2012 Carp Fly Swap

Welcome to the summary page for the 2012 Fly-Carpin carp fly swap.   I was not sure what to expect when I kicked this off in January 2012.  It turned out to be an amazing swap with 22 participants from across the country.  Those participants include many of the most influential and respected fly fishing for carp experts in the country.  Enjoy this summary, I doubt there is a better compilation of carp flies on the Internet!  Double click any picture to get a full slide-show!

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Reynold's Carp Bitter

Tier: Barry Reynolds
State: Colorado
Website: BT2 Productions
Notes:  Barry has been working on perfecting this pattern for a while now. In an odd twist in 2010 Barry hooked and landed and released a 45" grass carp estimated at 61lbs on a version of this fly.  I guess even the most stalwart vegetarians sometimes crave protein!  

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Montana Carrot

Tier: John Montana
State: Oregon
Website: Carp On The Fly
Summary:  "This is a variation of the legendary “Carp Carrot” by Mr. P. with some different materials and the addition of dubbing covering the dumbbell eyes. Bottom line…carp eat this fly, even when I am the guy behind the rod. I fish it every imaginable way, but get the best response with tiny, short, sharp strips, usually continuously."

I tried to tie a size that would be appropriate to a wider range of waters, but on my home turf I’d go down one size in most situations.

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John Jensen's Rubber Lipstick

Tier: John Jensen
State: Iowa
Website: Currents
Summary:  "A brown and green fly that rides hook up -- could'a stopped right there but I've added some bling on the bottom and rubber legs for kicks. Sometimes attacked on the drop but most commonly hoovered as it twitches past a tailing carp." 

Hook: Gamakatsu Octopus Size 6

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Pat Cohen's Shaggin' Dragon

Tier: Pat Cohen
State: New York
Website: Super Fly
Summary:  "Dragon fly nymphs in general have been a part of my carp fly arsenal...I have caught fish on all kinds of variations of this fly.  This is the end result of all my playing and testing"
Notes:  Pat gives details on the Shaggin' Dragon at his blog.  This and other carp-worthy flies by Pat Cohen are available for purchase at the Super Fly Store.

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Roughfisher's Carp Crack

Tier: The Roughfisher
State: Minnesota
Website: roughfisher.com
Summary:  "Carp Crack, always lethal!"
Notes:  The Roughfisher offers a wide selection of great carp flies with even cooler names at the Roughfisher Online Store.  This is a particularly good on-line resource for those who don't roll their own and would like one-stop shopping for a wide selection of carp patterns.

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Nate Taylor's Mello Yellow

Tier: Nate Taylor
State: Colorado
Website: Dirtbag Fly-Fishing
Summary:  "I call this guy the Mello Yellow and it is one of my favorite carp flies. I like this “yellow mustard” color because for some reason I just get a better reaction from the fish and it is a little different than what everyone else is throwing."
Notes:  Tying instructions and video can be found on Nate's Page of Carp Fly Videos

"I call the Mello Yellow “my” pattern but in reality I have drawn inspiration from lots of other flies so there isn’t any part of this fly that is really unique (go take a look at Roughfisher’s “Carp Crack” or Barry Reynolds's flies and you will get an idea of how creative I truly am). I think that the rubber legs add a little bit of depth to the marabou tail and the lead eyes land a lot softer on the water than the traditional “dazzle eyes” that I have used in the past. I’m a big fan of Keith Barton’s Free Range Dubbing but I suppose the color should depend on whatever works in the areas you fish."

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Gregg's Carp Eggs

Tier: Gregg Martin
State: Idaho
Summary:  "Eggs are nice in that they land softly and present a very visible piece of possible food. Carp often go far out their way to investigate them on the bottom or even suspended in the water column. I normally fish these to either poorly seen or unseen fish under an indicator. I do not think they are taken for an egg, as I catch most fish where they never see such a thing."

"I use a walleye foam float with the fly at the depth of the water the fish is feeding in. Most often I cast to the bubbles created by a fish working the bottom. The next eruption of bubbles tells you the direction the fish is moving in. Takes are quite clear, and often the carp hold onto egg ties and hook themselves. I also use these in clear water to cruising fish, or to fish patrolling under an algea matt."

Hook: Allen, TMC, or Dai-Riki egg hooks in size 6 to 10.
Body: Standard Glo-Bug yarn or alternative substitutes.
Thread: 3/0 Uni or UTC Ultra Thread 140 denier, color to compliment or contrast with yarn.
Glue: Super Glue to coat the initial thread wraps with.

