Monster carp

[Stalker]

I think it's good that Monster Carp exists, and fair play to ITV for giving it such a (relatively) prominent channel and time slot, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if it's done more to pique the interest of young kids than any TV show since Go Fishing and A Passion For Angling (much as I love Mortimer and Whitehouse, it's not exactly the most targeted of fishing shows, being more about them and their relationship and shared life experiences than about the fishing).

BUT it really, REALLY isn't my cup of tea. The Essex boy bantz grew weary within 20 minutes of the first episode of the first series for me, and the ersatz "Top Gear but for fishing" vibe doesn't really suit the subject in my opinion.

But each to their own. I just prefer my fishing shows to be a bit more sedate and low key is all.

 

[carpinbob]

I watched the previous series and have started watching the new one, it’s entertaining and in my eyes not to be taken seriously. It’s just 3 friends out fishing for carp at different places and enjoying themselves.

 

[sam vimes]

This isn't a defence of Monster Carp, but I'm one of the few that can't really see the fuss with A Passion For Angling. It's undoubtedly wonderfully filmed, but it's also incredibly twee. At times, Yates and James carry on like a couple of overgrown posh schoolboys. It's no less annoying, and no less peurile, than the Essex Boys banter in Monster Carp, it's just a hell of a lot more refined. I can't really identify strongly with either program, but I can watch them. Shouty Essex boys are probably a touch lower in the pecking order, but it's not a huge gulf. Where PFA really is a cut above is in the stunning cinematography.

 

[Philip]

Never seen it but with so many complaining about lack of new people coming into the sport i would have thought anything that raises the sports profile to the mainstream like this would be welcome.

...and I cant help but point out that once again its plainly obvious which fish is keeping the angling bandwagon going yet they just keep getting panned by a minority on here for some reason.

I'll get my tin hat.
:behindsofa:

 

[103841]

There is one carp show I’d pay good money to watch.....

Skippy goes to Godalming.

 

[theartist]

Never seen it but with so many complaining about lack of new people coming into the sport i would have thought anything that raises the sports profile to the mainstream like this would be welcome.

...and I cant help but point out that once again its plainly obvious which fish is keeping the angling bandwagon going yet they just keep getting panned by a minority on here for some reason.

I'll get my tin hat.
:behindsofa:

There's quite a bit of variety if you look beyond Monster Carp and the Dean Macey one which I can't remember the name of

There's Jeremy Wade's global offerings and Bob and Paul both on primetime terrestrial and if you look through the other channels on freeview you get Robson Green and even Screaming Reels repeats, which may be a bit dated but are interesting in places. Those last three shows offer a more light hearted take on fishing, something youtubers should take heed off perhaps. I expect I've left some out and wonder if anyone has ever compiled a list of Angling shows on TV. I also wonder if they showed Go fishing again and Passion... whether they would get good audiences and if so why don't they do it?

When you think about how much fishing on TV at the moment, has there ever been so much?

 

[steve2]

Never seen it but with so many complaining about lack of new people coming into the sport i would have thought anything that raises the sports profile to the mainstream like this would be welcome.

Agree, but in what light does it show angling to the general public.
I have no interest in carp and have never watched the programme so can't comment on it.
PFA was of its time now in the days celebs and instant gratification I assume Monster Carp is the new PFA.

 

[Philip]

Agree, but in what light does it show angling to the general public.

I guess it depends on the anglers you ask. The guys who trot for Roach and do little else will probably say a bad one. While the guys who session fish and camp out will probably say a good one. I suspect the program has encouraged more people to try angling than not to.

Nice to see you back btw.

There's quite a bit of variety if you look beyond Monster Carp and the Dean Macey one which I can't remember the name of

There's Jeremy Wade's global offerings and Bob and Paul both on primetime terrestrial and if you look through the other channels on freeview you get Robson Green and even Screaming Reels repeats, which may be a bit dated but are interesting in places. Those last three shows offer a more light hearted take on fishing, something youtubers should take heed off perhaps. I expect I've left some out and wonder if anyone has ever compiled a list of Angling shows on TV. I also wonder if they showed Go fishing again and Passion... whether they would get good audiences and if so why don't they do it?

