Fly Fishermen Fascinated by Challenge of Catching Carp on a Fly

We have been running a lot of reports on carp fly fishing recently, but that’s because a lot of subscribers seem to be fascinated by the challenge of taking “redneck bonefish” and other offbeat species on the fly. Feedback about our coverage of this kind of fishing is welcome, both supportive and unsupportive. E-mail comments to [email protected].

To summarize, in recent months, we have had three reports on carp fishing, one on a trip to Maine and two on trips to California. A while back (August 2010) we had another one on a trip to New York’s Lake Champlain with a guide by the name of Drew Price. At the time, Price was working for a company called Stream and Brook. Since then, he has gone out on his own and deepened his involvement in fishing for carp and other offbeat species. All of this is a roundabout way of introducing a report we just got from subscriber Bob Olsen, who gives Drew Price a whoop-and-holler rave review after a trip with him on Lake Champlain this past July. He writes:

“Lake Champlain, on the Vermont/New York border, has been gaining well-deserved notoriety for its bass fishery. Less well known but very appealing to some is its significant population of other warm water species such as carp, bowfin, sheepshead, and gar. My friend Nick and I recently had the opportunity to learn more about this terrific fishery right in our backyard with guide Drew Price (www.drewpriceonthefly.com). Nick and I both have significant experience fishing for trout, salmon, bonefish, and stripers. We enjoy fishing for those species, but not quite the same way we enjoyed our day with Price. It’s fair to say that after 10 hours on the water with him in a little johnboat all we could do was laugh.

“Drew Price is an extremely experienced fisherman with a scientific background. He’s knowledgeable, funny, helpful, and very focused. He’s spent significant time fishing for all of the species mentioned above and shares his knowledge enthusiastically. We spent the entire day within 100 feet of shore in skinny water. Some was clear and some was, well, weedy, really weedy. We had numerous sight shots at carp to 25 pounds and landed a couple of bowfin and a sheepshead. These fish, particularly the carp, are not easy to catch. All of our casts had to be precise, with some of our casting being closer to dapping than casting. Watching a pod of 15- to 25-pound fish come at you in Lake Champlain is novel to say the least. Perhaps not for everyone but we had a blast. I couldn’t recommend Drew Price more highly.”