Does anybody else find fishing with carp rods no fun

[tortoise100]

I have got myself a 2.5lb carp rod for pike fishing though most of my fishing recently has been for carp and it just seems to take 80% of the enjoyment out of catching to use this sort of rod .

I admit the water i am fishing is 5 minutes walk from the house has a fare amount of carp (aparently)up to 14lb but a big one is 6:8 and the average is 3:8 I have caught one much bigger one but did not have the proper scales at the time.

I don't like to pigeon hole myself as any one sort of angler but have to say that it is so much more fun using 4lb line on my ledger rod that it is no comparrison I caught a 4:4 yesteday on the 2.5 lb rod and it was not much fun it seems to take a 6lb fish to put a decent bend in it .

I have been using a 1.75lb rod on the same water but for some unknown reason that rod has been jinxed since I bought it last october even though it has been used around 15 times it never landed a fish till last sunday though it did break the jinx in style with three carp two lost runs and two bites in three hours.It was always the other rod no mater what I did and no mater what the other rod was on every other occasion.
That rod is better but I am now thinking about using my 13ft (power wagler call it what you want) as that would be amazing with a 4lb fish .

It seems like every other angler on my local free water is using carp rods , not that I have seen or heard of anyone doing much catching for a while but it does strike me as a bit pointless using these broom sticks when it is supposed to be about fun .

Been watching lots of the old total fishing with matt hayes on quest and he is always going on about having nice soft rods for any type of fishing ,untill a few years latter when he has sold out and just wants to sell his own brand of tackle now he recomends the latest 3lb test rods as necessary.

He was even quoted in AT a few weeks ago saying he had had enough of course fishing in this country as it was not good enough for him any more or some other rubish ,it's ok for some hey matt.

Though he is still my favorite fishing presenter(with his friends) out of a choice of three :robson greenknobhead,river monsters man or matt/mates.

Sorry in the mood for a rant but the carp rod will now be packed away till my next predator trip on the 3rd of aprill .

 

[Old Nick]

Hi Dayglow, one of the reasons the vogue for stiff rods came about was to cast huge weights long distances, and for some reason high test curves are seen as somehow more manly!!

like you I don't enjoy fishing with anything resembling one of these broomhandles, preferring a through action avon of 1.2 lb / 1.5lb tc. with the heavier rod the preference for method feeders at medium distances, either of these rods will be capable of landing fish of most weights without bumping them off at the net, and they just feel 'right;.

I think it was Richard Walker who landed his record carp on a 1lb tc avon - most people wouldn't dream of doing that today!

 

[preston96]

A 2.5 rod is way ott on this water......even a 13/4 is..............use your power....we used to call them "stepped up" float rod.

 

[tigger]

I like to use a decent match rod, specialist or avon style rod for carp in waters where I don't need to cast a large weight/feeder. As you say a heavy rod just kills the fun. I've been watching those Mat hayes re runs and he uses shimano diaflsh rods alot of time which are great rods and brilliant for playing a fish on. I'm lucky as I have them in several different test curves but unfortunatly they haven't been made now for quite some years and are pretty rare even on ebay. It's worth keeping your eye open for some though. Also the old Daiwa whisker kevlar tournament carp rods are the bee knees for carp and barbel.

 

[Mark Wintle]

When you think that a 2.5lb test curve rod is ideally matched to line around 12-15lbs bs then it is obviously overgunned. An Avon rod with 1 - 1.25 test curve matched with 4 - 6lb line would be adequate for even the biggest carp in the water assuming snag free conditions.

Follow your instincts and fish with the right rod - a power match should be ideal.

 

[noknot]

To me,

It's about using the right tools for the job, now a 2.5TC rod is the WRONG tool for 5lbs Carp and was never designed for that! Would you try to knock in a 1inch nail with a 7lb sledge hammer? 1lb to 1.25 TC is more enough for these Carp! You cannot state it's no fun, as you are doing the job wrong and using the wrong tools.

Carp angling is so easy today, or people think? But part of the skill of the angler is to know when and how and what for a given situation?

People recomend 3lb+ TC today, I just laugh! Thats more akin to a beachcaster than a Carp rod IMO.

I have had some big Carp from very weedy waters on 1.25TC rods, with no problems at all!

Use the right tools for the job, and start to enjoy your fishing!

NK.

 

[Tee-Cee]

Dayglo......this is almost like talking about my own local water-such are the similarities!

Your fish size is about the same although I managed a 17lb'er last summer which was the best fish to come out for a long time!
My fish are generally Mirrors but many are a strain of Wild carp which,even around 6/10lb,go like stink in heavily snagged water.

I spent some seasons trying to beat these fish on light Avon type rods(1.25 test x 6/8lb line)and although I caught fish I lost several big fish simply because the rod did not have enough power to stop them reaching snags.....
I don't like using over strong tackle but I needed to step up the gear to improve my chances and after time spent looking for a suitable animal I boyght a Drennan Specialist Tench/Bream rod x12' long with a test curve of 1.75lb)

I don't think I could have bought better!!

This rod linked to 10lb line on a Shimano Baitrunner has proved to be perfect for the job(ON THIS WATER)with fish loss a rarity.Others have noticed my success rate and see this rod is spot-on!
Obviously many other rods could do the same job and probably a lot cheaper as the Drennan rod was around £120 at the time.However,the quality is superb and because of the use it gets I may well buy another before they go out of fashion!!

(I also tried a stepped-up Drennan Tench of 13' length but not enough power to hold the fish in the initial rush!!)

