Do you guys prefer Carp Fishing or general fishing ?

[Guest tigger]

I actually love carp fishing in the right type of water in the right place. A pond/lake that is quite hard to find/get to and hardly ever fished containing some old wild type carp amongst other species is the type of water I have in mind. I also think carp are a good looking fish and are IMO one of the best fighting fish around.

[HOPPY4]

I LOVE to Fish and that is any type of fishing! I will go to Great Lenghts to spend time on the water, but I still draw the line! I am what is considered an All-Around Angler and the times on the shoreline or boat are horded like they were Diamond & Gold pieces of jewelery. As to spending night after night on the water and not coming home for weeks at a time, "Those are FEW" and far between. I will plan for at least 2 trips a year that will take me away from home and are spent FISHING! This is what works for me! I am forced to mostly fish on Saturday and will return that same evening. I will reluctantly go out on a Sunday if the oppertunuity is not there on Saturday. These are my limitations and I must live with them!

 

HOPPY4

[Ken L]

Fair play to Lake Owner. Joined yesterday, only 14 posts and already causing a quite impressive level of controversy that it took me months to build up to.

Welcome to Anglers Net matey. You've certainly jumped in with both feet.

Do me a favour and give be a warning so I can grab my tin hat when you venture into the murkey waters of "Non Fishing Chat".

[Wordbender]

Thats an impressive tally of 15 plussers Tel! I have "suffered" similarly with Tench! can never catch them well when targeting them but have racked up a load over 8 whilst carping!

 

A couple of the over-15s may well have been recaptures, Budge, but not many. I've had the bloody things on 24mm boilies, tiger nuts and huge halibut pellets, and full-on big carp rigs, too. I'm known as the 'Bream Genie' among my angling mates, due to my ability to conjour them from anywhere I fish. Well, anywhere I fish for carp, that is.

[Steve Burke]

A couple of the over-15s may well have been recaptures, Budge, but not many. I've had the bloody things on 24mm boilies, tiger nuts and huge halibut pellets, and full-on big carp rigs, too. I'm known as the 'Bream Genie' among my angling mates, due to my ability to conjour them from anywhere I fish. Well, anywhere I fish for carp, that is.

 

So when are you going to bream fish (er, sorry, carp fish) on the Coarse Lake at Wingham?

[Kappa]

Bream worry me. I think they can tune into my thoughts. When I'm trying catch carp, bream queue up to scoff my hookbaits. I have caught many monster bream when I've been carp fishing, and recently caught over 200lbs of them in one carp session, and not a single carp.

 

Yet, on the, admittedly rare, occasions when I've gone after the slimy sods, they know my intentions and shun my every attempt to catch them. My 'proper' bream PB is under 7lbs. My 'carp tactics' bream PB is 17lbs 6oz and I've caught no fewer than nine over 15lbs during my accidental breaming exploits.

 

This weekend, I have commissioned the immensely talented Adrian Smith to do a 'how to catch bream' article for Carp and Coarse Angler, and if the bream in question know he's after them on my behalf, I know they'll go on hunger strike immediately.

 

Bream hate me. I don't know why, they just do.

 

Thats your problem you are letting them know you are fishing for them, I never fish for bream, I fish for tench and catch bream by accident

 

Rich

[telefisher]

"Telefisher here", i can understand the sentiments on all sides, but on the odd occassion i can snatch a 24hr session, i stick out a rod aimed at carp just for the hell of i, and a float in the margin, but as night falls and every one has gone "pussy bo-bo`s, its then all rods are stashed and i just sit back under stars simply watching and waiting for the first light of dawn, pure unadulterated bliss, i am not a fan of Commercials, i just love me fishing but i do agree with tackle being used thats just totally unnecassary for the job in hand, sadly though this is the mind set we`ve attained these days, when i have time i do teach angling, but when you get faced with a "University Rocket scientist" bouncing on in your face about the latest "withypoolnailerzigdelkimnshimano" its here mate in this mag attitude, all i can say is, "Where the heck, have we gone wrong?, hokay i have 3lb ers and big pits, likewise i have 2 and 2.5lb ers, but i just love my 5 metre bolo, seeing that float dip says it all, i dont care whats on the as long as i bank it and return it safe, minnow or monster, there aint no difference, a fish is priceless moment, same as having a totally blank day !

[Neil G]

Big carp which are few in number, inhabiting a vast, rich gravel pit must be really hard to catch (I've never tried, but I'm thinking back to the pioneering carp fishing done in the 70s/80s/90s). Big pike, I think, are hard to catch because there aren't many of them. I reckon piking is one of the easiest forms of coarse fishing, so I'd disagree with W One there.

 

Big bream are the hardest fish I've ever tried to catch, but I bet trying to catch big roach is even harder!

