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ORVIS CARP CENTRAL UPDATE Adam Clewer Dan Frasier Tomas Kutschy Chris Carden Ty Goodwin
> MIRROR > MADNESS with Austin Anderson
8 | Editorial - Tony Cartlidge 14 | Bank Side Basics - Josh Snow 16 | Columbia River Adventure - Dan Frasier 28 | Pack Attack - Austin Anderson 34 | Who Let the Dogs Out
Contents 40 | Orvis Carp Celebration 42 | Upclose - Adam Clewer 52 | Tanner Gets Technical - Trevor Tanner 68 | Mirror Madness - Austin Anderson 88 | Rig Clinic - Tomas Kutschy 96 | Suck Bait - Chris Carden 104 | Getting Afloat - Ty Goodwin
Cover: Austin Anderson and a rare Lake Fork mirror
Editorial
Team
DAN Frasier - Editor Raised in South Dakota, Dan was introduced to fly fishing on a family trip to Breckenridge Co. Coming home to South Dakota, he knew he wanted to fly fish but the only obvious species was carp. Dan taught himself to fly fish on those carp over the course of a decade. In the process he began to blog about his exploits and became friends with some of the most influential fly fishermen for carp in the game. Dan found the CarpPro.net forum and quickly became integrated as part of the team. When CarpPro began looking for an editor specifically geared for the Fly Fishing niche, Dan was brought in to fill that role.
TONY Cartlidge - Feature Editor Tony Cartlidge is a writer, editor, journalist, blogger and marketing specialist who started fishing as a kid in the city parks of Liverpool, England. He caught his first carp at age 12 and has been hooked since. Having lived in the US for almost two decades, Tony moved to Texas in 2008 and now targets smallmouth buffalo just as much as carp
DAVID Smith - Layout & Design After founding USCARPPROmagazine David soon realized that fly fishermen were targeting carp. He made every effort to connect with this branch of the sport through regular articles, even making the long trek to MI from his home in California to meet David McCool and wade the freezing cold flats of an early spring Traverse City. A bait angler for over 30 years he understands the rise of the sport and the passion carp anglers develop for their quarry.
A HOME TACTICS & TACKLE MEDIA
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Never Mind the Boilies H
s ’ e er
CarpPrO
Editorial ⚅ CARPPRO ☁ 2013
Tony Cartlidge About the time carp fishing was gaining popularity in England, while the country slept in an orange, brown and mustard landscape of a smug, post-hippy hangover, bands like the Sex Pistols were squalling anarchy, sticking safety pins in Queen Betty’s face and calling family show presenter, Bill Grundy, a “dirty f##ker” on teatime telly. Adored by some and reviled by many, they were never boring. With the Pistols and The Clash came a new political, punk consciousness that didn’t just challenge the established order, it kicked it in the nuts, stuck two fingers up at it and shambled off down the road to do its own thing, usually a bag of blues or a bag of glue. In EMI, the Sex Pistols’ Johnny Rotten sang, “blind acceptance is a sign of stupid fools who wait in line.” If we believe the revisionists it was a calculated rebellion. If not, it still didn’t matter. You still had a group of people who couldn’t give a toss for the rules and wanted to play it their way; any way. They just wanted access. Whatever it was, the message was clear: Rules are for fools. At the same time, the same punk attitudes were igniting the sport of carp angling. It was a long way from the booming mega-business it is now; blown, bloated and wallowing in its own excesses. In punk-era England, France, and Germany, they did it their way. Developing boilies, bolt rigs, hair rigs and bait theory, they were redefining carp angling from the quaint underground sport
for off-kilter eccentrics to a niche game for people wanting to make their own challenges and define their own rules. Trout and traditions were stifling. Rules are for fools. And here we are at iCast, tucked away in a tiny corner of the inner sanctum while 10,000 zealots worship at the blown and bloated temple that BASS built. They’ve all come to see the elders making fatwah for the fishing masses, and here we are on the outer edges of the holy bass synod, preaching the apocrypha, the non- canon of carp. If we’d abided by the rules we wouldn’t even be here. But as it turns out, our biggest critics, naysayers, finger-waggers and rule spouters are the ones within our own section of the industry.
“People said we couldn’t play. They called us foul-mouthed yobs. But the only notes that really count are the ones that come in wads.” The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle - Sex Pistols Talking of wads, within five minutes of the doors opening on Wednesday morning, we’d all but done our first deal, and it didn’t stop there. Plenty of attendees came through the exhibition hall doors and made a beeline for CarpPro. When word got around that “the carp guys are here,” we
Editorial ⚅ CARPPRO ☁ 2013
got even more attention from other exhibitors. The bass guys stopped by. The catfish guys stayed and talked. And the fly guys came and introduced themselves, thanking us for the magazine and giving flyfishing for carp a pulpit from whence to preach. Meanwhile, over at Stonefly Press, Kirk Deeter was very busy signing copies of the latest addition to the New American Fly Fishing Testament: The Book of Carp.
“There’s no contradiction between fact and fiction. I saw the skies open and I heard the word spoken” What Do You Know – Buzzcocks The word got around, and the word was CARP. Three days on your feet talking to hundreds of people will take it out of anyone. But when someone from the traditional press comes up and enthuses, “All we’ve been hearing for months is carp! Where have you guys been keeping them? How can we help?” then you catch a second, third, fourth wind. You know something just shifted and you’ve finally been accepted. Kirk Deeter even got interviewed by ESP f##kin’
Editorial ⚅ CARPPRO ☁ 2013
N! Maybe fly fishing for carp ain’t such a big carp snoooooooooze after all, eh? Not that we’re looking for acceptance. We know what we’re into. We just want access. We just wanna play. And we’re not gonna be worried by the nattering nabobs telling us to wait in line. Rules are for fools and CarpPro’s vision and strategy are a new approach that breaks them. So much so that industry giants Rapala/Shimano are committed to helping us succeed. There’ll be more news of that relationship in the coming months, both in the pages of CarpPro and in the trade press such as Tackle Trade World, who thought we were possibly the most interesting story of the whole show. Let it suffice to say that if you accept your place in line you must necessarily wait behind those that have already failed. CarpPro ain’t gonna do that and some people don’t like the idea, but as we break the rules and grow the carp and rough fishing market in North America, they’d be fools to work against us.
“I could see the campfires, a song of the battle that was born in the flames, and the rebels were dancing on air.” Rebel Waltz – The Clash
BAnkside basics QUICK TIP Joshua Snow
TIP ✤ CARPPRO $ 2013
KISS A lot of beginner carp anglers may get caught up in all of the gimmicks that are out there. In fact, at one time or another they definitely will, at least for a while until they learn to sift through it all and learn what works and what doesn’t. Articles like this can save a little bit of time but the fact is that learning the hard way is often the best. Why? Because it forces you to think, and thinking leads to understanding.
pop-up boilies (over silt or low lying weed) is a multi rig or KD rig. Both of these are simple rigs that look more complicated than they really are. You’ll want a curved pattern hook for these rigs as I find they are more effective than straight shanks. e.g. Korda Kaptor Kurv or Fox SSC’s. These two or three basic rigs should give you a head start and help you bank a few fair fish along the way.
For starters, in most cases the standard hair rig with a wide gapestyle hook, small piece of shrink tubing slid over the eye with a slight bend, and a hook length of about 8 inches is all you will need for most situations. This rig works well for bottom baits or bottom baits tipped with a small pop-up or piece of foam to balance the bait and make it waft. This will not work for pop-ups however. A simple rig I would use for
Killer KD
Adventure ✤ CARPPRO ✪ 2013
Columbia River Adventure with
Dan Frasier
J
ohn warned me. Repeatedly we discussed just how difficult the fish in the Columbia River are to take on a fly. He’d tell me, “It’s not a dinner plate with these carp… it’s a dinner tea cup.” And for my part, I believed him. Then he’d say, “Everyone I have fished out here has agreed, they might be the hardest carp you’ll come up against.” Again… I trusted John and believed him and again he’d reiterate the point. Perhaps he could hear the lack of worry in my voice. Or maybe I seemed a little too excited. I don’t know, but somehow John new I wasn’t getting it. You see, I’m not bad at this. I can throw a tight loop with accuracy, I see fish well and I know how much strain my gear can take. Yeah, it’d be hard… but I was up to it.
