Fly fishing for carp has become so big here in the Phoenix, Arizona area that the first spot we hit today was already occupied. It’s true. With trout fishing locations hours away, folks are taking advantage of the good stuff near home. I think it’s great but in this weeks blogs I won’t divulge exact locations. If you live in Phoenix, simply explore ponds and canals and you’ll find the carp. If you’re passing through the area, contact my friend I’m with this week, Steve Berry. Steve is a reputable guide and founder of Nomada Fly Fishing.
We fished a place Steve and I have been hitting together for at least 15 years. It’s an urban development that consists of numerous ponds. In most of these ponds you find bass, tilapia, grass carp (white Amur), koi, common carp and mirror carp. While I chase them all, here I get particularly excited targeting the colorful koi.
We arrived around 10 AM. Fishing for koi is entirely sight fishing so it does no good to get out before high sun. Once we got away from the other anglers we found plenty of koi. Steve uses a bright yellow and red concoction of a nymph but it wasn’t a koi he put on the boards to start it was a little common carp.
I need to keep this one short today because we fished late and then headed straight for dinner. And I’m fishing a ton this next week so I don’t want to fall too far behind in blogs. Bottom line is that Steve caught a heap of common carp and a few koi today. He also caught this dramatic looking concoction of a fish. We call them fancy tails. Some call them the fan-tail carp. I personally think it’s a hybrid of koi and goldfish. Whatever it is, the fish is pretty darn cool looking.
As for me, my stubbornness of trying to catch fish on my usual carp flies got me in trouble. I landed only three fish. A common carp, a strangely ugly koi and a largemouth bass. That’s life in the Phoenix fastlane. Hopefully I’ll pick up my game as the week goes on!
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