Carp and the Carp Angler, George Sharmaan

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JAA

Re: Carp and the Carp Angler, George Sharmaan

Post by JAA »

GregF wrote: Wed Apr 12, 2017 11:38 am
I never bought and have never read Carp Fever. I knew enough about Maddocks from his appearances in the mainstream angling press to recognise his approach and attitude wasn’t for me, while all around my fellow carp-heads bought into it wholesale. Years later, some of his techniques inevitably found their way into my armoury but not without a great deal of filtering through the minds and words of others.
I'm wondering if my copy of 'Carp Fever' isn't the same as everyone else's :tea:

He spent more time locating fish than fishing for the most part. He didn't indulge in mindless bait'n'wait either and didn't think much of the mindless carping that followed him, nor the arrival of the 'instant' carp expert. I agree he was single minded, but he wasn't simple minded. It's worth reading even if you don't want to fish his way, there's some good stuff in there. Maybe skip the bait chapter :Wink:
GregF wrote: Wed Apr 12, 2017 11:38 am
Regarding monsters from the Avenue and the Monument... I'd rather fish for minnows than set foot on one of those soulless plastic hell-holes.
Same here. :Hat:

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Dave Burr
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Re: Carp and the Carp Angler, George Sharmaan

Post by Dave Burr »

GregF wrote: Regarding monsters from the Avenue and the Monument... I'd rather fish for minnows than set foot on one of those soulless plastic hell-holes.
Put that on a T shirt and I'd wear it.

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Gary Bills
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Re: Carp and the Carp Angler, George Sharmaan

Post by Gary Bills »

Gary Bills wrote: Wed Apr 12, 2017 10:39 am I suppose the one point I'd make is that we don't really have to fish for carp one way or t 'other - we can make choices. We don't have to fish for known fish on circuit waters or on commercials were carp have been stocked big and tend to be reliant on anglers' baits. We can still fish waters where no else is fishing and we can catch fish without names - how we want to catch them. Following the edicts of Carp Fever was never compulsory, after all. I think Sharman's book was the best of the Old School journey - the final destination - and how fresh it reads, and how exciting. Perhaps that does point to a division, between what Chris Yates called "the heavy industry" of the modern carp scene and "classic" carp fishing - the domain of the carp fishing purist? This thriving site is evidence enough that a lot of folks feel uneasy with the modern scene - and I suppose an obsession with Mitchells or cane can be seen both as an eccentricity and - I think - a minor form of protest. If we go down the traditional path of seeking solitude and fish without names, we are unlikely to land fish comparable to the monsters of The Monument or The Avenue, for instance; - but does that really matter so much? Last Saturday, while fishing a mere farm pond with my nephew, I managed three carp to low double figures - and nothing remarkable in that. The fish were not large even by my own low standards..! But look at the condition of this low double - one of the most gorgeous commons I've ever seen, and completely unmarked. (You'll need to use the "magnifying glass" app to bring it up...!)
http://www.carpinggnome.com/197224951

These are the sort of places I want to fish and the kind of carp I want to catch, regardless of size.

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GregF
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Re: Carp and the Carp Angler, George Sharmaan

Post by GregF »

JAA wrote: Wed Apr 12, 2017 1:53 pm

I'm wondering if my copy of 'Carp Fever' isn't the same as everyone else's :tea:

He spent more time locating fish than fishing for the most part. He didn't indulge in mindless bait'n'wait either and didn't think much of the mindless carping that followed him, nor the arrival of the 'instant' carp expert. I agree he was single minded, but he wasn't simple minded. It's worth reading even if you don't want to fish his way, there's some good stuff in there. Maybe skip the bait chapter :Wink:
You are right JAA. Definitely not simple-minded, and he certainly didn’t lack watercraft or observation skills. Nobody could ever accuse him of that, in fact I’m sure it was his abilities in these areas that made him so successful. These are admirable qualities in any fisherman but I think it was the single-mindedness that kind of turned me off his writing, which probably was a mistake on my part as I’m sure I could’ve learnt a lot. It all seemed a bit mechanical, or to put it another way, there was no romance in it. Where say, Rod H was keen to emphasise ‘smelling the roses along the way’ while still providing solid observations, ideas and technical instruction, Maddocks (at least in his articles) seemed to care about nothing but ever-greater results, which didn’t and still doesn’t float my boat. Even among today’s most single-minded top carp anglers I can’t think of anybody with such an unemotional outlook. As I say, I probably missed out on a lot by ignoring his work but I suppose it meant I travelled a path that suited me better. Funnily enough, I think I’d probably find the bait chapter more interesting than anything else. It was by John Baker wasn’t it?

