How to Target Montana Carp
Occasionally, I like to catch big fish that pull hard and that I can pull back hard against. I’m talking about fish that demand a 7 or 8-weight rod and #15 tippet. Since moving to Montana, I’ve discovered that carp are my best bet when I want to tussle with some big heavy fish. That’s one of the reasons I fly fish for carp. When the water is warm and the carp are feeding in the shallows, it’s pretty uncommon not to have them take you into the backing, often times, more than once.
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Another reason I like to fly fish for carp is they are available during runoff season and during the dog days of summer when the creeks and rivers are not ideal for trout fishing. Carp also provide ample opportunities for sight fishing and in some situations, can be extremely challenging to catch. Carp fill an important niche in my fly fishing calendar.
Key takeaway: If you love fly fishing and like to tussle with big strong fish, why wouldn’t you target carp? Carp fishing can be good at times when trout fishing is not.
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Spring Carping
As soon as daytime temperatures start cracking the 60-degree mark, I start looking for carp. As water temperatures start warming, carp begin to seek out shallow dark bottom areas where the sun warms the water. In rivers, runoff conditions will open up channels and sloughs that will draw carp like a magnet. On a sunny spring day, these backwater areas warm up as much as 20 degrees more than the main river zones. Carp are ultimately looking for water in the upper 60s for spawning, but once you find water in the mid-50 to mid-60 degree range, you will likely encounter fish. Regardless of whether you are looking for river carp or reservoir carp, look to the shallow dark bottom zones where the warmest water temperatures occur.
One day in late May, I was fishing with a friend and we began working our way up a flooded river channel. When we started seeing carp, the temperature was 55 degrees. None of them were interested in my flies. As we continued to move up the backwater, the temperature began to climb. When we hit 60, we found lots of cruising fish, but they were not feeding either. Finally, as we neared the upper stagnate zone near the top, we found 65-degree water and actively feeding fish, including some giant females. After quickly hooking several 10 to 12-pound males, I focused on looking for a submarine. I found her and she sucked in a #10 olive wooly bugger and proceeded to empty my reel. We chased her down and she emptied the reel going the other direction. We caught up to her again and she spun it out a third time. Without a big enough net, we eventually had to lead her to shore. Carp don’t have handles, so I had to do the bear hug thing to land the beast.
Key takeaway: Find the warmest water in the spring and you will generally find lots of feeding carp.
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Spawning Periods
Once water temperatures start spiking toward 70 degrees, you will often witness carp actively spawning. When the spawn is on, you won’t likely find fish willing or even able to notice your flies. They tend to jump and wallow and stir the water up until there is zero visibility. If you find carp on the spawn, don’t waste your time trying to feed them. In the frenzy, they have zero interest in anything other than what they are doing.
It’s important to realize that not all carp are going to be on the same schedule. Spawning begins in the warmest waters. When they are doing their thing up skinny creeks, deep in back bays or in the shallowest warmest river backwaters, you can ignore those locations and seek out pre-spawn fish in main-lake or main-river areas where the water temperatures are lower. In some places, spawning activity might take place in mid to late May. In other areas, it might not happen until July. You can find post-spawn fish in shallow reservoirs and pre-spawn fish in cooler rivers at the same time.
Key takeaway: Don’t waste your time fishing to spawning carp. Find feeding fish.
Post Spawn
Post spawn is when the feed bags really come on. The carp to target are the carp that are actively feeding. The most obvious active feeders are tailing fish. I regularly find tailing fish after the spawn and throughout the summer months. I love fishing for tailing carp because it’s a visual game. I seldom ever fish blind for carp. It’s not that it can’t be done, it’s just that I love sight fishing so much and there are plenty of active feeders.
When you find active feeders with their noses down in the mud or rocks and their tails wagging near or through the surface, you’ve found fish ready to eat your fly. The key to finding these fish is good light and vision. I often stalk river banks and look for high points where I can get some elevation and a better view. If I’m in a boat, I like to position myself on a platform like a Yeti cooler. When you find these fish, you will need to make an accurate cast, but not always a cast directly to them. I like to set up angles of intersection.
When there is current, I like to cast above and beyond the fish and swing the fly right to their lips. When I find them in still water, I like to cast behind and to the side of the carp where they won’t see the fly land. Then, I creep it forward until it arrives in their feeding lane. If you can’t see your fly, you’ll often sense when the carp eats. Their body seems to vibrate and their tail gives a little extra wiggle. Strip your line tight and enjoy the ride.
Key takeaway: Learn to identify and target feeding carp.
Summer
When the days heat up and the trout fishing begins to cool off or shut down because of Hoot Owl restrictions, the carp fishing is often at its peak. On the Missouri River, we are blessed with miles and miles of shallow flats and skinny backwaters full of feeding carp. The Sun, Marias, and Teton Rivers also have plenty of carping water. All the major reservoirs containing warm water fish have carp too. Your problem is not finding them, it’s choosing from so many great places to fish.
When day time temperatures heat up into the 90s and water temperatures are at their peak, the best time to find active feeders is in the morning. They will often be working the river edges and plowing along, looking for any crayfish, nymphs, or slow-moving minnows to vacuum up. Carp can survive in water temperatures exceeding 90 degrees, but they usually stop feeding when the temperatures get really hot in the shallows. By early afternoon, they will often lay up like tarpon, only they won’t be interested in feeding. Other carp will continue feeding, but they will move to deeper water where sight fishing is off the table. As the sun begins to drop, they will usually activate again and return to the shallows until dark.
Key takeaway: The summer carp schedule is really awesome. Fish during the cooler morning and evening periods and siesta in the hot afternoons.
Fall
As temperatures begin to cool in the fall, carp continue to feed like no tomorrow, spurred on by cooling water temperatures and the inevitable prospects of winter. Fall feeding periods begin to move toward midday when the water is warmest. Again, this is a great bonus for the angler.
Fall fish can be very aggressive and will often eat larger crayfish and minnow imitations. They can be very spooky if they’ve been targeted over the summer, but they also really want to eat. Fishing remains good and depending on weather, can last well into October. Then suddenly, the fish will be gone as temperatures plummet below 50 degrees. They disappear from the shallows and sight fishing opportunities go away.
Carp Fly Choices
Carp have evolved to survive on almost any diet and as such, they are opportunistic feeders who will take advantage of many food sources from floating duckweed, seeds, clams, and everything else on a trout’s diet. I have found that damsel and dragonfly nymphs are hard to beat in lakes, while crayfish are my go-to in rivers.
Which flies catch carp? Read this.
Key takeaway: Carp eat a varied diet and will generally eat a broad array of food choices. A woolly bugger can work almost anywhere if you serve it right. As long as you provide carp an option that fits into the local diet, you should be in the game.
Bonus
Carp will sometimes feed on topwater. They don’t often target individual small bugs but will vacuum though clusters of midges and mayfly spinners. If you position a larger offering like a hopper or a chubby in their path, they will suck it in without a second thought.
I’ve also seen pods of carp sipping on adult chironomids and caddis like trout. If you find carp feeding on top, you can generally catch them on almost any floating fly. They won’t inspect what they are feeding on like a trout does, choosing instead to simply suck down everything in their path.
In some places, you can find carp cruising near the surface with their attention focused upward. In these situations, they will target an individual fly. Big terrestrials are hard to beat, like ants, hoppers, and beetles. Just make sure to be really stealthy. They will not tolerate a sloppy cast.
Key takeaway: If you thought carp are only bottom feeders, you are wrong. If you are a dry fly purist, you can still target carp.
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