Carp on a Crab Fly
This is the journey of fishing and refining a carp-ified merkin crab, because why not
You can surely catch carp on trout flies like woolly buggers, worms, and mops. You can also lean on carp specific flies like the backstabber, headstand, and h.v.r.t.
Without any near term plans to return to the salt flats, a more fun approach (for me) is to enlist tropical patterns like gotchas, and mini puffs (both work). It’s not as crazy as you might first think. But how far can it go? If we follow that vein down a bit further, will they eat a crab fly? A fly unequivocally not meant for carp.
Due West Anglers
As previously discussed in the Warmwater-Saltwater Connection, carp follow the generalized rule of basically eating the same thing as flats species like redfish and bonefish: crustaceans, and baitfish. Admittedly, the baitfish angle on carp is sometimes limited, so let's focus instead on crustaceans. For carp, that means crayfish.
You’re not crazy, a crab doesn't look much like a crayfish… but if you squint really, really hard a crab fly isn't that far off. Wiggly legs, and imitation pinchers maybe enough to do the job. Plus, at least around me, carp are seeing more and more flies. Which means, they're seeing more and more crayfish imitations. To stay one step ahead, why not a crab fly?
Trials and Tribulations
At first, failure! Maybe not that surprising.
Interestingly, I was able to fool carp on another saltwater pattern: the Dedeaux Redfish fly. Sort of a side-quest, but further advances the idea that redfish flies and carp flies share some crossover. I can't say I'm a big Dedeaux fan, but this fly is actually really cool!
Turns out it took a while, after a mixed spring I was relegated back to standard black backstabber for a while.
Then finally, over this past week I observed shallow aggressive fish and figured the time had come to renew the quest. Not to mention, I was getting rejected with my ace-in-the-hole egg patterns.
I finished 2 for 2 on the carp merkin and proved the initial concept; they will in fact eat crab flies.
Both fish ate with gusto too, supporting my theory that the drop is more important than the fly. Big long rubber legs cant hurt though, and maybe a trigger point for carp accustomed to eating crayfish. So, if you’re a fan of the knuckleball, or need a new angle on the trickiest carp, you might consider small crab patterns for your carp box.
