Suspended / cruising carp

Evan B

Evan B

Bobber Downey Jr.
Staff member
Admin
In all the conventional carp wisdom out there, I always see it said that cruisers, or fish just hanging out on top in deep water aren't the ones you're after. I'd tend to agree, but I have one spot where there's usually packs of 4-5 carp swimming around, and if you cast at them like a school of tarpon, you can usually get one to break off and eat a slowly stripped damsel nymph.

Has anyone else experienced this behavior or something similar? I'm curious what fish besides the classic "tail up" eaters you successfully target.
 
I haven't really targeted them on the fly, but I've gotten some the last few years in deep water close to the surface while out trolling small plugs for trout, bass, and walleye. Always a surprise - fun fight and kids enjoy it. Planning to target them more this year with the kids just to get them some nice fights.
 
I've probably seen those same pods but haven't been able to convert. I've been more focused on getting my hybrid on the bottom in front of them, than getting something that they will chase. Might have to try that now too. I just started last summer, though, and the one that I got on the fly was the classic oblivious feeder that I was able to walk up on.
 
Most of the time when I see a pod of carp cruising, I don't get one to break off and eat. But: exceptions happen. I think cruising speed plays into it, spawning cycle and who knows what else. Sometimes I think I sense pods that are actively searching for food versus just cruisin', but most cruisers are cruisin' and in my experience, fast cruisers just don't eat. I admit I haven't used a small damselfly nymph and probably should rethink strategy along this line. Maybe carry two rods (seriously Buzzy, seriously??).

Suspended carp, sun bathers or snoozers we call them, are surprisingly good prey for the fly fisher. We have some success fishing these guys from a boat fishing perched up on the casting platform (the bow ;)). They can be pretty light sleepers when sunbathing so accurate casts, longer than I use when wet wading (for the most part (exceptions again) and a fly that sinks but sinks slowly can trigger a grab.(1)

The whole tail up golden boner bit really is pretty rare, it seems mudflats are where I see this the most and I don't like fishing mud. Rooters without their tail up are more common in my home waters and they're my favorite. Rooters not facing me as I'm wading are what I look for but if a rooter facing me is really busy stirring up the bottom, there's always a chance he won't see my cast and if the fly lands nearby - just a foot or so to the side and I can drag the fly into his/her vision, that's a take I love to watch.

1. DK was poling my old Hewescraft, I was on the bow, we were slowing moving off a big "shoal" and into a weedy channel. I spotted a sun bather some distance away. I had an olive woolly worm tied on, my cast was perfect - the fly landed a few feet from the fish, a slow pull and the fly sank right by the fishes head. That carp woke up, chased and ate. The old fairy tale about not enough backing was almost true. Gone in a couple seconds and deep into backing. DK was about ready to start the motor to follow when I got the fish turned. That was 20 years ago, and I still remember it in detail.
 
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I've definitely seen more than a few of those suspended "sleepers" eat. Those seem to be the easiest if you can get it in front of them without a spooking...that's the tough part. But it seems that almost every time, if you get that fly in the zone, you got an eat.

The cruisers is a weird one. I've had it happen several times in two spots. One spot in particular, that's the reason we make a stop there is to target them. Some days, that's been our best spot with multiple hookups in a short time. I have no idea what is going on there, but I don't see it anywhere else. They kind of slow cruise around a kind of eddy. My thought is they're getting morsels of food as they wash over the shelf, downstream (this is on the Columbia). The water they're suspended over is about 10' deep.

You can spot the pod. Lead them a bit, and slow strip the damsel (my best fly for this) just under the surface. You'll see a fish turn and go after it. Super fun to watch, and not at all the carp experience you typically think about.

The other spot is a more classic "flats" situation. I'll post up in one area, and target these groups of 3-4 fish that slow roll by in 3' of water. They typically are closer to the bottom, but definitely on the move.

All fish are not moving fast. But are definitely "cruising" for something.
 
I'm hoping to see some of that lower Columbia this year and fish some of the eddy type water. I've never gone below Priest Rapids and fished that 37 or so miles of free-flowing river for carp. I might well be missing out.

Last summer's brutal heat and then all the smoke really shortened my carp season.
 
Buzzy said:
I'm hoping to see some of that lower Columbia this year and fish some of the eddy type water. I've never gone below Priest Rapids and fished that 37 or so miles of free-flowing river for carp. I might well be missing out.

Last summer's brutal heat and then all the smoke really shortened my carp season.
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You have way, way more productive carp fishing closer to home. i'd be living at Banks Lake if carp was the plan.
 