For you to use a 2.5 TC rod is,as others have said,way over the top UNLESS your water is very heavily weeded or has major snags-my water has fallen trees and the Drennan rod works beautifully!!!

Hope this helps.............................

 

[Cliff Hatton]

Old Nick: Walker caught his '44' on what became the standard MKIV; it was Chris Yates who broke that record with a 51.8 caught on a B.James Avon.

 

[Old Nick]

Old Nick: Walker caught his '44' on what became the standard MKIV; it was Chris Yates who broke that record with a 51.8 caught on a B.James Avon.

Thanks for the clarification Cliff, I knew someone did!

The point is that these days many people think that a high test curve rod is needed to land big fish which history (and more recently than I thought) proves not to be true.

 

[Tee-Cee]

............but I suppose Mr Walker/Mr Yates might just be a cut above the average angler.......(??)

 

[thagamest1]

carp rods

Nice to read that someone else ( and I suspect many others ) have realised that "carp" rods are not normally necessary especially in ponds with up to low doubles around. I fish such waters in Derbyshire and use a centre pin loaded with 5lb line with a Ilb test curve rod. I normally catch far more fish than the buzzer brigade and have a great time with this set-up. It does however need to be a snag-free water. Go light young man and really enjoy fishing again !!

 

[Tee-Cee]

In essence-fish with gear to suit the conditions but always try to minimise the risk of leaving hook/line trailing from a fish.....

As Spanish Pete says,light gear on an open water is great,great fun-no buzzers,just holding the rod and waiting for a run!!

Good luck!

 

[dezza]

What are classified as "carp rods", has changed considerably since the 50s when a twenty pounder was a once in a lifetime monster and most fished in the margins with a 10 to 12 lb line and a 1.5lbs TC split cane Mk IV.

Today, most carp rods look like, and indeed in some cases are more powerful than beach casting rods. And in some cases are being used when a much more flexible rod would be far better,

I saw a youngster fishing a small lake of about 3 acres recently with what looked like 3lb TC rods and enormous big pit reels loaded with what I guessed to be 40 lb braid. The carp in this particular lake get up to about 22lbs, nothing more. Such fish could easily be handled with an Avon rod and a 10 lb line. And nowhere did a carp angler need to cast much over 30 yards to catch a carp.

No wonder anglers using such "super tackle" don't get much fun out of landing the average run of fish.

Way back in the 50s and 60s, carp anglers used rods that had a through action, about 10 to 11 feet long. And they did very well too. What was interesting was that these anglers were often severely criticised by the match angling fraternity for fishing with "skull dragging semi eel tackle".

These days, the above is what most match anglers seem to use.

 

[Cakey]

so we carp anglers should go under gunned to give the carp a chance ?
yeah right ,Id rather be over gunned than leave tackle in the carps gob !
I use 2.5s here and 3.25s in France where the fish are bigger
if you work out the tc of your match rods you will realise its you thats over gunned with the tiddlers you catch :wh
i.e. I use 12lb line and catch carp 30-40lbs
you fish 2lb line and catch 1/2lb roach
wake up smell the coffee and get off the carp anglers backs

 

[chav professor]

I think its a shame that we feel pressurised into buying the latest rods, reels, bite alarms, terminal tackle, 'going' bait, terminal tackle etc. I wonder how many of us out there buy the 'right' gear for the job, so we don't look out of place on the carp lake - there's no substitute for skill. I admire Chris Yates for his simplistic style and love for fishing - awesome.

 

[tigger]

wake up smell the coffee and get off the carp anglers backs

Err, no carp anglers should get off their own backs as all they seem to do is lie on their beds in their bivvys waiting for their alarms to tell them there's a fish on. They'll be getting remote control electric reels next to reel in the fish while they watch through their bivvy window

 

[Cakey]

both your baits are sh it

---------- Post added at 23:33 ---------- Previous post was at 23:23 ----------

tigger

Member


Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 309

Greys do a 3 peice prodigy barbel. A friend of mine had a pair and they where corkers. They do them in 1.5, 1.75 and 2lb test. I've looked at them next to a harrison blank and in all honesty they look every bit as good.

 

[Tee-Cee]

That Cakey is getting very edgy of late-must be age creeping up.....he must know we all love the'Big Carp Boys'really.....them with the 4lb TC rods and 3oz weights!!

I wouldn't miss trying to duck out of the way as the lead whistles past my ear for the world....having said that I think he's quite correct in what he says-the crux of the matter is,fish according to conditions and DON'T leave yards of line trailing from fish!!

Sounds simple to me.........the fishes welfare is paramount isn't it??

 

[Cakey]

Im just sticking up for the dedicated carp angler

 

[Mark Wintle]

It's important to know what you're trying to do. In the case that started the thread with carp to 6lbs and no snags it makes no sense to use proper carp gear but rather Avon or barbel gear. Once you get carp much over about 12lbs this is inadequate. It simply doesn't have the power to utilise the right sort of lines or tame bigger carp. I've landed carp to nearly 20lbs on 4lb line but I didn't enjoy it, the carp was in control and it took far too long. In France with GM one of the carp I had was on a 3lb test curve rod and 15lb line. It put up a terrific scrap for over 10 minutes but Avon gear wouldn't have stopped it going around an island. My 'roach' gear of Normark Avenger and 2lb line has landed many big fish including 12lb carp, 6lb tench and chub, mullet not much smaller, barbel to 7lbs as well as roach over 2lbs but it has its limitations, and I wouldn't deliberately target carp over about 3lbs on it. The carp happen along when I'm crucian or roach fishing