Capt Bob
05-21-2006, 01:17 PM
Along the upper Sebethe River in Cromwell is a large hayfield that easily floods. As with most rivers in the State the Sebethe is well over its banks and the hayfield is under 2-3 feet of water. When this happens, carp and other river species go with the flow and can be found
finning through the "grass flats". My friend lives close to this area and his teenage son has been hooking quite a few carp on worms.
This morning we decided to give it a try with fly rods. After a short walk to scout the area we found fish cruising within casting range. Not sure what or if they would take a fly we experimented with San Juan worms, Wolly Buggers and some big brown stone fly patterns. My friend hooked up first on a brown wolly bugger and after a quick change, I also hooked up but quickly lost the fish. For the next 2 hours we stalked fish in the pasture and hooked and landed over a dozen fish each. When hooked the carp would make a long hard run toward the shallower areas which gave us a glimpse of the fish just before they would change direction and head for deeper water or some cover. We estimated the fish were all in the 10 to 12 pound range. Each of us saw and hooked much larger fish, but they always seemed to pop the hook on their initial powerful run. Even the smaller carp took usinto our backing on our 7wt outfits.
Ive fly fished for carp before in the CT River, but never in a hayfield. This was agreat change of pace sport for the morning.
finning through the "grass flats". My friend lives close to this area and his teenage son has been hooking quite a few carp on worms.
This morning we decided to give it a try with fly rods. After a short walk to scout the area we found fish cruising within casting range. Not sure what or if they would take a fly we experimented with San Juan worms, Wolly Buggers and some big brown stone fly patterns. My friend hooked up first on a brown wolly bugger and after a quick change, I also hooked up but quickly lost the fish. For the next 2 hours we stalked fish in the pasture and hooked and landed over a dozen fish each. When hooked the carp would make a long hard run toward the shallower areas which gave us a glimpse of the fish just before they would change direction and head for deeper water or some cover. We estimated the fish were all in the 10 to 12 pound range. Each of us saw and hooked much larger fish, but they always seemed to pop the hook on their initial powerful run. Even the smaller carp took usinto our backing on our 7wt outfits.
Ive fly fished for carp before in the CT River, but never in a hayfield. This was agreat change of pace sport for the morning.