Why Don't Carp Anglers Post Here?

maceo · May 20, 2012

Fishing the beautiful upper Thames, I think I saw about half a dozen other anglers over the whole of last season. I never saw more than three people fishing there (including me) on any session.

When I went to Richworth Linear lakes recently it was jam packed - and that was on a week day.

About 75% or more of the articles in angling magazines and papers seem to be about carp fishing and tactics and the fishing shops are full of carp gear. Similarly, most of the adverts for tackle seem to be pushing carp tackle and boilies etc. When I go into my local tackle shop and ask for/buy river fishing kit and bait it's even worthy of comments along the lines of 'don't get many roach fishermen in here...' etc.

The magazines and papers bemoan the decline and unpopularity of river fishing and the dominance of commercial carp waters.

Judging by this evidence, I'd guess that carp/commercial anglers outnumber river/silver fish anglers by a ratio of at least 10 to 1 and maybe more.

HOWEVER, by stark contrast, judging by the content of threads here and other general fishing forums, you'd guess that the ratio was reversed and that there were 10 times more river fishermen than carp anglers.

You almost never read a thread about carp fishing here, or on other boards like Maggot Drowners.

So why is that?

Don't carp anglers post on the internet, or do they have their own special forums or what?

dangermouse · May 20, 2012

maceo said:
You almost never read a thread about carp fishing here, or on other boards like Maggot Drowners.

So why is that?

Don't carp anglers post on the internet, or do they have their own special forums or what?

I believe all the internet carpers were killed off during Carp Wars IX or was it X? After a massive argument in a thread about which side of a boilie you should push your baiting needle through they assembled in a field near Redmire Pool to "discuss it". At first it was a lot of shouting, then pushing and shoving and eventually someone threw the first 20mm boilie. At that point it could still have ended in a silly bait fight with nothing more than a few bruises on either side.

Unfortunately though one irate carper resorted to hurling his boilies using a 3.5lb test curve rod (a ridiculous choice given that his targets were less than 20m away) and a very large custom made spod. That brought about the first death and the bait fight turned into a full blown massacre. Almost everyone there was killed and those that were not have fled into the darkest corners of the internet never to be seen again . . .

or maybe they`ve taken up barbeling.

In all seriousness I`d say they tend to stick to their specialised forums.

Paul Boote · May 20, 2012

Doctor Who killed off the Daleks (and his own kind) in the Great Time War; Carp and Barbel "Boys" (not Sisters) are now doing it for themselves.

rubio · May 20, 2012

Dunno much about carp fishing or carp fishers, except they seem to crave company more than your 'typical' river angler.
I suspect if you submit a report of a 20 or two from your stretch of the thames you will see a few bivvies sprout along the banks. Better yet give them a name.
Don;t want to come across as bitter nor nothing cos I got no beef with anyone about how they choose to fish, but then again how often does anyone you know put you onto a few fish with a phone call?

peterjg · May 21, 2012

It's not just carp anglers that are missing from the Thames it's all anglers - why!? There are loads of carp in the Thames - in fact it's easier to catch a carp from the Thames than a decent roach! I fish the Thames quite a lot (admittedly mainly in the winter) but it's really rare to see another angler - actually that suits me fine but where are the anglers - commercials probably - that's not proper fishing!!!!!

no-one in particular · May 21, 2012

Cannot say why they don't post but, I look in a carp website occasionally and they are reporting a lack of posters these days. As too rivers, I fished a lot of commercials 5-10 years ago and they were often full, like Piccadilly Circus some days. I now fish a small river or two quite a lot and no one there, even on a nice Sunday afternoon, and some of it is free fishing, which is amazing really. Nice tench, roach , bream etc and they contain carp, although in small numbers. I hope it don't change really.

sam vimes · May 21, 2012

There are carp anglers on here but those that do post are probably more allround anglers than out and out carpers. I know that certainly applies to me. I'm not exclusively any particular type of angler, I chase various species with various different styles of fishing.
However, I suspect that the reason that most carpers tend not to post on FishingMagic, Maggotdrowners and the like is that they aren't carp specific forums.
From my experiences on here, I doubt that the carpers could be bothered with being pilloried on a regular basis for using bivvies, bite alarms and high test curve rods.

Simon K · May 21, 2012

Spot on Sam.

If I'm after specific info on rigs or gear I'll look at one or two carp forums where there are some very technically proficient and knowledgeable anglers whose views I respect. They think outside the box.

I don't think any dedicated carpers would get much out of "general" sites like this, but I suspect there are quite a few on here who would get quite a lot for their own fishing out of a "specialist" carp site.

