The New and Improved Coyote Carp Fly

After a month or so of tinkering, I finally had the chance to put the latest version of the Coyote Carp in front of an actual carp . . . and MAN, does it work!

It took awhile to find the right combination of hook, eyes, and material to get the correct action out of the fly. I knew I wanted to use a medium bead chain eye so that I could get a decent sink rate without too much SPLAT on the water. Most of my fishing is in about a foot of water so I am more interested in stealthy presentations than a rapid sink rate. The problem came in finding a hook that was light enough to ride inverted ("hook-up") while in a #8 being stout enough not to straighten as a 8+ lb. fish is pulling on a 2X leader. With the help of a handy dandy analytical balance, I came up with a rough ratio of eye/hook mass needed to invert a fly. Turns out the eye needs to be about 2.5X heavier than the hook. Obviously, this also depends on materials and where they are placed on the shank.

Anyway, I spent a bit of time in March with an aquarium and some prototypes. The winning combination turned out to be a Gamakatsu SC-15 #6 with medium bead chain eyes (the SC-15 seem to be sized a little big - their #6 is the same size as a Mustad 3407 #8). This is an AWESOME shallow water fly; it hits soft, inverts easily, and hooks fish in the upper lip every time. A "deep" version (for fish in 18-36" of water) is tied with the SC-15 #4 and mini lead eyes. The minis don't hit too hard and get the fly down fairly quick. This should also be a KILLER redfish and bonefish fly; as a matter of fact, a handful of these are currently in the Seychelles with Brent and David from Tailwaters. I'm interested in their report - if nothing, that one of my flies is stuck in a coral head somewhere in the Indian Ocean!

I LOVE the SC-15's! At first, their thin diameter gave me caution - I've had clients straighten hooks on carp before - but, in actual "fish-testing" today they performed perfectly. I caught 7 carp on the same fly, the last two were over seven pounds each and I leaned on them pretty hard; trying to straighten the hook. Nothing except a perfect hook set right in the upper lip.