# How to catch a Grass Carp?



## Guest (Jan 31, 2012)

I have a small lake behind my house and our HOA put a bunch of Grass Carp in about 4 years ago. We also have bass, catfish, talapia etc.......but I really never fish for the lake.

The last week while going for a walk around the lake each day I have seen up to 12 or so Carp tailing and running the bank. This is the most active I have ever seen them, but are super spooky! They look to be 15lbs-20lbs.

I know they eat plants, but can someone recommend a fly that they may take?


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## acrittenden (Jan 18, 2012)

Bread. Throw pieces of bread to them for a couple of days. They should eat it. Then throw some dubbing on a hook that matches the bread you are feeding them. I don't see why that would not work! Let us know how you do.


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## Guest (Jan 31, 2012)

> Bread. Throw pieces of bread to them for a couple of days. They should eat it. Then throw some dubbing on a hook that matches the bread you are feeding them. I don't see why that would not work! Let us know how you do.



Yea,

I have bread and berries. I may try some green/tan wooly bug and what else I still have left from my trout fishing days.

If all else fails in the next few days I'll chum them with bread! ;D


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## jsnipes (May 1, 2011)

I was just reading some freshwater fly fishing article that said bonefish flies might work to. like a bonefish bitters or an urchin pattern or something might be worth a try.


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## Cody_F (Oct 26, 2010)

The secret bait is cherry tomatoes , They dont rip off hook and helped me catch this one , Last year.







  As far as flies go i found this one online and was going to ask someone on here to tie me some up and ill buy them . http://warmwaterflyfisher.com/flymonth/FOTM112005.htm


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## ethan.weber (Apr 26, 2011)

i could tie some of those flies for you.
PM sent.


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## Rooster (Mar 13, 2011)

Welcome to the world of carp addiction... We are fly fishing them in GA on the Hooch now and people have been getting addicted. Yes, they are SUPER spooky (and that is fishing for them from a skiff). I just got through reading an English book about Carp fishing - talk about fanatics... Over half the book was on "baiting them" - they even had little radio controled dump truck like boats that they would drive out to the "baiting" area from the shore and bait an area. Barring this insanity, I might prepare an algae type fly (or by one) like they fish for (geez can't think of the large fish they fish for in the Seychelles that only eats algae), or something that resembles the grass that they are eating. Or you could go "*******" and start throwing a little corn in there ffom time to time, and then fish them (stand way back from the bank) with a yellow version of a salmon version fly. Welcome to the addiction - wait until you try to fish them from askiff!


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## Megalops (Oct 23, 2011)

"And my first direction is, that if you will Fish for a Carp, you must put on a very large measure of patience;"

_The Compleat Angler_ by Izaak Walton 1653

Kind of cool 359 years later going after carp.  There was a nice episode on Fly Nation that airs on World Fish Network where they were throwing flies for carp.  Of course it was on Lake Erie...


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## jsnipes (May 1, 2011)

> "And my first direction is, that if you will Fish for a Carp, you must put on a very large measure of patience;"
> 
> _The Compleat Angler_ by Izaak Walton 1653
> 
> Kind of cool 359 years later going after carp.  There was a nice episode on Fly Nation that airs on World Fish Network where they were throwing flies for carp.  Of course it was on Lake Erie...


haha ^^ that's awesome.

re: post before, i think you are talking about milkfish? in the seychelles?


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## SClay115 (May 18, 2009)

I've found, out of most of the articles you will find via the internet, the anglers are fishing for common carp, and not grass carp like they use for vegetation control in lakes. 

From what I have read(feel free to correct), common carp is what you are going to find naturally in freshwater lakes and river/streams(Great Lakes, reservoirs/lakes). Omnivorous and very similar looking to grass carp, these seem to be the ones that will gobble up a bonefish type fly, even a trout type dry fly on the surface if they are feeding on top(usually in schools). Also, these are typically what people sane people are going to be fishing for. 

But, I'm not one of those sane ones(where would the fun in that be?). I too live on a HOA controlled pond/lake/hole in the ground with water in it, that contains the usual suspects. I have spent a great deal of time on my balcony with binoculars observing the feeding patterns of the cast of "fishy" characters in the water. Grass carp being one of them. 

With that being said, it is not likely you will be able to catch one of the grass carp with something like a subsurface trout fly, nymph or similar. Not impossible, but not likely, I have not at least. In my case, I have had both fish tailing on the shoreline, and cruising singles, pass right by a small nymph fly without even a pause. I just think it is out of their scope of food selection, just like you wouldn't throw a deer hair frog popper at a bonefish. This is just from my experience, yours may differ, if you can catch them on a nymph, then more power to you. 

Solution in my case was to build a vegetation fly, obviously. I attempted my own adaptation of the Sister Carol fly, but still could not get a take. In the end, I ended up mimicking a fly I saw in a European mullet fishing film(awesome by the way), that is essentially small tufts of marabou tied on an equally small hook(I think mine are on size 10 bonefish hooks). Chartreuse thread, chartreuse marabou, easy as can be. So far the tally is two grass carp, and a few nile tilapia(equally aggravating to hunt).

They are fun, and seem to get pretty large(the two carp I caught were not huge), no natural predators and all that. But I'll tell you what, people ask you odd questions and look at you really weird when you are standing on a concrete spillway for thirty minutes looking for tailing fish behind a few condos without casting once, then frantically cast to an incoming school, only to screw the pooch as they see your line over the water. 

Best of luck.


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## YakkinReds (Aug 11, 2007)

This might help... http://vimeo.com/channels/flyfishing#35550044


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## natasha1 (Jul 27, 2009)

This time of year they typically start spawning, and will not eat anything. Key in on the less active fish, as they are not spawning.