By the end of Day 2 I understood it perfectly. For a combined 18 or so hours the fish had kicked my ass. Sure, I’d hooked a few and even landed some, but there had been fish I couldn’t see, takes I didn’t notice, casts I couldn’t make and fish I couldn’t land. Wendy Berrell writes on his blog that faith is the most important thing to bring with you fishing and mine was shaking like high rise in third world country during
Adventure ✤ CARPPRO ✪ 2013
an earthquake. I had one day left on the trip, conditions were right and I was worried. One more performance like the previous two and those badass Columbia carp would have beaten me. It seemed like the most likely outcome.
high riprap bank to a large fish left my tandem rig hopelessly tangled. I had to sit down on the guard rail and cut everything off and start over, building my rig from the leader down. I felt like a beginner and in a way I was. I was about to be reborn. Baptism by
Perhaps Wendy is only half right. Maybe faith is critical to fishing, but a little fear puts an edge on things enough to make you buckle down and do it right. I’ll have to think about that more. Day 3 started out not awesome. A long cast down a
Columbia River. We cleared the riprap, turned the corner and got into the water. John, like a teacher, was at my side again; helping and encouraging me. We saw a couple fish and I hooked and lost one with John’s aid. He then
Adventure ✤ CARPPRO ✪ 2013
turned to walk down a reed-lined bank. Instead of following, I told John I had a few fish in the small cove straight ahead and I was going to get one. I went alone, saw a fish, cast to it and hooked up. Simple as that.
YOU the most accurate.
So, what did I learn that turned the trip around? A few things.
short casts. He’s death from above with a short cast. I, on the other hand, struggled to be accurate and to get my flies to turn over when we were closer than 20 feet. That cast, by myself in the cove, reminded me of this. From 25,
1. Cast from a distance that makes
John gets close to fish. I mean REALLY close to fish. His game is super-ninja-hyper-stealth and very
Insider Tip
30, even 40 feet I am more accurate than at 15 feet. In fact, I may be more accurate at 70 feet than at 15. So I had to look for fish farther up. Take longer casts in the interest of accuracy and delicacy and adjust my hookset timing accordingly.
2. Choke UP!
The rig of choice on the Columbia River is a unique system that ProStaffer John Montana has written about in previous editions of the magazine. Basically it is a two fly rig with a weighted San Juan worm of some type tied on the front and John's Hybrid Soft Hackle tied off the back. This is the rig we fished while I was on the Columbia. A vast majority of our eats came on the Hybrid (Pictured)
I learned in little league that after 2 strikes a hitter should choke up on the bat, shorten his swing and hit for contact. That is exactly what I did here. Normally I hold my flyrod with my pinky resting against the reel. That gives me the greatest reach and lengthens my cast. On Day 3 I choked up right to the front of the cork. This shortened the stroke just enough to give me better accuracy and control of the rod. Additionally, it instilled in me that I needed a regular overhand cast and not the ¾ arm, fully extended, double haul I use to throw a bunch of line. This move increased my short-game accuracy immensely.
3. Be observant and openminded when looking for fish
Adventure ✤ CARPPRO ✪ 2013
“There would be movement, or a flash or just different colored water�
Adventure ✤ CARPPRO ✪ 2013
I’m used to spotting fish in dirty water. That means I look mostly for shadows, lines for backs and tails. Basically everything I use to spot a fish on my home waters involves looking for DARK shapes. John repeatedly told me to look for the gold or bronze coloration change that a carp makes in clearer water. I thought I was, but I found I was still keying in on darkness rather that light. I finally got what he was talking about. There would be movement, or a flash or just different colored water. If I stared long enough it would turn into a 20 pound carp 25 feet away in gin clear water. How it was hiding in plain sight and why I would have missed it without staring is beyond me. When you see it you think, “What the hell?? How did I not see that!?”. By
learning to see what John was telling me to look for rather than what I was used to spotting, I began to see the fish. They just look different in each body of water. Bottom color, fish hew and water clarity all change by location and figuring out what cues indicate fish on any given body of water can mean the difference between a great day and a bust. These three simple adjustments turned the trip around for me. . It was like the riddle was solved. From there on John knew I had it. He cut me loose and we fished together, rather than him guiding me. Many fish were caught. In fact, John and I and Travis (who had joined for the last day) landed 30 that day with 7 of them over 18 pounds. None were smaller than 12. It was the best day of fishing I have ever had.
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PACK ATTACK #MUNCHIES#PONDBASS
PRO TIP with Austin Anderson
Bait ✌ CARPPRO ⚇ 2013
Austin Anderson puts CarpPro Flavors through their paces with his favorite panko packbait! CarpPro prostaffer Austin Anderson has been trying out the CarpPro flavors lately and he's been having quite a bit of success! CarpPro brand flavors are paylake flavors with a twist, ideally designed to complement CarpPro's partner brands such as Rod Hutchinson Flavors. Created by paylake specialist Keith Cisney, the CarpPro flavors are formulated
to have a silky texture that clings to baits and sinkers and slowly disperses in the water. And because they are not sticky and don't coagulate, they mix thoroughly and consistently with packbaits. Only food-grade ingredients are used to create CarpPro's flavors so they are safe to use, and because they are created from set formulas using the same quality and quantities of ingredients, every time you throw a CarpPro flavor, you can guarantee it will have the same
#AWESOME EATS
Bait ✌ CARPPRO ⚇ 2013
consistency, intensity and catching power every time. Here's Austin's go-to panko pack and some tips on using the Hutchinson and CarpPro flavors.
Ingredients: 1lb Panko 1 can Cream style corn 2-4 capfuls Hutchinson flavor(s) of choice 6 sprays CarpPro flavor spray of choice before casting out
Bait ✌ CARPPRO ⚇ 2013
Directions:
#PONDBASS#CARP_PRO
1. Measure out 1lb of panko bread crumbs 2. Open one can of cream style corn and pour about 1/4 of it out into the bucket containing the panko. Mix between 2 and 4 capfulls of hutchinson flavoring depending on how strong you want the flavor to be inside the pack. Stir it well to get the flavor evenly distributed. 3. Dump the creamed corn in the panko. Stir it well and leave it to sit for 15 or so minutes. In this time, it will take in all the moisture and swell up, causing it to pack extremely well and when it breaks down, it will rise through the water column causing the fish to go nuts! 4. Pack it around your rig or lead, spray on a few squirts of your favorite CarpPro flavor, and cast out. Fish are guaranteed to follow!
DONT MISS ANOTHER PROTIP IT’S FREE!!
WHO LET THE DOGS OUT? CarpPro recently announced the addition of David Moon, Donald Moon, Barry McPeak and Haley McPeak to the prostaff. Better known as Moon Dog, Red Dog, Big Dog and Bird Dog, the foursome has been tearing up the paylakes for years and are one of the most recognized and formidable teams on the circuit. It’s rare to find a team of anglers that work as well together as the Moons and McPeaks, but it should be no surprise because David “MoonDog” Moon, Donald “BigDog” Moon and Barry “RedDog” McPeak have been fishing together for 20 years. Donald qualified for the
CarpReport Finale with his win at Creekside last weekend. And don’t for a minute think that 11year-old Haley “BirdDog” McPeak is a tagalong! BirdDog has been fishing with the team for 5 years already and can fish with the best of them, throwing her own bait, reeling her own fish, and hitting jugs. Haley was the first of the team to qualify for the CarpReport Finale with a 28lb 5oz fish from Hud’s carp Lake in May. She’s also a straight A student and is on the National Honor Roll! David and Donald were introduced to paylake fishing it at an early age
News
CARPPRO ◉ 2013
by their parents and fell in love with it immediately. They fish three or four times a week and every weekend up until early October and travel anywhere up to four hours each way to compete at some of the biggest competitions like the $20,000 Spillmans tourney. “We fish wherever the money is,” says David. “Right up until October 11 or so when the deer hunting starts. Then we go hunting until January when we start fishing again on the rivers while we wait for CarpReport to start again in March.”