Special Tools:

1. Metal comb used to pack spun yarns and to brush out tied fibers of yarns.
2. Hair Packer, mine is a wooden dowel with a hole drilled in both sides, about 2" x 1".
3. Curved scissors for trimming.
4. Needle to further pick out fibers.

Directions:

1. Wrap thread on small section of forward half of hook, lightly apply super glue, let harden.

2. Select desired yarns for first spin and packing, you will do this twice with a like amount depending upon hook size. Mix and match as you desire. A whole yarn piece with added colors of lesser amounts are what I use for a size 6 fly as pictured.

3. Place yarns over the top of the hook and gently encompass the bunch with a light turn, tighten hard with a second.

4. Maintain thread tension and pick out yarn fibers as pictured.

5. Separate yarn and move thread forward to repeat steps 2-4 on the underside of the hook.

6. Pack from the front and back, tightly as possible.

7. Move thread to front, whip finish with 2 three turn knots. Cut thread.

8. Pack hard from back to move thread/yarns forward

9. Separate yarns in 2 equally divided bunches with comb.

10. As with a glo-bug cut both top and bottom while tightly pulling strongly equally.

11. Trim as needed to obtain a nice egg shape.

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Backstabber

Tier: Lonny Garris
State: Colorado
Website: Caddis Fly and Pixie Poo
Originator:  Jay Zimmerman
Summary: "Zimmerman's Backstabber in purple/black or all white has increased my catch rates for carp. I find this fly to be simple to tie, rugged and the carp just gobble them up. I use the color shown in the spring and fall. While it seems to work best in slightly off-color I have also had luck in clearer water."

Hook: Dai-Riki #810 Size 6
Body: Ice Dub UV Purple
Wing: Purple Marabou
Collar: Black Hen Hackle
Thread: Black

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McTage's Primordial Carp-Stew

Tier: Trevor "McTage" Tanner
State: Colorado
Website: Fly-Carpin
Summary:  - "This came in close second for my most productive carp pattern in 2011. The Carp-Stew is designed to have the general profile of a baby crayfish, fall hook up in a fairly level drop and have lots of life-like action under the water."
Notes: What I tied up for the swap varies just a little from the recipe I have previously posted on the Carp-Stew.  

Hook: Gamakatsu SL45 Size 6
Thread: UTC Ultra-Thread, Fl Orange, 70
Eyes: 1/8" Dazzle Eyes, Black
Extra Weight: 7 Wraps of .025" Lead
Tail: 4 Splayed Centipede Legs, Speckled Orange Small
Body Aft: Swisher's Rub-A-Dub Orange applied in a dubbing loop.
Body Fwd: Hairline Dubbing Orange
Belly: Thin Skin, Mottled Bustard Orange
Beard: Hair cut from a Micro-Pine Squirrel Zonker, Crawdad Orange

Note - I would prefer rabbit for the beard but I am out of my favorite color and can't find it anywhere!

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Goodwin's Mean Ol' Dirty Frisco (MF'er)

Tier: Ty Goodwin
State: Georgia
Website: finewater
Summary:  - "I catch most of my carp on pheasant-tail nymphs, but this year I decided to develop a fly that would draw more takes. A fly with a larger profile that lands without commotion and drifts s-l-o-w-l-y to the bottom.  I wanted dark colors for visibility in dingy water, a hint of bling, and an easy tie."
Notes: Ty also sells fly fishing for carp t-shirts!

Hook: Daiichi #1120, Size 10
Thread: Black 8/0
Weight: .015 lead wrapped on shank from tail to collar
Ribbing: Green wire – medium
Tail: A few barbs from a black hackle feather
Abdomen: Coarse black dubbing – (I use Awesome Possum.)
Thorax: Black SLF Prism dubbing
Wing case: Black Swiss Straw
Collar: Guinea, dyed purple

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Rice's Sazerac

Tier: Will Rice
State: Colorado
Website: It Aint Pretty, The Drake
Summary:  "Invite a guy who fishes in the ghetto to a fly swap, you get a ghetto fly. I have been tying different variations of this pattern since I began fly fishing for carp on the urban section of the South Platte River. It was originally designed after a red fish fly someone gave me when I was fishing Mosquito Lagoon."