When you think about how much fishing on TV at the moment, has there ever been so much?

Your right there is variety but they are still the fish bringing the most money into angling in the UK and I cant think of many other mainstream programs that basically focus on one species. ....they didnt call it monster "fish"

Good point about compiling a list of Angling shows. If anyone had the motivation to do it that would be interesting to see.

Screaming reels was truly awful.

 

[mikench]

I haven't seen it so cannot comment on it other than to reiterate how irritating I find the presenters. My brother in law, a non angler , asked me if I fished for carp like that and act like a juvenile delinquent. He couldn't see the point of it but could see the attraction of float fishing on a lake or stream in the simplest way possible.

As for attracting new people to the sport I'm not sure it does or the right sort. I catch carp and I really enjoy the experience but it's one I cannot avoid as carp are everywhere. A new club water was given up by the previous club because of " carpers acting like idiots and ruining it for everybody else" . There is now a one rod rule to hopefully put them off plus there are no monster carp in the lakes. A silly tv programme like the one in the title does little to promote Angling. Angling isn't macho, raucous reality tv. We go to relax and using skill catch fish. I accept fully that people who fish for carp are, in the main, skilful and caring. I know quite a few and they really enjoy what they do. They do not cast to the other side of a lake, over their fellow anglers lines, spod copious quantities of bait all over the place and leave litter, empty cans of meat, beer and worse behind. The programme ( and all others)should promote good behaviour , consideration and responsibility .

I stress that very few carpers are hooligans who fish but a few hooligans who fish are carpers.

 

[108831]

These guys are good anglers,they look after their fish,don't leave litter,have a good laugh with good friends,my issue is in the two shows this far,it's been two hours of fishing carnage,a continuous stream of good carp being caught,but look these guys have done a lot of work,getting contacts in the countries they are going to(possibly pre-baiting for them),telling them good areas and actually being there with them to assist,the amounts of what seems like continuous baiting looks obscene in a British concept,but with amounts of fish on these venues,heavy feeding is a must. One last thing,I don't think many anglers on FM would want to be within a country mile of three giggling,gawping anglers like these three...

 

[theartist]

I haven't seen it so cannot comment on it other than to reiterate how irritating I find the presenters. My brother in law, a non angler , asked me if I fished for carp like that and act like a juvenile delinquent. He couldn't see the point of it but could see the attraction of float fishing on a lake or stream in the simplest way possible.

As for attracting new people to the sport I'm not sure it does or the right sort. I catch carp and I really enjoy the experience but it's one I cannot avoid as carp are everywhere. A new club water was given up by the previous club because of " carpers acting like idiots and ruining it for everybody else" . There is now a one rod rule to hopefully put them off plus there are no monster carp in the lakes. A silly tv programme like the one in the title does little to promote Angling. Angling isn't macho, raucous reality tv. We go to relax and using skill catch fish. I accept fully that people who fish for carp are, in the main, skilful and caring. I know quite a few and they really enjoy what they do. They do not cast to the other side of a lake, over their fellow anglers lines, spod copious quantities of bait all over the place and leave litter, empty cans of meat, beer and worse behind. The programme ( and all others)should promote good behaviour , consideration and responsibility .

I stress that very few carpers are hooligans who fish but a few hooligans who fish are carpers.

Wow Mike that's a lot of concise opinion for someone who hasn't watched it

Can you give examples of bad behaviour on the programme, I can't recall them eff'ing and blinding or being rude to others, thought they were quite respectful of the local anglers and the environment? How are they macho or raucous and how on earth is it reality TV?

 

[mikench]

I have seen similar programmes featuring Macey, Hamidi and others. I entirely agree they do not swear, they are skilled anglers( better than I'll ever be), they care passionately for the fish and for what they do. I do think the tenor of these programmes is of the reality tv variety. I do not watch reality tv or soaps.

