In the past two weeks I have been amazed at the number of carp I have spotted in the shallows at Lake Mendocino. I have literally seen hundreds and most of them are quite large. I don't know if I have just never noticed them before or if the population has drastically increased. I think carp fishing is pretty fun as they fight really good. I have been worried though that the sheer numbers out there may put other fish species at risk. Has anyone notice an increase in the carp population at Mendo or at Clearlake? Any suggestions on sight fishing them in the shallows? I swear you could almost just net these things from the side of the boat.
If they're actually feeding in the shallows, not just cruising through, you can catch them with flies such as the wooly bugger by casting just ahead of them and as soon as they take the fly, hit em and hold on. They spit out the fly right away so you have to set the hook right away.
Clear Lake has a lot less carp than it used to. Don't know about Mendocino from personal experience but I'm hearing that there's lots of them in there.
Good luck hooking into them, they're a very strong fighting fish, especially on a 5 or 6 weight fly rod.
