Hi. I and looking for a rod and a reel for mainly carp fishing. I have a budget of £150 max. I will be fishing a small/medium pond stocked with large carp and a large lake witch also is full of large carp and a few other smaller species. Any help or information will be useful.
I'm looking for a new rod and reel for carp fishing.
- Thread starter TomJ
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stillwater blue
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How large is a large carp?
What kind of distances to you expect to be fishing at?
Do you plan on fishing with PVA bags or method feeders or just a straight lead?
Are you going down the route of buzzers and boilies? If so you may possibly want to be like many others and fish more than one rod due to the possible waiting times?
If so with a bit of judicious searching you could buy two for that £150 max.
Carp rods seem to have got cheaper over the years no doubt due competition.
I am impressed by NGT Dynamic carbon carp rods which you can get on line for less than £40 each. 2.5lb or 3 lb Tc will fit most situations. The blanks are slim. Not a "name" but very underpriced. I have been using them for a couple of years. I cannot fault them.
For the remaining £70 you should JUST be able to pick up a couple of size 50 or 60 baitrunner reels. Take a look at the TFG tackle website.
There may even be a few quid left over to buy a bulk spool of line to fill them up.
This gear will certainly last long enough for you to get to know if carp fishing is for you.
Don't forget to factor in an unhooking mat and bigger net.
PS. I have just re read your post. You say MAINLY carp fishing. With gear to tackle the larger carp you mention you are looking for gear that is carp or bust! Carp tackle is too heavy for targeting the other species. One or the other.
If you were to target any other large species such as any tench or big bream a specimen type rod with a TC of around 1.75 would be adequate and would deal with the occasional accidental large carp.
I think you have to decide what you are going for though I am afraid. Tight lines and let us know how you fair.
If so with a bit of judicious searching you could buy two for that £150 max.
Carp rods seem to have got cheaper over the years no doubt due competition.
I am impressed by NGT Dynamic carbon carp rods which you can get on line for less than £40 each. 2.5lb or 3 lb Tc will fit most situations. The blanks are slim. Not a "name" but very underpriced. I have been using them for a couple of years. I cannot fault them.
For the remaining £70 you should JUST be able to pick up a couple of size 50 or 60 baitrunner reels. Take a look at the TFG tackle website.
There may even be a few quid left over to buy a bulk spool of line to fill them up.
This gear will certainly last long enough for you to get to know if carp fishing is for you.
Don't forget to factor in an unhooking mat and bigger net.
PS. I have just re read your post. You say MAINLY carp fishing. With gear to tackle the larger carp you mention you are looking for gear that is carp or bust! Carp tackle is too heavy for targeting the other species. One or the other.
If you were to target any other large species such as any tench or big bream a specimen type rod with a TC of around 1.75 would be adequate and would deal with the occasional accidental large carp.
I think you have to decide what you are going for though I am afraid. Tight lines and let us know how you fair.
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Keith M
Well-known member
It doesn’t sound like you want to be limited to an out-and-out Carp rod and want a rod that will handle both large Carp plus the smaller species.
I have a Greys multi tip rod which came with both a 2lb test curve tip section; which I sometimes use for catching Carp up to 20lb-ish (or even bigger) on less snaggy stillwater venues and also when I’m fishing in flood conditions on my rivers for Barbel; plus a 1.5lb tip section; which I use for fish like Tench, Crucians, Barbel and smaller Carp; and this rod with its two tip sections cost me around £120.
However; if you wanted to handle much smaller species using a float then you could try a ‘Commercial’ float rod which should be able to handle the much smaller species plus Carp up to around 10 to 15lb but might tend to struggle with any fish of a larger size than that.
Or you might want to have a look at a Barbel rod which usually comes with a Quiver tip section plus an Avon type tip section of either 1.5lb or 1.7lb test (or even larger) and which has a more through actioned action and will also handle fish into double figures as well as the smaller species (on its Quivertip section).
It really depends on how big your fish are going to be and types of water you will be fishing and what methods you intend to use to catch them.
Keith
I have a Greys multi tip rod which came with both a 2lb test curve tip section; which I sometimes use for catching Carp up to 20lb-ish (or even bigger) on less snaggy stillwater venues and also when I’m fishing in flood conditions on my rivers for Barbel; plus a 1.5lb tip section; which I use for fish like Tench, Crucians, Barbel and smaller Carp; and this rod with its two tip sections cost me around £120.
However; if you wanted to handle much smaller species using a float then you could try a ‘Commercial’ float rod which should be able to handle the much smaller species plus Carp up to around 10 to 15lb but might tend to struggle with any fish of a larger size than that.
Or you might want to have a look at a Barbel rod which usually comes with a Quiver tip section plus an Avon type tip section of either 1.5lb or 1.7lb test (or even larger) and which has a more through actioned action and will also handle fish into double figures as well as the smaller species (on its Quivertip section).
It really depends on how big your fish are going to be and types of water you will be fishing and what methods you intend to use to catch them.
Keith
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Some good advice above. The problem at the moment is that your question is a bit like saying "I need a car" what do you recommend ?
Like others have mentioned tell us a bit more about the fishing you would like to do and what is your experience level...are you a total beginner for example ? If you want you can even name the lakes..some here may know them and put you on the right path.