Washington’s Freshwater Bonefish 3

Pacific Northwest anglers looking for something new should turn their attention to the carp of Eastern Washington. That’s right, I said CARP! I’ve hooked these things incidentally while fishing for trout and smallies on the Snake River years ago and either got spooled or came close to it every single time. 

Gary Thompson, manager at Reds Fly Shop (509-929-1802) on the Yakima River says, “They’re big, powerful, and damned hard to catch.  I can fish for them within 30 minutes of my home in Ellensburg on any number of lakes or the Columbia River and I do so every chance I get.” Gary further explained that this is strictly a spot and stalk fishery. Anglers need high sun and clear water to spot fish and when a carp up the fly there’s nothing there to let you know they’ve taken it. You have to see them pick up the fly, and that’s it. 

Wooley buggers, crayfish patterns, deer hair bodied corn kernels, damsel and mayfly nymphs, and John Luke’s Carp Candy series from Spirit River all take carp on the flats. Flies are either fished with a dead drift or a “strip, pause, strip, pause” bonefish style presentation. Gary likes to use fluorocarbon leaders a minimum of 8 pound 3X and larger because of fluorocarbons invisibility and abrasion resistance. 

“Spotting, stalking, and actually hooking one of these fish is a big time challenge and it isn’t a walk in the park by any means. We see fish all the way up to 40 pounds on our local waters. A good friend hooked a carp of about 18 pounds last summer on the Columbia and it took 200 yards of 30 pound backing and just kept on going. Imagine what a 40 pound carp would do?” 

Carp are prolific throughout the Columbia basin, inhabiting the Columbia River from Tri-Cities to Wenatchee, the Snake River, Moses Lake, and many of the small streams and lakes within the basin. Even though they inhabit many different waters throughout the basin Gary prefers the Columbia. “That’s where the big boys live. There’s a ton of habitat for them on the Columbia and that’s where you’ll find those big 30 and 40 pound carp.”

Red’s Fly Shop (509-929-1802) offer’s guided trips for carp during the summer months and has seen more interest in these fish in recent years, mostly from anglers looking for a new challenge. It doesn’t hurt that carp can run a fly reel into it’s backing as quickly as any game fish in the Northwest.   

Rob Endsley
The Outdoor Line
710 ESPN Seattle
www.theoutdoorline.com