I was fishing at a local reservoir the other day. I have never caught a fish from this reservoir, but I've seen plenty of carp and trout recently so I brought my fly rod with me while I was trying to kill some time. I found an open sandy beach and waded out about 20 feet and into knee deep water. Carp were swimming under my rod tip, but when i put my brown wooly bugger in front of one (even when I didn't spook it) the fish just ignored it. How can I stack the odds in my favor to catch these fish? I'm looking for tips on flies/ lures, time of day, presentation, and anything else that might help me catch these giants. Also, I was using a 9 foot 5 wt Echo Carbon rod with a Lamson Liquid reel. I feel pretty confident in this setup, especially the reel's drag, but would you feel comfortable catching a mid-sized carp on a 5 weight?

Im not much of a fly fisherman. But if I was... this is what I would try. Chum the top of the water with pieces of bread. Then present a bread ball imitation fly. I think its fine to undersize your gear a little when your dealing with light bites and tiny hooks. I don't know what the science is about carp digesting white bread so use it sparingly. Just enough chum to get them feeding and looking for more.

Fishing for carp on anything under a 7 weight is pretty undersized.  They can run.  Like, really, really run. 

I have caught my fair share of carp on my 4wt but it will take a long time and you will lose some.  It is the only fish i have caught on the fly rod to take me into my backing and do so multiple times on the same fish.  

Carp are some of the most finicky fish to catch in my opinion.  I have never tried the chumming method but i know it is commonplace in the carp world.  I would usually just wait till i see some rooting around and feeding.  When they are actively feeding they aren't as hard to catch but they do spook super easily and light tippets and smaller flies are required.  My best success has been on what basically looks like a small crayfish looking fly.  You gotta lead them and just let it sit there and hope it crosses their path.

Now, if you happen to find the feeding on top get ready for a fun day cause that is fast and furious action.  I got into a pod of feeding carp and it was one after another.