"The Sazerac looks really big and bulky in the box but once it hits the water the material condenses quite a bit. It is intended to be fished off the bottom and rides hook up. Once it comes to rest on the bottom the marabou tail expands out and represents the size/shape of a crawfish tail.  I usually fish this bug in relatively shallow water where there is a current. It seems to work pretty well when I can watch an approaching carp, cast the fly 10 or 12 feet away and then "swing" or "crawl" the fly across the bottom to where I can predict the fish is moving.  Once it is within 10" of the fish - twitch - twitch. This summer I added the rubber legs and it got hammered. The Saz might not be pretty, but it works."

Materials:

1. 2 ounces Rye Whiskey
2. Three dashes Peychaud's Bitters
3. One sugar cube or 1 Tsp simple syrup
4. Splash of absinthe or Herbsaint
5. Lemon peel

 Preparation:

1. One old fashioned or rocks glass is packed with ice and water to chill the glass.
2. In a second old fashioned glass, muddle the sugar cube or simple syrup with the bitters.
3. Add the rye to this mixture and stir to combine. 
4. Empty the ice from the first glass.
5. Pour the absinthe or Herbsaint into the glass and swirl to coat the sides of the glass.  Any excess absinthe or Herbsaint is discarded.
6. Pour the rye/sugar/bitters mixture into the coated glass.
7. Twist a lemon peal over the glass and rub the rim of the glass with the peel.  The peel can be discarded or placed into the cocktail.

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Matt Pike's Carper's Crab

Tier: Matt Pike
State: North Carolina
Summary:  "This fly resembles all the patterns I have caught carp on in some way. It's color matches the lake bottoms that I've fished, the bright orange dubbing is a staple in every carp fly I throw and the rubber makes it lively. The light weight makes this fly right at home on the ankle deep and dead still lake flats I frequent. No twitching stripping or jerking, just make the cast and hope the fish doesn't spook!"

I'd love to say that this has been my go to fly forever....practiced and tweaked and perfected from kissing hundreds of giant and beautiful carps on the lips. But, I'd be lying. I have yet to even drop this fly in the water. I tied it first last Thanksgiving on a family vacation, and the weather hasn't permitted any carp fishing for me since then. It is a familiar pattern though.

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Sean Hudson's Mud Bugger

Tier: Sean Hudson
State: Colorado
Website: Unquenchable Curiosity
Summary:  "This is, without a doubt, my “go to” pattern for carp. This fly was tied with carp in mind, but it works great for other species too – largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, trout, catfish, walleye, and even bonefish..." Read more including tying instructions.

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Ridenour's Bug A Boo

Tier: Eric Ridenour
State: West Virginia
Website: Big EZ World
Summary:  "I have been carp fishing for over 20 years.  I fish paylakes and some wild carp and just got into fly-carpin'.  I think this fly will coax a few carp because of the way it dances in the water.  It basically does a headstand and the soft feather dances like a fair maiden of the sea".  See his original Bug A Boo blog post.

Since I am a newbie to fly fishing and tying I have allot of catching up to do. In the last year I have learned allot of patterns for trout and carp. Since gaining Jim P. and Trevor as teachers, I have increased my fly tying knowledge ten-fold. I have tied many basic patterns and am now starting to tie my own stuff and find my own style. As with most anglers now a days, I have my very own website/blog and it has been up and running since 2004.

Hook: TMC Size 6
Thread: UTC Ultra-Thread, Dark Brown, 70 (Love this color)
Eyes: 5/32" Dazzle Eyes, Black
Body: (Sexy!) Carmel Brown Free Range Dubbing (singlebarbed.com)
Tail: Rabbit furr and Pheasant or Indian hen feather

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Morlock's Craw Bunny

Tier: Kevin Morlock
State: Meeeechigan
Website: ThirdCoastFly, Indigo Guide Service
Summary:  "This relatively simple crawfish pattern is one of my bread-and-butter flies for Great Lakes carp. I keep the size to about three inches but vary the color, usually having half a dozen or more color variations in my fly box..." Read more including tying instructions.

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Bill Henry's White Bugger

Tier: Bill Henry
State: New York
Website: Great Lakes of NYC
Summary:  "I have caught carp & just about anything else with white woolie buggers. I believe the red in an area where the gill would be is what makes this fly work. When carp are tailing place this fly in front of the carp(no more than 2 feet) twitch the fly the carp should make a bee line towards the fly. I really can't say what the carp is thinking but presentation is the key here."

