Le Mouching ask french carp on the fly specialist Sergio Bandeira to give us few basics tips for beginners who would like to catch this freshwater locomotion. In a second part Sergio will present few essentials to begin with. Thanks Sergio !

To begin with carp on fly you must have a good sense of perception because most of the fishing is sight seeing. You have to be ready gazing at water until you spot the mandarin, the orange mouth of the carp feeding.

Then you better choose shallow parts of slow rivers or lakes, walk quietly, observe until maybe see a tailing fish. Keep quiet ! Throw the fly upstream the fish and when you believe the eyes are in front of the lure  strip a little. Pray the Lord…

For the leaders I choose a 9 foot fluorocarbone knot less with a 16 lbs tippet  for  regular fish 8 to 20 pounds fish. Not having knots in the tippets is an asset for fishing up the weedy section

If the fish are smaller I can add two foot of 10lbs fluorocarbone.  For real big carps above 20lbs you it’s a bit like going to war : you better have the proper gear, like a special 22lbs Tarpon Tippet !

The best rod are 9′ foot line 8 (your bonefish rod!). For the monsters over 20lbs you can go up  line 9 or 10 if you want to have a chance stopping them. Polarize glasses are highly recommended and a good stripping glove is useful when the reel starts to sing after a fish run.