That Elusive Carp

We all know the feeling when nothing seems to work.  You have baited up in the right places, you have used the best baits your presentation is perfect yet the carp fail to realise this and refuse to bite.  I have spent days at certain waters patiently trying everything in my armoury to entice a response to no avail.  Then some other angler comes along after different fish using general coarse or even grrr match fishing tackle like poles.  Who then proceed to hook every twenty pound plus fish in the lake which obligingly then come to the net with little fuss.  Can carp wink because I am sure one mean spirited specimen that I have been after for months did just that when he was recently caught by a pleasure angler using a size twenty hook and single maggot.

I truly believe he gave up on purpose just to mess with my mind.  I could not bring myself to berate the fortunate angler for his luck I just smiled and congratulated him on his catch.  I could almost hear the carp laughing at my discomfort as he was released back to the water.  That was when I could swear he looked back at me and winked before he swam into the depths.  I stayed at the water for a short while until I could stand no more of the you do not need all that expensive fancy tackle to catch carp look at me this rod only cost a tenner all this coming from our new expert.

So what do you do when the carp fail to cooperate for day after day and you get more frustrated even to the point you question your own knowledge and experience.

Hard waters do need vast amounts of patience but sometimes when your patience snaps and you question why the hell am I putting myself through this.  You need what I call carping R&R this is when I return to an easy water.  I have one place where the carp believe I am god and give up to there master with ease.  This kind of fishing at a small lake or pond can give you back your confidence and prove to yourself that you can catch fish.  Then you can go back to the battle with those other waters and when you land that elusive fish you can have the last laugh.