I'm mainly after Carp and Tench for the fights but will happily catch most coarse fish. Anyone else enjoy carping?

I usually use a couple of Fox Warrior series rods, (ES etc ) and shimano 8000 & 10000 as my reels. Everything else i've mix and matched to suit my style of fishing but i do love those rods and reels. Very light to use but strong enough to land up to 50Lbs safely.

[caruso813]

Never really caught a carp on purpose, mostly accidental while catfishing. I hear in the UK, people actually pay to fish for carp.

I mostly fish for largemouth bass, catfish, muskie, striped bass, flounder and sandshark.

In the UK you pay just to exist but yeah, i pay £27 ($45) for 24 hours carp fishing depending on where i go. ( In addition to the £26 i pay for an annual license just to think about fishing! ) One lake charges £100 per day fishing and has a 2 rod limit. It's pretty expensive but when you live on an island, lakes are often held at a premium and you have to pay a lot to find a lake that isn't overfished by the kids. Catfish are only just catching on over here as spain and the rest of Europe have the better fish but English carp are lovely fish to catch.

[caruso813]

And people here complain about spending $22.50 for a license to fish any freshwater body in the state...I have no problems with it really, especially compared to those prices man. But hey, it shows your true love for the sport lol.

When you say you pay a set price for 24 hours, does that mean you get from like 5 PM to 5 PM the next day, come and go as you please? Or, you pay for 24 hours, fish a few hours this week, a few next week...ya know until ya hit the 24 hour mark?

No, you pay for a 24 hr spread of time. You can start whenever you choose but as soon as you peg a swim the timer starts and you have 24 hours from then. You can buy shorter times if you choose but obviously block booking is cheaper. I cant really complain about the cost though as it serves a purpose. Many of the lakes i grew up on are ruined now fishing is popular and new fishers often go and ruin that lake by filling it with food which then rots or foul catching. Paying a high price means those who are not dedicated can be excluded from some lakes and help preserve their quality, the money also allows good lake owners to improve what they have.

It's also quite nice to go to private lakes and meet other fishers, it's a very friendly and social sport. The last lake i was on the guy came up and asked if i had found the 1/4 of hash he'd dropped earlier while checking out my rigs. I declined him at first but popped round to his swim later in the day and gave him a nice Kush joint. He seemed to appreciate that.

[caruso813]

Haha awesome man. Not quite like that around my way.

[ChaosCatalunya]

Originally Posted by DogBoy

In the UK you pay just to exist but yeah, i pay £27 ($45) for 24 hours carp fishing depending on where i go. ( In addition to the £26 i pay for an annual license just to think about fishing! ) One lake charges £100 per day fishing and has a 2 rod limit. It's pretty expensive but when you live on an island, lakes are often held at a premium and you have to pay a lot to find a lake that isn't overfished by the kids. Catfish are only just catching on over here as spain and the rest of Europe have the better fish but English carp are lovely fish to catch.

Dogboy, you do know that there are a load of large Cats and 50+ Carp in the Thames, near Hampton Court ? Someone who owns a fishery had illegally imported them, only to hear - just in time - the NRA were lying in wait at the lake so they panicked and stuck the lot in the Thames...

If you like a good fight, pick on a Wels Catfish in a fast flowing river, yesterday at a friends I saw a large High Tensile Steel Tuna hook that one had snapped in half.

I had heard rumours that a lot of species are being dropped high in the thames and working their way down but i had not heard that story. Cats are starting to become the new carp fishing in the UK and is really catching on. One of the anglers i see at the tackle shop goes to spain and france yearly to catch the bigger ones, they get huge and love salmon and shrimp dog biscuits.

I've yet to have a go fishing for them but they are on my list. American Signal / Crayfish were the last new species i tried to capture. They are available from the Serpentine in Hyde park, i had a whole bag of them crawling in a bag a few years ago and it made for a wicked BBQ. If you visit london have a chat with the yacht club people and they will happily cook a few up for you.

[ddrew]

I love Carp fishing, I have my own dough recipe.
My states motto is
"The land of 10'000 lakes"
You can't drive straight for a mile in any direction without running into one, they're everywhere, and all full of carp, which are free to fish any time, no limit, and it's actually illegal to put them back since they are trying to promote the game fish in the lakes, muskies, northerns, walleyes, crappies, etc...
Those carp are fun to catch though, my best ever from the lakes was a 32lb mirror carp, thought I'd snagged a sand bag for the first 10minutes before I realized it was a fish, lol.

[daddy fingaz]

Uk carp angler here!! fished for carp for around 12 yrs on and off, cant beat getting away fishing and enjoying some nice erb !