Carp

[poledark]

For sheer "doggedness" it has to be carp.. most likely a common scaled one. Sometimes they just will not "come up" and circle under the rod tip for ages. Even with strong tackle. I never had a barbel do that, or a tench, even on much lighter tackle.

 

But it also varies from lake to lake and season to season.

 

Den

[Anderoo]

Carp may not fight as hard, pound for pound, as trout.

 

But they are surely far more cunning...

 

If trout had cunning then fluff chucking would never have come about.

 

Trout really are simply too easy on coarse fishing methods. Though then again, would you really fancy a trout supper caught on maggot or caster.

 

Agreed, trout are way too easy on coarse gear. After struggling to trick one on the fly gear from my little tributary in May, I had 5 from the same swim on trotted maggot in June

 

Carp can be cunning. Again, the easy carp waters are simply because they are overstocked and have to eat anglers' bait to survive. But in a more natural environment they can drive you up the wall.

 

I think the best chance you have to catch tricky carp is to fish at the same time as a big drop in pressure. After all this hot, high pressure weather, the first proper drop will see them drop back down to the bottom and have a good feed. In fact, I think today might be the day

 

Off topic, but I was thinking about fish behaviour and pressure the other day. With big bream (like carp), low pressure is considered best, but this may be in part because we fish for bream on the bottom and in high pressure conditions they're well off bottom. In these conditions you wouldn't catch carp on the bottom but you might on surface baits or a zig. It is probably the same with bream. So I suppose what you'd want is a spot with no undertow and a very oily/active groundbait that rises up fom the bottom, and a bait popped up off the bottom.

 

I don't know if you can attribute it to cunning, but big bream make big carp look easy! I would also say that chub can be as cunning, if not more so, than carp.

 

The big thing about big carp that make them 'easier' than big bream (neither are easy of course) is that carp are more predictable in their movements and habits, and show themselves more.

 

Chub are just very, very spooky!

[Dales]

I would have thought it would still be the Carp. Anglers tend to judge by the fights they have experienced and when we target a species we choose tackle appropriate for the job and in my opinion often go over gunned. From fishing abroad for more exotic species and using more scaled down rods for big fish, I am left puzzled as to how a 3lb TC rod has become all most standard kit for UK Carp fishing. I wonder if those who under rate the Carps fighting ability is because they have hauled them in on 3LB TC rods. I am stunned when I see discussions of people thinking about buying 3 1/2 TC rods, what are you expecting to Catch?

 

I understand that the heavy TC allows us to send heavy leads and feeders into the distance, but it kills the experience of playing a fish.

 

If you hook into a Carp by accident on a light rod, it can give you a merry dance and can take some shifting when it wants to stay deep. I have never caught enough Barbel to form an opinion on them, but do they give a good fight because of the current and snags available to them or is it just down to pure power? Would it fight so well in a snag free commercial fishery?

 

I recently purchased a few new rods for Tench fishing at 1 3/4 TC and have now started to use them more often then not for Carp and surprise surprise the Carp do seem to fight alot harder all of a sudden

[Anderoo]

I actually hold the opposite view. I have had the odd nuisance carp when tench fishing over the years and find they are surprisingly easy to land, and in fact I often only realise they are carp when they get to the net. With softer, lighter tackle and stretchy mono line there seems to be little for them to pull against. As long as there are not horrendous snags around I reckon you'll land big carp quicker and easier on light (1.5lb - 1.75lb tc) gear than heavy (3lb tc+). They certainly take less line from you.

 

Get a 5-6lb male tench on the same gear and (in my experience at least) they will be much more of a handful!

[Dales]

I actually hold the opposite view. I have had the odd nuisance carp when tench fishing over the years and find they are surprisingly easy to land, and in fact I often only realise they are carp when they get to the net. With softer, lighter tackle and stretchy mono line there seems to be little for them to pull against. As long as there are not horrendous snags around I reckon you'll land big carp quicker and easier on light (1.5lb - 1.75lb tc) gear than heavy (3lb tc+). They certainly take less line from you.

 

Get a 5-6lb male tench on the same gear and (in my experience at least) they will be much more of a handful!

 

I tip my hat to your "Carp Whispering" ability

 

But the thing is we can only offer our own experiences and I think we all are a little biased to our own favourite species and no doubt that is why certain fish do become some ones "favs" because in there experience they have thought well on a number of occasions.

 

But I agree Tench do fight hard and would certainly be up there and in equal weights fight harder then Carp, but from my own experiences I still rate the Carp, but if I am lucky enough to get a big male Tench sometime then that opinion may very well change.

 

So is anyone going to champion the Breams fighting ability?

[Anderoo]

So is anyone going to champion the Breams fighting ability?

 

No In fact that's probably the only time those words have been used in the same sentence before

[Dick Dastardly]

So is anyone going to champion the Breams fighting ability?

 

I had a Wingham bream back wind me once! Well a turn and a half any way!

 

Im pretty much with Dave on the list.

 

Also I base that on having caught most of those species on the same tackle!

[Steve Burke]

Pound for pound the hardest fighting species I've ever caught is thick-lipped mullet. Not only do they pull very hard, but just when you think they're beaten they go off again and the fight's only half over.

 

Of the other major species I've caught my vote goes to male tench. In my experience there's no contest between them and carp, even when using the same tackle. Just last week I had a male tench of 6-03 and it took a timed 6 1/2 mins to land. I'd have landed a carp of the same weight in less than half the time.

Edited July 1, 2010 by Steve Burke

[Tigger]

In my opinion it's a question of having the right balance of tackle for the species targeted. I think in the UK the hardest fighting species has gotta be between tench, carp and barbel in the coarse fish. I'm no salmon, sea trout angler but according to the salmon angler they will take some beating. The individual fish of each species can vary quite a lot also.

 

Could never undestand the theory about male tench fighting harder than the females, I've had my fair share of tench and in all honesty I've had females out fight the males on lots of occassions. I think fishing with a float and match rod gives the best comparison of male and female tenches fighting abilities. As I said it's not just down to species but individual fish also.

[Steve Walker]

Pound for pound the hardest fighting species I've ever caught is thick-lipped mullet.

 

I would agree with that. If you hold them hard (on strong enough gear), they will drive themselves out of the water.