I've caught carp on nearly every type of fly tackle, but here are a few guidelines on what you'll need.

Rods. Graphite or glass, 6-weight for 3- to 8-pound carp. Carp fight too hard and long to make bamboo practical. A small extension butt helps. I use 7- and 8-weight rods for the Lake Michigan fish, but I go as small as 3- to 5-weight for smaller fish that might be eating small nymphs, spinners, or midges.

Reels. Use a single-action reel that holds at least 100 yards of 20-pound backing, the more the better. I recommend a large-arbor reel (Loop II or III) for the fastest, less tiring backing recovery.

Fly line. Use a weight-forward floating line or a weight-forward Scientific Anglers Stillwater line.

Leaders. I prefer 9- to 12-foot, knotless tapered leaders, and from 1X to 3X nylonorfluorocarbontippets. Fluorocarbon resists abrasions and cuts better than monofilament.

Choose your fly tackle weight based on the size of the flies you are going to cast, how far you will cast, how much wind you expect to encounter, and the size of fish you expect to hook. Since carp are difficult to grasp, it's important to have a net handy (a big one).

Grass Carp
Grass carp have a more pleasing mouth shape and are similar in fin and body shape to trout or salmon. Only sterile fish are legal to stock in ponds and lakes. They are voracious vegetarians, used to control excess aquatic vegetation. When correctly introduced, they are an inexpensive, environmentally-friendly, solution to chemicals. They grow rapidly, reaching from 40 to 50 pounds and are considered excellent eating.

Flies that imitate their favorite plant foods are most effective. However, I've occasionally caught larger grass carp on streamers, nymphs, and drys. In their book Carp on a Fly, Barry Reynolds, Brad Befus, and John Berryman report on their success catching grass carp on nymphs and Crud Flies.

A good way to put the fish into a feeding mood is to chum the area with grass clippings or catfish pellets. I recently stocked about 20 grass carp in my fly-fishing school pond to control the weeds. When I finally learned to hook them, they proved to be as fast and as powerful as they are selective. I lost about ten fish from power-run break-offs before I landed my first one, a wonderful 38-inch fish.