My comments about bad behaviour was a " concise opinion" about the sort of people programmes like this may attract. Would you leave empty beer cans in your peg, would you discard an empty can of meat into the water, would you leave litter and evidence of bodily functions. Would you drive across a farmers field destined for sillage ? No you wouldn't and neither would the vast majority of anglers of any species. Adolescent antics attracts adolescents. All clubs encounter this type of behaviour but unless it is caught in the act there isn't a great deal that can be done. Rules change to prohibit bivvies, number of rods, amount of gb and so one. These rules spoil the enjoyment for many who enjoy the bivvy experience, who are a credit to the sport and who obey the rules.

I repeat the rhetorical question does a programme like this attract people( men) to the sport and the right sort ? My concise opinion is I do not think it does.

 

[David Rogers 3]

I have known one or two people (mostly in their 20s/30s) who have never fished seriously but have "catching a monster carp" on some sort of tick-list of things to do before they're 40. They generally go with a few of their mates to some foreign venue (usually in France) and achieve their ambition in the course of a week or less. That's them done - they've ticked that box and probably never go fishing again, or even think about it except perhaps to look with pity on anyone who wastes their time fishing in the UK for "lesser fish". Maybe this is the sort of person who makes up the majority of the target audience for Monster Carp?

 

[theartist]

Mike, The people you describe are basically yobs, chavs, asbos call them what you will.

I for one will blame their parents and unbringing rather than a group of guys making a fishing programme

 

[108831]

It will attract the sort of carp anglers that want to have a social,which for most is anti-social,so to Rob,no they're behaviour isn't 'bad',but they're decorum isn't good,they 'do' shout,guffaw etc,that said on most of the venues they're fishing it's pretty quiet,anglers wise,so little damage is done,also we've all had roll around moments on the bank,these guys are relatively young and the craic is very important,as it is to all of us,life is far too short...

 

[theartist]

It will attract the sort of carp anglers that want to have a social,which for most is anti-social,so to Rob,no they're behaviour isn't 'bad',but they're decorum isn't good,they 'do' shout,guffaw etc,that said on most of the venues they're fishing it's pretty quiet,anglers wise,so little damage is done,also we've all had roll around moments on the bank,these guys are relatively young and the craic is very important,as it is to all of us,life is far too short...

Also they are filming, you're seeing days of footage compacted in to one hour. The shows producers probably have a contract to produce a light entertainment fishing programme, which is all it is, it's not there to teach us morals or how to behave

 

[108831]

It's not,but they should have an amount of responsibility to show angling in a good light,they probably think they have,that's the vagaries of opinion...

 

[Pete Shears]

We should all be glad that angling is getting air time

 

[nottskev]

I watched the whole youtube trailer (1.29) and identified with it strongly. Don't we all run down the bank to high-five the next angler while shouting Yes!!! Get in!!! Oh my days!!!!

But that was enough for me. I wouldn't say the programme gives a poor image of angling - rather that it reflects a culture where loud is the new quiet and the dry, understated or subtle is out of fashion, and popular programmes are designed to hold the attention spans of the impatient.

I wouldn't knock carp-fishing, either. There are a few local waters I can only fish in the winter, as the warm weather fills them up with people who can't sit still or keep quiet for 10 minutes. If they do go quiet, they're probably rolling a spliff. They are by no means all carp-anglers, but they are often (subtle distinction) fishing for carp. Things happen relatively slowly, compared to eg more general floatfishing, so having cast in, they find themselves at a loose end til the alarm goes off, and like to congregate for noisy fun.

The programme is about one part of the spectrum of fishing and in a certain over-excited style. Fair enough if that's what some people like. I don't really expect the things I like about fishing to translate into mainstream televisual light entertainment terms.

 

[mikench]

I for one will blame their parents and unbringing rather than a group of guys making a fishing programme

I agree Rob. I don't blame the presenters in any way and in the context of what the producers want and what they think the viewing public want, they probably do it very well. I'm sure Jeremy Kyle was perfect for what he did but he attracted the wrong sort as you describe.

Macey like mossies irritates me and i won't watch anything he's part of. Having read Brackets tales and experiences I'm far more attracted to that style e.g. gudgeon than Monster Carp .