Carp in Small Rivers ?

[BobH]

I know Carp are every where these days, but it seems a shame that so many are hooked by well in tensioned Chub and Barbel anglers perusing their target fish. leaving Carp trailing long lengths of line around ?

 

I include myself in this category, having hooked and lost a number of large Carp which took my legered lump of Bacon Grill, only to disappear upstream into a huge Goat Willow, never to be seen again.

 

I could of course go heavier, but that is not how I want to catch the Chub and Barbel I'm fishing for, I did once take a Carp rod and suitable gear for a Carp that kept breaking me up, I caught it and moved it below a weir on the same stretch of club water, the carp weighed a shade under 20lb and was trailing numerous broken lines, which of course I removed.

 

It there an answer to this problem ?

 

Bob

[Ken L]

Chuck 'em up the bank!

[lutra]

Chuck 'em up the bank!

Sorry Ken, but due to my caring nature and that some banks are steep and they may roll back down........ I do think a rock over the head first is a good idea.

[Tigger]

Nice looking carp Bob !

I've hooked up with a few carp whilst trotting (and legering) on a small snaggy river but I was always using 6lb line straight through and so I landed them all ok. It's surprising how much pressure you can exert with 6lb sensor line (that in reality snaps well above that breaking strain) with a good match rod or avon rod. I use 14's sized hooks for most of my trotting and if the fish does bolt for a snag I can just hold on until the fish either turns, the hook bends and comes free or just pulls/ tears out of the fish leaving it with no trailing line etc.

I do like hooking up with carp when trotting as they give a good account of themselves but i've found they give up much easier than barbel.

[BobH]

Nice looking carp Bob !

I've hooked up with a few carp whilst trotting (and legering) on a small snaggy river but I was always using 6lb line straight through and so I landed them all ok. It's surprising how much pressure you can exert with 6lb sensor line (that in reality snaps well above that breaking strain) with a good match rod or avon rod. I use 14's sized hooks for most of my trotting and if the fish does bolt for a snag I can just hold on until the fish either turns, the hook bends and comes free or just pulls/ tears out of the fish leaving it with no trailing line etc.

I do like hooking up with carp when trotting as they give a good account of themselves but i've found they give up much easier than barbel.

Tigger,

 

I suppose it depends on the river, the Upper Lea does not allow a lot of room for playing such fish and by the time the first run is over they are in the tree's ?

 

Lately I have been wondering if there should be EA holding ponds for all these unwanted Carp.

 

From the picture below, you can guess where most of the fish are holding up ?

 

Bob

Edited January 18, 2015 by BobH

[chesters1]

Tigger,

 

I suppose it depends on the river, the Upper Lea does not allow a lot of room for playing such fish and by the time the first run is over they are in the tree's ?

 

Lately I have been wondering if there should be EA holding ponds for all these unwanted Carp.

 

From the picture below, you can guess where most of the fish are holding up ?

 

Bob

Is it behind that tree?

[lutra]

Lately I have been wondering if there should be EA holding ponds for all these unwanted Carp.

 

Given that the EA has taken steps to protect carp even in waters that they have yet to find their way into (legally or not). What makes you think they would be interested in helping get them out of any waters? I think the EA just see's carp as an easy way of keeping a lot of anglers happy.

[Steve Walker]

Not sure there really is an answer - I mean, you could just as easily get broken by them when fishing for roach. To take any other view would mean accepting that once carp are in a water, the only acceptable type of fishing is carp fishing. Even stillwaters deliberately stocked with carp tend not to take that hardline view. I think if someone is responsible for river carp trailing hooklengths, it's the person who put them in there or allowed them to get in there.

[Ken L]

Seriously, carp are a royal PITA. If I had my way, they and the barbell would disappear from the Teme and Severn.

Last year, I finally relented and fished my local pond. It's not a commercial but it was previously managed by a local angling club and has had carp stocked in the past. As a a result of this past stocking, I can't practically drop below a 3lb fluorocarbon hooklink.

Apparently, it used to have a good head of tench and roach but no more. Now, it's mostly bream and carp.

 

I suspect that Bob is fishing the Arrow or the Warwickshire Stour (Not the Worcestershire Stour that I occasionally mention) and it's rather sad that these rivers can't really be fished light and fine because they run very clear in the winter and due to excessive weed growth, that's about the only time that you can trot a float along them.

[Tigger]

Seriously, carp are a royal PITA. If I had my way, they and the barbell would disappear from the Teme and Severn.

Last year, I finally relented and fished my local pond. It's not a commercial but it was previously managed by a local angling club and has had carp stocked in the past. As a a result of this past stocking, I can't practically drop below a 3lb fluorocarbon hooklink.

Apparently, it used to have a good head of tench and roach but no more. Now, it's mostly bream and carp.

 

I suspect that Bob is fishing the Arrow or the Warwickshire Stour (Not the Worcestershire Stour that I occasionally mention) and it's rather sad that these rivers can't really be fished light and fine because they run very clear in the winter and due to excessive weed growth, that's about the only time that you can trot a float along them.

 

 

Carp don't feed hard during the winter so really you should be ok using low diameter lines especially in rivers.

By the way i'm not sticking up for carp and agree they shouldn't be stocked into "most" rivers and imo that goes for still waters also. It wouldn't be so bad if they where stocked sensibly but it seems people feel the need to cram then in !

All the rivers that I know where carp are present they don't seem to last / live very long and very few and far between are ever caught. I don't think they ever manage to breed sucsesfully round here either .

As for barbel, they're natural to our rivers anyhow so I think they should be present.