RED DOG getting it done
The furthest they have traveled for competition so far is Baldwinsville, New York, where David Moon and Barry McPeak accompanied Keith Cisney and Gary “Gator” Ruble and gave a good account of themselves and finished in the money. “We wanted to go to Lake Fork but it filled up too quickly!” adds David. “I’d have mixed up 50 pound of soybean for Fork!” No doubt they’ll have their eyes on Fork next year where they can fish for both carp and buffalo to win money. David caught a PB 62lb 2oz buffalo from the Wataree River
News
this year so he’s no stranger to big fish venues. “Tourneys are mostly yellow carp,” David tells us. “You can win money on buffalo, but you can’t qualify with them. A good strategy is to catch carp to qualify and buffalo for the money in the side pots.” Barry McPeak has been fishing for well over 30 years and paylaking for more than 25 years. He was introduced to it by his grandfather who take him to the pond and sit him on his knee when he was aged just one. Barry and Haley live in Easley, SC, a few miles from David and Donald in Greenville, SC, but they mostly fish together as a team, although Haley fishes mostly on the weekends due to school. “That’s the great thing about fishing as a team,” says Barry. “You can really test the baits and find out what is catching because you have four lines in the water. If you’re gonna win the money you have to get in there and quickly figure out what is going on.”
CARPPRO ◉ 2013
Barry will sometimes fish 5 nights a week and travel with the team to wherever the biggest pot of money is. “People think I’m crazy,” he says. “But they don’t really understand until they see what it’s like. I’ve converted a lot of guys. Once they catch a big carp or buffalo, they’re hooked!” With a hundred lakes in North Carolina, and between 60 to 75 around Charlotte and Asheville alone, as well as lakes in South Carolina and the Northern Paylake circuit, the sport has grown a lot in the last 10 years. That’s great news for MoonDog, BigDog, RedDog and BirdDog because it means more venues for them to go win the money! Please join us in welcoming David, Donald, Barry and Haley to the CarpPro team.You’re gonna be hearing a lot from these guys... and gal!
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HOT NEWS HOT NEWS HOT NEWS
>>ORVIS >>CARP >>CELEBRATION Orvis has some big news for flyfishing carp fans in the coming weeks and CarpPro has a sneak preview of what’s in store. Orvis will officially declare June and July as Carp Celebration time! In conjunction with CarpPro, The Drake, Angling Trade and Kirk Deeter (you can pre-order his book, Flyfishing for Carp from CarpPro), and CarpPro pro-staffer John Montana and his Carp on the Fly blog. Dan Frasier has been working with Tom Rosenbauer of Orvis for many months to formulate the event in order to bring flyfishing for carp the recognition it deserves. The Orvis Carp Celebration will promote flyfishing for carp with giveaways, weekly drawings, online photo competitions to win hats, stickers and other cool prizes, including Access rods for photo category winners. Participation is open to everyone through photo submissions via social media. Photo categories will include prettiest fish, smallest, largest, ugliest, craziest
location, best video and more. The winner of the Best of Show award, voted on by Orvis fans viewers, will receive an Orvis Helios 2 rod. The Orvis carp celebration online competition is expected to be the largest online carp competition ever! In addition to the online photo competition, Tom Rosenbauer’s Orvis flyfishing podcast will feature carp throughout the months of the Carp Celebration, with special appearances by Kirk Deeter, Conway Bowman, our own Dan Frasier and more. Meanwhile, CarpPro and Orvis will be sharing stories and swapping guest appearances as Tom, Conway, Kirk and others appear for CarpPro’s podcasts. The Carp Celebration won’t be limited to online events either. Orvis is supporting and promoting catch and release fly-fishing competitions all over the USA, and will be represented at:
Jun 8 Jun 28 Aug 10 August 25 Sep 7
Carp Throwdown King of the Carp Carpocalypse 3 Rivers Carp Cup Carp Slam
Lake Henshaw, CA Bighorn Lake, MT Portland, OR Knoxville, TN Denver, CO
Orvis will also encourage local Orvis outlets across the country to hold their own local catch and release carp flyfishing competitions, host seminars, and create handouts and information for local anglers to learn more about how to access this growing sport. Education and promotion will be key to bringing carp to the forefront of the sport and CarpPro is thrilled that Orvis, as a major retailer and leading flyfishing brand, has stepped up to the plate. There is more to come for the Carp Celebration as Orvis finalizes the details and adds information right up to the official announcement. CarpPro will be bringing you all the latest news on our Facebook page and on our forum. Be sure to “Like” us on Facebook where we’ll bring you all the latest news, and then sign up for our chat forum so you don’t miss any updates!
Once you turn to the carp side, there’s no looking back!
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Tactics ◉ CARPPRO ✔ 2013
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have recently obtained a set of soft-action rods, classically fitted with cork handles and ideally suited to light leads, surface fishing, or close-quarter angling. I purchased them with two purposes in mind. Firstly, I plan on taking my 5-yearold daughter to a local water, which is generously stocked with small, single figure carp, and secondly, I wanted to have some fun fishing in close with some softer than usual rods. Over recent years Euro style
with
setups have become increasingly popular, with rods becoming stiffer than ever before and reels holding enough line to cast inconceivable distances. There is a place for such equipment, but unless you are fishing sizable waters, where the fishing necessitates long-range casting--something is missing in the pleasure of playing a carp. Many rod manufacturers will tell you that their distance rods, are equally enjoyable to play fish in close, but I
ADAM CLEWER European correspondent
humbly suggest this is not the case. The right tool for the right job etc. springs to mind. Advancement in rodbuilding technology has progressed remarkably, but personally, I feel we loose something of the fun of playing a fish on a softer, through-actioned rod. With that in mind I set of to find somewhere in which to test my new toys‌ The lake I choose, although local, is largely unknown to me. At a little over 3 acres, the lake affords the fish little sanctuary of which to hide from the regular influx of angler’s rigs. Like many popular and increasingly pressured fisheries, the success enjoyed by its anglers is well below what you might predict from a water of its size and stock. I arrived at the lake just as the gates were opening for incoming day anglers. Disappointingly, there were s i x a n g l e r s a l r e a d y fi s h i n g . Pessimistically, I made my way round the lake looking for signs of fish activity. To my astonishment I didn’t have to go far before I found several sheets of bubbles disturbing the otherwise motionless surface. To my delight they were also close in! Interestingly the anglers already fishing had all their rods pointed to the middle, and with zipped down
Tactics ◉ CARPPRO ✔ 2013
bivvy doors and dry unhooking mats, I couldn’t help wondering that I might had seen something that they hadn’t. Choice of swim was easy, with fish rooting around close in and an array of anglers largely fishing in the same manner, I opted to set up in a swim
upon the drop-off the firm bottom became soft silt. With the feeding patterns I had seen earlier, this had to be the area to present my baits. I gently lowered two rigs barley feet from the bank, at the point which firm bottom turned to silt. You know you are fishing close in when you can
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l l e b b m u d e l p p a e n i #P ! t i a b d o o g a – such that was away from others and afforded me plenty of space to sit back and consider my close in approach. I did not however want to just ‘chuck the rods’ down the edge. Fish were clearly feeding, but the sheets of bubbles and colored water suggested they were disturbing silt and sediment. I decided to explore the margins by means of poking around with a poking stick ‘aka’ landing net pole. The margins, although attractively reed lined were rather featureless. The depth slowly dropped off from four to five feet, but
position the rig without opening the bail arm! Both rods were slackened off, and lightweight homemade backleads were attached to further conceal my presence. Rigs were simple, supple and in comparison to my usual rigs, seemed rather slender, comprising size 10 hooks, 7 inch 15lb coated braid hook links and small leads. Bait choice was also moderately sleek, encompassing tiny pineapple dumbbell shaped popups, wafting gently about an inch
