The barbarian hordes are gathering at fly fishing’s gates, though instead of looting and pillaging, they’ve got rubbery, pouty lips on their minds.
Who are they? I’m talking about the the fast-growing mob of fly fishing’s “brownliners” – people happy to hammer the “rough” fish gone largely ignored in the trout-happy USA.
How’d you like to catch that on a 7wt?
Unlike trout, warmwater fish are everywhere (especially in urban settings), and in the face of disintegrating leisure time and high travel costs, America’s fly fishers may soon learn what the Euros have long known:
Carp are Cool.
Carp and Friends
Amusingly, carp have become the glamorous poster children for even more “extreme” gamefish like pikeminnows and suckers – an astonishing fact. Until recently, smallmouth fan Ian Rutter said even the kickass smallmouth bass was a hard sell to his fly fishing clients.
Now we’re looking hard at Pikeminnows and Redhorse suckers?
No less a figure than John “Trout Bum” Gierach lionized the Golden Ghost in an essay years ago, and European anglers have long had a love affair with the pouty-lipped wonder. And why not?
Carp are wily, they’re spooky, they’re strong, they feed in shallow waters, and they grow to impressive sizes in waters lethal to less-hardy fish.
When I moved away from the Silicon Valley – where I fished for carp in an apartment building pond – I found myself missing their selective natures and powerful ways, though I appreciated not having to run whenever an apartment manager hove into view.
Carp and Current Events
Fueling the carp frenzy are current events like skyrocketing fuel prices, which may do for brownlining what common sense couldn’t; turn close-to-home carp spots into jealously guarded secrets.
Carp-flavored Web sites, blogs and forums are popping up all over, and fly fishing’s well-trod essay book genre even saw the publication of an excellent book about fishing for odd fish in odd places (Offbeat Angling).
Naturally, fly tyers – bored with endless Atlantic Salmon patterns – are now applying their arcane fly tying talents to carp-specific patterns, with predictably interesting results.
Can the fly fishing industry – looking for its next big market – be far behind its fishermen? Carp Captains? Carp guides? Carp rods? (Will we see a resurgence of the reasonably tapered freshwater 7wt?)
It’s a Rough World – Or At Least It Will Be
After all, free enterprise – like nature – hates a vacuum, and while we may not see “Carp Glamping Trips” advertised for some time, we may see a bit more economic attention paid to fish that will thrive even as climate change sweeps over our coldwater fisheries.
The question is simple, Undergrounders – how long until Carp is King? Will the “rough fish” moniker – which is already losing its negative sting – ever simply refer to a class of warmwater fish?
And will other fly friendly “rough” fish – such as Singlebarbed’s beloved California Pikeminnows – ever see their names on a high-end fly rod (“The Pikeminnow Special”)?
A Pikeminnow (courtesty Singlebarbed)
Discuss.
See you on the brownlines, Tom Chandler.
A few online Carp resources (in no particular order):
Singlebarbed: The consumate brownliner
Carp on a Fly: John Montana and his Big Carp adventures
A Roughfisherman’s Journal: Exactly what it says
Angling for Carp: Central Texas fly fisher looking for rough fish
Forums & Groups
Non-Traditional Angling: Carp spoken there
Carp Anglers Group: Yes, really.
CarpNet: You knew it had to be…
Michigan Carp
American Carp Society: You read it right
OregonCarp: Can “CalCarp” be far behind?
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