 

What I think is the 'problem' (not the ideal expreesion, but you know what I mean) is the style of fishing. It's the going straight into strong rods, big reels, heavy line, boilies, rigs that are far too complicated and misunderstood, without understanding why any of it is being used. I don't mind if people want to catch a lot of carp (although I agree with Gozzer's lack of choice point), but using a 3lb tc rod, big pit reel and boilies in a little pond where the biggest fish is 15lb is missing the point of it all.

 

I think this is why I've turned into a grumpy 'rig cynic' too - beginners (spoon-fed by the media and tackle trade) thinking that doing nothing different except using a new rig or bait will instantly solve all their problems, when in reality the problems are much more fundamental (e.g. not being quiet enough, being in the wrong place, not being able to work out where the fish might be, poor feeding, fishing at the wrong times, etc.).

 

I would therefore say that a 'progression' from float fishing on lakes, to float fishing on rivers, to legering on lakes, to legering on rivers, to more specialised forms of legering which are necessary and to solve a specific problem, would be a better way to look at it.

 

However, if people start fishing at a certain (too high) stocking level and get used to catching a certain number of decent fish every session, it must be a real shock to then go to somewhere with a more natural number of fish.

 

Agree that pike fishing is easy...but only if they're in the water your fishing, if there scarce it can be very hard!

Edited March 10, 2009 by Neil G

[Lake owner]

There are a few different issues here, and each would (I think) get a different response from some that have posted.

 

There are those carp anglers that fish waters that have a small head of fish, and need to put in the preparation and rod hours to achieve their goal.

 

There are those that fish waters that hold a larger, (usually artificial) head of carp. The fishing is much easier, but they still think that they have to use the same approach as the aforementioned group.

 

Then their are the ones who like to call themselves 'carp anglers', (usually because they have been brainwashed into thinking it carries some kudos). They fish the over stocked waters where it is difficult to catch anything else but carp. Many of these 'carp anglers' still think that it's necessary to use the 'specimen' approach.

The other type of 'carp angler' is the match angler that fishes this type of over stocked water, relying on carp to make up the bulk of their catches. These waters were first built with match angling in mind.

 

The last two types of water I avoid like the plague, in fact I see them as a form of pollution that will ruin the future of general, mixed coarse fishing in this country.

My feelings about this are so strong, that I said, that if I was ever in a position where they were the only waters available to me, then I would hang up my rods.

I find myself in that position now, and unless my circumstances change, my last trip will have been just that, my last trip.

 

I had a look at your lake and to be honest, sorry, I wasn't impressed. The colour of the water suggests that there is a large head of carp present, and personally it's not my thing.

 

John.

 

I agree on the Carp over taking a water , and that was something years ago i didnt want to occur , many a times i have been to a fishery and just got carp after carp when trying for a mix..

Maybe the carp have taken over in the lake being honest i wouldnt know havent fished it in a long time last time i did it had a good mix ..

 

Ive always liked a mixture of everything! The lake looks nice as well but even though its only a few minutes from my house at £10 a ticket unfortunately out of my price range!

 

Lake owner,try not to let it become "another carp water" Believe you me even with the smaller carp you seem to have lots of instant anglers (and that these days enevitably means anglers wanting carp) will decend on the place with their 3lb TC rods and bivvy tactics! I have no problem with these tactics BTW and use them my self....but only in the right situation!

 

To me your water looks like one that should attract general anglers and catching the odd carp along the way just be a bonus.

 

Keep it natural as possible and best of luck!

Ok thanks for that Budgie appreciate the honesty . am i out of touch at £ 10 for a lake thats brimmed with with a host of natural unknown sized fish ? remember the original small pond was like 30 years old .

 

Fair play to Lake Owner. Joined yesterday, only 14 posts and already causing a quite impressive level of controversy that it took me months to build up to.

Welcome to Anglers Net matey. You've certainly jumped in with both feet.

Do me a favour and give be a warning so I can grab my tin hat when you venture into the murkey waters of "Non Fishing Chat".

 

Thanks i think thats a compliment probably isnt but will warn you next time i am posting

[Anderoo]

A couple of the over-15s may well have been recaptures, Budge, but not many. I've had the bloody things on 24mm boilies, tiger nuts and huge halibut pellets, and full-on big carp rigs, too. I'm known as the 'Bream Genie' among my angling mates, due to my ability to conjour them from anywhere I fish. Well, anywhere I fish for carp, that is.

 

Wordbender, have you noticed any pattern to your VERY IMPRESSIVE(!) bream captures? Any clues on location, time of year, day/night, undertow, wind strength/direction, groundbaiting/feeding, etc? You may have noticed the big bream thread, we're doing OK on the theory but struggling with the practicals

 

Cheers for any info...