To all you carp anglers

[watatoad]

I am not a great fan of commercial carp fishing as any reading here know.

 

But I always try to be fair and open..and I think that my assumptions being based on mainly comments in tackle shops, forums and from friends are not knowledgeable enough.

 

So carp guys and girls I am open to input please, educate me of the skills and abilities you need to be a great carpman (I include women), I will be as straight as I always am and I assure you I am not looking to start a flame just to learn. I will give you the same respect as I hope you will give me.

 

I am often told I am being unfair so here I am please explain what it is I am missing or misguided about.

[lutra]

So carp guys and girls I am open to input please, educate me of the skills and abilities you need to be a great carpman (I include women), I will be as straight as I always am and I assure you I am not looking to start a flame just to learn. I will give you the same respect as I hope you will give me.

I'm no carp head, but i should think the skills needed to be good at it will be similar to other forms of angling. Good water craft, a good understanding of the ways to get the best out of your bait, rigs, tackle, a good understanding of the species your after..........

[Steve Walker]

If we're talking about match fishing on commercial carp fisheries then the challenge is to beat the other competitors. In all match fishing, it matters not how hard or easy the fishing is, only that you are better at it than the others.

[Dick Dastardly]

I am often told I am being unfair so here I am please explain what it is I am missing or misguided about.

 

IMO (as already said) you need very much the same skills as in any other area of the sport. Originally it took years of fishing for other species to learn these skills well enough though to turn them to carp fishing successfully. As such most carp anglers then (by the fact that they had served this "apprenticeship" were in the greater majority correctly labelled as "experts".The trouble for me is that now just buy buying a carp rod and fishing for them many seem to think that alone qualifies them as an expert! Well expert compared to a non carp angler! Just as instant and just as much a part of the modern scene as Realtree or a Big Pit Reel!

 

 

(Que Den,sorry mate!)

[poledark]

Watatoad,commercial type and match type carp fishing is not my scene, so I "couldn't possibly comment. Neither would I comment on any other form of match fishing, for the same reason. Neither do I feel you are so important that you warrant a reply.

 

Den

[watatoad]

That's what I used to think then a few guys in a tackle shop (customers and the people working there) very carefully and in great detail explained it was rubbish, and you needed no watercraft skills.

 

He then went on to tell me about fish finding sonar underwater camera's bait and tackle boats and high levels of stocking and the necessary feeding because the lakes could not hope to support fish sizes or levels that were needed. Going further to explain the need for exotic ground bait and baits, next was the need for multiple rods with bite alarms so you could sit back and relax rather than pay attention to the water, weather, rods, or even the fish until your alarm went off then it was simply a case of reel it in ( ??? on an electric powered reel), take a photo and send out your boat again.

 

When I inquired what about watercraft skills? I was told that was all outdated and outmoded and totally a waste of time. So I asked what do you do while waiting for a fish to take a designer bait? I was then told that was the advantage of modern fishing methods, you lay back on your bed/chair and just relax and chill out. He plays on a laptop but some of his friends take gaming machines or just drink and eat or simply sleep. I asked what was the point in this modern fishing and was told in no uncertain way it is all about getting your photo in the press and showing your mates at work...???

 

He went on to say I must be very old fashioned and most likely one of the last remaining followers of a now dead way of fishing, now days it was all about getting away with your mates with the best (flashest) clothing and gear possible and getting some good pics. They went on to explain that youngsters don't want to go out p**sing about at a riverbank spending all day just to catch a tiddler if they were very lucky, or going home with nothing to show for a day out. They want to go and get big fish every time so they can get lots of photo's, cause it proves they are a success. Plus another advantage with commercials was you could get some food easily, get you bait, park without a problem and just be a few minutes away easy walk from the water.

 

They went on to say the best thing I could do was take all my old stuff and stick it on ebay for a collector or for one of the few idiots still p**sing about on rivers and buy myself some decent gear and get down the pits (commercials) and maybe I should try to get after some of the more exotic fish around if not at least I could catch some decent sized fish.

 

Perhaps this will explain my attitude to modern day carp fishers and commercials. It just seems all to easy and only requires money.

 

I went home and looked at all my rods and tackle and I admit I thought for a long time. Did I want to be the last man making the best spinning wheels in the world ( the last exponent of a long dead way of fishing)...Then I decided yes I don't care if I am the last man in the country to follow the old ways of fishing, I get a lot of pleasure from the solitude, nature, the challenge and not least the personal satisfaction after landing a fish no matter how big or small using my skills and abilities.

