Modern Carp Angling - A Rant!

 Where to catch a grass carp? I have never caught one in Britain although I have had several from France to over twenty pounds. Few waters hold grass carp, and most of those that do, only hold a handful. Elphicks Fishery, a commercial water in Kent has a reasonable stock and the staff advised me to fish their Prairie Lake.

Ideally I would have liked to surface fish to try to select a grassie, however the conditions were against me so I would have to fish blind. The lake was packed to capacity and I slotted in between two long stay anglers as the wind was blowing into that bank. Once the long stay anglers left I figured that the carp would follow the wind and come into the edge. I fished method feeder with popped up corn or white boilie and also float fished the margins. 

Things went to plan and I landed four of the six carp that I saw landed during the day with the biggest a common of around fourteen pounds. 

This is no criticism of Elphicks but I was reminded why I don't often target carp nowadays.

1. I fished a two and a half acre lake today which had nearly thirty carp anglers on it, with swims every ten yards or so. Carp fishing is too popular!

2. Apart from me, to a man two rods were fished to the Island, the tight lines effectively pinning the spooky carp to the island margin. Carp anglers are unimaginative!

3. Why do carp waters have dug outs filled with bark or gravel, not grassy natural banks. Elphicks even had astroturf lining each swim! See no. 6

4. When did the Koi and Ghost Carp escape the pet shop!

4. Does nobody know how to floatfish or use leads under three ounces? Why drop three ounces of lead in the margin and spook fish when a float will get your more bites. Carp have long forgotten what a vertical line means. If I can cast to the island with an ounce why use more?

5. Wheelbarrows.....are they moving house or going fishing?

6. Bivvies the size of double decker buses, I am sure that the carp leap to check out whether there are any carp houses set up before feeding. In years gone by we would have been sat behind screens or reedbeds hidden away.

7. Why on a snag free lake where the maximum cast is perhaps sixty yards stocked largely with singles and doubles do you need three pound test curve rods. This is all about fashion, if you are fishing a weedy lake at range maybe, hoever both Dick Walker and Chris Yates landed record carp from Redmire (a weedy lake) on Mark IV carp rods (1.5lb test curve). 

8. Boilies are not the only bait!

9. Baitboats..................after pushing the barrow presumably they are to knackered to cast!

10. Mallets............aaaarggghhhh

11. Why are there two number 4's in this blog article!

Rant over. 

Such a shame as carp are lovely fish, shame about most carp anglers! At some stage I am going to have to target a grass carp again.