Fly Fishing for Carp: Tips, Flies, and Adventures with Zack Harris

Zack Harris has spent years mastering the art of fly fishing, with a particular passion for chasing carp. From his first fly rod experience to targeting these hard-fighting fish, Zack's journey is filled with determination, creativity, and a deep appreciation for the technical aspects of carp fishing. In this interview, Zack shares his top carp flies, go-to techniques, and a memorable fishing story that’s sure to make you smile

Photo by Lucía Padilla 

Zack, what first got you into fly fishing, and how did that initial interest grow into the passion you have today?

Well, I’ve been fishing pretty much my whole life. I used to go to the lake with one of my grandads, and the other lived right on the river. Fishing crickets under a cork until my early teens, eventually evolving into throwing rubber worms on baitcasters. I was 17 when I bought my first fly rod. I spent a few weeks breaking the sound barrier on my back cast, and lost who knows how many foam bugs before I got frustrated and reluctantly returned to what I knew. It wasn’t until I was 21 or 22 that I got serious with it. I made a friend who’d fly fished all over the country, and he’d convinced me to pick up an 8wt and chase bass with him. I hooked into one (about a pound) and that was it. All I could think about was feeding feathers to fish. A few months later I purchased my first vise. I whipped up a few crude bugs, started catching fish, and basically never looked back.  

Photo by Grant Powell

Carp fishing is a unique challenge in the fly fishing world. What drew you specifically to targeting carp, and what do you enjoy most about it?

They’re beautiful, difficult, they pull hard, and they’re photogenic… what’s not to enjoy?? Carping can be technical, and I think that’s why I feel such a strong draw towards it. You have to hunt for the fish, and when you find it you have to figure out a way to get close enough to present your fly quietly and precisely. Once you lock it in, you have to have some skill in order to fight the fish. Both mentally and physically, it’s a very active style of fishing, and anybody who’s fished with me knows I can’t stay in one spot for long. I’ll say the best part about carp is watching them eat the fly. Most would assume that carp lazily vacuum up whatever looks tasty, but they can be surprisingly aggressive when they see something they want. Watching them notice a bug and whip around to inhale it, flaring their fins and wagging their tail. It’s awesome every single time. 

Photo by Zach Adair

When tying flies for carp, what are the key factors you consider to make them irresistible to these fish?

By far, the most important aspect of a carp fly is tying it with as little weight as you can while achieving the proper hook orientation and sink rate you need to get down to the fish in a timely manner, all while still looking natural. Sometimes it’s no weight at all, and sometimes it’s large brass eyes. Weight is also important if you’re fishing in thick vegetation or an area with a super soft bottom. Too light and it’ll be tough to penetrate the vegetation. Too heavy and your fly may sink into the muck and out of the fish’s sight. It’s all relative to your local water. Another characteristic I like to include in most of my flies is some sort of bugginess, usually in the form of a dubbing loop or a hackle… or both. Creatures below the water’s surface have a number of legs, antennae, gills, and tails. Having dubbing or feather fibers hanging off your fly really helps to imitate that. One more feature that I’ll try to incorporate into about 95% of the flies I tie for carp is having them stand up on the bottom. Almost like a little flag waving down the fish. This really helps to keep the fly from blending in too much with the surroundings. It also adds just a tiny amount of movement to the pattern as it dances with the water current, giving some life to the fly. 

How do you approach finding the best carp spots, and what are some of your go-to techniques when fishing for carp?

I still have so much to learn about the carp here locally. I’ve found them happily feeding in so many different types of areas, a few of which are not the typical spots anglers would expect to see a golden tail waving in the air. If I was giving advice to another angler about where to find carp, there’s one type of water in particular I’d recommend locating first: slow moving (or still), shallow water with a muddy bottom and access to a deeper area where the fish can escape predators. This type of environment not only attracts carp, but it also makes it really easy for a person to find the happy fish worth casting to. Slow moving, shallow water allows your eye to pick up on a disturbed surface where a carp may be mudding, tailing, or belly crawling without question. And when a carp is feeding happily, the muddy bottom stirs up and creates an insanely obvious cloud that can be spotted from a decent distance. As far as techniques goes, the “drag and drop” method is probably the best way to make it happen. Essentially, this technique is about casting past the fish, then dragging your fly through the water before it has a chance to sink and letting it fall on a dinner plate somewhere near the front of the fish’s face. If done correctly, you’ll get an eat almost every time. Quick tip about the drag and drop method, you ideally want the fish to somewhat be swimming in your direction. That way if you move the fly, it seems as though the “prey” is attempting an escape. A lot of the time, if your fly moves toward the fish it will catch on and know something’s not right. 

Photo by Odom Wu

Can you share a memorable experience or story from one of your carp fishing trips that stands out to you?

One morning I was out at the river, walking the bank and looking for mud. I made my way onto a high bank full of trees and vegetation where I found a little “window” amongst the branches that allowed me to look down to the water. So I poked my head out and of course… there’s a fish. Feeding heavily with its face down in the mixture of silt and dead leaves. Without hesitation, I lowered my fly down and got the eat. The fish tears off, absolutely ripping line off of my reel. I started to try to find a way down to the water in order to properly fight and land the fish, only to realize that there was no way I could get down there on foot… so I had to make a poor attempt at jumping through the little window. I did make it down to the water, but I didn’t land on my feet. It wasn’t necessarily a high jump, but a difficult one. Luckily, rods and bones were still in good shape and I was able to get the fish to the net, to this day being one of my largest. This story is important because it taught me to be aware of my surroundings and have a plan before I make the presentation. However, I’d be lying if I said that type of thing never happened again…

Photo by Grant Powell 

What’s next for you, Zack? Are there any new projects, locations, or species you’re excited to explore in your fly fishing journey?

The next big thing for me will be Argentinian Patagonia. I’ll be flying out on December 30th of this year to spend three weeks there. My girlfriend is from Argentina and her family road trips through the north of Patagonia every year, and this year I’ll tag along with them. I’ve taught her as much as I can about the carp, and now she gets to show me how it’s done on a trout stream. She’s crazy good. Two towns, five rivers, and hopefully more fish than we can count. There’s also a possible trip for jungle Dorado next fall… but that’s still in the planning process.