wondering if any of you chase our local population of carp? I have fished a little bit for them but would like to get into it a little bit more. I know that Utah lake has a large popualation any other bodies of water close to SLC have a good chance of carp? I don't have a boat down here.
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The Jordan river has them.
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YES IT DOES! Find the right spots and they are stacked up right now!
I am hoping to start feeding my Carp addiction this weekend maybe, if the weather isn't too ugly.
If you have a float tube, Pontoon, Boat...then UTAH LAKE is the spot.
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[quote flygoddess]
If you have a float tube, Pontoon, Boat...then UTAH LAKE is the spot.[/quote]
flygoddess, more info on that PLEASE! I really want to go after some carp, and live about 3 minutes from the Provo boat launch at the state park. Got some specific info to pass on to help a carp rookie?
Only carp I've ever caught was when a buddy and I used to go on Eastbay's golf course and fish with 'bread flies' and rip carp out of their ponds behind the club house. Also caught one on a San Juan on the lower, slower reaches of the Provo sight fishing for them. But I would love to get into them on Utah Lake.
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I met up last year with Tube Dude. I am not sure exactly where we launched, but I am thinking Lindon Bay. The water in the bay was like 4' to 5' deep. I saw something float and I thought is was driftwood. I motored over to it as I collect some driftwood to display my flies on.
Got over and realized it was about 10 good sized carp rolling around.
I had a bead head prince #12 on my Intermediate line, so I cast over the top and stripped back. One hit so hard it scared me and I lost it, so I cast again...this time I was ready. I landed three doing that. Later I threw out the Beadhead Prince on a type II into the weeds and HANG ON! Caught number four. These were honkers too. Fun part is I was using a Fiberglass Rod.
On the Jordan I use a Hex, which looks like a yellow stone fly in a #10.
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As the lake starts to warm up anywhere it's shallow will have carp. I do mean everywhere. Lincon beach all along the south end of the lake in the weeds will be full of them. The weeds just south of the provo boat harbor will have them. A easy casting distance where I have seen them the past couple of years this time while helping with the Orem youth fishing club is off the North dike of the Lindon boat harbor.
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I used to use bread flies over in East Bay too. Actually, the best place I found to fly fish for them was over in the ponds at Flowserve in Springville. I used to catch a ton there, but then a chemical spill upstream cleaned them out. It's too bad, it was the perfect place. Nice and open for casting, tons of carp that were accustomed to people. We had a lot of fun there.
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the north end of Deer Creek and the south end of Echo (both are shallow, where the rivers dump in) are great spots. The water is very clear (as opposed to Utah Lake and offers excellent sight fishing in shallow water. The fish out of echo are numerous and run around 5-8 pounds. The fish out of Deer Creek are a little bigger, around 10-13 punds. Stonely nymphs, tiny, sparse buggers, and boneflish flies such as crazy charlies and Gotchas have done well for me on both lakes. for me the best place is flaiming gorge. Many of the fish are in the 20 lb range.
