Carpe diem. CJ Strike Offers Thrilling Fly Fishing for Carp

Wait wheres the picture of a carp! Exactly, those lumbering beasts are hard to catch and even harder to hold with one hand to snap a picture.

Fishing for carp reminds me of the saying, "one person's trash is another person's treasure." Nothing more true can be said about the common European carp. The once loathed fish, God of muddy waters, Cyprinus carpio is making a gladiatorial comeback in the arena of fly fishing. The carp or what most Idahoans just consider "trash fish" are hard fighting, intelligent, and grow huge in our warm, shallow lakes and reservoirs. As luck would have it southeastern Idaho has some great options for trying your hand at carp fishing with fly rod. I hear it's the closest thing to salt water flat fishing for action and farthest thing from it by budget. Give me the chance to catch a 20 lb fish on a fly rod while on a cheap budget and I'll show up for carp fishing every time!

A great place to start any carp fishing adventure should begin with a visit to Idaho Angler in Boise, www.idahoangler.com,. Several of the guides there specialize in carp fly fishing and should be able to point you toward the right carp catching paraphernalia. From what I've read, grab your 6-8 weight rods, 1X-2X line, and have plenty of backing for long runs. I've landed a few carp on my 5 weight and 4X line but it was a 20 minute ordeal.

I have decided to devote at least a few free summer weekends a year to chasing this denizen of the muck and see what all the hype is about. Having grown up in southern Idaho, I can recommend several great places to start but in general any large, shallow, permanent body of water should hold carp (fortunately or unfortunately). Because I live in Boise, I recommend CJ Strike (Bruneau arm), Lake Lowell, Brownlee, and Black Canyon reservoir due to their close proximity to home. I will update this  blog post  as I update my skills and knowledge base.
What works: who knows? You tell me and I'll tell anyone who reads my blog.