Carping X-Files

[Gaffer]

RobStubbs:

I have heard people say things like 'boilies have blown' on this water - which was complete nonsense.  I am prepared to believe that some baits can blow if used to the exclusion of all others although I've never experienced it.  

I agree. IME most so called 'blown' baits are baits that have been discontinued through the majority of anglers, on a particular water, switching onto a new and hyped wonder bait.

Of course with most of the anglers now on 'such-and-such' bait the more fish that come out to it. The discontinued bait is then inaccurately termed as 'blown'.

[Woodzzz]

Maybe some fish are smarter than others?

 

Infact that is more than likely the obvious case.

 

I agree that some fish are born idiots. [Like anglers] and some are quite crafty.

 

How many times do you see the name 'Petals' in the weeklies? Or other named fish for that matter?

 

Some fish come out week after week whereas others only pop up every year, or never at all.

 

The 'Sandy' fish at Summerleaze is seen regularly, and is seen feeding regularly, and is estimated at over 50lb. But...it has never been caught.

 

These fish are submitted to the same amount of pressure as their adversarys but they dont get caught.

 

Why do you think this is?

Brains or luck?

 

I don't think luck lasts for years upon years do you?

 

And that 17lber swimming around between your legs, very far fetched but for some reason i believe you, what fishery was this?

[Spiderfan]

Hi Mat,

 

Not necessarily 'smarter', maybe more 'wary'. . . that is, some fish's survival instincts are tuned better than others?

 

The 'carp between the legs' episode occurred on a popular PAAS water known for its prolific carp fishing. I was fishing in a boggy, mozzy-infested corner with difficult access. Maybe the fish felt more relaxed in that area due to the lack of bankside activity in contrast to the rest of the lake? That, and I like to think I was fishing stealthily!

 

Brains? Nah, but yes, I think luck has a lot to do with it, especially when it comes to what size of fish ends up in your net!

[Woodzzz]

Yes but how do they know what to be wary of?

:confused:

[Spiderfan]

Singy, the reason I use pop-ups is because the presentation keeps the all-important hook-point clear of crud on the bottom – all the better to prick fish with when its not masked by leaves or weed.

 

They don’t know what to be afraid of Mat, which is precisely my point. They are wary of everything, almost all of the time.

 

Take a hypothetical water with some angling pressure – where do you start and what do you look for initially when searching for the fish? I would look for snags – overhanging bushes, especially around islands, sunken trees, weed-beds etc.. Why? Because they’re natural fish-holding areas that the fish will retreat to when they feel threatened. They feel safer there, more secure and more likely to feed there should the opportunity arise.

 

Self-preservation will generally override the desire to feed, so pressured fish will always be found in relatively ‘safe’ areas. More carp are caught at night, yes? No co-incidence then that this time coincides with the least amount of bankside activity by anglers and a reduced ability to detect potential threats using sight on the carp’s behalf.

[Steve Burke]

Whilst I agree that fish learn to avoid bait and rigs etc on which they've been caught, I don't believe this can be called intelligence.

 

Intelligence implies an ability to reason, and I can't accept that any species of fish has the brain power to do so.

 

By the way the size of the brain isn't what's important here as human brains are smaller (even in relation to our overall size) than some other species. A greater proportion of the brain in lower animals is concerned with senses than in the human brain. It's the area of the brain called the cortex that's involved with intelligence, and the number of connections in it seems more important than its size.

 

Neither do I accept that carp are the "cleverest" of our fish, or indeed even that they wise up the quickest to baits/rigs. However, I do believe they have longer memories than other species and this makes them appear cleverer. I also don't expect carp specialists to agree with this!

 

In my experience, regardless of species, it often pays to use different baits/tactics than other anglers on a water. I'd suggest the more heavilly fished a water is, the more this applies.

 

This might simply mean a minor variation of a bait/rig etc, or one hasn't been used for a long while and that the fish no longer associates with danger. In other words just something it's forgotten - not something it's used intelligence to work out is dangerous.

[Woodzzz]

I understand where you are coming from but with the various instances and experiences i've had with carp i can't accept that it is merely a survival trait.

 

What about when carp 'get away with it'?

Ie...using the suppleness of a rig to rid of the hook, without moving the lead, or causing tension in the line?

If you put a lead down on the table in front of you with an average sized braid rig attatched and you kink the braid and move it around you will notice how a carp can easily move those 8-10 inches without ever moving the lead.

How, on gods green earth, do carp KNOW how to get rid of the hook without moving the lead?

Why do so many fish get away with it? Has it been a coincidence for so many carp anglers for all this time? Have the fish got 'lucky' rather than canny? I have my doubts...

 

Also, regarding carp having the largest brain, it has been scientifically proven that carp have the largest 'active' brain of all inland fish.

I shall try and find an article for you on this soon but for now i shall just mentioned carp being referred to as "Salmon, with brains" and angling literature is full of accounts of their cunning.

 

I had a thought that maybe these carp that get caught more often are the ones with the best survival instincts, and they get to the food first, so they get caught first.

But then i thought, why is it the ones who tend to avoid capture are the ones that are of a larger size? Like the fish in summerleaze? Like Two-Tone?

 

Maybe it's because i am a carp angler that i cant understand that the carp may be as simple as any other coarse fish, but i do hope that it is true, and someday bream associate boilies with danger. THE SLIMEY BEGGARS