fat, lazy "carpers"

[corsican dave]

according to an article in yesterdays Times, the fat & lazy carping fraternity have surpassed themselves in their crass-ness. not content with using bait boats to get their bait to places they can't cast, they're now increasingly using drones to locate the fish and drop their baited hooks  :shock:
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/technology/gadgets/article4478383.ece

it won't be long before they'll be able to do everything from the comfort of their settees at home, whilst playing with their x-boxes!!

I suppose the only benefit for us folks is that there'll be less of the lazy sods out on the water  :

[burnie]

To mis-quote Star Trek, it's fishing Jim, but not as we know it. I used to fish a big gravel pit where there were groups of either "casters" or "boaters", I was asked by a mixed group of them one day which group was I in, I replied neither I'm an angler.

[corsican dave]

I can't believe i'm watching a programme where guys are catching carp averaging 40lb. and they're just wallowing into the net... it's dreadfully sad and a far cry from wildies hareing off towards the horizon on a 6wt. why would you?

[Lochan_load]

I've always thought of carp as quite lethargic fish until I read your accounts from Spain Dave, the only time id ever seen them caught is these overfed 30Lb+ fish on dodgy fishing programmes! never seen the appeal myself, would love a shot at the ones you were catching with the fly tho  :

[burnie]

I did a lot of Carp fishing a decade or so back, I preferred to stalk the fish with floating baits and trust me, Carp fight like hell, they wallow in the shallows when they come beaten to the net. Having caught both big Carp and bigish Salmon I can vouch for the Carp fighting harder and longer, but the Salmon are faster on the long runs. The power in big fish, especially if you are using a centre pin type reel and have direct contact with the running line is a truly memorable experience. I never hit one on a fly myself, but knew a few that did at the Eyebrook, all spoke highly of the sporting qualities of King Carp. I have caught "Wildies" too, had the good fortune to have access to an old estate lake that hadn't been stocked with fish for over 200 years, on light tackle they truly were living torpedoes, my best was just short of 9 pounds. Now if you want a great scrap with a wild British fish on light gear go for a Barbel in the fresh water and a Mullet in the salt(closely followed by a mackerel).