above a light scattering of bird-seed particles and chopped boilies. Both rods were positioned with pinpoint accuracy, and with tentative
confidence I set up my chair and sat back to enjoy the morning. To my delight, less than an hour passed before the right hand rod tip pulled round – and boy did it pull round! A hard fighting 18lb10oz common was attached and preceded to flex the soft action rod for a good ten minutes. It was great fun, my swim had no snags
to cause alarm, and so it really was a pleasure to play the fish on such enjoyable tackle. Interestingly the small reel rarely gave line. At first I assumed I had the set the clutch too
tight, then it dawned on me that the rod was truly playing the fish, absorbing the many lunges beautifully all the way through to the butt section – this was fun! The fish was in excellent condition, smiled amicably for the camera and then swam off strong to fight another
Tactics ◉ CARPPRO ✔ 2013
day. The gentle breeze had now strengthened and was shimmering across the lake directly into my close in spots. The presence of fish moving along the edge of the lake was also
and quietly confident of more action. The next bite came from my other rod and instantly presented itself as something a little different from the previous two captures. Intuitively I
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increasingly evident, so it was with some confidence I gently lowered the successful rod back in position. Twenty minutes later and the same rod called for attention again. As before, the fight was noticeably lengthier than it would have if I had been using stepped up tackle. At a few ounces over 15lb I was pleased
knew this was a better fish. The venue is predominantly a doubles and twenties water, but does hold a handful of larger fish which seldom grace the bank. With evasive passion this fish was giving it’s all. Some fifteen minutes went by and I was still some way off netting the remarkable
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creature when a small crowd gathered to enjoy the spectacle. At times I wished I had brought my more powerful rods, confident that by now the fish would be in my net. However, the pleasure of the fight
the fish at a slightly lower than normal 28lb10oz. I was elated, what a fish and such fun on soft rods and small reels. Amazingly the action didn’t stop there, and over the course of the day I continued to catch at a steady rate
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only adds to the gratification of the event. Finally a large long common slipped over the net cord and was mine. To my delight, it was one of the lakes larger inhabitants and was a fish that often tips the scales over the magical 30lb mark. Carefully I removed the small hook and weighed
until the rain arrived and I called it a day. The final result was 8 fish including a few twenties, several upper doubles and a 28 - I’ve certainly had worse days! On reflection, my success was somewhat disproportionate. With six anglers on, astonishingly, I was the
Tactics ◉ CARPPRO ✔ 2013
only one to catch. I was obviously fishing in close, whilst everyone else persisted in fishing to the middle? I believe my success was due the extra effort applied in my presentation and my general approach. The spots
say that this is because I’m not a great distance caster! However, the edges of most lakes offer us the angler quite an advantage if fished correctly. Nowhere else can you place your rig exactly as you desire,
were intentionally explored, hookbaits were purposefully placed, and other than when I was fighting a fish, I sat well back from the water and remained quiet.
explore the bottom with such certainty, and bait up so intentionally. Whilst my light rods and reels would not suit all my fishing, when exploring intimate margins where snags are scarce, the up close and personal approach has a lot to offer the angler.
In conclusion my success really enthused my love for fishing in close. Friends that know me will probably
TANNER GETS TECHNICAL Trevor Tanner puts CarpPro GAPERS under the MICROSCOPE
Review ✤ CARPPRO
Most of the re-purposed fly fishing gear we use for carp works well, but I have struggled to find a wide range of fly hooks that are perfect for carp. I have found several that I use with satisfactory results (hooks B through E in the picture), but the Carp-Pro Gaper (hook A) is the best of the best. The Gaper has all the properties that I demand in a carp hook. It is strong, ultra-sharp and has a short-shank, wide-gape profile that is absolutely perfect for carp.
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A – Carp-Pro Gaper, B – TMC 3769 nymph, C – TMC 2457 caddis, D – Gamakatsu SL-45 saltwater, E – TMC 105 egg
Fly fishing for carp demands a hook with strength. With the exception of the gaper, all of the hooks shown above are just adequate for strength in size 6 and 8. By “just adequate” I mean I have personally had them or competitor equivalents fail on carp. In sizes 10 and 12 all but the Gamakatsu and Gaper lack the combination of gauge and heat-treatment to consistently stand up to larger carp.
Review ✤ CARPPRO
What gives a hook strength? Wire gauge, or diameter, is one of the most critical characteristics. For this article I measured the gauge of all my favorite carp hooks. The comparison is telling:
The Carp-Pro Gaper has at least 10% more gauge than these other hooks which would typically be expected to add much more than 10% strength.
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Hook strength is not the only area where a hook can help catch carp however. It is much more common to lose a carp due to hook pullout than failure. Carp’s lips and mouths are not really soft but the more flesh you capture in the hook the less chances of tearing it under heavy strain. More gape can help avoid the issue. Of course you can just up-size any hook to get more gape but then you end up with a bigger fly which may not be beneficial. If you want to get more gape for a smaller fly then what really matters is the ratio of gape to shank length. How does the Gaper stack up for this ratio?
Review ✤ CARPPRO
For a given shank length you get much, much more gape on the Gaper than the other hooks. No surprise there I guess, the name would be rather embarrassing otherwise! The TMC-105 egg hook is really the only hook that comes close. Now, think hard about this. How many carp flies do you know of in sizes smaller than 6 and 8? How many that are much shorter than 0.5”? Not many I bet. The reason has nothing to do with carp diets. Carp fly designs have evolved to match the commonly available hooks. While all of the other hooks in this article work adequately in sizes 6 and 8 they all start to fall apart for smaller sizes. Not the Gaper. Even a size 12 Gaper was designed with the gape and wire gauge necessary to land large carp. Carp-Pro’s Gaper hook is a great hook. Its unique properties have significantly affected many of the carp flies I have been fishing over the past year. Here are some examples:
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Review ✤ CARPPRO
Size 12 Un-Weighted Soft-Hackle Due to heavy pressure, the carp in my home river often require smaller more discreet patterns. I have found that something like this very small and discreet soft-hackle on a size 12 Gaper can at times be just the ticket for the wariest of carp.
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Review ✤ CARPPRO
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Size 10 Lightly Weighted McTage’s Trouser Worm Another example is my Trouser Worm. While I typically tie it heavily weighted on size 6 and 8 caddis hooks, in the past year the carp have sometimes demanded a smaller and lighter version. Unfortunately caddis hooks are all much too wimpy in size 10 and smaller. As an alternative I have been using the size 10 gapers and they make for an extremely small and discreet version with a good gape and strength:
Size 8 John Montana’s Hybrid You may have heard some of the buzz about John Montana’s Hybrid. His “hybrid” between a nymphy soft-hackle and a worm is a really effective carp fly and was tied on the Gaper hook from the start. When tied on a size 8 Gaper the Hybrid fly has enough strength and gape for even the biggest carp but still maintains a very small profile.
Review ✤ CARPPRO
2013
Size 6 McTage’s Foam Trouser Worm Although I think the Gaper is uniquely suited to small carp flies it has advantages for larger flies as well. Last fall I re-designed my Foam Trouser Worm to take advantage of the extremely high gape to shank ratio in order to improve hook-retention for carp caught on as stripped presentation.