I've also fished these in deep tidal water.  I let the fly slowly fall through the water column; any carp that sees this fly slowly falling to the bottom will simply inhale it as it swims by.  There are any number of ways to get carp to take this fly when they are feeding. Its profile is similar to a minnows. I try to keep several of these flies in my carp fly box at all times. In general I find that carp take many of the same flies that trout take like dry flies, wet flies, nymphs and terrestrials. They also like the color orange.

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Tail Chaser

Tier: Barry Reynolds
Originator: Umqua
State: Colorado
Website: BT2 Productions
Summary:  "This is a cool Umqua fly I came across chasing Red's the last few years and I have had some success using them for carp"

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Anderson's Carprunner

Tier: Austin Anderson
State: Texas
Website: Pondbass
Summary:  "I thought up the CarpRunner tying in the car on the way Possum Kingdom lake in West Texas. It's really deep and clear, so the fish I was seeing were 6 or 7 feet deep and I needed to get down to them quickly. This worked like a charm, and I had a 20 fish day!"
Notes:  See Austin's post on the CarpRunner for more background and tying instructions.

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Galvin's Carp Swallow

Tier: Chris Galvin
State: Colorado
Website: Colorado Trout Hunters
Summary:  "With deference to the late Jack Gartside, this is my modified version of his "Sparrow". I usually fish this fly at close range, flipping and/or jigging it in front of a target.
Notes:  Chris guides for carp in the Denver area. If interested contact him at galvinguiding at gmail dot com

"I also tie these with just a strip of lead underneath the shank for shallow flats, and with bead-chain or dumbells if I want to go heavy. But this is my most often fished version, and has accounted for 100+ carp."

Hook: Tiemco 760SP size 8
Tail: Hen pheasant marabou
Body: Hare's ear blend
Rib: Gold wire
Hackle: Pheasant rump hackle
Front collar: Squirrel blend
Bead: Tarnished gold

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Ty's Carp Fly

Tier: Ty Clifton
State: Colorado
Website: Colorado Skies Outfitters
Summary:  "This is a subtle pattern that I go to when the carp are being finicky."

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Ridderbos' Cheap Bastard

Tier: John Ridderbos
State: Meechigan
Summary:  "This is a variant of Mike Schmidt's Foxee Bastard without the bling of flashabou.  I call it the Cheap Bastard.  I think flashy flies turn off my local carp so I took the it out, and now they tear it up.  I like to cast this fly and slowly drag it along the bottom, pulling it in front of the carp.  They ambush it  like a crayfish dumb enough to walk out in front of them."

The color is similar to the river bottoms around here:

Hook:  Size 4 daiichi 2461
Bead:  5/32 tungsten bead
Body:  Honey mustard free range dubbing
Collar:  Red fox tail
Tail:  Red fox tail

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The Medina Selection

Tier: Mike "Carpio" Medina
State: Colorado
Summary:  "Dude, I had a heck of a time coming up with 10 different carp flies!"

Notes:  I didn't explain the 10 of one pattern thing very well to one of my best carpin buddies! It is really funny because he uses the big black marabou nasty in the middle at least 80% of the time.

Mike's favorite in his selection is this large marabou fly. He fishes these in all kinds of conditions but I am mostly impressed with how good he does with this large fly in off-color water, even when the carp are fairly passive.

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Legion of Doom

Tier: Wendy Berrell
State: Minnesota
Website: Fishing and Thinking in MN
Summary:  "Legion of Doom. It is your destiny..." Read more about the background and details of the Legion of Doom here.

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McTage's Leather Trouser Worm

Tier: Trevor "McTage" Tanner
State: Colorado
Website: Fly-Carpin
Summary:  - "This was my most productive pattern for carp in 2011. The intention of this fly is a worm that falls hook-up, headstands, is tough and can be stripped or swum when needed. It works great!" read more
Notes:  These are bonus flies to sweeten the fly swap pot.

Hook: Size 8 caddis / scud
Thread: Red Danville's flat waxed nylon
Bead: 3.25mm tungsten
Eyes: #6 Stainless bead-chain
Tail: Trimmed red rabbit strip. Touched up with red sharpie.
Body: Red Amnesia running line

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USCARPPRO Stickers

Provider: Dave Smith
State: California
Website: USCARPPRO Magazine
Summary:  Dave Smith and USCARPPRO are big supporters of the growth in fly fishing for carp and feel that it is helping to legitimize carp as a game-fish. In a show of support and solidarity Dave sent stickers for all the participants. USCARPPRO is free, online and usually includes at least one fly fishing for carp article!