Fishing in Europe

[quang tran]

Fisherman in Europe have different way to fish and they have different tackle ,some rods very long as 14 ,16 feet .What is match rod ? What function required to called carp reel ?

[Gobi King]

How big are these carps ?
I see bunch fishermen from Chicago drive up to Muskegon channel to fish for carp

They use spinning reels with 8 ft rods probably 1 oz to 1.5 oz jig rated 25 lb line

8 lb of drag will be more than adequate to land any carp or cat fish

Bottom line you don't really need any specialized gear.

What river are going to fish ?

[Bryan Young]

While living in Germany, I too have seen those rods, reels and set-ups. What I can tell, the longer rods is to get your bait farther than the next guy. Get bait to fish others cannot cast too. In some cases, they are casting 150+ meters with light weights and small baits.

Other than that, I am the sideline fisherman, and one that is also uninformed.

[jurelometer]

I was hoping that one of our European members would jump in.  There are some past threads on the topic, which you shouls be able to find with a search.

Match fishing is just competition fishing.  Matches are fairly common over there. Matches are scheduled timed events, often open to the general public with an entry fee.

Rod rating, especially for carp rods is by test- the test being now much force it takes to put a 90 degree bend in the rod. 

As Bryan noted, rods tend to be on the long side for carp fishing, esspecially for competiton, where you want to be able to outcast the other shore-based contestants. This style of carp fishing is primatily bait and wait.  Obviously, you don't really _need_ any specialized equipment for this, but like any other fishing style that we get obsessed with, there is specialization in terms of optimizing the gear a bit for the specifics of the style.

In terms of freshwater fishing:  catfish, pike and trout are also popular fisheries, with some interesting things going on in each.  Trout fly fishing here in the USA has been greatly influenced recently by the nymph fishing techniques coming out of central Europe. 

I am also not a Euro-fisher- closest I have come is Iceland, so I can't really add much more.

-J

[quang tran]

I fish for carp in the first few years living in US mainly is my country carp is the most expensive dish that only served in big restaurant . I quickly find out carp don't have good taste compare to much less value as snakehead and not much fun in fighting either . Competition fishing should be the choice of location ,quick landing , baiting not needed long cast rods

[akfish]

The "carp" I'd like to catch is the mahseer. Mahseer are a carp-like fish that live in a few places around the world but I think the largest ones -- golden mahseer -- are found in India. They also at least used to catch mahseer in Iraq and Iran. Has anyone this board fished for them?

[quang tran]

I think I saw some in Thailand and Malaysia  but I never fish for them

[UKChris1]

Fishing in Europe is a lifetime's study (as with fishing anywhere) but a couple of quick comments from the UK:

At one extreme, we have folks using poles (originally called roach poles) where the line is atached directly to the tip of the pole (or via an elastic shock absorber) to be able to place their bait accurately beneath the rod tip. These poles can be 10 metres long and cost many thousands of pounds and are used without a reel. Originally designed to catch large numbers of small fish quickly in matches and using extremely light line and tiny hooks (such as 12oz line and 22 hooks), modern poles have also been developed that enable anglers to catch larger fish of 10lb or more using much heavier lines and hooks to match.

Other 'match' rods tend to be 12-14 foot length and have a very light tip but quite stiff for most of their length. They are used with light lines, fixed-spool reels and small hooks to catch lots of small fish quickly in competitions where total weight wins.

At the other extreme, we have carp fanatics who discuss and debate every element of their gear, bait and end rigs since they may get only a single bite in several days' fishing, but then all single-species anglers can be like that, whether carp, pike, catfish, tench, barbel, etc. Oh, and the carp may exceed 50lb and may require fishing at extreme range. Originally, carp rods were 10 footers, but over the years they have grown in length and power as cane has given way to fibreglass and now carbon-fibre.

Most of us are less single-minded and will fish with rods between 10 and 12 feet, lines from 3 to 8lb in strength and use a variety of baits (e.g. bread, maggots, worms, sweetcorn, luncheon meat etc.), hooks from 16 to 4 in size and catch an assortment of fish species from a few ounces to perhaps 10lb or so if we are lucky. Methods vary but ledgering and float fishing are most common, though free-lining is also used close in to the margins.

These rods vary in action but tend to be less stiff than the match rods and less powerful than carp rods, often described as 'Avon' rods, after the famous fishing river. Pretty good all-rounders.

Reels are mostly fixed-spool but a lot of folks, me included, love the direct contact of using a centrepin even if it limits fishing range as longer casting requires a lot of skill (which I don't have!). Good, old and usable centrepins can be had for a few tens of pounds but some posh new ones will set you back several hundred pounds. Mine are the former - much used and lacking paint! For trotting a float down a river, there is nothing like the control possible with a smooth-running centrepin, however new and shiny or old and tatty it looks - free-running smoothness is the key.

Hope that is of interest...
Chris

[quang tran]

Thanks Chris

[Gobi King]

The "carp" I'd like to catch is the mahseer. Mahseer are a carp-like fish that live in a few places around the world but I think the largest ones -- golden mahseer -- are found in India. They also at least used to catch mahseer in Iraq and Iran. Has anyone this board fished for them?

Not sure it was mahseer carp but in North East India (west bengal) and Bangladesh, it is called Katla,
I have had it many many times, the fish is pretty popular in Malaysia also.
There they net the fish.

[Gfish]

Definitely interesting UKchris1!