If Nate and I had been lacing up baseball cleats instead of wading boots we would have struck out. I’m not gonna lie, if I knew we’d end up spending our day fishing for carp on the fly I probably would have stayed home. Unlike seemingly more and more fly guys, carp are not anywhere close to the top of my target species list. Our first swing and a miss was a smaller tributary that we figured would have some good water and active fish this time of year… but as we approached the turn off we realized the road was gated. Strike 1.

Second, we headed to another larger trib of the same river. It was off color and fishing was really slow. Strike 2. After our short stint we moved on to location number 3. Location number 3 was an urban spot we had been wondering about that had some decent trout but as we pulled in to the parking lot a large “NO FISHING ALLOWED” sign greeted us. We laughed. Frustration was not really the correct term at this point but we decided we would try one more spot before calling it quits.  We parked and looked around, no signs, no gates and no one else but us. The water certainly looked promising, a small stream with a rocky bottom and some crystal clear, classic trout water!  The water didn’t seem like a proper fit to the urban surroundings. We crept down to the river and quickly found a pod of rising trout, it didn’t take Nate long to start hooking up with little, but very eager brownies on dries.

It didn’t take more than a moment to notice that these little gems shared the water with a high number of big, ugly fetchers. I caught a few here and there but was dredging a nymph looking for something a little bigger than the 10″ risers and I found it. It wasn’t long before I was hooked into 15 pounds of pure nasty flesh. Carp on the fly. It was like touching a dead cat that had gotten wet. No offense to you carp guys but a carp has no place in a small trout stream and honestly fought about as well as a log free floating in the current. We laughed hysterically as I fought the big ugly beast in really skinny water. It was so ridiculous. A proper release and I couldn’t shake the feeling that a shower was in order to rid myself of the nastiness. All in all it turned out to be a super fun day on the water despite the initial failures.

urban-carp-fishingfly-fishing-carp

carp-on-the-fly

About The Author

Hawg Wrangler

Derek Olthuis, raised in the wilds of Montana like the Jungle Book's Mowgli. Totally obsessed with fly fishing, exploring and adventure. When not guiding he enjoys fly fishing and Squatching for Unicorns. Fishing is fun!

7 Responses

    • Nathan

      If I wasn’t laughing so hard I think I would have thrown up a little. I just got no love for carp! I’m racist!

      Reply
  2. Phil Tuttle

    Oh boy….. That pic of Derek cracks me up! No offense D, but you pull the best “carp face” i’ve ever seen… LOL 🙂 I guess you guys aren’t game for carp on bear lake this summer? Too bad for you…… Carp actually fight in BL. Utah bonefishing at it’s best.

    Reply
  3. Austin

    so we are on the hunt for carp waters around here and was just wondering if this happened to be close to the park on geneva road.

    Reply
  5. Luke Alder

    Love carp on the fly one of the best things that you can get out here in Utah. Trout are good and all but do not even compare to the drag ripping carp around here. Never had a trout take me to my backing, just saying.

    Reply

Leave a Reply to Luke Alder Cancel Reply

Your email address will not be published.