Ray Roberts · May 21, 2012

sam vimes said:
There are carp anglers on here but those that do post are probably more allround anglers than out and out carpers. I know that certainly applies to me. I'm not exclusively any particular type of angler, I chase various species with various different styles of fishing.
However, I suspect that the reason that most carpers tend not to post on FishingMagic, Maggotdrowners and the like is that they aren't carp specific forums.
From my experiences on here, I doubt that the carpers could be bothered with being pilloried on a regular basis for using bivvies, bite alarms and high test curve rods.

Or they have too much intelligence to care what someone else is having for breckie.

sam vimes · May 21, 2012

Ray Roberts said:
Or they have too much intelligence to care what someone else is having for breckie.

And on that note, I'm off out fishing, for crucians with my match gear.

cg74 · May 21, 2012

sam vimes said:
There are carp anglers on here but those that do post are probably more allround anglers than out and out carpers. I know that certainly applies to me. I'm not exclusively any particular type of angler, I chase various species with various different styles of fishing.
However, I suspect that the reason that most carpers tend not to post on FishingMagic, Maggotdrowners and the like is that they aren't carp specific forums.
From my experiences on here, I doubt that the carpers could be bothered with being pilloried on a regular basis for using bivvies, bite alarms and high test curve rods.

Exactly right!

noknot · May 21, 2012

I'm a Carp angler and I post..........

geoffmaynard · May 21, 2012

A lot of us are carp anglers - it's just that we are not exclusively carp anglers.

skullsat · May 21, 2012

That's the main reason i recently joined this forum,although i do enjoy the odd carp session,and some of the carp forums are very interesting and helpful,i enjoy fishing in general,and nothing gives me a greater pleasure than sitting with my grandkids on the local ponds or canals catching whatever decides to come along.

stu_the_blank · May 21, 2012

geoffmaynard said:
A lot of us are carp anglers - it's just that we are not exclusively carp anglers.

Quite so.

Stu

Philip · May 21, 2012

maceo said:
The magazines and papers bemoan the decline and unpopularity of river fishing and the dominance of commercial carp waters. Judging by this evidence, I'd guess that carp/commercial anglers outnumber river/silver fish anglers by a ratio of at least 10 to 1 and maybe more.

I recently got chastised for saying basically that on another thread...think I was accused of being over critical from a distant keyboard..:wh

...Maybe 1 of the reasons Carp anglers dont bother to post here.

That aside I guess Carp only anglers will tend to post on Carp only sites...make sense I guess. Yes some of the anglers on here could learn from the Carp guys if they wanted to open their eyes, same as the Carp guys could probably learn a thing or two from the anglers here. It works both ways.

After all Carp, Roach, Barbel or Pike ...at the end of the day its a bit of line with a hook on the end isn't it.

geoffmaynard · May 21, 2012

I can understand it, we all get over-focussed from time to time. When I had carp fever I was only interested in carp. Then it was pike. Then catfish. Now it's something else... salmon! So I'm spending a lot of time lurking and learning from the specialist sites. Not abandoning FM though - sorry!

Paul Boote · May 21, 2012

You'll get over the salmon, Geoff. Not the fish (I've had 500-plus British fish since catching my first at the age of 12), but the people whose company you find yourself having to keep. One day ... "Oh God ... all the fat cars and the overpriced equipment and the paper-thin bonhomie ... I fancy some real fishing ... yeah, some Thames bleak...".

bennygesserit · May 21, 2012

Paul Boote said:
You'll get over the salmon, Geoff. Not the fish (I've had 500-plus British fish since catching my first at the age of 12), but the people whose company you find yourself having to keep. One day ... "Oh God ... all the fat cars and the overpriced equipment and the paper-thin bonhomie ... I fancy some real fishing ... yeah, some Thames bleak...".

Paul you crack me up dude - you make fishing sound like something James Bond would do, or <insert literary reference here [you get that a lot don't you ]> ( he is my favorite )

I can’t live the buttoned down life like you. I want it all! The terrifying lows, the dizzying highs, the creamy middles! Sure, I might offend a few of the blue-noses with my cocky stride and musky odors - oh, I’ll never be the darling of the so-called ‘City Fathers’ who cluck their tongues, stroke their beards, and talk about what’s to be done with this Homer Simpson?

Windy · May 22, 2012

a) many of them do
b) those that don't either don't post anywhere at all (dare I suggest that they are spending their time fishing ?) or
c) post on more specialist carp forums

Either way, what is the problem ?

And if this is - as it appears - just another lets bash FM thread why is it posted and allowed to remain in general fishing and not Baitbox ?
To where, I suggest, it ought to have long since been transferred and should be now....

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