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[cool][#0000ff]There are a couple of stillwater carpin' venues within easy range of SLC. One is Decker Lake, just east of 215, north of 3600 So. It is a big shallow pond that connects to the Jordan River via a canal and is constantly replenished (carpwise) by fish coming up the canal. White bass and walleyes in there sometimes too. The water is almost always murky but you can sometimes see the carp cruising shallow or slurping from the surface. Some people feed them bread so a "Wheat Hackle" fly will work. So will anything yellow.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Just up the road, west of the Legacy Highway, at the 500 N. offramp, there is Bountiful Pond. The state record C&R carp came out of there at one time. Planted trout, white bass and largemouths in there too. And once in awhile a kittyfish will slurp feathers in that lake.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Utah Lake and Willard Bay are just about equal distances from Salt Lake...depending upon what part of the lakes you go to. Both have large populations of carp and the carp in both are more than agreeable to bending your fairy wand. The carp in our local lakes are very competitive for food and eat a wide variety of goodies...including all kinds of invertebrates and even their own young. Yes, they are piscivorous and will take "fry flies". However, small nymphs in grey, green, brown or black...with maybe a bit of gold ribbing...will almost always get a slurp.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Right now the carp are getting nervous. Just about time for the "spring fling". The females have ripening eggs and the males are buying candy and flowers (joke). Most early mornings, when the wind is not blowing, you can find large rafts of carp forming near the shoreline upon which they plan to spawn when the water temps hit about 65. Many of them have their mouths out of the water, seemingly gulping air. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Carp have GOOD eyesight. If you can place a fly close, but avoid lining the fish, you can wiggle it close enough for them to see and at least one of them will usually take it. When the hooked fish panics the whole crowd explodes. Fun fun.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]After the spawn, it is not uncommon to see individual carp cruising the surface slurping up the midges and other insects that have fallen into the water at night. Sometimes there is a row of bugs formed by a light breeze and the carp look like they are "snorting a line" as they move along. A fly that is larger and more visible will usually get their attentiion. They are really not into match the hatch. But you have to place it where they will move up to it. Challenging.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Fishing for invisible carp is not nearly as easy and exciting as sight fishing for them. But, it is a good way to practice your stillwater nymphing techniques. Wherever you can find them cruising and feeding in shallow water with clean bottom you can fish your choice of offerings...with or without an indicator. They usually don't take it hard. You gotta pay attention. But, once the hook goes in there is no mistaking what you have on.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]One of the best spots for this kind of fishing...either from a tube or toon...or by wading in the shallows...is the small shallow bay by the pump house just south of the boat channel at Lincoln Beach. That is where I introduced Joni to those "golden bonefish". At high water the depth might reach about 3-4 feet in there, but it shallows up as you move further up to the south. There is a warm spring that flows in there and it brings in lots of white bass and catfish too.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Attached is a picture of our moderator with a good reason for her appreciation of carpkind.[/#0000ff]
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Thanks for all of the tips! Decker lake is just a few blocks away from my work. Maybe i'll give that a shot on my lunch break.
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They are rolling over each other on the flats right now but the warm springs in Carp, I mean, UT Lake are teaming with them and you could even get lucky with dries with the better water clarity. Try a dry dropper rig off Lincoln right now and you might get totally slimed. If you're feeling a little unorthodox you might consider a mixture of corn flakes and wheat bran mixed with a cup of strawberry pop and molasses drifted on a no. 8 hook. Feel free to apply Tubedude's gillectomy procedure and do your part to help the June sucker.
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Hooked my first of the year today, but NO CAMERA..
Wasn'r a BIG one, maybe 20" but it means the fight is on and it will only get better.
OH, it was on the RAINY'S CARP FLY the Hex.
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DId you see a lot Joni?
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Ah Huh! in other words....yes[cool] Allot of HUGE gold fish. They must be spawning, because one 20" Goldfish was just nose first into the bank and I didn't scare it at all. This this was as big around as long though. I mean this gave new meaning to FAT! I wish I had my Camera.
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Has anyone tried the state fairgrounds? I remember the river opens up into a pretty big pond there.
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Gold Gold fish or carp? I remember you had pictures of koi from that area.
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Isn't Goldfish Koi? These are indeed Gold fish. I am thinking leftovers. from the State Fair.
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Here is a common goldfish and a koi. Koi look really similar to carp. Goldfish have that rounded snout without the barbells.
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There was a school 8-10 big goldfish right where N. temple goes over the river. They would swim in and out of a large pipe that emptied into the river. I was never able to catch any of them though. They all looked just like the first pic there.
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Okay, my bad. The same family and they can mate
Koi are true carp ("Cyprinus carpio"), Goldfish are
"carassius auratus" and they both do well in ponds...LOL
In that case, these are definitely Gold Fish. Like I said, I think they are left overs from the fair that get dumped in the Jordan River.
They are tough to catch for sure.
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