Across the Pond

I often read the front page post at sexyloops.com. They are an entertaining crew and are scattered around the world so you never know what interesting fishing you might learn about: Scandinavian salmon, Japanese maruta, or maybe Malaysian giant gourami. Recently, there was a series of posts made by two different contributors that resonated with something I have thought about for years. Martyn White started off with a post about using conventional tackle to inform and inspire fly patterns for catching freshwater bass, but the main point of the whole dialogue was that fly fishers need not stay so high on their horses because there is much to learn from other types of anglers. I thought that this was a good reminder that there is a wealth of carpy knowledge available to us from the world of conventional fishing. The Bassmaster phenomenon, as unique as it is, is not the only example of a competitive, professional, big-money sport fishing industry. European carp angling is just as big and its followers just as frenzied.

I am generally a social media luddite but one of my guilty pleasures is watching a YouTube show called The Challenge, a series produced by Fox Fishing. I’m not sure how I came to it, perhaps it was just the first such thing I ever watched, but I remember how fascinated I was watching Mark and Harry. Sure, they were just drinking tea and catching carp, but they had literal wheelbarrows full of gear, and did things like “spod boilies” and tie “hinge stiff rigs.” I felt like the first French chef to ever walk into a sushi bar, certain that we were both in the same business, but definitely a stranger in a strange land! I have caught a few carp on sweetcorn in my day, but the sophistication of European anglers in their baits, tackles and presentations was incredible and exotic to me. While their style of fishing won’t ever be my favorite, there is definitely much to learn from our fellow carp enthusiasts across the pond.