Review ✤ CARPPRO
2013
Review ✤ CARPPRO
Size 6 Rubber-Legged Hair’s Ear Nymph The Hair’s Ear is an all-time classic for carp. Tie it on a size 8 classic nymph hook and you have a fly that is much too large to resemble almost all mayfly nymphs. Tie it on a size 12 or 14 classic nymph hook and you might have a hard time landing any carp over 10 pounds. On a Gaper size 6 you have a size 10 long nymph on a size 6 gape!
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Catch ☀ CARPPRO ♥ 2013
Mirror Madness Madness Mirror An Austin Anderson catch report
I had a once in a lifetime session on Fork this past weekend. Mirrors are extremely rare on Fork and, as odd as it sounds, they don't seem to hang around with the commons at all, shoaling with groups of other mirrors that rarely show themselves and are captures are very unpredictable, few and far between
accessible by boat. We actually caught, but we were being plagued by catfish and the only carp we had caught were really small, only around six pounds(including a small mirror though, so it wasn't all that bad), so we were getting sort of tired of the conditions we were faced with. Still in possession of a
with no correlation between their captures.
ton of bait and gear basically ready to go, we toyed with the idea of fishing somewhere on fork that had never been tried before: one of the numerous islands that dot the shore of the lake. We ended up packing up at pines and headed to Mirko's house to form a battle plan, clean up, eat a good meal, and
I had spent a couple days on another lake known for being very very tough to crack, actually no one had caught a fish from it yet. My mate Mirko and I decided to spend a couple days at a swim only
Catch ☀ CARPPRO ♥ 2013
basically recharge our batteries before heading back out for another big East Texas session. It was well needed, and by the time we rolled out of his gate for Fork we felt completely re energized and ready to redeem ourselves from our lame appearance at the other lake. After a quick stop at a really odd walmart that included some creepy employees, absolutely no cokes or other popular soft drinks that should be found at a Walmart among other things, we were on the road again headed for our destination, the famed Oak Ridge Marina, home of the Lake Fork Carp and Buffalo challenge. After a quick visit with Barry, the marina owner, we got the boat ready, checked our gear one last time, launched, parked the cars, and headed off on our adventure. We quickly motored around to the island where we had scouted via computer maps and Navionics at Mirko's house. The island honestly looked amazing, mostly due to the fact that we could see carp and buffalo crashing upon our arrival. The water surrounding the island was deep and a pale blue-gray color, sort of murky from the boat traffic but relatively clear as a result of the deep water and hard clay bottom. With deep water, easy access to the river channel, small
snags jutting out from the shallows, quick dropoffs, and the fish crashing, we quickly parked the boat after motoring around a couple of times to check the depths and conditions around the island. Unloading, always a chore, was done quickly and we headed out to bait the swim up shortly thereafter. Half a bag of cubes and nearly a full 5 gallon bucket of flavored
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Unloading, always a chore chore always a Unloading,
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particle mix went in the swim scattered around the area we planned on setting up, only about twenty yards from the bank. The island already seemed like paradise as compared that the extreme range I am used to fishing. Rerigging table...hey we come prepared...I know where everything is. Actually I probably couldn't find
my braid scissors if they were glued to my hand. With the sun setting, we motored the boat back to the bank and beached it next to our swim. We began to set up our pods, re rig our rods, make new packbait, and get our rods out in hopes of catching some of the fish we had seen crashing only minutes before. I struggled to splice new leadcore, get rigs tied, and get my rods back in just hearing the sounds of big fish crashing behind me close to the bait. I was definitely very anxious of what the night would bring. I packed packbait, sprayed CarpPro, and casted out for the night. The weather was extremely mild for a summer night in Texas, with a
storm brewing in the distance but not near enough to bring us rain and severe weather. Lightening flashed and winds stirred the cool night, to add to the already mystical scene of fish crashing in the distance and night noises in the brush behind us. East Texas at night is about as serene as it gets, i'm completely addicted to it, the changing conditions, wildness, crazy happenings, big fish, huge challenges, the people you meet, just every aspect of it. I decided because of the mild weather to just sleep under the stars and positioned my bedchair right next to my rods, got everything on the bank organized quietly, then sat down waiting for a run, eventually falling asleep, lulled to sleep by the lapping of waves,
Catch ☀ CARPPRO ♥ 2013
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Re-rigging table, we come preprared preprared come table, we Re-rigging
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the chirping of crickets, and the constant low drone of bass boat outboards throttling on in the boat lane a couple hundred yards into the lake. Around 1:30 my right rod had a small catfish, followed by another, and another, and another. This continued for about 30 minutes before it got quiet again. By the time I had gotten through the shoal of catfish, I could tell there werea lot of fish crashing barely off the bank, definitely on the bait. I checked the bait on all three of my rods and put fresh pack on, ready to roll for a fish to take the bait. I
drifted back off to sleep shortly thereafter. The night wore on. I couldn't sleep hardly at all, between the humidity once the wind died and the hum of a mosquito in your ear every couple minutes kept me awake. I sat there and stared at the stars, the water, listened to the night sounds for a while, the fish crashing, the waves, just taking it all in. My moment of peace was then interrupted abruptly, my right rod tip, which lay motionless, violently bowed down toward the water, the spool of my reel started peeling, and my receiver started blaring it's monotone song. I lept off my bedchair and lifted into the fish. I wasn't giving the fish an inch of line and cranked it toward me, but the fish wanted otherwise. It felt strong and even with the clutch basically locked it kept ripping line off the spool, steaming off to the right straight into the snags. I felt the fish kicking it's tail, the raw power of the thing itself, then nothing. Just solid weight. Snagged. I slacked off barely, felt the line, nothing. No kicking, no powerful tail, no headshakes, nothing. Just the waves lightly tapping against the line and the lead bouncing when I pulled the line. I pulled the rig toward me and broke the hooklink off at the clip. I
quickly clipped on a new rig, threaded a new hookbait on the hair, packed on pack, and repositioned the rig right where it was. Back to my half awake slapping of mozzies and staring at the sky. Some time during the night I got into catfish again and caught probably 10 in a row. If you take into consideration how tired I already was these cats REALLY whizzed me off. I was throwing them at the water as hard as I could releasing them and grumbling "F*cking catfish!" to myself after every one. Finally, the shoal passed and I was back to my miserable night of humidity, mozzies, waves, and stars. By then, it seemed like the carp had either moved on or they were feeding heavily enough to stop showing themselves. I woke to a sound a couple hours later. I sat there in confusion at what I was listening to for a couple seconds. I then realized it was the national anthem. I turned my head around and saw a congregation of bass boats off in the distance. Fantastic, a tournament blastoff. The nation's song ended and not a second later the familiar VRRRROOOOOMMMMMMMM of a bass boat getting on plane
echoed through the air, resonating loudly as boat after boat passed us at over 70mph. The bay the island is located in went from a calm sunrise with glass calm water to a murky mess as boats stirred the bank and bottom sediment stratified throughout the water column. It was real early, the sun hadn't yet peeked over the horizon, and everything had been interrupted already. The bass boats finally passed and I ducked back into my sleeping bag for another short few minutes of sleep before I began my morning bank routine of drinking a couple energy drinks, rechucking, and reeling in catfish. About an hour later I woke again to a couple beeps in quick succession on my left rod. I busted out of my sleeping bag rather quickly to find that a bass fisherman had bumped my rig with his bait and was sitting directly on top of my swim. I wasn't too particularly happy, partially from my miserable night, and the bass guys sensed this and trolled off to the back side of the island. It was still early, the sun was just beginning to come up and rays of yellow and orange painted the sky. I figured I wasn't going to get much more sleep and felt that I needed to get fresh bait on my rigs so I began to
Catch ☀ CARPPRO ♥ 2013
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Mirror! !rorriM HOLY SHIT! !TIHS YLOH MIRROR! !RORRIM
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Catch ☀ CARPPRO ♥ 2013
Killa Corn Review American Carp Gear’s new Killa Corn is without a doubt the best off-theshelf prepared maize that you can buy. Starting off, the label is an automatic collectors item, but if you look past the colorful and whimsical label, you’ll find an extremely effective edge in the baits you’ll find inside. The flavoring is a quite a bit stronger than many other brands, and it is literally infused into each kernel. This allows the bait to retain the flavor for extremely long periods; you’ll pull it out of the lake on your rigs and it’ll still smell like it’s just come out of the jar after being in the lake for a full day. Even after catching numerous fish! The dyes are fantastic as well and don’t wash out like some other companies’ products do. While it’s not turtle/catfish proof, the stuff is pretty tough and stands up to quite a bit of abuse without tearing off of the hair. I can definitely attest to the massive amounts of fish that the stuff has
banked already in the short time Killa Corn has been on the market. Get yourself a tub, you’ll be glad you did, and at $2.99 a bottle you just cannot go wrong with this stuff.
