Now as FM is a general fishing forum, and a good one in my opinion, what do you guy's think of Carp Angling today? I know that there are many that hate Carp Anglers, so I would like to know why?
Also Carp Angling has changed so much in recent years, it just seems every one and their Dog start with Carp and overlook the other fantastic species!
Who is to blame, the press or the tackle Industry or heavily force feed stocked muddy puddles, when will this end if ever, I really believe there are fishers of Carp, and pure Carp anglers.
Whether people like it or not, if you took away carp angling and all of its contribution to the current industry, angling would be close to collapse.
Many (if not most) of recent tackle innovations have come from the "carp side".
More investment is probably made in carp angling than for any other branch of the hobby. It drives the whole industry.
"Instant" anglers are going to be attracted to carp fishing 1. because the "instant" kit is freely available. 2. because carp fisheries are plentiful. 3. because they have pictures of huge carp thrust in their faces from all directions once they decide to take the plunge.
I'd guess the majority of those who start this way fall to the wayside after a relatively short while and neither progress nor even continue fishing.
Those "pure" carp anglers probably had a more traditional start to their angling and subsequently made their choice.
On the whole, modern, devoted carp angling is probably a younger anglers game (bivvies, long sessions).
Personally, I enjoy my carping as part of my overall angling season and I tend to fish harder waters for them, Big Pits, canals/rivers, more of a challenge.
I didn't start fishing by learning the float (I'm still pretty rubbish at it), but that hasn't stopped me targeting multiple species using a wide variety of legering techniques and I'm fairly proud of what I've achieved in terms of specimen fish.
I think it's a nonsense to attempt to dictate how people should start their angling, more important is how much they enjoy it, which may lead to other species, but there's no reason why it has to. That's all down to the individual.