Buzzy said:
Last summer's brutal heat and then all the smoke really shortened my carp season.
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The brutal heat is what got me off the trout hunt and into the carp hunt.
 
I have never had much luck fishing cruisers or sleepers, 0 sleepers, a few cruisers, but always in fairly shallow water. The places I fish locally have fairly cloudy water and I do the best on muddy bottoms. I have caught some fishing "blind" in deep water. Not sleepers, but I have had some fun days tossing Mulberry imitations to fish lounging under Mulberry trees; when the floating berry imitation plops down it is typically followed by a mad dash by several Carp.
 
jim ficklin said:
I have never had much luck fishing cruisers or sleepers, 0 sleepers, a few cruisers, but always in fairly shallow water. The places I fish locally have fairly cloudy water and I do the best on muddy bottoms. I have caught some fishing "blind" in deep water. Not sleepers, but I have had some fun days tossing Mulberry imitations to fish lounging under Mulberry trees; when the floating berry imitation plops down it is typically followed by a mad dash by several Carp.
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Fishing the berry hatch sounds like a good time! Not sure we have anything quite like that in this area.
 
jim ficklin said:
I have never had much luck fishing cruisers or sleepers, 0 sleepers, a few cruisers, but always in fairly shallow water. The places I fish locally have fairly cloudy water and I do the best on muddy bottoms. I have caught some fishing "blind" in deep water. Not sleepers, but I have had some fun days tossing Mulberry imitations to fish lounging under Mulberry trees; when the floating berry imitation plops down it is typically followed by a mad dash by several Carp.
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Jim - I've dreamed of fishing the mulberry hatch - I didn't know that was an option. Need to get myself down your way. I used to have this bumper sticker on my SUV: "It was a hot, windless afternoon and carp were clooping the schmoots".
 
Evan B said:
In all the conventional carp wisdom out there, I always see it said that cruisers, or fish just hanging out on top in deep water aren't the ones you're after. I'd tend to agree, but I have one spot where there's usually packs of 4-5 carp swimming around, and if you cast at them like a school of tarpon, you can usually get one to break off and eat a slowly stripped damsel nymph.

Has anyone else experienced this behavior or something similar? I'm curious what fish besides the classic "tail up" eaters you successfully target.
Click to expand...
I kayak fish for carp and usually use a black wooly bugger. I find you have to drop it right in front of one and fairly delicately. They are a spooky fish. I also find you don't get many opportunities because they don't hang around on the surface very long. Much more satisfying to go into the shallow water where the reeds are moving around. I've caught about four or five really big ones and been towed all over the lake
 
Evan B said:
ishing the berry hatch sounds like a good time! Not sure we have anything quite like that in this area.
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Carp will feed on Cottonwood fluff/seeds also.
 
Buzzy said:
I've dreamed of fishing the mulberry hatch - I didn't know that was an option.
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My most productive spot is now heavily silted-in, unfortunately. The Corps & city introduced a plan to install a culvert under a causeway to relieve the silt build-up in this backwater but the project seems to be stuck on all ahead, stop.
 
The only cruising carp I see are cruising away from me.

Seriously though, I need to give this more time this summer.
 
Might be apple/oranges, but there are so many parallels between carp and bonefish, I'll add this one anecdotal data point.

I was walking a public beach south of Nassau on a family vacay (not expecting to see a damn thing) when I spotted a large bone. It was suspended in thigh deep water and cruising slowly away from the beach. By the time I got into position I was directly behind it, and almost out of casting range. No time to get a fly on the bottom in front of it. My only option was to lay a cast parallel to it's path, IIRC about 6' to the side and 6-8' in front. Luckily there was some wave action and the line didn't spook it. I only had a couple seconds until the fish was almost parallel with the still sinking fly. Then gave it a single twitch. Incredibly, the bone did a 180 on it! I had no idea if it ate or not because it was now moving directly towards me. I couldn't feel anything, or set the hook, so had to wait a few more agonizing seconds before it turned. By some miracle, it didn't spit the fly, the line came tight and I strip set. After a lengthy fight (with my wife and girls watching) I was holding a 5+ pound bone. Has to be my luckiest catch ever.

Anyway, this may or may not be useful with carp, but this is the only bonefish I'm aware of caught on a suspended fly.

Edit: http://pnwflyfishing.com/forum/index.php?media/christmas_bone-jpg.130/ (yeah, I know, but for what this fish cost me I'm gonna squeeze as much mileage as I can out of it)
 
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