Quick Tip:
Killa Corn goes great with both Hutchinson Legend Spray Flavors and CarpPro spray flavors. Thread a few kernels onto your hair rig, pack on your favorite packbait or method mix onto the lead, spritz it with a couple sprays of Hutchinson spray flavor and top it with a couple more of CarpPro. The Hutchinson sprays contain strong esters and compliment the extremely sweet silky CarpPro flavors very well, basically activating each other into a fish catching machine! Fish it with the pack and Killa Corn, and you’ve got a definite edge that will put many more fish on the bank and keep you ahead of the game! www.americancarpgear.com
crank them in. I lost one to a snag and got back nothing, so I re-baited the other two, put on fresh pack and CarpPro, and let them sail into the lake. I was already running low on tackle so I located a leadcore leader, retied an entire rig to my mainline, and followed what I had already done to the other two.
morsels of food, and I sat there after a sleepless night with a banging headache, a monster energy in one hand and my cell phone in the other, updating myself on the night's happenings(mostly figuring out how many likes my most recent Instagram photo had attained).
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Beep, ,peeB beep, beep peeb ,peeb BEEEEEEP!! !!PEEEEEEB After readjusting everything, casting, tightening the line, clipping on the indicator, adjusting that, spending 2 minutes getting my reel handles in the same position(always matching, halfway between straight back and straight down, perfect), I began to watch the water from the foot of my bedchair. It was a peaceful typical East Texas summer morning; Birds chattered in the trees behind us, shad flicked in the margin, herons stalked them a short distance either side of our swim, turtles heads poked around looking for
As I stared immersed in my phone screen I heard the typical sound of a carp crashing close in, the splash followed by a tail slap shortly after. I looked up in time to catch a glimpse of the tail. Small common. A couple minutes passed and I saw Mirko's right rod absolutely explode into action, his alarm screaming off into the hushed morning air. Mirko sailed out of his bivvy door and struck into the fish quickly. I watched him struggle to gain line for a few seconds as the fish raced around the snags, then
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Catch ☀ CARPPRO ♥ 2013
his line stopped moving and he looked up at me and announced "fish is snagged". We waited arm to arm for a couple seconds as he tried pulling from various angles, slacking off, pulling really hard, and finally had to break the fish off. The line came back dishearteningly slack; an entire rig lost. Mirko turned around to place his rod on his bivvy and I began my short walk back to my bedchair. I then heard the screaming of an alarm, the clicking of a clutch, footsteps, a sharp jerk, and an announcement of "another". I whipped around to find Mirko into another fish. He forced the fish up in the water and the fish avoided almost every snag in the swim and I reached for the net. I waded toward it and pushed the net forward toward the fish. Mirko walked backward, the fish came within a foot of the net, I began to lift when suddenly.... Bedeeep...beep..beep..bip...BEEE EEEEEEEEEEPPPP I dropped the net right where it was and raced to my pod. My left rod tip was bending down violently and I tore it off my rod pod quickly, tightening the clutch and started applying an extreme amount of pressure to fight the fish away from the snags. The fish didn't enjoy what I was doing, and raced to the snags against a locked clutch.
Snagged. Before I could do a thing my middle rod tears off violently, and I opened the bail, hurriedly slammed my rod onto my pod, and snatched my other rod off my pod. I turned to Mirko, laughing at the unlikeliness of the situation. Mirko was in the process of unhooking his fish, which resulted in being a decent common. I locked the clutch quickly and ran to my right to attempt to steer the fish away from the snags. The fish ripped drag powering around through the snags. I was able to tell the fish was running straight to the right for a single stump that lay in a couple feet of water. I splashed in and headed straight for the snag where the fish was headed, reeling down hard and trying to use the rod to steer the fish away. The fish wrapped around once and I could feel the leadcore leader sawing away against the tree. I finally got about waist deep and was able to spin the rod around the stump and free my line. I reeled down quickly and pulled the fish back from the snag. I worked tirelessly to get the fish up in the water, and the fish cooperated for a split second and the fish's flank broke the surface. Wait....No way. Mirror. MIRROR. HOLY SHIT! MIRROR! Just to backtrack a bit, I have been doing a campaign on fork for over
two years, totaling almost 50 nights on fork. I've had hundreds upon hundreds of carp from fork and not a single mirror. Lets go back. I found myself trying to regain my
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I couldn’t believe it, another mirror mirror another believe it, I couldn’t
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composure, I went from doggedly fighting the fish and really putting the pressure on to carefully guiding it around, not trusting my hookhold at all. I was legitimately concerned I would hook my first Fork Mirror and lose it as a result of being careless. Mirko stood behind me with the net
at the ready as I carefully played the fish through the margins. Mirko pushed the net out, I walked backwards, and the round israeli mirror rolled over the front of the net as Mirko lifted. I had done it, and a smile stretched across my face that I couldn't wipe off. I found one of my keepsacks and wetted it, then carefully transferred the fish from the landing net to the mat then into the sack and back in the deepest water we could get her in. I carefully zipped the sack and waded out, firmly pushing a storm pole that the sack was screwed to into the clay bottom. I went back to the snagged fish I had on my other rod, which was long gone. I broke off the hooklink and laid the rod on my pod. I rebaited the two that still had rigs on them, fresh pack and CarpPro, and back in the lake they went. I clipped a fresh rig onto the other rod, threaded a fresh hookbait on, and proceeded to do the same. I organized the swim a bit, moving the cradle into a good background for a photo, setting the tripod up, getting my Reubens zeroed out perfectly to the sling, and took the time to get my camera all set. I checked with Mirko and we were ready, and I waded into the water with my sling to retrieve my
Catch ☀ CARPPRO ♥ 2013
capture. The fish had regained a bit of strength and resisted being pulled from the cool water I had sacked her in, but went into the sling safely and I headed back to the mat.
I unzipped the sack as Mirko and I peered over my carp cradle. For the first time I had a long glimpse at my beautiful capture. Fork is known for big commons and buffalo, but also it's low stock of extremely
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beautiful, round israeli mirrors with massive scales, huge proportions, and hard fighting nature. This fish
settled. I smiled. 27lb 6oz, a new PB for me by over 8 pounds. Â
was definitely one of those. I carefully removed the keepsack and moved her to the sling. I zipped the sling's sides and hung it on the tripod. The dial swung around and
I took the fish back to the cradle and handed Mirko my camera. I lifted the fish and Mirko snapped a few pictures of the beautiful specimen from various angles, then
Catch ☀ CARPPRO ♥ 2013
I released her back to her watery, snag filled kingdom that is Lake Fork. I looked into the sky and smiled. I had done it at last. About an hour later, after losing two more fish to snags and catching at least a dozen more catfish, my left rod sprang to life, and I lept up and struck into the fish. I went through the motions exactly as I had with
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Backtracking again, the last time there were 2 mirrors caught in a row at Fork was over a year ago when Richard Somerville and Erick Maybury had back to back mirrors in a one night bonanza at Oak Ridge Marina. I was on that session, and we though that may never happen again. It was happening.
