Carp Cyprinidae
Cyprinus carpio.
Species info: 4 barbels, 17-22 branched dorsal rays, 35-40
scales along the lateral line. Partially scales and elongate
varieties exist. (Mirror and Leather). On Danube we will
specially find the wild carp – serious fighter, very
used with the river streams. A fight with a 10 lbs is comparable
often with a 20 lbs common lake – it is no doubt.
Tackle, Bait, Techniques
A boat and echo sounder are essential pieces of kit on the
river as there are some seriously snaggy areas that are unforgiving
should a carp get into them. Open and windswept at times,
the river shore can be a daunting place to be, but with the
large carp in it's depths you know that you are never too
far from a monster.
Rods & Reels
Rods of 2 - 3lb test curve, 12 or 13 ft and Big pit reels
(fixed spool) with or without bait runners but having a large
line capacity. Also 9 – 10 ft when we fish from the
boat.
Mainline & Leaders
Nylon lines must be used but you can use braided leaders
up to 10metres in length. Fireline is popular as a leader,
Fox Soft Steel is used for long casts (even as mainline),
also Sufix braided line. Quicksilver leaders even in 35lb
breaking strain are not strong enough for the job!! Dyneema
is also an excellent product which helps the abrasion resistance
of mono lines.
Terminal Tackle
Hooks should be fairly big and strong. You can get away with
4s and even 1s in some swims are advisable. Hooklinks are
either 35lb mono links or hefty braids such as 35lb Quicksilver.
Lead wise 5 ounces are a minimum and we more often use 6s
or 7s. The wind can really pick up on the river and it does
tend to blow your baits around a bit. Also you will need
to take plenty leads out there as there is no gear available
in the area. Breakaway lead systems like the Nashy or Korda
clips are a good idea and whilst it means you will lose a
few leads, you will also land more fish.
Rigs: shocker, gravel, helicopter, d-type, are to be used.
Specimen maximum weight
40 to 60 lb
Bait
There are a lot of baits for carp. With all of them you will
catch carp although some will catch other fish too.
Naturals: maggots, worms, mussels.
Particles; corn, tiger nuts.
Boilies (protein, fish or meat based).
It is neccesary to pre-bait, specially with corn – which
is very used also as an excellent bait, also with sunflower
pellets, boilies, tigers, etc.
Groundbait
All hookbaits, usually with swimfeeder.
