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Carp Fishing Basics

The Carp Fishing Record – Will The Next One Count?

The emergence of Carp fishing as an expanding specialist sport during the seventies has grown ever more popular, one of the pioneers of carp fishing was the great Richard Walker who was a renowned Carp specialist in the forties and fifties. His record Carp Clarissa lived her days out in captivity after being caught at Redmire Pool, she weighed in at 44lbs and is possibly the most famous fish in the angling world.


But why was she so famous and why has Carp fishing continued to be so popular?


Well Clarissa was special, she not only broke the British record she smashed it, almost doubling the previous record of 26lb and this type of record breaking in fishing is unheard of in modern times. In addition to this apart from the Salmon caught in 1922 by Mrs Ballantyne it was the biggest freshwater fish ever caught.


She was possibly the most inspirational fish that a single generation has ever experienced and lived to the age of 34 before her death in Regents Park Zoo in 1971. It is probable that the death was premature and if left in the wild Clarissa may well have reached an age of 50 or 60 years. The tragedy here is that after her capture and transfer to the Zoo she never grew any bigger, contrast this to other fish in Redmire including the fish caught by Chris Yates at 51lb then a conclusion could be made that Clarissa never reached her true potential.


There is a train of thought that Clarissa could have eventually weighed 60lb had she been left in her natural home and imagine what that would have done for Carp fishing!


Add all this to this the fact that Richard Walker was a prolific writer as well as a prolific angler then the two combined factors would be the inspiration for countless young people to get into Carp Fishing. The next ingredient is the “air of superiority” and the atmosphere of secrecy that surrounds the carp world when you add this to the technical innovation and development of techniques and tackle then there is truly a magical draw for many people.


As time went by the growth of publicity for successful specialist carp anglers started to drive the potential to earn real money from the sport. Sponsorship, tackle design, bait evolution and syndicate waters started to provide anglers with the potential to earn serious money and many anglers either partnered or setup business around their success. Magazines and advertising then came on the scene and now there are many television programmes on SKY television and other subscription based media.


Tackle development has continued at an amazing rate and the industry continues to grow, its now more than 35 years since Clarissa died, there have been a string of new pretenders to her crown, bigger fish of course but none with the same aura and esteem.


Now as we move through 2007 we now see a new direction, the imported monsters that are coming into the country are being stocked at weights in excess of Clarissa when she broke the record!


These fast grown bloated fish are about to break and break again the Carp record but not one of these fish will ever match Clarissa no matter how big they are caught at. Of course the original strains of Carp were brought to the UK by the Romans, monks also farmed them and many stately homes were stocked with a new strain of Carp in between 1930 and 1940, it is known that some of these fish reached ages of 60+ which is amazing.


I liken this latest crop of imports to comparing a true diamond with Cubic Zirconia, you can have the biggest rock in the world on display on your finger but if its not a true diamond it is worthless!


Where will this end? Well the first issue will be whether to accept these new fish as true records (a dilemma already faced in the trout fishing world), secondly identifying the fish as a true contender or not, these are two very difficult questions which will now rock and divide the Carp fishing world over the next months and years.

Shaun Parker has been a Carp fisherman since 1970 the year before the world famous British carp record Clarissa died. The modern era enables him to get his Carp bait and Fishing Tackle online.

Carp Fishing Basics

Basic Carp Fishing Tips

Carp fishing can be a frustrating yet exciting type of fishing. This is because carp fish are adept at blow sucking and blowing. Carp usually stay eating on the surface of the water as long as food such as bread, peas and corn are present.

Here are some of the important carp fishing tips. First of all, have any food such as cookies softened. You can do this by soaking them with water for a few minutes. Afterwards put the wet piece inside a sealed plastic bag for one hour. It all depends on the kind of food – as long as you see that it is already firm for casting, then you can now hook it as bait. Another tip in hooking bait is by attaching the pellet to the shank by gluing it.

Get the carp into feeding – this allows them to become at ease with the bait. And as they become more comfortable, this is a good indication for the angler as the fish becomes less picky. These carp fishing tips are actually useful when employing the method of zig rigs.

As soon as they become quite at ease with feeding, you now can cast your bait. However, it is a must that the fishing bait does not fall directly into the area where the carp are eating. Ideally, you must cast and position your bait away from the location of the feeding carp. Slowly, pull the bait gently, drawing it to the feeding position.  As the bait hangs, you have to be patient and continue supplying the area with food in order to attract further the fish and make it stay and feed with your food. 

It is advisable for fishers to utilize hair rig – such will increase the changes of catching carp fish. Carp initially taste the food, they tend to be very picky. And if it so happens that they do not like how the food tastes, they would avoid it. So it is advisable to choose the food items that are good to the carp’s taste.

Simply put it is not just the bait that effectively catches the fish – it is actually the fishing method which is used to introduce the bait. One of the most effective carp fishing tips is to do pre baiting regularly on a single spot. Carp will think that this spot is a good place for them to feed. Soon enough many carp will visit the area. And you have an excellent place to fish for carp.

  

For more about carp fishing, angling advices and other fishing articles, do visit our Game Fishing Thrills blog.

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