Another Mirror Another Mirror
the last two of cranking the fish off the bottom as quickly as I could and steering the fish away from the snags as much as I could in hopes of landing it. I got the fish past most of the snags then it powered off to the right straight for the stump my mirror had gone for. I ducked under my other two rods and splashed toward it in hopes of keeping it away, but the fish wrapped me once. I started wading in and got to my chest, right next to the stump, unwrapping my line. I saw the fish as it powered away once freed and I couldn't believe my eyes. Another mirror.
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I continued to work the fish toward me, tiring it down and getting it close enough for Mirko to slide the net in and capture her. Finally, I got her head turned toward me and was able to pull the fish right into the net relatively easily. We had done it, two in a row! The fish turned out to be another beautiful israeli, this one fully scaled and perfect apart from one scale missing, a spawning wound. We followed through the motions again. On the mat, wet the sling, zero, fish in sling, on the scale. The fish went 19lb even. Back to the
mat, camera ready. I held the fish in my arms admiringly as Mirko popped These Lake Fork fish have some massive paddles! around taking pictures from different angles. Back in the sling, into the lake, a couple more pictures and release. Amazing. Â We got everything reset and ready, then I gave Davo(Smith) a call. We were chatting about the crazy session when Mirko had a run. We had caught a couple of catfish in a row so I assumed it was a catfish. I continued to talk for a minute when I heard Mirko say "Carp" so I grabbed the net and walked toward him, still on the phone. I stood next to Mirko, announcing that he had a fish on. Dave said "what does he have?" and almost immediately after we saw it. I fell silent, in awe. "Another Mirror", I announced. I quickly got off the phone and netted the fish for Mirko. We were both ecstatic, this was definitely a day to remember with another personal best on the bank, this one for Mirko. The fish ended up being yet another israeli, this one with scaling like the first, only missing a few more scales from spawning, wounds that looked a couple weeks old. We cared for her the same as the others. She went 19lb 4oz on
the scale. I got the camera ready and snapped pics, plus a couple with our phones, then the fish went back with her fellow mirror companions in the lake.
 To say the session was amazing is a dramatic understatement. Three mirrors in a single day on Fork is unheard of, and we had done it!  I ended up having to pack up, partially to get back in time for Fathers Day and partially to get out
Catch ☀ CARPPRO ♥ 2013
ahead of the massive storm that was brewing in the distance. As I was packing up, I had three more takes and lost everything on all three, then lost two rigs just recasting and pulling into snags. I was running extremely low on rigs by that point, and losing more just made the deficit on stuff I was going to have to order higher and higher. All in the fun I guess. I got everything packed away pretty quickly, taking a couple breaks to rest in the hot afternoon sun and near 100% humidity in the air. I was exhausted but happy, sort of glad I would end up getting to sleep in my bed that night but gutted that I had to leave at the same time. I loaded everything back into the boat, Mirko reeled in his rods, and we headed off toward the boat ramp where our trucks were parked. We beached the boat, I backed my truck down the ramp, and we loaded up everything into my truck. I got everything positioned properly in my truck, we said our goodbyes, then I was rolling out of Oak Ridge headed home. I rolled across the 154 bridge in time to see Mirko heading back to the island, full speed ahead. I smiled. We had done it. Shortly after, rain began to fall. Then more rain, then an absolute
monsoon came down onto me. I had to pull over because even with my windshield wipers on high, I still couldn't see past my hood. It poured for almost 20 minutes. Finally, with my gear all wet of course, I was able to proceed home. Another crazy aspect of another memorable East Texas session. I talked to Mirko that night. Apparently it rained hard on him for an hour, and the swim turned to a chaotic mud pit. He ended up throwing everything in the boat, including his rods still on the pod, and got off the bank as quickly as he could. We'll have to revisit the swim and try to go for those massive Fork mirrors again. I'm confident that there is a massive mirror in Fork, much larger than anything that has come out thus far. I will continue to chase it, along with that Texas 40 carp, a 70lb buffalo, and all of those other fish that taunt me in my dreams on the bank and dominate my thoughts when i'm not. Until I capture all of those, I'll continue with my campaign, setting new heights and, of course, always continuing to learn and push my knowledge of carp and buffalo further and further.
Splicing Leadcore with Tomas Kutschy
Tactics ✔ CARPPRO ✭ 2013
Used in the right situations, leadcore leaders can be devastatingly effective, but if you buy them pre-made the cost can also add up. However, some people are too intimidated to splice their own. It’s quite a simple process and once you learn how to do it you’ll find yourself with all sorts of permutations of clips, rings, swivels and more to create rigs to perfectly suit your needs. However, there are some things you need to know about leadcore before you consider using it. For example, leadcore has relatively poor abrasion
resistance so I only fish it in open water over silt or light weed and never in snags or over jagged rocks/gravel. Avoid using long lengths of it as this exaggerates the problem (3 foot max). Most importantly for fish safety, make sure any inline rig bits can slide up and over the leader knot should you get cut off. For this reason, never splice a swivel on both ends of leader because this will can potentially tether a fish, creating a death rig. As with any rig, think how it will behave in the worst case scenario and put fish safety first and foremost.
You'll need: Spool of Leadcore, Splicing Needle, Scissors, Swivels
Take your leadcore and pull off 2-3 foot. The shorter the leadcore the safer for the carp should you crack off or lose the setup.
Pull back 3-4inches of braid to expose the inner lead wire, cut lead off and discard safely.
Tactics ✔ CARPPRO ✠2013
Make a bend in the leader where the lead meets the hollow section.
Insert splicing needle and thread half way up, through towards the section from where you removed the lead.
Once half way; poke out the needle through the side of the hollow leadcore.
This is when you slide on a swivel. Then hook the end of the leader into the latch.
Now slowly and carefully pull the needle back down to where you first inserted the needle.
Unhook the needle and pull on the free end.
Tactics ✔ CARPPRO ✠2013
Pull until the leader is snug around the swivel, trim the tag until totally flush--this is so your rig and beads can pass over the leader thus avoiding tethering the fish to any snags should your mainline break for any reason.
Here's completed leader, where I've attached a swivel before completing the spice and slid on a leadclip and tail rubber. On the other end is a small, neat loop to attach your mainline. Finally, notice how clean and compact it is to allow all other components to pass over it making the rig fish safe.
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SET THE TRAPS WITH
SUC
K
BAIT
Bait ☺ CARPPRO ♨ 2013
PRO TIP with Chris Carden
This month I want to follow up on my last article about fishing corners or pitching off the bank with some recipes for what I like to call “suck baits,” also known as soft slow breaking baits or trap baits. These baits will sit for hours waiting on Mr. Cautious Hog but will still be there and soft enough for him to get stuck when he mouths the ball of bait.
The first one is a very simple soft chow recipe that I am very fond of because I caught my very first twenty off of this bait way back in the early 80s. You will need the following:
• 2 lbs of #600 chow (Most people think #600 floats but once its made this way is doesn't) • Hot water, I always use tap water • 2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter • 2 teaspoons cinnamon powder • Enough laying mash or soybean meal or yellow cornmeal to tighten it up First pour the chow in a bucket and pour just enough hot water over them to cover and let sit about 20-30 minutes to soften. Then, mash it up with your hands until its like
Bait ☺ CARPPRO ♨ 2013
mud. Add 2 ounces of CarpPro Banana Island flavor (back then I used McCormick banana cake baking flavor or Banananut from the shack.) Then add 2 heaped tablespoons of peanut butter and your 2 teaspoons of cinnamon and work all that into the chow. When it’s all mixed, you can start adding you choice of binder. I always used laying mash because of the high protein content. Work in your binder until it has a play-doh-like consistency or feel to it. Add your pick-ups of choice to your hooks and spray with your favorite Hutchy flavor, I like to use Monster Crab on mine, then put both hooks in the ball. You only want to use enough to cover both hooks well, not a soft ball size ball! Pitch the pack in a corner or off the bank and wait on Mr. Pig to come along. (Bait clickers should be on unless you want to lose you rod!)
