How do you fish for carp?

Yaktastic recently reported catching a hefty carp, and it sounds like Captain Redbeard, Kardinal_84, and others have fished for carp.  What are some good ways to fish for carp?  There are carp in some rivers in Montana, and I was thinking of giving it a try.

My favorite way to target carp is sight fishing with a fly rod in shallow water. 

My favorite way to target carp is sight fishing with a fly rod in shallow water.

What kind of flies work on carp?  I've seen schools of carp hanging out along the shore in the Missouri River with their upper lips sticking out of the water.

Can't speak for Montana, only for Idaho, Calif, Oregon, if carp are feeding on the surface, whatever is hatching is what they are after, carp are mostly bottom eaters so if they are on the surface they've been drawn their by whatever is in abundance.
Fly fishing for carp normally involves using weighted flies to get them on the bottom quickly and the keep them there. Crawfish, sculpins are usually good bets along with dragonfly nymphs, freshwater shrimp. What makes carp so difficult is they will spook for no reason, all it takes is one fish in a school to bolt, they're all gone, plus the make great fighters.  Carp is regarded as a great games fish almost everywhere except the US.  Good luck, stealth is your friend.

John

If you'd like to fish for them using regular spinning gear, look into how to make and use a hair rig with properly prepared corn.    You can find all sorts of YouTube videos on the subject.   

My favorite way to target carp is sight fishing with a fly rod in shallow water.

What kind of flies work on carp?  I've seen schools of carp hanging out along the shore in the Missouri River with their upper lips sticking out of the water.

Just like fishing for anything else, "match the hatch".  I have seen surface-feeding carp going after spent mayflies accumulating in slack water, cottonwood seeds and algae.  I've even caught triploid grass carp on grass-clipping flies on grass-mowing day. 

If chumming is legal canned corn works to hold fish.they eat the spilled wheat and barley that is sometimes lost in the Columbia here in the Dalles while loading barges.

We used to use dough balls and hot dogs for carp in the Allegheny River in PA.

I've caught them on all kinds of lures and flies here in idaho, when they are schooled up at the surface sucking air, I use my fly rod, a small dry fly and carfully lay it in front of them and they will eat it almost every time! Swimbaits, cranks and crawdads have also caught them, usually while I was bass fishn.

Alot of people catch them on the good ol worm, I get the question all the time here in my area. What kind of fish are you always out there fishn for?  Tha next sentence from their mouth is usually, the only thing in that river is carp!
 And Pete the reason they say that is because the only way they ever fish is with a can o worms!
 In the summer evenings my boys and I will thread a worm on, toss it out and catch a carp when trying to get just a chub or small bass to cut up for catfish bait. They don't make good bait either! They get left on the bank and thrown in the trash.
But they put up a fight and are still fun to catch!

When I think of Carp,  I think of all of the bowfishing videos I have watched over the years and thought "I have to try that some day.                   

I have found carp in the Willamette and Columbia rivers to be much more difficult to catch than carp back east (Potomac River, backwaters, lakes/ponds) and carp from lakes. Maybe it's just me.

I haven't caught a lot of them here, and I've only been trying occasionally for a couple of years, but I can share what I know. I have had success on a hair rig and white bread. I use 30lb. dark colored braid for the hair rig because I think it lays more naturally on the bottom. Also I use a dark colored #4 hook so it can be completely covered easily. I've also caught sight-casting to them with worms on a rising tide. The schools I've found in rivers are incredibly spooky.

I'm hoping to target them more this year now that I've found a few good spots. One of my goals is to catch my first carp-on-the-fly this year.

Alot of people catch them on the good ol worm, I get the question all the time here in my area. What kind of fish are you always out there fishn for?  Tha next sentence from their mouth is usually, the only thing in that river is carp!
 And Pete the reason they say that is because the only way they ever fish is with a can o worms!
 In the summer evenings my boys and I will thread a worm on, toss it out and catch a carp when trying to get just a chub or small bass to cut up for catfish bait. They don't make good bait either! They get left on the bank and thrown in the trash.
But they put up a fight and are still fun to catch!

Have you tried eating carp? The main reason carp have been introduced all over the world is because people like to eat them, although some species of carp are apparently more tasty than others.  The next time you catch a carp, take it home, Google "Carp Recipes," and try cooking it up, and give us a report.

Well Pete, I had some that was smoked yrs ago, and it was good. I didn't know that's what I was eatn until after the fact. I have sold them to people on the bank for 5 bucks each and giggled about it for days. They wanted everything we caught so they could eat them?!
 I tried to just give them the fish but they insisted that they pay us for them...ha. I don't know if I'm willing to try and cook one. They stink, the ones I do catch get bopped on the head and thrown on the bank for the birds.

Well Pete, I had some that was smoked yrs ago, and it was good. I didn't know that's what I was eatn until after the fact. I have sold them to people on the bank for 5 bucks each and giggled about it for days. They wanted everything we caught so they could eat them?!
 I tried to just give them the fish but they insisted that they pay us for them...ha. I don't know if I'm willing to try and cook one. They stink, the ones I do catch get bopped on the head and thrown on the bank for the birds.

Northern Pike is one of the tastier fish around.  But I've had a number of people say they tried pike, and it tasted terrible.  They refer to pike by various derogatory names, such as "slime rocket."  I ask them, "did you remove the skin before you cooked it? Did you remove the 'Y' bones?" They usually answer no to both questions.  I tell them that if you remove the skin and the "Y" bones, pike is one of the best tasting fish anywhere.

There may be a similar thing going on with carp.  Some species of carp may taste better than others, and you may need to process and prepare them correctly.  I want to try catching and eating some carp.  If you try eating some of those carp you've been heaving onto the bank, let us know how they taste.