[Sportsman]

That's what I used to think then a few guys in a tackle shop (customers and the people working there) very carefully and in great detail explained it was rubbish, and you needed no watercraft skills.

 

He then went on to tell me about fish finding sonar underwater camera's bait and tackle boats and high levels of stocking and the necessary feeding because the lakes could not hope to support fish sizes or levels that were needed. Going further to explain the need for exotic ground bait and baits, next was the need for multiple rods with bite alarms so you could sit back and relax rather than pay attention to the water, weather, rods, or even the fish until your alarm went off then it was simply a case of reel it in ( ??? on an electric powered reel), take a photo and send out your boat again.

 

When I inquired what about watercraft skills? I was told that was all outdated and outmoded and totally a waste of time. So I asked what do you do while waiting for a fish to take a designer bait? I was then told that was the advantage of modern fishing methods, you lay back on your bed/chair and just relax and chill out. He plays on a laptop but some of his friends take gaming machines or just drink and eat or simply sleep. I asked what was the point in this modern fishing and was told in no uncertain way it is all about getting your photo in the press and showing your mates at work...???

 

He went on to say I must be very old fashioned and most likely one of the last remaining followers of a now dead way of fishing, now days it was all about getting away with your mates with the best (flashest) clothing and gear possible and getting some good pics. They went on to explain that youngsters don't want to go out p**sing about at a riverbank spending all day just to catch a tiddler if they were very lucky, or going home with nothing to show for a day out. They want to go and get big fish every time so they can get lots of photo's, cause it proves they are a success. Plus another advantage with commercials was you could get some food easily, get you bait, park without a problem and just be a few minutes away easy walk from the water.

 

They went on to say the best thing I could do was take all my old stuff and stick it on ebay for a collector or for one of the few idiots still p**sing about on rivers and buy myself some decent gear and get down the pits (commercials) and maybe I should try to get after some of the more exotic fish around if not at least I could catch some decent sized fish.

 

Perhaps this will explain my attitude to modern day carp fishers and commercials. It just seems all to easy and only requires money.

 

I went home and looked at all my rods and tackle and I admit I thought for a long time. Did I want to be the last man making the best spinning wheels in the world ( the last exponent of a long dead way of fishing)...Then I decided yes I don't care if I am the last man in the country to follow the old ways of fishing, I get a lot of pleasure from the solitude, nature, the challenge and not least the personal satisfaction after landing a fish no matter how big or small using my skills and abilities.

 

You read the wrong comics

[mike1234]

I am not a lover of the commercials due to my anti-sociality and would prefer to find a secluded little farm pond or nice stretch of river, but its not always possible and like everything the commercials have there good points and bad points

 

the main good points being that they are easily accessible, you dont usually get snagged on shopping trolleys or reel in half of a sunken tree thrown in my local yobs, and you know there are plenty of fish,

 

bad points are there is a high idiot level at most of them due to the fact they can only find fisheries that advertise, catching 3lb carp that all look exactly the same soon becomes tiresome, and if you do manage to hook into something decent it usually comes with spectators.

 

the easy answer is if its not for you steer clear and there are plenty of less fished waters sitting empty because the fashion carpers are at the commercials sat behind there rod pods

[Dales]

That's what I used to think then a few guys in a tackle shop (customers and the people working there) very carefully and in great detail explained it was rubbish, and you needed no watercraft skills.

 

 

Find a new tackle shop, I'm sure the owner may just be able to cope with out your patronage

[Steve Walker]

He then went on to tell me about fish finding sonar underwater camera's bait and tackle boats and high levels of stocking and the necessary feeding because the lakes could not hope to support fish sizes or levels that were needed. Going further to explain the need for exotic ground bait and baits, next was the need for multiple rods with bite alarms so you could sit back and relax rather than pay attention to the water, weather, rods, or even the fish until your alarm went off then it was simply a case of reel it in ( ??? on an electric powered reel), take a photo and send out your boat again.

 

I think you are mixing up your terms and maybe confusing your angling tribes.

 

A "commercial" usually means somewhere which is very heavily stocked with small carp for match fishing. You don't fish that sort of water with multiple rods and bite alarms and bait boats. Mostly, you float fish it with a pole or a waggler rod and aim to "bag up", i.e. to catch as many small carp as possible.

 

I think you are mixing that up with what used to be known as "specimen hunters" fishing long sessions for carp (or tench or bream) using multiple rods and bite alarms in lightly stocked waters hoping to catch a few very large fish. Completely different scene.