• 18 oz box instant grits • 8 oz granulated sugar • ½ cup powdered sugar • 8 oz millet seeds • 1 teaspoon Rod Hutchinson Betaine Powder • 1 16 oz bottle clear corn syrup. I use Karo but store brand is fine.
The second suck bait is another favorite of mine that has won me plenty of money over the years.
Bait â˜ş CARPPRO ♨ 2013
Add pick ups of choice and spray with you favorite flavor or whatever they are pulling at your lake. I like to make it plain and then dip or spray before casting. Also with this bait I like to put small thumb size balls on
Mix the grits, millet, sugar, and betaine powder together in a bucket, then add the bottle of syrup mixing it in slowly as you go. If you want to add flavor, add it to the corn syrup. For example, about half a capful of Hutchinson Megaspice is the right amount. Make this up the day before you fish and keep a lid on it and out of the sun--I leave mine in the house till I head out to the pond.
each hook so it gives Mr. Pig 2 choices. You can also put both hooks in the ball or just use one hook if you are in a snaggy corner. You can experiment by spraying each ball with a different flavor. For example, you could use Hutchy Chocolate Malt on one and CarpPro Strawberry Fusion on another. Just be sure to have a bead or foam on one hook so you know which one got the bite!
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Getting Afloat Not long ago a member on the CarpPro forum offered the opinion that small craft like canoes and kayaks will be the next significant trend on the carp fly fishing scene. Agreed. These boats have low profiles, maneuver easily in only inches of water and get high marks in the stealth department. In other words they’re ideal for stalking shallow mud flats for carp. That said, it’s not as simple as just dragging your Old Town or Mad River down to the lake, paddling out to the nearest flats and catching carp. Ok, maybe it is that simple, but there are at least a few things to consider before heading out. I’ve been carp angling from a canoe for the better part of a decade and through that experience I’ve put together an informal set of “rules” that I try to follow on every trip.
with
Ty Goodwin
Below are five considerations that I’ve found to be crucial when fishing for carp from small boats. To be sure, this is not a comprehensive list, but I can guarantee that if you pay attention to these five items your odds of success will improve considerably.
Move slowly. Whatever your idea of “slowly” is, it’s probably too fast. When fishing from a canoe or kayak, it’s important to put the paddle into super slo-mo and e-a-s-e the boat forward, pausing often to simply look around. Carp have an almost eerie knack for materializing out of nowhere, especially in stained water. A flat stretch of muddy lake or river can look awfully empty at first glance but quickly come to life with a few moments of observation. Maybe it’s a tail waving lazily in
Tactics ➼ CarpPro
and out of view, or a faint shadow suddenly taking shape just under the surface, or a lone cruiser passing through. These are all opportunities easily missed without patience and observation. Even when visibility is not an issue and you can see the fish from forty feet, it still pays to take your time. When I rush I get sloppy, making splashy strokes with the paddle or banging it against the side of the boat. I just make more mistakes and spook more carp. The formula here is simple – the faster you move, the fewer carp you will catch or even see.
Be prepared to stop immediately and cast quickly. Back to this materializing from nowhere thing…when a previously unseen carp appears nearby, you have a very small window of opportunity to deliver the fly. You’ll get one shot and literally have a few seconds to take that shot before the fish detects your presence. So be ready. I like to drop the paddle to my lap, pick up the rod in one hand and the fly in
the other, moving right into the cast in a single motion. Both the rod and the fly have to be within easy access for this to work. Accordingly, I like to keep the rod cradled in the notches of a stripping basket with the fly perched on the lip of the basket. Or sometimes I simply keep the fly and leader curled at my side with the rod resting on my legs. In either case I can grab both fly and rod quickly and immediately fire off a cast. Remember, we’re talking about an extremely wary fish that is mere feet from your boat. There’s no time for false casting or shooting line or any of that “River Runs Through It” jazz. Pick up and cast. One additional note here, the above is further complicated if the boat is in motion when the fish appears (hey, nobody said this was easy). Stopping the boat can be tricky. The make of my particular canoe allows me to hang my leg over the side. When I need to stop, I simply dig my toes into the mud. A foot anchor, so to speak. This isn’t possible with all boats. Sometimes the only option is to simply try to get the cast off before the boat drifts too close to the fish. This works more often than you
2013
might think, as long as you weren’t moving too fast in the first place (see Rule 1). Or you can try to stop your momentum with the paddle, a thing that is possible but more likely to alert the fish in my experience.
Don’t eat beans within 24 hours of your trip. Seriously. Don’t do it. The legendary Mr. P once wrote a post on his blog about kayak carping and, um, unfortunate bodily events (http://themrpblog.blogspot.com/ 2012/01/tale-of-three-farts.html). Yeah, it was tongue-in-cheek and pretty hilarious. It was also true. Any noise reverberating through the boat to the water is trouble. Drop your forceps, slide your feet a bit, let a water bottle roll around under the seat, emit a gastric bomb – I’ve done all of these and can tell you that carp don’t like any of it. Another good one is allowing the anchor to clip the side when you’re raising or lowering it. Carp really hate that. The point is that even the smallest knock or bump can completely empty a flat full of fish, so be
careful. Paying attention to Rule 1 will help with this, but it also helps to organize your gear. Secure forceps, fly boxes, etc. within easy reach so that you don’t have to move around much to reach them. Lock that water bottle down. Keep the anchor well away from the boat during handling. Small details like this can be the difference between having a banner day or going home wearing the proverbial skunk. Now for the bad news. Despite your best efforts, you will occasionally screw this up. By “occasionally” I mean every time you’re out on the water. Given the number of moving parts involved here – paddling, casting, working the anchor, etc. - you simply will not be able to prevent every thump and ding. Which brings me to the next rule:
Foam is your friend. Foam padding covers a multitude of canoeing sins. You might get away with dropping those forceps if the bottom of your boat is covered with a foam mat or even an old piece of scrap carpet.
Tactics ➼ CarpPro
2013
Knock the paddle against the boat? Not a problem if the paddle shaft is wrapped with a layer of padding. The foam tubing used to cover household plumbing is perfect for this. It’s available at any hardware store for a couple of bucks. Definitely a worthwhile investment.
Another simple approach to this padding deal, and one that I use often, is to simply drape a towel over the side of the boat to dampen any bumps against the gunwale. The bottom line here is that it doesn’t take much effort to add a little insurance against the
Tactics ➼ CarpPro
inevitable raps and whacks. A few dollars’ worth of foam or other padding can pay giant dividends.
Change your perspective. In a canoe or kayak, you are sitting very low in the water. If you’re
accustomed to wading or fishing from a larger boat, you will perceive the target differently from this lower position. I find that distance is more difficult to judge. It pays to practice a bit before an actual trip to get this dialed in. I like to sit on a pail or block and cast to targets in my yard. Sure, my neighbors think I’m a raving lunatic, but that’s a small sacrifice. As with most carp angling, accurate casting is paramount. Gotta hit your target first time because you likely won’t get a second chance. Getting the casting piece of this worked out before you’re actually on the water is time well spent. Done correctly, canoes and kayaks can provide a highly effective method of stalking carp with the long rod. These boats were made for that type of angling. So I think that fellow on the CarpPro forum got it right. More and more flyrodders will be turning to the small boats to pursue carp. If you’re one of these, pay attention to the rules above and tip the odds of success in your favor.
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