Flicking feathers

Last Monday I took my buddy Hideto from  the Tokyo flyfishing blog   out to show him the ropes. He'd been carping before but like most he'd struggled and never really got in to it.  Eventually I convinced him that carp were worth chasing and he asked to come along. I took him to a small river near my apartment, it doesn't have many big fish but it has a lot of fish so I was confident he'd get a fish or two.  After a quick coffee and explanation about the river, flies and presentation we headed up to the water. It took Hide a little while to get to grips with the presentation and reading the fish, although identifying takers is going to take more than one session to pin down. Any way we eventually got him a small fish about 20 inches or so after which his confidence started to grow along side a healthy respect for the carp as a fly fishing target. As the day wore on he picked up a few fish finishing with 5 or 6 nice little commons.  I didn't fish that hard ...

There's a lot written all over the internet about leaders and connections and some of it is good, some of it on the other hand is rubbish.  Anyway I thought I'd add add my tuppen'worth.  Today I changed over to my summer line on the carp set up. I use a WF 8 Rio Smallmouth Bass, in the summer here as it's just too hot for a cold water formula line.  Since I was changing back, I replaced the connections. I start by attaching  a length of 30lb fluorocarbon to make the butt section.  I use a modified Albright Knot for this.  Basically I tie an Albright, but leave the waste end of the fluorocarbon the same length as the end you would normally leave.  If you don't know the Albright you can find out how to tie it   here , just remember don't trim the waste like the standard knot. The next thing I do is furl the two ends together to make a single butt piece.  To avoid putting a ton of twist in the fly line I tighten the drag on the reel and ...

The other week I was looking through the  2014 flyswap  on FlyCarpin'.  One fly that stuck out to me was the  bitter bugger,  the wooly bugger/bonefish bitters mash up. The reason it jumps out to me is that I also went with the bonefish bitters for carp but found it lacking movement.  Even though I've caught plenty of bonesfish on it I think I only managed a couple of carp .  Anyway  I'm not a huge fan of the wooly bugger for carp, but I decided to revisit the bonefish bitters as I do like the epoxy head as it really makes for a nice stable platform for the fly to stand on. I added a bit of bulk and sparkle with a cactus chenille body, kept the rubber legs, added a  soft hackle and dropped the deer hair wing in favour of arctic fox tied in "temple dog" style to keep it from collapsing. The Brownfish Bitters

Today I went to check out a river near by that  I hadn't fished properly, it's part of the same system as the one I usually fish-they both feed the same lake.  Every time I've been it's been full of old guys bait fishing for crucian carp and it's generally pretty dirty because of the wind and the rice fields.  I actually only realised how big an impact the rice paddies make today.  So I had checked it out on Google maps and I was sure it would become more fly friendly if I followed it away from the lake and the easily accessible spots.  I was right... to an extent Clear water, overgrown banks for cover, but very tight ad a lot of high banks.  It had quite a good head of fish including some of the biggest Asiatic barbel I've seen,  didn't catch any today though. The river So the nice tall grass is great for hiding, but the dead rushes and bamboo that was lying around not so helpful.  I spooked about a million fish before I actually got a s...

So, here's a fly I've done pretty well  on so far this year.  Since I came up with it last August I've taken a ton of fish from rivers on it.  I give you, The Crunchy.  Not specifically imitative but could be suggestive of  Dragon fly nymphs or just something edible for a hungry carp. Materials Owner Carp C6 boilie size 4 8/0 colour to suit Silli legs Hot orange sow scud dubbing Hares ear wiggle dub Rabbit zonker in a contrasting colour Chopped up EP fibres mixed with some flash (I keep the trimmings from when I tie merkins and shrimp for the flats-any really coarse synthetic dubb will do) Bead chain eyes to suit  Put the hook in the vice and tie on a string of four bead chain eyes about an eye width behind the hook eye  Run the thread down round the bend and tie in 4 silli legs, put a few turns of thread behind them to make them flare.    Dubb the hot spot- I like orange but magenta and Yellow also ...

If you fish super snaggy waters like me, you probably lose a load of flies like me.  Well I'm always torn between the use of dumbells and guaranteed hook up posture and the streamlined profile of a bead with the risk of hook points. The other day I tied a few patterns on jigs to give them a try.  Admittedly one does have dumbell eyes but these are initial patterns to be tested and refined, But I'm pretty sure they'll get eaten.

So last winter I was thinking about pop ups, the bright bouyant baits the bait guys use and I was thinking about how they behave in water and why they are so effective.  It got me thinking about  applying the principal to flies.  After a few rounds of tweaking, I got down to a final design. carp lollipop Basically it's  a crayfishy thing with a floating articulated section.  The back section is tied on a shank an then attached to the  hook with supple braid. What you are left with is a very light free moving tail and a heavy hook.  This is important, it makes the fly behave in a way that carp struggle with in the mouth.  i.e. it creates an anti eject function.  The tail section blows forward but the hook drops and twists, often sticking the bottom lip,  making the fish startle and hook itself-the takes are generally pretty hard on this bug, you'll feel them in your hand. I can't claim to have invented the system- I just applied the...