That's right...CARP!

[Salmonhawk]

I'll give Lake Wa. a try and report back if I have any luck. I have been told they hang around the Newport Shores area and guess where I keep my boat.

Oh wait, one more thing. what about depths at different times of year or are they always in shallow water?

[ondarvr]

I always fished for them in fairly shallow water, maybe 10 feet or less, in or near lilly pads and weeds from 2 to 6 feet below the float. I can't say whether this was the correct way or not, at the time I never saw or talked with anyone else that tried to catch them, or at least anybody that admitted to it. I did this on and off in LW from around 1965 to 1976 during part of the time when I lived on the lake.

[Salmonhawk]

Thanks for all the tips, I'll report back when I get one...Need to find some time now.

[Ruckus]

I spent many a summer fishing for Carp on Lake Tapps as a kid and well into my twenties. Super Fun Fish!!!! Theres been many all night carp expeditions around Alan York Park for me. The Bite is on in May when they first fill the lake. I used to chuckle when people would drive by and holler at us " Theres no fish in that lake you Dumbass!" I would just wave at em and smile. Our bait of choice was a Wonder Bread dough ball tipped with corn, and it had to be Wonder Bread, off brands had poor results. We would chum an area with creamed corn to really get the sent out there, some times we would mix some grape cool aid packets for some added flavor. If it rained we would switch to floats and crawlers, the carp would actually cruise under the surface and feed.

Try this old Indian trick next time you go carp fishing, especially near parks....feed the ducks! The Ruckus created in the water by a duck feeding frenzy is a dinner bell to any carp in the area. Carp come a running and try to steal any tidbit of bread missed by the ducks above. Get them ducks all worked up and toss your setup right in the middle of em...and hang on to your rod! More than once we've been spooled by big carp with our Steelhead gear no less.

A few years back a buddy and I were fly fishing Lake Lenice in E. WA. the typical Columbia Gorge wind blew us off the water around noon. We didnt want to stop fishing so we hopped in the truck and went exploring. What we found was a resevoir with carp jumping every where! We launched the belly boats and went after them. The water was shallow and Gin Clear, the fish were surprisingly wary and took some stealth to get even close enough to cast to. After some trial and error we found that casting our black leach patterns and sinkng line, letting it settle to the bottom and wait for a cruising fish to get in the area was the ticket. When the fish was within visible distance of the fly we would twitch it, creating a little puff of silt on the bottom, the carp would turn to investigate and more often than not sucked in the fly. Alot of fun and they saved our day! Poor mans bonefish they say!

Check out a cool book at the library called "Fishing for Buffalo" An entire book dedicated to fishing for so called trash fish. There are some great dough ball recipes if you want to try them out.

[Robbo]

I've caught them incidentally and always got my ass kicked. I think targeting them on light spin gear or fly rods would be fun and challenging. Would love to see some carp pics here...especially some of Smalmas from the 60's