Can I spin for trout on a carp rod?

[Dave1981]

Hi all, I'm a beginner and am about to get myself a rod. I'm mainly going to be fishing for carp so will be gettin a carp rod but I'm goin to Scotland for a weeks fishing holiday soon where we're mainly going to be catchin (or hoping to) trout on one of the lochs. So can I just wack a spinner on my carp rod? Also can I spin for pike with a carp rod? Sorry for all the questions, any help would be greatly appreciated!

[Vagabond]

I built myself a split-bamboo Mk4 Carp rod in the 1960s

It has caught a lot of carp, and a lot of pike when it doubles as a spinning rod in the winter.

I have also used it to catch salmon on spinners.

It is still in use...

Might be a bit OTT for trout though - unless you are after big ferox trout.

[Dave1981]

Thanks a lot for the reply mate! I'm goin to sound stupid now but why does it make a difference what rod you have when your spinning for trout as opposed to pike? Is it because a carp rod is too strong to feel when a trout is on the line? One more question, if I get a spinning rod could I use it to float fish? Thanks for the help!

[Vagabond]

Let me tell you a golfing story

Christy O'Conner Senior was on a practice round with a young professional.

Christy made a good second shot to the green.

"What club did you use" asked the young pro.

"Four iron" said Christy.

"Oh" said the youngster, "I could reach it with a six"

Christy promptly emptied fourteen golf balls out of his bag, then proceeded to put all the balls onto the green, using each of his fourteen clubs in turn - from the driver, through the various woods and irons, to his niblick and finally his putter.

The lesson is, that while some golf clubs are better than others for a particular job, a good golfer can improvise with any club.

The same principle applies to fishing rods.

A spinning rod is designed to cast a particular weight range rather than catch a particular fish.

That is why the carp rod is OTT for trout - the very small spinners used for trout are a bit light to cast with a powerful rod - that doesn't mean an experienced angler couldn't do it, but he would be improvising rather than using the best tool for the job.

[Dave1981]

Right I got you. I cant play golf though??? ........Just kidding.

Ok one more thing I was thinking of is float fishing for the trout using the carp rod is that a good possibility on a large loch?

Sorry for yet more questions, I really do appreciate your advice/wisdom and responses very much.

Bloody love fishing but up until now have just been using friends rods etc and up until now I've been put off goin into it myself because of just how complicated it is! When it comes down to carp fishing I'd be condident now as far as the set up goes (I mean the very very VERY basics!) but the amount of things that need taking into consideration can be quite off putting. I'm determined to give it a good go tho on my own now :)

[Vagabond]

Well you COULD use the carp rod, but again, its really too powerful for a light float, and if you want to floatfish fairly deep, the rod is a bit short for the job.

On a loch, if you only have the carp rod, its probably best to leger or use a swim feeder.