The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

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?

TheDodger wrote: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

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.

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

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.

I'd be interested in reading the whole letter…

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

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.

TheDodger wrote: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...

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.