In Europe carp fishing is a well established sport with more money being spent on carp tackle than on any other branch of the sport. The carp fishing explosion was led by the UK after the capture in 1952 of the then record common carp, Clarrisa at 44lb by Richard Walker from Redmire Pool in England. Richard is credited with showing his fellow anglers that the carp was a feasible quarry if the right tactics were employed.
Unlike with other forms of angling such as fly fishing for pike, the USA has lagged behind Europe in carp fishing. Many bass anglers considered the carp to be a trash fish and it has taken sterling work by the American Carp Society and others to raise the profile of this hard fighting and respectable fish. Gradually the momentum of carp fishing has increased and the sport is becoming increasingly popular each year that goes by.
The popularity of carp fishing as a sport within the USA has been aided by big prize competitions organised by the American Carp Society – for example the $250,000 prize money given to the captor of a 40lb plus fish in a 2006 tournament.
Carp fishing is considered to be a highly technical area of angling requiring dedicated tackle and special rigs in order to be successful. A previous constraint to the development of the sport was the difficulty in obtaining the necessary carp tackle with which to confront the fish. With the accessibility of global retail outlets through the Internet the availability of carp tackle is no longer a problem, and as the sport grows, more and more USA based retailers are importing the gear also. Home grown manufacturers are also becoming more established.
Many USA carp fishermen make the pilgrimage to Europe, as do UK fishermen, in search of the world record carp that inhabit the ideal lakes and ponds there. The elusive 100lb barrier may well be broken by a visiting USA angler using US made carp tackle before long.
The attraction of the USA to the visiting European angler is enormous, from trout and bass fishing to tarpon and bone fish – there are some spectacular venues to be visited with record breaking potential. It is nice to be able to offer some superlative carp fishing in return!
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