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Due to effects of global warming and the massive application of quality nutritional baits, carp and catfish have been growing much bigger than previously ever imagined. When it comes to carp especially, this has caught out many anglers whose perception of the correct tackle to handle much bigger fish is not accurate at all! The number of big carp hooked in the UK over 40 pounds has really risen noticeably, while in other parts of Europe especially in France, this sized fish is merely regarded as a baby at certain fisheries, where carp can exceed 60 and 70 pounds. Here’s my insights into the effects of using fishing rods which have not been equal to the task for big carp up to 50 pounds and well over this mark for example and for catfish to about one hundred pounds. I say these weights because I have been lucky enough to hook quite a number of fish of this size and have direct experience trying to play fish on a variety of different rods. For me stopping power is the key with big fish. It maybe you can cast 150 yards onto a spot with accuracy, but if you’re rod basically means you have no control over a running fish at all and are only dependant on the using the clutch on your reel for control, then you definitely have changed the odds in favour of the really big fish. This can give you such problems that your fish of a life time will very likely be lost when he turns up one day or night – and he will do everything he can to find any weakness in your tackle! Mostly this weakness results in having a massive adrenaline rush, extreme bodily shaking and an extremely sick feeling in your gut as you inspect your broken line. I hope this piece will help prevent this experience for you! Extremely heavy, big sized fish generate awesome and even unbelievable power. Such forward momentum and weight alone are very tough to slow down when your fish of a lifetime is surging towards the closest snag in the water! You need real power in the top third and middle part of your rod at least. Without this you are simply playing fish off the butt end and that is risky on most rods because butt ends do not do much! You don’t want to be playing fish just off the reel clutch with no control over the fish. Any mistakes using the reel and you may pull out of the fish, break the line (or rod) or end up giving the fish vital extra line or stretch to force their forward momentum and get into the safety of snags etc. You might argue that you need to play fish differently, be gentler with them and change the rod or line angle for example. Sometimes though you can sense when a fish knows what its primary aim and is going for it no matter what you do to stop it! With the rod and reel combination some fish just cannot be stopped at all. I had this with a carp at Lac du Salagou in France where the rod was a 2 and 3 quarter pound test curve top and middle action rod and the line was 15 pound test. This fish simply ran in a straight line with the rod beyond its test curve until the line broke when it run out at the reel. And this fish was a carp because it was seen on the surface very early in the fight. Another example of where power is needed is at ‘Rainbow Lake’ in France in 2005. Here not only did industrial thickness sized 2 hooks get opened up and 15 pound rated brand new line get easily snapped, but very highly rated rods used, immediately went straight past their test curves and were absolutely useless and powerless to prevent some extremely heavy carp from running into sunken tree snags. On this water, even where rods were tied to their rests and to the ground and Shimano ‘bait runner’ reel clutches were screwed up tightly, a couple of runs even at over 200 yards away, were so amazingly powerful, that the rod and clutch still had no initial effect whatsoever in slowing the fish. The rods used were original Rod Hutchinson ‘Dream makers’ at 13 foot and 3 and a half pound test curve, on 80 pound braid mainline. It must be added that one fish lost in the last trip was certainly ‘the big one’ which is now the 87 pound record. This fish made its way into a sunken tree and despite having it actually just 1 foot below the surface, it was impossible to land as the line was angled between 2 branches whose side branches made it impossible to net the fish. Very possibly, with more powerful rods, the initial run could well have been slowed and those snags would not have been reached. However, most fish know to run directly for cover (dependant on line angles, rod pressure and so on) and know exactly where safety is too! When those carp are over 60 and 70 pounds and more, the right choice of rod is absolutely essential! A friend of mine who is a much respected rod builder learnt from my lesson and designed his own amazingly powerful reverse taper rods for just this situation. (Fishing near entire sunken trees on a ‘newly discovered’ Bulgarian big fish water.) His reward was the new lake record at the time, at around 65 pounds, was actually extracted from between whole mature sunken trees in the swim. It needs stating here of course, that there is a line to be drawn between fishing in near snag situations with the safety of