. Bouncing the fly on the bottom using your rod tip will also add to the detection as well as help give your fly the appearance of a dislodged nymph tumbling along the bottom of the stream bed.



This isn't bobber fishing or fishing for stockers, this is a numbers game. Getting your fly in the zone is crucial, as are the repeated runs and drifts of your nymph. Fish may spook and get lined, but they'll quickly roll back into their hold in the current seam, jockeying for precious spawning gravel real estate. It is to your advantage that you can keep drifting your fly through the zone in the hopes of an eventual hook up.



Your ROI (return on investment) may be low but if your put your time in, you will rack up the numbers of caught fish.

Truth in Advertising

There's reality, and then there's actuality.

Suck it Gracie, my ARC is lighter than your S4, with six additional inches to boot.

Housekeeping

The dead of winter is always a good time to go over your gear and give it a thorough cleaning. If you're like me, you're probably a little hard on your equipment, after all, it's hard work to catch those slobbernockers and look this damn good. Time to get rid of the dirty.


My poor fly lines get abused. I try to take caution and avoid stepping on them, but I always manage to do so, though unintentionally. The rivers I fish in my watershed are often choked with ultra fine clays and silts, remnants of Glacial Lake Aggasiz. These fine particles can actually become charged ions and will stick to your fly line. This fine layer of accumulation can act like just like sandpaper, especially when subjected to bipedal abuse. In addition, fishing in the rocks can be hell on a line's coating. Your Einsteinian tip of the day: UV light, heat, and petrochemicals will degrade the surface and integrity of your fly line. Check for cracking. I use a mild soap solution to clean heavily soiled lines and then a solid rinse. I treat my lines with Rio Agent-X, though any fly line branded treatment solution will probably work. This helps keep my line supple and shooting like a breeze. Remember, don't treat your sink tips or sinking lines. There are polymers in those treatment solutions that act as a floatant to help keep your fly line riding high.


Surprisingly, my reels stay pretty clean, save for the gouge or two from encounters with rocks. I use the scapegoat excuse of an Hard Alox finish and a completely sealed bearing and conical drag system for treating my reels like shit. They often get tossed down in the sand, dirt, and snow when landing a fish. The finish on my Lamson Velocities seem to do an excellent job of repelling dirt. The sealed drag and bearing design of the Lamson allow you to submerse your entire reel underwater for cleaning without fear of rust. This is especially handy when fishing salt. I pull my bearings and inspect the rollers and race. Even through my cases of abuse, I have yet to find any grime, moisture, or other particles within the sealed drag compartments. I clean the old grease off the bearings, and then re-grease lightly. I use a reel lube that performs well in cold temperatures. Having too much grease, or one with a higher viscosity will spell danger for you in the cold. Don't over apply.


The last thing I do is go over my rods. I clean the cork grips and look for any major pitting or decay/rot. It's easier to seal up those pits and gouges right away, than to let it ride resulting a a big chunk of cork missing from your grip. I clean my rods with a damp towel, and inspect the ferrules for any cracking. I check the guides and tip tops, making sure they are still firmly fastened to the rod. One of my rods developed a loose tiptop on my last outing, likely from the constant build up of ice. I took the opportunity to re-glue the tiptop to the blank. All you need is a lighter and a glue stick and you're golden. Take caution not to overheat and weaken the blank. On a previous season's maintenance, I noticed a piece of epoxy starting to crack around the thread wraps at the end of one of the ferrules. That could have been bad; the thread wrap on the guide could have unraveled, leading to possible rod failure. I took the opportunity to remove the tiny chip and touch up the area with some cement.

I know it's not the most exciting or enjoyable part of the job, but if you're like me, you don't have sponsors breathing down your throat ready to fork over another line, rod or reel when yours start to fail. Keeping care of your gear not only saves you a few bucks for the bottle shop later, but will also help minimize any equipment catastrophes on the water due to poorly maintained gear.

Cheers!

Gar on the fly

Gars are badass. Having swam in North American waters for over 50 million years, these living fossils still have what it takes to live in the modern aquatic ecosystem unchanged. The only other native fishes to North America that can even hang with the gar are bowfins and sturgeons. Toothy mofos.

Longnose gar, Lepisosteus osseus, image courtesy of cornell.edu

The buzz on catching gar with a fly has been glowing as of late. Uncommoncarp's recent tango with the dinos, and countless photos of fly caught gars showing up on facebook et al. just add fuel to the fire. I need to catch me one. Before this season even started, I set off with hopes of catching a longnose gar this year. If the opportunity comes along, I won't pass up the chance at a shortnose either.

Catching a gar can be quite tricky; their extremely bony mouths can prove difficult to set a hook properly. Thankfully, fellow roughfisherman Carpstalker passed along some solid info regarding the pursuit of gar with a fly. Rope flies are the only way to go to ensure a solid connection between gar and angler. Fairly easy to tie too. Just get yourself a tippet ring or a split ring, some garland or tinsel and a nylon rope. Run a length of rope and tinsel through the ring eye and double it back. Tie in just behind the bend to form a head section and tie off. Pull the threaded section of nylon rope apart, so that the body is frayed. This is what will catch the gar: the gar's teeth will get caught in the nylon fibers. Be sure to bring a heavy duty glove and a stiff brush to help release the fibers from the teeth after catching a gar; their skin is sharp! Just be sure to keep a solid grip on these fish as they have a tendency to play 'possum on you.

The hot, dank steamy days of July are perfect for gar fishing in Minnesota. Fish float up to the surface in shallow vegetated bays like stacked cord word. Spooky, much care is need to stealthy drift upon a school undetected. I hope to harvest a specimen this season. I'm looking to dry a fish and bleach the skeleton for display, celebrating the mana and beauty of such a beautiful creature. Underappreciated.

Stillwater Refresher

A great refresher on stillwater fishing over at The Female Angle. Tips on the right gear, fly selection, and method to get you started. More on Technique from sister Adrienne to follow.