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## rashouri87 (Jul 2, 2009)

i have a golf course pond behind my parent's house with carp in it. I originally poured a bunch of corn on the bank and in the water to attract and observe the flocks of mallards that have been hanging out, but noticed that the carp started feeding by the hordes on it. I'm talking a dozen 15-20# carp sucking down on 25 pounds of corn, I bet if I popped a corn colored fly in there they would have swallowed it up.


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## Rooster (Mar 13, 2011)

Yes (thanks) I was thinking about a milkfish! I will continue to go "purist" on catching a carp on the fly, but if no success I will probably deterioriate to baiting an area with corn and tieing on a corn shaped fly...


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## Guest (Feb 2, 2012)

> This time of year they typically start spawning, and will not eat anything.  Key in on the less active fish, as they are not spawning.


That makes sense! I saw a lot of them today some swimming in pairs. I think I got some cool video of them tailing and such. 

I'll throw some flies at them on Friday and will get some more video.


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## Bissell (Feb 27, 2010)

Would anyone know if there are carp in fox lake here in t ville? I'm a googan when it comes to fresh water fishing haha


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## Guest (Feb 3, 2012)

> Would anyone know if there are carp in fox lake here in t ville? I'm a googan when it comes to fresh water fishing haha


You are more then welcome to come over and try to catch one of these monsters I have.

Of course only after I have caught one. ;D


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## Bissell (Feb 27, 2010)

I'll have to wait till I get my new rod!


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## garrickbehelfer (Mar 21, 2011)

I catch them in the Houston bayous with foam hopper patterns - no baiting (on my part) required. When the city work crews cut the grass on the banks of the bayous, the carp start feeding pretty heavily and I don't think they're terribly picky. I know the same pattern takes place on golf courses, neighborhood ponds, etc.

Another thing to consider is that studies have shown that grass carp feed more heavily the warmer the water temperature gets - At about 68 degrees they are eating almost continuously. I fish for them in the hottest part of the summer and the hot water temps only seem to improve the fishing.


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## Bissell (Feb 27, 2010)

Didn't want to start a new thread and I figured my question kinda fits in here, on my way to the little Econ today, headed west on hw 46, I saw about 20 guys in the st jons throwin fly, what would they all be chasing?? And how do I catch it?! Thanks for any help and hope this doesn't derail


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## jeffscoggin (Jan 31, 2012)

Just fyi....I was water testing some patterns I had tied in the pond at our hunt club last sun afternoon....there was a large pod of HUGE grass carp floating lazily in the sun..I had caught a few bass, and was just fooling around...had a 10# tippet (I'm sure you see where this is going) made of stren mono....well I rounded a corner and there was a carp easing along close to the bank...I pitched a super hair closer sz 2 I think right in front of him....he charged it like a barracuda, ate it whirled around and smashed his tail down soaking me in the process....and broke me off....he was easily in the high teens and probably over 30".....just saying


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## Reel_Karma (Feb 7, 2010)

3/4" long piece of rainy' float foam. Color it brown an tie on a egg hook. Buy a bag of fish food (pellets) and chum for a week. Looks just like 2 pellets floating. Use a 4-6# rod and enjoy.


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## jsnipes (May 1, 2011)

anyone have any good tilapia flies? have a shitton in the pond by my house. usually i just try and catch the bass but my buddy caught a tilapia on and said it gave a pretty good pull for a pond fish so going to give it a try. he caught it on a shrimp pattern but that seems kind of flukey since i thought they were vegetarians.


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## Guest (Feb 29, 2012)

No luck so far. They will turn and come over to the fly, but that's about it. I have even gone so low as to soak the fly in pasta sauce. :


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## HaMm3r (Dec 11, 2006)

> anyone have any good tilapia flies? have a shitton in the pond by my house. usually i just try and catch the bass but my buddy caught a tilapia on and said it gave a pretty good pull for a pond fish so going to give it a try.  he caught it on a shrimp pattern but that seems kind of flukey since i thought they were vegetarians.


I caught some small ones on bread flies. They behave pretty much like bluegill when they're little. But no luck getting adult tilapia on a fly so far, although I have caught a few on a green plastic worm, dragged right under their noses. Your buddy is right, they fight really hard.


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## Brett (Jul 16, 2008)

tilapia fly, hmmmm? Going back a few years to when I lived in South Dade...
After watching me catch tilapia one after another, using a tiny silver and white mepps spinner
my fishing bud put together a silver and white spoon fly in an attempt to mimic the mepps action.
He finally got it to work on a sinking tip, so it ran as deep as the mepps.
I don't think the tilapia were striking to feed, but were protecting the almost invisible swarms of fry.


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## jsnipes (May 1, 2011)

i read online that they take dry flies so i bought a size 12 mosquito and went and tried casting at all the ones in the beds. no luck. i think it might work when they get up on the surface in a school feeding (which i only ever notice after it rains).


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## Frank_Sebastian (Oct 15, 2007)

I know this is a fly fishing forum, but if you are looking to catch a record grass carp try trolling a live carrot.

Frank_S


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## freeflyfree (May 12, 2010)

;D ;D



> I know this is a fly fishing forum, but if you are looking to catch a record grass carp try trolling a live carrot


As long as you use a fly rod  ;D


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## freeflyfree (May 12, 2010)

Some carp from this morning, 5wt Fly rod, 10lb tippet. One tip for success, Identify, in your area, ficus and any other tree that drops fruit on the water. They were caught on a red berry fly tied on a #4 mosquito owner hook. 




























They all came from under this tree










Tight Lines,

Felipe.


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## jsnipes (May 1, 2011)

sweet action, felipe.


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## CurtisWright (May 9, 2012)

My neighbor here in alabama feeds them bread every day. She thinks they are pretty. haha. I sneak over everynow and then with a cotton ball tied to a hook.


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