the fish in mind and using fish safe tackle, (like lead release clips for example) and that of fishing ‘at all costs’ which may result in damage, or suffering to the fish. In the ‘Rainbow Lake swim situation I felt I had rods powerful enough for the job because I had been able to control pretty swiftly, a string of carp hooked in the UK of over 40 pounds and a good number of catfish too from 50 to over 100 pounds. The feeling was that if the rods could slow a 70 pound catfish on its first run, then they should do the same for carp of the same size when fishing near sunken trees. Was I was totally mistaken or what!!! (Large water carp tend to move around very much and are in many cases very fit and ‘lean’ fish compared to smaller water fish. If you have never hooked carp way over 50 pounds then it is rather like a 100 meter champion sprinting away from you with you fishing line attached – the initial quickness speed and momentum is not normal!) The rods used specifically for catfish these days, are to me much more like boat rods for sea fishing and really need to be! The test curves on them and their action require such devastating power, often to counteract the steaming run of a catfish over 7 feet long, but also the possible run of river currents too. In my humble experience, playing catfish is never the same as ‘playing’ carp, or most other species as you are up against; a curling backward swimming, bottom hugging, 7 foot long muscle! Therefore it’s horses for courses. A When hooked from the bank side a giant catfish equals a very physical tug of war. The word ‘playing’ probably more applies to your fancy footwork and your feet are usually digging at the ground to stop you being pulled over or pulled in! It’s the same with a boat hooked giant catfish. I hooked one in the UK once which took me to every corner of a 6 acre reservoir against a strong wind too and never gave up. This fish has never been netted or banked and it’s my certain belief that this fish is the biggest in the UK by a very large margin... I landed the 2 of around (or over) 100 pounds from the infamous ‘Oak Lodge’ and the power of this other fish was in a totally different league... If you are angling for very big fish and you know your tackle may not be quite adequate, change it immediately. It’s just not worth deluding yourself. There are many popular rod brands which are just not up to the job of controlling big fish like 100 pound catfish or crazy fighting 70 pound plus carp. They were never designed for that. In the States for example, there must be countless waters which could hold new records with extremely big unknown carp and catfish cruising around in them, but because of various tackle issues and lack of angler experience in playing extremely big fish, very, very frequently these occasions when such fish get hooked, they’re lost. Such fish can take on ‘mythical status!’ I would look at the tool for the job extremely seriously and if you feel there is no suitable rod available for the situation and size and raw power of fish expected to be encountered then get them custom built. I hooked a fish at ‘Dream Lakes’ years ago, at a time when a legendary estimated 70 pound carp called the ‘Dolphin’ existed. I actually saw it ‘head and shoulder’ in my swim and very close in too. I nearly fell over backwards as my jaw ‘hit the deck’ at the size of it! (It was just too big to be real.) I had photographed carp to over 55 pounds previously and had thought that looked big. I noticed it left no ripples at all as it sank. This was one very clever fish. Just 10 minutes later as I still was wondering if it was a dream, (and still cranking my eyes back in having stuck out on stalks,) I got a ‘take’ the violence and speed of which I’d never experienced until one particularly incredibly powerful one at ‘Rainbow Lake.’ The fish just ran so fast and hard it charged head-first through every very heavy weed bed in front of me, for a distance of about 75 yards before changing direction, and leaving the dropped hook in the weed. The following day, I easily landed the ‘Dream Lake 1’ catfish record of a mere 27 pounds. Again, the rod was great for a fish of 20 to 30 odd pounds, but utterly useless when it really mattered with a very seriously big carp! Various highly skilled individuals and rod companies will do this for you. For example Nick Buss is a leading light in this respect in the UK and has a range of custom built rods which are in the top rank in world performance carp rods. Top class rods have a vastly superior action and give you incredible control of fish, sensitivity and lightness and greater casting accuracy, and ability to cast great distance while play fish superbly at close range, among many other benefits. I just wish I’d got some before I went to ‘Rainbow Lake,’ but fishing is a funny game... The author has many more fishing and bait ‘edges’ up his sleeve. Every single one can have a huge impact on catches. (Warning: This article is protected by copyright.) By Tim Richardson. For the unique and acclaimed new massive expert bait making ‘bible’ ebook / book: “BIG CARP BAIT SECRETS!” SEE: http://www.baitbigfish.com
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