Dick Walker's views on carp rods

[TheDodger]

You might be interested in Dick Walker's views on carp rods (amongst other matters), which he was kind enough to give me in a reply to a letter of mine in 1972, in his inimitable style:

"a lot of people seem to be buying stepped-up carp rods these days; some of them appear to me to have got the idea into their heads that the possession of a stepped-up carp rod leads to the capture of a stepped-up carp, but in fact this is far from being the case, and as far as I can trace all the carp that have been caught over 40lbs in weight , have been taken on standard 10ft. carp rods with a test curve of 1.5lbs, with the exception of a fish of 40.5lbs caught by Eddy Price from Redmire, and that was taken on a 10ft MkIV Avon..."

There follows a fascinating discourse on the relationship between rod curve, line strength, knot strength etc. in which Dick considers that ..."unless you point a Mk!V carp rod straight down the line, the maximum pressure you can put on a fish in the form of a steady pull is in the region of 4lbs to 5lbs..." He concludes

"Different people have different views on what constitutes a stepped-up carp rod; the original s/u rod...had a test curve of 3.5lbs. but in fact it was never intended for carp and a great deal of misconception and confusion has been caused by its makers selling it as a carp rod"

Dick goes on to explain that he used a rod of 5lbs test curve with 25lbs. b/s line when fishing Loch Lomond for big pike.
Interesting stuff?

[CrayCane]

You might be interested in Dick Walker's views on carp rods (amongst other matters), which he was kind enough to give me in a reply to a letter of mine in 1972, in his inimitable style:
.......
Interesting stuff?

Very interesting, thanks for posting. I'd love to read the rest of Dick's reply should you feel like posting it, as I'm sure others would as well.

Pete

[Carp Artist]

This kind off says it all. The most powerful T.C. rods I use for my style of fishing for carp never exceed 2 1/4lb TC carbon or cane.

[Nigel Rainton]

I never use anything over 1.5lb test curve, even when sea fishing.

[Dave Burr]

I doubt that you need anything higher than say a 1.75TC to beat 99% of the fish in our waters but you do need the extra umph to cast heavy baits like pva bags and a 3oz lead when carping or a decent lump of fish when piking. Quite why walker felt a 7lb TC was needed on Lomond I really don't know? Ness maybe but not Lomond He must have been using some mighty big baits, I know there have been a few that have used jack pike (of indeterminate size) for their bigger cousins.

[Beresford]

I'd be interested in reading the whole letter…

[Aitch]

most carp rods are far too heavy..... it worries me when I see youngsters on carp puddles no bigger than 3 acres using 3lb+ rods for small carp... the heaviest rods I own are 2.75lb and they are a softer thru action, rather than a casting action...

I do love the feel of a thru action rod ... probably why I love my MkIV which I'd say is a tad tired, bit still feels nice under load

I couldn't use anything too heavy even though I have "Soft Hands" I like to see a rod bend with a fish on

[Isis]

You're so right Bluelabel. The only reason for using long powerful rods is just casting huge distances with heavy amounts of baits. Neither of which I have ever found necessary in my carp fishing.
The kids must think the carp are huge with the leverage imposed by the fish. A small lighter rod can transmit much more pressure on a fish if it's needed. I tend not to 'enjoy' playing a fish for long but get it to the net as soon as possible. This cuts down the risk of losing it and also helps preserve my heart and blood pressure.

[Gary Bills]

You might be interested in Dick Walker's views on carp rods (amongst other matters), which he was kind enough to give me in a reply to a letter of mine in 1972, in his inimitable style:

"a lot of people seem to be buying stepped-up carp rods these days; some of them appear to me to have got the idea into their heads that the possession of a stepped-up carp rod leads to the capture of a stepped-up carp, but in fact this is far from being the case, and as far as I can trace all the carp that have been caught over 40lbs in weight , have been taken on standard 10ft. carp rods with a test curve of 1.5lbs, with the exception of a fish of 40.5lbs caught by Eddy Price from Redmire, and that was taken on a 10ft MkIV Avon..."

There follows a fascinating discourse on the relationship between rod curve, line strength, knot strength etc. in which Dick considers that ..."unless you point a Mk!V carp rod straight down the line, the maximum pressure you can put on a fish in the form of a steady pull is in the region of 4lbs to 5lbs..." He concludes

"Different people have different views on what constitutes a stepped-up carp rod; the original s/u rod...had a test curve of 3.5lbs. but in fact it was never intended for carp and a great deal of misconception and confusion has been caused by its makers selling it as a carp rod"

Dick goes on to explain that he used a rod of 5lbs test curve with 25lbs. b/s line when fishing Loch Lomond for big pike.
Interesting stuff?

Just to be a pedant - by July 1972, Hilton had landed the Bishop, at 40lb 3oz, while using a glass 11ft adpated Goddess with test curve of 1.25lbs...

[Snape]

I rarely use rods with a tc of more than 1.5lb and then only for Spinning with large lures and casting bigger dead baits. I also have some short stalking rods for hook and hold tactics and they are probably more than 1.5lb tc.