What does carp actually feed on?

[Sean Mills]

The number one food item that carp eat in silty areas is the humble blood worm or midge larvae. It is a red little worm and it is the reason you see them "mudding" so often.

They also eat burrowing mayflies and dragonflies at the same time. In the Berg River and Breede river they feed in the rapids on mayfly nymphs, caddis nymphs, hellgrammites, stoneflies etc. They will also feed on adult mayflies, stoneflies, midges and terrestrials as well as any fruit that fall in the water. They also consume algae, and weed etc. Here is a video clip that I did on catching Berg River carp on fly.


carp rule!

http://www.break.com/usercontent/200...ly-614694.html

[FlyFanatic]

hmm.. think of carps as the "baboons" of the underwater world, they are omnivorous as already mentioned, AND they are opportunistic.

im sitting here wandering why the hell im still targeting SM yellows???

buddy of mine caught 10kg carp in the rapids while fishing for SM yellows. the fly, a #14 nymph that was used as point fly!!!! so that really demonstrates they will eat anything!!

the reason you probably didnt catch them, was not cause they didnt like ur fly, but most likely they didnt see it!! busy with their heads down churning up the mud in search of bloodworms as Sean said, ur fly maybe never fell into their vision.. pity!!!

Sean, i was wondering the other day, im going to go "papgooi" with my old man early next year at the Vaal Dam (he still likes the "gooi in en sit en wag vir die vis om te byt" type of fishing), what if i made an artificial feeding spot with something like chick chick chicken food (those crunched mielies), a few meters from the bank, and then target that area with my flies. Do you think they will pick up my fly?? the carp seeing the bait certainly doesnt seem to be a problem to them when you look at success achieved by bank anglers.

whats your take on this scenario, and how would you go around doing this??
would REALLY like and appreciate ur input on this one!!

[AB1]

That would almost be like using bread to catch mullet.

It would take time for our ground bait to attract the fish. You could spend the same time walking the bank to spot them. Like you said however papgooi is a waiting game so if you have the time to chum and wait I can see no reason why it wil not work. You could even get your old man in on some fly action.

My 2c.

[FlyFanatic]

hmm yeah but there is no bank spot fishing to be done in the Vaaldam, its just to big and silted..

so ill just have to do the waiting game.. imagine catching a carp on fly in the Vaaldam!! most experts will say.. "not a chance!!"

[Nymph+O-]

Well I've heard of guys catching sm in the Vaal dam - no clue where or how but some dude from one of gauteng clubs mentioned it.

[Sean Mills]

Creating a feeding spot does work and they will eat the fly. You can use a bouyant fly on a sinking line and suspend it about 10cm off the bottom. I have done this in the past when bait fishing at the same time. The fly consistently caught bigger fish! In fact of the thousands of carp that Ive caught on both methods, all of the carp over 8kg and up to 15 kg fell to the fly! Normally, I prefer to stalk the carp withought resorting to a feeding spot if I can , but if it is the only way, then I might certainly look at it again.

Rice is an excellent ground bait. You can use a catapult to keep it in a tight area. It really drives the carp nuts!

I caught 2 carp in the Berg River on Sunday by stalking sighted fish in clear water. That really does it for me! Very, very exciting. Im working on a new fly fishing for carp DVD as we speak. Working on some very exciting footage at the moment.

[FlyFanatic]

thanx alot sean!! sounds awesome!! will be on the lookout for the dvd!

will the maggot fly that you designed work in combo with the rice as groundbait? or must i use some other fly?

thanx for the help!!

[Sean Mills]

The carp maggot in size 10 will work. A white death booby or a white D.D.D is also worth trying. Hope this helps. I have been tying the carp maggot using marabou to make the body, very, very deadly!

[FlyFanatic]

thanx!! ill do that and report back on my success!!

[chris williams]

I see in the UK that 'Benson', a 25 year-old 64 lb carp was found dead after eating raw nuts - apparently they swell up inside the fish's body and can kill them as their digestive system can't process them. On the lake where he lived apparently Poms used to book up to fish for him weeks in advance.