Old School v Instant Carper

After almost 50 years an an angler and more than 30 years in carp fishing, I'm amazed that the attitude towards carp anglers amongst the general and match fishing fraternity has not changed one jot in all that time. At a recent fisheries committee meeting, I heard the same old sweeping generalisations being tossed around. We've all heard them. "That's not fishing", "asleep all the time miles from their rods", "always out of their faces", "they're ruining the fishing for everyone else", it goes on and on and on.

Sadly, in some cases they are justified in their cynicism and as usual the behaviour of the perhaps not so few, tarnish the reputation of the majority. That said, it is also our responsibility to do all we can to change this perception of carp fishing and those who do it. Most of the common criticisms are at best ill-informed and generally not based on personal experience but as with everthing in English life these days, we like to moan and jump on the bandwagon to blame someone else for our own misfortunes or shortcomings.

It seems that many of the problems that do exist, stem from the cult of the instant Carp Angler that has grown enormously in the past 15 years. Let's be clear here. I have no beef with all of them, just those who bring their previous social life and attitudes to the waters edge. By that I mean those who exchanged the pub for the lake but still bring the contents, the noise and aggressive attitudes with them! Fish at any cost.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm always up for a good "social" and enjoy the odd beer and a nip of JD over the weekend. It's all part of the crack that stops you going insane, especially in the dark winter months. But you can't deal with fish properly if you are sh*t-faced. It doesn't matter what size they are and that says nothing for the effect on the other anglers and the lake in general.

Whilst there is nothing wrong in principle with people getting into angling through catching carp straight "off the shelf", it has created a whole mass of carp catchers who are not actually anglers in any real sense. I'm not being elitist here because we all had to start somewhere but in general terms, those who came to angling and then progressed to fishing exclusively for carp are, in my experience not part of the problem. For anglers, the peace and tranquility of the waters edge is a large part of why we do it. For the carp catcher it's more often about having a laugh and putting a fish on the bank at all costs, racking up the numbers and the PB's with little regard for others.

Those who read the mags will be aware of the countless references to old School, which for many, especially the instant carper will actually mean little or nothing. I'm often asked by young anglers what old School is? I think it's more an attitude than anything really specific.

Carp fishing etiquette is an element, I recall Phil Bunyan, captor of many Wraysbury fish including the legendary 'King of the Fungus Mirrors' trying to answer that question in one of the mags and thought he did well when he suggested that it was as much to do with respect as anything else. Respect for the fish, the lake and its surroundings and especially for other anglers. Isaac Walton would add "study to be quiet". It costs nothing to treat others with respect. It's simple really, if you arrive at the water and someone else is fishing near to where you choose for yourself then it's common sense to just ask where they are fishing to, so that you don't cast across their lines or fish on the edge of their baited area. That way, any potential for conflict is eliminated.

I'll give an example of how selfishness/lack of consideration or plain bloody-mindedness of others can ruin a weekends fishing. A month or two ago I arrived at a small pit that i fish, on Friday afternoon with my mate Ronnie. The pit is barely an acre and a half, 40 yards across at its widest point. The water is gin clear and no more than 3 feet deep for all the most part. Its stock is mainly old English Commons that have seen it all before, so we tend to only fish there if we have the place to ourselves. It was free, so we crept in very quietly and erected camo screens to set up behind. After a couple of hours of creeping about we were set up and our rods were out and the traps set.

Then two newbies turned up, one with his girlfriend, and with the whole of the rest of the lake at their disposal chose to plot up 20 yards across the water, directly opposite us. Their bivvies went up in the field 15 yards away from their rods and the mallets came out to smash the banksticks in at the waters edge so that their rods were more over the water than the bank. Then half an hour of baiting to the dot island that I was already fishing to. I had already been round to them and asked where they were intending to fish. Their reply went something like, "Out there mate, you can't fish to this side of the island". Had I been 20 years younger they might have gone in the lake, as it was, they were bigger, younger and doubtless fitter than me, so I left it.

Now I won't fish like that so I tore everything up and moved further up the bank but I already knew that no-one would catch. At night it got worse when they both put on head beacons and spent something approaching an hour at the waters edge doing goodness knows what! The lights were so bright that they were lighting up the inside of my brolly from a range of about 70 yards, through 2 dot islands! Those guys are not anglers at all in my book, and clearly don't know what they are doing. I would also argue that they should not be allowed to fish a lake containing precious old fish until they've more idea of how to fish for them. But this is not a rant. They have a ticket and are as entitled as us to be there, it's just sad that they didn't have the wit to realise that they might have a better chance at the other end of the lake, given that we were already there.

That weekend I consoled myself with the fact that, had I not moved I wouldn't have woken up to this.

It doesn't justify a blank, but it made packing up and leaving more bareable

Another element of Old school is a generosity of spirit that enables 'like minded anglers' to share their knowledge and information freely, which goes back to the pioneering days when most anglers believed taht carp weren't even catchable. the few who were already smitten with the pursuit saw the benefit to be gained from sharing and often did it by writing rotary letters. In fact, without sharing information and thoughts, the 'Hair rig' might never have been developed and the 'off-the-shelf' carp fishing market would not have happened.

That said, if you want to get 'accepted' on a new water there are certain asspects of carp etiquette that, if observed, will likely endear you to the resident anglers quickly. They are simple and all to with respect.

DONT

Walk into another anglers swim and start asking direct questions about bait, hotspots, features, rigs unless you know the angler well.

Stand around in that swim if the angler is re-baiting and casting, or busy tying rigs etc. Move away and come back when he's not busy.

Stand around near the waters edge in another anglers swim, he's maybe fishing close in.

Judge another angler by his bankside presentation or the quality of his gear.

Be fooled into thinking that you have to 'earn' the respect of other carp anglers. respect everyone until THEY give you reason to think otherwise.

All of the above will not endear you to any angler with Old School attitudes and the best you'll get from them is a lot of stuff that is quite true but actually tells you nothing, the worst is a completely 'blind'. Better to approach respectfully and pass the time of day without too many questions. You'll likely learn more of what you want to know that way. Be friendly but don't go over the top with the magazine jargon, to make it seem like you've got more experience than you actually have. You'll be sussed.

For new members coming from a public circuit day-ticket background be warned that runs waters are a thing of the past. The VAC lakes/rivers and the fish make you work for success. Blend in, be friendly and let your results do the talking. Remember, wherever there are sought after old fish, there will be some 'serious' anglers who may have been on those waters for some time before your arrival. They are more often than not quiet by nature, but in my experience, if you respect their approach and get to know them slowly, you'll find them to be friendly and helpful. Learn to be patient and how to fish each individual water, they are great places to be.

and.........be lucky!

Back to the top