Beginners guide to carp fishing - Part 1 Tackle Selection

[Tom]

Welcome to the world of carp fishing

So as you're reading this it's likely that you are either just starting out carp fishing or are thinking of starting carp fishing and not sure what you need. Well, you've definately found an article which should hopefully anser some of the questions you may have about carp fishing. This series covers everything from selecting your first tackle as the shop can be quite daunting especially if you dont know what you actually need and a jargon buster giving you the real basics about what things like test-curve means, bait selection, pre-made rigs and items of useful terminal tackle.

Right, so on we go with part 1.

What does carp fishing entail, well the main difference between fishing specifically for carp as opposed to float fishing for anything is that the bites will likely be much less frequent with tougher venues maybe even waiting excess of 48 hours for a bite but the rewards can be much higher with many day ticket venues now holding carp over 20lbs so the long waits between bites can be well worth it. Its has it's pro's and con's as does everything in life.

What do I need to fish for carp

If you're targetting smaller fish in the 2-8lb range then you can probably just get away with some light tackle but as most people that take up carp fishing are specifically trying to target larger fish heres some info on tackle that you are likely to want to purchase.

Rods

Carp rods are typically 11 -12ft in length and have much fewer guides than say a float rod but are of a much more heavy duty construction, a carp rod is rated by its Test Curve or TC, the action of the rod is also important, often people confuse the two terms action and TC as meaning the same thing but they are two entirely unique measures of the performance of a carp rod.

Test Curve is a measure of how much weight is required to bend the tip of a carp rod 90 degrees to the butt. This gives some indication as to how much weight the rod is capable of casting, typically carp rods fall somewhere between 2lb TC and 3 1/2LB TC

The Action of a rod put simply defines how the rod bends, a through action rod will progressively and softly bend throughout its length which makes it ideal for close-in fishing in the margins and playing carp right under the rod tip where a fast action rod will be softer at the tip but become rapidly stiffer towards the butt section which makes them ideal for long-range fishing but less suited to close-in fishing. A medium action rod will combine some of the elements of both the previously mentioned actions which makes it a good choice for general fishing but less capable for extreme range but should still have some of the aspects required for close-in fishing. Right so now you have this knowledge you can go to a tackle shop and start having a look at whats available, we'd recommend a rod in the range of 2 1/2lb to 3lb TC with a medium action as this should be fairly well suited to most carp fishing situations. Don't rush to buy the first rod you see in the shop, go through as many as you can and be sure to pay particular attention to the design of the reel seat and the quality of the guides (Fuji and SiC are the mainstream at present). There are commonly two materials used for the handle, these are either cork or duplon, choice of that really is entirely down to personal preference, with the duplon you are also faced with two other choices and that is wether you want a full handle or abbreviated handle, again that is down to personal preference. One thing that is often overlooked when buying carp rods is the type of joint used for connecting the rod sections, a spigot joint is normally far stronger than a simple slip-over but they are a bit of a rarity these days so the norm is the slip-over joint but as the technology of rod blanks has greatly improved these are far more practical and acceptable.

When you do go to the tackle shop dont let a sales assistant virtually bully you into buying the most expensive or inappropriate rods, take the time to discuss fully every aspect of the rods, real budget rods in the up to £50 range tend to be very cheap and nasty so you're probably going to be looking to spend around £60+ per rod which should get you something of reasonable quality.

Now lets move onto reels

There are a wide variety of reels that are suitable for carp fishing. Ideally the reel you select should have some kind of freespool facility like Shimano's Baitrunner reels, another excellent reel is the Fox Stratos but these are expensive there are many cheaper reels offering similar qualiton the market such as those by Okuma. The freespool or baitrunner as its more commonly known (although this is Shimano's name for it but is most commonly used) allows a fish to pick up and run with the bait and line can freely feed off of the reel rather than you having to go swimming to retrieve your rod from the water. Before the baitrunner the common method was to fish with an open bail arm and have the line clipped with either a line clip fitted to the rod or before those were commonly available a rubber band on the spool of the reel. Another choice you're faced with when buying a carp reel is whether you are going to buy a normal or "Big Pit" reel, the big pit reels hold vastly more line than the normal carp reels but cost considerably more and are heavier and bulkier than a conventional carp reel.
A good tackle shop will be able to provide you with some sound advice on what reels are particularly suitable for certain situations but the general rule of thumb is that long distance casting is easier using a bit pit reel as the line comes off the spool easier and retrieval is faster and easier, but they are less sensitive for lighter working.

welcome to part 2 of our guide to carp fishing for beginners, this section covers rod support, bite alarms and indicators. If you're new to carp fishing then you've definately come to the right place.

Rod support

In reality here you need to make a decision based on typically on what the swims are like in the venues you plan to fish regularly, if you can push in a bankstick easily then banksticks are probably well suited for your fishing, on the other hand if you regularly fish venues that have concrete, gravel or wooden swims then you may want to consider getting a rod pod. First lets look at banksticks and buzzer bars. If you already know about banksticks then please skip forward to buzzer bars otherwise lets talk a little about them, a bankstick is simply a metal pole with a thread at the top for screwing in attachments and a spike at the other end for pushing into the ground, there are some very cheap and nasty banksticks out there but there are also some very good quality stainless steel ones too which albeit are more expensie have the advantage of being less likely to bend, more rigid and not prone to oxidisation that aluminium ones are (cheap aluminium banksticks tend to get a white residue on the bare aluminium after time). One option worth considering is getting screw-in banksticks which have a coarse threaded spike at the bottom making them far easier to get into the ground when its very dry. There are also telescopic banksticks that are extendible so you can vary the height of your rods to suit the terrain. Obviously as the number of features increase so does the cost so if your on a tight budget be careful how much you're spending here.

Buzzer bars come in a few types, if you do not know what these are then lets explain, a buzzer bar hsa a thread at the bottom for mounting onto a bankstick and has 2, 3 or 4 female threads spaced out across its length to allow you to mount support for the coresponding number of rods using one bankstick. Again there are stainless steel versions, powder coated steel versions, aluminium versions etc etc and again there are telescopic versions allowing the spacing of your rods to be adjusted.

Rod Pods

A rod pod normally consists of four or more legs mounted on a centre bar so it kind of behaves like a tripod (but with four legs) if you're not confused yet you're doing better than me The pod is ideal for use on solid ground or where banksticks are not suitable but is equally at home in soft mud. The pod can provide far superior support for your rods (in my opinion) as with 4 or more legs in contact with the ground its a more rigid structure. There are loads of really good pods on the market and several el-cheapo bad ones too, if you do decide to take the pod route then be sure to look for pods that have adjustable height and length and preferably individual leg adjustment as this gives the most flexibility when setting up in awkward swims. To be able to fit your rods on a pod or banksticks for that matter you'll need some rests, there are loads of different designs out there but the rubber clip type offer the best support in my opinion as the rod is then physically held in place rather than just rested on, as for supporting the front of the rods you wont need a support if your paning on using bite alarms (which you probably are).

Well, thats it for part 1 so if you want to read more please go on to read Part 2 of our guide coving Bite alarms, indicators and the like, we hope you found this informative and easy to follow, if you have any questions please post them in the forum.


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