Folsom Lake Carp

[Sheepdog8404]

My buddy and I have been trying to catch some carp on Folsom Lake lately with no luck. We have found a couple spots where the fish are plentiful. Both of us have no idea of how to catch carp except for reading a few articles. We were out yesterday and located probably a few hundred carp through out the day and presented our flies to many of them. Jason had only one hard grab that was unfortunately lost after a few seconds. His fish hit while we were just blind casting random flies to the cove where carp were splashing the surface all around us. We also have no idea which fly was taken since he was fishing a two fly rig with a green Clouser type thing with a soft hackle trailer. Anyway, I was wondering if anyone in the area has experience with carp and would like to join me for a day on the water in my boat to give me some tips as to how to catch or at least increase the odds of connecting with one of these fish.

Tight lines,
Gary

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

I think you need to find them feeding on something, then imitate it?

Just a guess.......

[Idadon]

If they were up in shallow water, only a foot or two deep, and making a real commotion they were probably spawning. It's been my experience that spawning carp are almost never in the mood to take a fly. Up here in Idaho the popular fly is anything that is bushy, has rubber legs and resembles a small crawfish. Good luck.

[Woodman]

I have only had good success catching carp when they are in shallow water less than 2-3 feet deep and I can sight cast to them. Then I have mostly been successful with weighted flies bumping along the bottom. Lead or bead chain eyes (like a small clouser) so that the hook rides up seems to be best. Have never had any success blind casting where I know there are carp, and only limited success when they are in deeper water and appear to be feeding on the surface.

When you hook one, hold on.

[JasonB]

A small clarification; the one and only hookup was from blind casting, but our main efforts had been almost completely on sight casting. After countless casts with little sign of interest I thought I might adjust my strategy (could' do any harm). One issue that I think we were suffering from was that the fish we were spotting to cast at frequently became aware of our presence, so the blind casting was just an effort to get the fly a lot further away from the boat. Have no idea if either of the flies, or the presentation had anything to do with that grab, or if I just managed to get it in front of a fish that hadn't been alerted yet...or if I just got randomly lucky. I am starting to suspect the latter.

About spawning, we may easily have been wrong, but I am felt pretty convinced that there was increasingly active feeding going on at the surface. Reminded me an awful lot of trout fishing, and being caught in the middle of an epic hatch of some sz34 mayfly hatch; equally exciting and frustrating at the same time! Thanks Gary, any hint of ego that I may have had is now quite sufficiently knocked down to earth again. Maybe we need a lesser challenge next time; trout farm perhaps?
JB

[hwchubb]

Jason,

I'm no expert, but have done pretty well on carp in a few places including Folsom. They are weird in that they seem to prefer widely different flies depending on the water. I've done by far the best in Folsom on smaller flies, size 10-12 nymphs in neutral colors (hares Ear, PT and similar) and small crayfish type patterns, 1 1/2 inches long or so. I would echo the others in that blind casting, especially if you aren't seeing fish, is a waste of time. Cruising fish will sometimes grab, but your best shot is stalking and targeting actively feeding fish. Casting into / at the edge of the muddy cloud where several fish are feeding can sometimes work as well.

I've normally seen spawning fish on Folsom in April, but maybe the higher / colder water has delayed it. I found nothing on a couple of trips there in April, but heard stories of some then. Were you in a boat or on foot?

[Sheepdog8404]

Thanks for all the advice! Jason and I were fishing from by boat both times and as Jason said, we were sight fishing to cruising fish for the vast majority of the day and as a last ditch effort, we began blind casting where the fish were rising all around us.

The fish that were jumping/surfacing didn't seem like they were spawning. The water they were in was variable from 2 or so feet to up to 6-7ft deep. There was no real consistency other than it was like a game of whack-a-mole. A fish would jump completely out of the water 20ft to our right, then another would porpoise 30ft behind us, then another would jump and do a tripple cartwheel backflip off the bow, then a dimpled rise 15ft off the stern...etc. There was a fish coming to the surface every few seconds within an area the size of a tennis court with a depth of 2ft all the way down to perhaps 10ft in the very middle. And as Jason already stated, these fish exhibited behavior much like trout feeding on emergers and dry flies (Splashes, porpoises and dimples) with acrobatics thrown in the mix... very very frustrating!!!

[Baja Fly Fisher]

If I lived in the area, I would love to fish with you. I have been stalking carp around 20+, way before it got recognized. Way back then I knew only 3 people who were really into to the carp game, Dave Whitlock, Brad Beefus and myself. Now there's a huge number of fly guys going after them. The carp has gained popularity.
Anyway, tie up a few Loco moco's. This fly was designed by a friend of mine who lives in Southern Cal and has studied and caught a lot of carp. For instance, last year he had around 350 on the list. This year he's already around 150 maybe more as I speak. He's only been fishing carp about 3 years and has this game dialed in.
I suggest study them first, see what there habits are then head out to the game. Figure out what they are doing, clooping, mudding, swimmers, etc. Then figure out the depth of water they are in and tie accordingly. So this means that you will need a wide variety of Loco Moco's. Some with bead chain eyes, some with lead eyes, some with tungsten eyes. I tie my flies on a shrimp/scud hook ranging from 4 to 8's. The tail is made from foam disks which are made from 2mm foam that you can purchase from Michaels or Hobby Lobby. I use a leather punch to punch them out. Use the largest punch. Then I thread them together.
I'm in Baja right now, I'll be home this coming Saturday. I could send you some photo's of the fly... It's a killer fly

[Sheepdog8404]

Thanks for the Tip, Baja! I'd be happy to see some pictures of your flies so I could tie a few up. Do you use a specific hook or just any scud hook?

If you're ever in the area, let me know and we'll head out on the boat!

[cyama]

Yellow sucker spawn is all you need. Well also maybe a can of corn....

[JayDubP]

If cottonwood trees are in bloom carp eat those fuzzy seeds (the cotton looking stuff that blows in the wind). Search online and you will find patterns for "Cottonwood seed" carp flies.

[Idadon]

I used to catch em on cottonwood seed flies when I was growing up in Lodi. Just a simple white chenille body with a white pampered hackle will work. Was fun to try to lead them/guessing their direction. We had a fig tree that hung over the river by our house and when the fruit was ripe some real monsters would hold under the tree. Caught a 33 pounder under that tree when I was 12, on a rip fig.

Carp are an interesting target!! I've been condemned to a winter in Mohave Valley this year. Hoping there's Carp in the Colorado in that stretch. Have to find a comfortable lawn chair and a good recipe for Carp bait. Returning to my childhood!!