Dave Burr wrote: Wed Apr 12, 2017 2:12 pm
GregF wrote: Regarding monsters from the Avenue and the Monument... I'd rather fish for minnows than set foot on one of those soulless plastic hell-holes.
Put that on a T shirt and I'd wear it.
Dave, somebody recently suggested putting "STUDY TO BE QUIET" on the back of a t-shirt. That's one I'd definitely wear.
"Give up haste and ambition, close your mouth, only then will you comprehend the spirit of Tao" - Lao Tze

JAA

Re: Carp and the Carp Angler, George Sharmaan

Post by JAA »

GregF wrote: Wed Apr 12, 2017 5:31 pm You are right JAA. Definitely not simple-minded, and he certainly didn’t lack watercraft or observation skills. Nobody could ever accuse him of that, in fact I’m sure it was his abilities in these areas that made him so successful. These are admirable qualities in any fisherman but I think it was the single-mindedness that kind of turned me off his writing, which probably was a mistake on my part as I’m sure I could’ve learnt a lot. It all seemed a bit mechanical, or to put it another way, there was no romance in it. Where say, Rod H was keen to emphasise ‘smelling the roses along the way’ while still providing solid observations, ideas and technical instruction, Maddocks (at least in his articles) seemed to care about nothing but ever-greater results, which didn’t and still doesn’t float my boat. Even among today’s most single-minded top carp anglers I can’t think of anybody with such an unemotional outlook.
Oh absolutely. It's pragmatic to the point of mechanical, if skillful. I don't get the former myself either, at least not in such a sport as this. Rod H's book is a lot more enjoyable, but you don't learn nearly so much about the actual fishing!
GregF wrote: Wed Apr 12, 2017 5:31 pm As I say, I probably missed out on a lot by ignoring his work but I suppose it meant I travelled a path that suited me better. Funnily enough, I think I’d probably find the bait chapter more interesting than anything else. It was by John Baker wasn’t it?
In conjunction with John Baker according to the chapter intro.

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Damflask
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Re: Carp and the Carp Angler, George Sharmaan

Post by Damflask »

This book was my bible when I was a teenager.
I run a community writing class in Sheffield and a few years back a chap joined and introduced himself as George and said he did a bit of carp fishing.
The next week I had my book ready for him to sign!

JAA

Re: Carp and the Carp Angler, George Sharmaan

Post by JAA »

Damflask wrote: Fri Aug 11, 2017 8:20 am This book was my bible when I was a teenager.
I run a community writing class in Sheffield and a few years back a chap joined and introduced himself as George and said he did a bit of carp fishing.
The next week I had my book ready for him to sign!
Did you tell him how may folk rate his book so highly?

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Vole
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Re: Carp and the Carp Angler, George Sharmaan

Post by Vole »

Another fan here - a thinking angler at work, rather than a jobbing writer tasked with knocking out a fishing book.
"Write drunk, edit sober" - Hemingway.
Hemingway didn't have to worry about accidentally hitting "submit" before he edited.

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Carp Artist
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Re: Carp and the Carp Angler, George Sharmaan

Post by Carp Artist »

Yes, a great book I've read it many times.
Not a fish was visible that first time I visited Beechmere; an utter
stillness brooded over the place and I felt the strange and sinister atmosphere which, so the story goes,
has been the cause of several suicides.’
BB – Confessions of a Carp Fisher

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