2014 Fly Swap: Gallant's Carp Crawler

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Tier: Chance Gallant

State: Flat Rock, MI
Instagram:­ @Chancegall

About:  "The inspiration for this fly came to me one spring afternoon at a dirty local golf course pond. The carp in this particular pond were really giving me a hard time. I just couldn't seem to find a fly they were willing to eat. After spooking half a dozen carp one afternoon, I was feeling pretty discouraged. While I was sitting on the bank trying to recollect myself, I remembered one of the golden rules of carpin': Know Your Forage. I pulled out my net and started digging it through the mud. Inside the stinky muck were two small lime­green damsel fly nymphs that I knew the carp must be munching on. The next day I returned with my new damsel pattern and had some fantastic success. Since that day this fly is what I'm using 90% of the time. I like to fish it very slowly; leading the fish and then inching the fly along the bottom. I have found this fly to work great on shallow, tailing carp and also on spooky carp because it doesn't make much of an impact when it hits the water."

Notes: Chance is a fantastic carp fly fisherman and a resident of Flat Rock Michigan, where he also targets Steelhead on the Huron. Incidentally, McTage used to race Go-carts in Flat Rock. After talking to McTage and Chance about Flat Rock I've learned that the Go-Cart races are fixed and the Steelhead only eat rocks. Sounds like sour grapes to me.  

Recipe:

• Hook: Allen S402BL size 10
• Thread:­ 8/0 uni olive
• Rib:­ Green wire
• Weight­: .030 lead strip along the back.
• Tail:­ Turkey belly maribou
• Dubbing:­ Cohen's carp dub. 50/50 blend of Martian Mean Green and Cray­Zee Olive
• Legs­: Turkey fan feather tips
• Eyes:­ X­small mono black or olive