Summertime, low water, the trout aren't rising and the salmon aren't biting. How about finding a coarse fishery that allows fly anglers and trying for some carp. Nick Thomas does just that and tells us about just such a place.
When I started fly fishing for carp and other coarse species I found it very difficult to find fisheries that would allow me to use a fly rod; much Googling and trawling of on-line forums was required to find some places that I could - and wanted to - fish. Judging by the posts on forums I read this is still a common problem experienced by others, so I thought I'd provide details of one of my favourite fly friendly coarse fishing venues.
Sylen lakes (www.sylenlakes.co.uk) used to be a trout fishery so the owners are quite happy to encourage fly fishing alongside method feeders and hair rigged boilies. The fishery is tucked away in the rolling hills of Carmarthenshire north of Llanelli. It's not the easiest place to find and I had to use my sat-nav to find my way along the narrow lanes the first couple of times I fished there, but if you want a great day of fly fishing for carp it's worth the trouble of finding it. This is no bare muddy carp puddle, but a mature lake surrounded by woods and with an abundance of bank side vegetation. The lake provides a great variety of places for the fly fisher to stalk carp in the margins or cast to fish basking in the shallows. I'm still exploring all the opportunities the lake offers but I've listed some of my favourite spots here.
A day's fishing at Sylen Lakes will cost you £7 paid using a self service ticket system in the cabin by the car park. Walking down through the trees takes you to the north end of the lake where an opening in the reeds provides the first opportunity to cast a fly (number 1 on the map). I will usually try this spot if it's free when I first arrive and then return later in the day. Selection of the best fishing locations at Sylen can often depend on the wind direction. The prevailing wind is from the south or south west and if the breeze picks up in the afternoon the carp will often concentrate in the shallows at the north end of the lake to bask in the sun and to feed on floating food blown up the lake.
One afternoon I was walking back to the car park after a good day's fishing and I looked over to the north corner to see a group of twenty or more carp hanging motionless in the sunlight. Keeping back from the edge of the lake I quickly pulled off a good length of line from the reel and stripped it back through my rod hand to get the coils in the right order in my landing net on the ground for a clean smooth cast. A few false casts got the head of the fly line out of the tip ring and a firm double haul sent the foam and elk hair beetle out over the fish. I didn't even see the fish take; the fly seemed to hit the surface and keep going down, the slack line in my hand shot out, came tight against the reel drag and the rod slammed over sideways as the carp headed down the lake. Ten minutes later a double figure common slid over the net.
Walking south along the bank from here you'll arrive at an opening in the trees on a point overlooking the entrance to a large bay (number 2 on the map). Fishing out into open water from the point is a good place to intercept fish cruising up and down the lake and visiting the bay. Walking further to the left will give you access through the reeds at a couple of points to fish into the bay (3 on map). This can be a good spot if there's a breeze blowing up or down the main lake as the bay is sheltered and the surface remains mostly calm for surface fishing.
Moving around the bay from here will take you out onto a promontory facing the main lake. This is a popular spot for bivvied carp anglers on weekends, but if you come early early in the morning on a weekday then the prime spot is at the end of the point (4 on map) with access to open water and a small bay. You'll need to watch your back casts here though as you'll be fishing among the trees. Moving around to the other side of the small bay (5 on map) will give you more open fishing and a choice of features to fish to. The small bay is a good spot in a breeze from the south and fish come in right under the bank. If conditions are calmer then long casting out into open water is possible as the open grass doesn't limit your back cast. Don't overlook the small channel round the corner to the south; this is a good place to flick in a fly alongside the reeds for fish looking for food carried in on the inlet stream. The channel is only a few feet wide, but I've taken a number of large fish from here by kneeling at the entrance to the channel and side casting a fly up to the reeds at the other end.
Walking up the stream and then back down to the lake edge will bring you to a gap in the trees facing the island (6 on map). This part of the lake is thickly wooded along the bank so this is the only spot in this area that allows a long cast to reach close to the island and fish patrolling around it. If this spot is taken or if there's a breeze blowing which will drag your line and fly away from the island then walking further south to the bottom end of the lake (7 on map) will take you to more open ground where you can fish between the trees out towards the island. It takes quite a long cast to reach the margins of the island, but it's worth the effort as the fish here seem to feel quite secure and take floating baits confidently. As your fly is a long way off seeing and striking takes can be difficult, however I've often had fish inhale a fly while cruising along the island margins and watched the leader and fly line swim sideways in an arc until the line pulled tight to the reel.
So if you want a day's fly fishing for carp with an interesting variety of locations to stalk fish in the margins or target fish in open water then visit the Sylen website and fire up your sat-nav.
Double Dawg
I like to fish imitative patterns like beetles and other terrestrials for carp, including my APT (see ESF issue 30) but sometimes you just can't beat a dog biscuit imitation on lakes like Sylen which are known for their surface fishing and where the carp see a lot of real floating biscuits in the summer. This pattern imitates two biscuits floating together which can be effective when the carp are getting a tad suspicious that your free food imitation might have a hook in it. Doubling up to a two for the risk of one seems to overcome some of their caution. The fly is tied on a longshank carp hook which is quite heavy, but with two deer hair biscuits onboard it floats fine and sits down in the surface film like real biscuits do. Don't be tempted to apply Gink or other floatants as this will make the fly too buoyant and make the fish suspicious. I tie the fly to my tippet with a Kreh loop knot as this allows the fly to hinge and minimises any resistance the carp feel as they mouth the fly.
Hook: Gardner Covert Longshank Mugga size 8 barbless
Thread: UTC 70 brown
Body: Trimmed brown or natural deer hair
- Run on the thread opposite the hook point and take back for about 1cm in touching turns. Covert Mugga hooks are Teflon coated so a light smear of superglue on the thread wraps helps at this point.
- Catch in a stacked bunch of deer hair a bit thicker than a pencil on top of the shank with the butt ends forward and take two loose thread wraps around the hair.
- Tighten the thread to flare the hair and spin it around the hook. Make some tight thread wraps moving forward through the hair, fold back the hair and take wraps onto the hookshank to hold back the hair.
- Repeat with further bunches of hair until you reach the point opposite the hook point where you started. Whip finish and cut off the thread.
- Trim the spun deer hair into a biscuit shape with a flat surface underneath.
- Run on the thread behind the hook eye and take back about 1 cm.
- Repeat the spinning and trimming process until you have a second biscuit imitation at the front of the hook.
- Once you've finished the trimming to your satisfaction turn the hook upside down in the vice and apply a small amount of superglue along the underside along the deer hair above the shank. Turn the fly the right way up and allow to dry. The glue will soak into the thread and hair along the shank by capillary action to reinforce the fly and make it last for a good many fish.
Nick Thomas lives in South Wales. He started fly fishing on Scottish hill lochs many years ago and continues to design, tie and fish flies for trout, carp, bass and anything else that’s going.