Strange statements!

[Peter Waller]

Odd little comment in Anglers Mail this week. A fellow has sent in a picture of his girl friend holding a carp, nice girl (lucky bloke), nice fish (lucky girl)! His caption comments that she used to coarse fish, but now she carp fishes. Ummmmmmmmmm, aren't carp just coarse fish or have they been elevated to a higher plain?

 

There are plenty of gems out there, any more?

[Gaffer]

Peter Waller:

Ummmmmmmmmm, aren't carp just coarse fish or have they been elevated to a higher plain?

Goes without saying doesn't it!?

[Dunk Fairley]

i thought it a bit odd too. how big do carp get before they cease being coarse and become "refined"?

[Andy Macfarlane]

Of course they aren't Coarse fish. It's like the old saying.

 

"This years brown is black"

 

Now its a case of

 

"This years Salmon are Carp"

 

Give it a few years and there will be Carp "beats" charging £800 for a day out with a Carp Ghillie.

[trent.barbeler]

Dear Peter,

 

I think it is fair to say, carp fishing within the broad church that makes up course fishing, holds that bit of special angling folklore perhaps like no other. Fueled almost certainly by the writings of such men like BB, Yates, Gibbinson etc etc. Undoubtedly, carp fishing's inventiveness is unsurpassed. As such, I have no doubt, that carp fishing has elevated itself over its long history to a higher plain.

 

Pike fishing, could also be in the same league. So could barbel fishing, because these branches within course fishing all rose to popularity within the same era.

 

The one thing that never ceases to amaze me, is how these branches of our sport have evolved in terms of technology, method, and absolute care for the species these anglers pursue. Exactly in the same way that other branches of specialist and indeed, ordinary course/pleasure angling has.

 

And whilst the "popular" species may stand on high in the pulpit of course angling's broad church, there remains some real quality down below in its congregation.

 

Viva carp anglers. Viva pike and barbel to.

 

And viva all the rest because course angling really has a lot to be proud of.

 

I'm off fishing myself now. Goodie Goodie.

 

Regards,

 

Lee.

[Peter Waller]

And to think I just thought a carp, like a pike, was just a coarse fish! Silly me!!

 

Dunc! Lovely comment!

[Eddie]

Silly boys! The early english carp being a "wild carp" arriving here in the saddle bags of monks is indeed a coarse fish. But, and this is where the real confusion comes from, most of the carp in this country are "eurocarp", first, second, third, and more generation offspring of immigrants from all over the european continent. These fish having travelled relativelly fist class in a posh white van in water and not damp sacking or grass! These carp like the human occupants of those countries look down on the english and think they are better and so cannot accept that they could ever be coarse fish.

[Peter Waller]

Yes Eddie, me thinks that you had just better get your rod!

[peter mccue]

This is all part & parcel that silly business of some Carp fishermen to elevate themselves above their idea of coarse fisherman, in other words those who fish for 'nuisance' fish.

 

If these Carpers had any idea of the skill levels required to catch big Roach,Rudd,Dace,Perch etc, consistently they would soon see the error of their ways.

 

I'll bet there's more people had 20lb Carp than had 2lb Roach..Oh it annoys me.

 

Pill-time already nurse!!

Peter.

[Woodzzz]

Eddie:

Silly boys! The early english carp being a "wild carp" arriving here in the saddle bags of monks is indeed a coarse fish. But, and this is where the real confusion comes from, most of the carp in this country are "eurocarp", first, second, third, and more generation offspring of immigrants from all over the european continent. These fish having travelled relativelly fist class in a posh white van in water and not damp sacking or grass!  These carp like the human occupants of those countries look down on the english and think they are better and so cannot accept that they could ever be coarse fish.                

Monks actually brought more mirror carp than anything to britain. Which they had bred for the special purpose of being easy to prepare for the table. Wildies/commons were brought over for breeding purposes also along with a few of the original kois for them to play around with in the breeding pools.

 

Unfortunately, there are a lot of european carp in our waters, but they too came from asian monks anyway. Carp of 200lb+ can be caught out east now, but they are of a seperate variety to that which we might see in europe.

 

Too much bullshit is said of carp and where they originated. With not much attention paid to the fact that the whole earth wasnt always seperated. And that rivers could have brought carp into any country, there's just no documents of it.

The Monk by Dale Pedersen outlines some writings about carp and the experiments monks used to create different scale patterns. And some recipes! yuk!

 

worth reading.