Not meaning any disrespect here. Growing up I used to think that carp were in just about every body of water and still find it fascinating that guys #1 WANT to fish for them and #2 Don't always find them. Seriously' they were always plentiful in every body of water I usually ever fished at and when I'd see them so big, plentiful and jumping out of the water, my uncles or friends would always just shrug them off and say things like " Don't bother, it's only a carp", so I came to feel the same way about them. There wasn't much skill involved in catching them either. You put on a dough ball or some corn and then just held on to your rod. Only the Chinese people around the ponds and lakes where we fished would get excited to see them. It's probably not fair, but I just never saw the attraction in them. As I grew older, I do understand that different people enjoy fishing for even carp and other species as well.
I used to feel the same way about carps. As a matter of fact, carp was my first introduction to fishing as a kid because it was easy, convenient, and cheap. I grew up fishing the Concord and Merrimack River in Lowell riding my bike around town fishing different spots and that was all we ever fished for because it was that easy and convenient. Sure we use to shrug our shoulders when we see a buddy land a 10 pounder or 15 pounder. Use to think they were really easy to catch until I caught my biggest carp of my entire life last year. It came out 31lbs out of the Merrimack in Haverhill. I never looked at carp fishing the same way after. Now I know why these die hard carp fishermen fish for them religiously because they put up some serious fight especially if you hook into a 30lb+ and they don't come by easily. There's a reason why they get that big. Intelligence.
Not meaning any disrespect here. Growing up I used to think that carp were in just about every body of water and still find it fascinating that guys #1 WANT to fish for them and #2 Don't always find them. Seriously' they were always plentiful in every body of water I usually ever fished at and when I'd see them so big, plentiful and jumping out of the water, my uncles or friends would always just shrug them off and say things like " Don't bother, it's only a carp", so I came to feel the same way about them. There wasn't much skill involved in catching them either. You put on a dough ball or some corn and then just held on to your rod. Only the Chinese people around the ponds and lakes where we fished would get excited to see them. It's probably not fair, but I just never saw the attraction in them. As I grew older, I do understand that different people enjoy fishing for even carp and other species as well.
It is all good , your opinion's are your opinions.
Thing is this. They are not, contrary to popular belief in every water way. They are in many, but not every. Same with Bass to be fair. I mean they are widely spread, yet folks are still asking for swims in which to find them lol. I mean it is what it is.
Secondly, yes anyone can land a few carp with a tin of sweet corn a hook and a rod. Simple. Anyone can land bass with a worm a hook and a rod. Simple.
The thing is the more you get into it the more you learn. Once you start making baits both food and artificial ( yes we use a variety of pop up plastics as well as flies and other fake goodies too ) you learn that, while anyone can hook a few carp with a can of sweet corn and a hook. Not everyone can effectively fish for them. To target fish of trophy size, high 20's 30' 40's and beyond is far more complicated then simply tossing a line and waiting.
Carp fishermen, like all true anglers love to learn about the species. Takes a bit of learning watercraft and how ot read lakes and waters. How to find and target not only plenty of fish, but bigger fish. Where they go in the spring, summer, fall..what they do at night versus during the day..Just as a bass angler will chase bigger and bigger fish.
Yes, anyone with a hook and a worm can catch a bass, but the chances of catching big trophy bass are left to those that specialize in knowing how to target them. Same thing with Carp, there is a reason why most people catch massive 5-10 pound fish..while others repeatedly catch 30+ lb fish.
I remember growing up Carp fishing Spt pond, Little Spy, Alewife Brook, and Jerry pit just to name a few. All we needed was a loaf of Wonder bread and a bunch of hooks and we caught some beasts. I broke a couple reels reeling these monsters in and ending up hand lining them to shore. We had a ball. I can still remember like it was last week.
I've caught some monsters out of alewife brook. Little spy at the end of alewife has some of the biggest carp I have ever seen.
Never fished Jerrys pit, any bass in there?
Kman I'm not sure if theres any bass in Jerry's but there are some monster carp. I haven't hit Jerry's many years. The whole area is fenced in. One of these nice days coming up I'll see if I can find a way in. Also there was a typo in my post Spy not Spt.
Seriously that sounds like an adventure worth having... No idea where this Jerry's is but now I am intrigued
