Fly Fishing for the very last carp of the summer

Just like last year when I caught a thirty inch carp on the last day of summer, my goal was to
repeat my feat.  Unlike last year I was not fishing New Jersey's eighty mile long Passaic River.
The weather has cooled some, the temperature is no longer above above ninety degrees.
This time I fished a small lake.   No thirty incher but a nice carp for the day none the less.

The fish pictured above is a carp caught earlier in the month

These are the dry flies I've used this month to catch carp

Carp

When I arrived at the lake it was so hot that no one was sitting in my favorite spot and it is
shaded by two trees!  "Mad dogs and English men go out in the midday sun", is an old song
that needs to be updated to include those of us who fly fish for carp during the dog days of summer.
The month of August has been one of the hottest months on record.
 

My back pack was filled with a litter of water and a half gallon of lemonade as well as few hundred
flies.  Serious problems can develop if you do not drink lots of fluids on a hot summer day.  Normally I would have skipped fishing on a day like this.  However, the need to catch some carp made me throw
caution to the wind.

SCORCHING and humid were the conditions.  No one was fishing.  carp were feeding so I "man up"
and started to fish different flies.  As the afternoon passed I started to hook fish.  My 4X tippet was
not enough for the first fish.  I like to challenge myself by using tackle as light as possible.  For me the
sweet spot is a tippet that is close to eight pounds, unless there are weeds or I'm on a river.

A fishing buddy who makes pellet flies from "flip flops" had given me some of his flies.  They worked!
I felt I was in the groove now.  Carp were feeding on the dog food I had scattered on the lake surface
(remember less is more once they start to feed).  A carp really hammered a slow sinking fly ( a fly made from a kitchen sponge ).  The rod actually shook in my had as the fly was taken.

When I can catch a few good fish, It makes for an enjoyable, though hot, afternoon of summer
fly fishing for carp..

Deer Hair flies for carp

I had a good evening.  Two carp were fooled by my deer hair flies.  I used an old 5/6 weight fly rod

Rather than tie my fly on the tippet with a non slip knot, I used a fly fish hook snap.  This device
allows for quick fly changes.  I  had stopped using the fly fish hook snaps because I had a big river carp pull the snap apart  once.  The  fly fish snap allows me to test different flies without having to tie on a fly.

Here is a close up picture of my deer hair pellet fly and the snap.

This rig works for carp in Central Park.  Two wax worm soft baits connected by a fly fishing
hook snap

Carp will take egg patterns when they are drag free drifted past feeding carp.