Thinking

[NICK R]

Has the thinking gone out of carpfishing ?
Ready made baits , rigs off the shelf {ready tied} All the non thinking tackle by Korda to name one .
Or is it a market that is slowly destroying the sport of angling .{iam a Angler ,not a fisherman}????????????????

[fishypaul]

i agree nick,but what they can't buy is most important,
they can't buy years of experience,watercraft based on hundreds of hours at the waterside watching for fish ,
no tackle shop sells that

[NICK R]

So true bud , the amount of anglers who think that they have have a couple of fish in the upper teens then think they should be aiming for thirties ,
I have just been looking at people applying for my syndi , 4 of them have only ever fished commercial puddles and now want to fish a huge lake with a very low stock of fish .More chance of catching a Tyrannosaurus
One Lad actually reeled off the makes of tackle he used, thinking that using a £250 rod and a £200 reel made him a good angler when he had only been fishing for carp for 12mths
maybe i should of taken his £600 of him and let him blank for 12 mths lol

[fullcreel]

The ease of catching on many commercials has, i think stopped people from learning 'how to fish'. People have gone straight into the big fish scene, and are failing to serve an 'apprenticeship', if it can be called that. Consequently I doubt if any of them could fish a wggler on a river or trot a stick float, read a water.
The PVA bag, or mesh approach, along with other similar methods does seem to have robbed some of the skill from fishing.
Observation skills, I think are one of the most important things to delevop.
By all means, if this chap wants to pay 600pounds to fish, but warn him that it a hard water and he'll have to put in some serious hard work. Remind him that tackle does not make an angler.

[paddy2k7_red4life]

i am 17 years old and i have been carp fishing for the last 24 months although only probaly this year and i have caught carp up 22lb on a local lake but i started myself carp fishing by using all the ready made stuff. This year a local man took me under his wing in a way and now i have learned a lot of him. But some anglers has views on people my age and it makes me sick because people think that all people my age are on the bank getting drunk on the bank and messing about on the bank and mis hurting the fish but thats not true.

[NICK R]

Never mentioned anything about people getting drunk etc.. Was on about how fishing skills have declined over the yrs .and how people are not learning the trade , using water skills , Could you find fish in 50 acres of water for e.g. .?{not a dig by the way } , I know some very good carp anglers who are 16 and under , these have been fishing for many years ,even at their age I can arrive on my lake at 6 in the morning and my rods will not be out by tea time as iam reading the water , looking for telling signs , climbing tree,s
I spend many hrs making sure my presentation is right , my rigs are tied precisely , every knot is tied to the best of my capabilities, I would never trust some one else to make my rigs, tie my knots , tie my loop,s in lead core , Tie my leader knots , . I do let them brew up tho

[ben lee]

Pva bait boats ect methords and tactics all change. Ready tied rigs ect are good for a baginer would reather they used them than make them there self and get them wrong.

You learn from experience and trying things out.

[barbelblanker]

I can see what Nick R is saying and to an large extent I agree with his sentiments.

When I started fishing in my local park lake all them years ago , no wake up and cut it out with that violin music, the way I learnt was by trying stuff out and blanking. Lots. Even when I spent hours round Garry Evans speaking to Colin (and I don't think even HE can remember all that far back) it took me a long time and a lot of frustration to become the brilliant blanker I am today .

When someone thinks that fishing is turning up with several hundred pounds of gear and bait and the fish just jumping up the rod then that is sad, I think, because they miss out on a lot. Easy come easy go. I reckon there is FAR more satisfaction in figuring it all out , blanking a few times then getting a result.

I've fished a lake this year where the carp are certainly cagey but I'd hardly describe them as hard to catch. It was fun, sure, but not a great test of angling ability. For some that is all they want and if it is you then it's your life.

I used to play a lot more golf than I do now and if ever there were two sports where people think that the kit makes the man then it is these two. The truth is that there is a minimum standard that kit needs to be at to fish effectively and that a roach only bash with me on normal gear and the likes of Bob Nudd on a beachcaster and 15lb line with 2/0 hooks, sure I'd probably beat him but I wouldn't bet my life on it. With the same gear and the same chances he'd slaughter me as he is at the top end of the angling skills ladder (and a good bloke to watch on tv too, could watch him all day, enthuisiastic even now). That has come from decades of practise and a great deal of commitment and a very big willingness to learn. Not secret baits or tactics, not luck but pure bloody hard work combined with a certain natural flair.

There IS a place for the likes of PVA, boats etc and used to fill in the pieces of a puzzle they are good.

What is , maybe, lacking if all someone knows is easy carp puddles, is that real satisfaction of feeling like you have learnt a skill. Trotting a float in a river, feeding that bream shoal so they stick around. Winning your first match. Catching when nearly everyone else has blanked. Nothing can make up for that no matter the amount spent on gear.

As for people like Paddy2k7_redforlife, we could do with a lot more like him. People his age DO get a rough ride and in most cases it is unfair. It is the usual issue of the minority spoiling for the majority. Most of the numpties I see (and hear, gobs like the channel tunnel) are a lot older than 17. Don't forget that most of the lads and lasses on foreign soils right now are not much older than 17 too. Though I don't think this was in any way the point that Nick was trying to make.

Fishing by just buying hundreds of punds of gear then always fishing puddles is like constantly playing games with God Mode on. Sure you get a result , but it's a hollow one.

Here endeth the Rant :)

Wales is Gods Country, couldn't agree more ;) ALL of it (I know them politicians in Cardiff would have you believe it only extends to the M4 but as a Cardiff boy I can hardly argue against it can I :) ).

Tight lines.

[NICK R]

Totally agree with those words ,

As for south wales , i lived in Ely once , Nearly married her as well Never AGAIN LOL

[barbelblanker]

Nick R , if you lived in Ely mate you'll go straight to heaven. Your time in hell is served :)