Carp tackle has to be strong. Not only because of the strength of the fish but the environment that it is to be found in can be full of snags, weeds and obstructions, and if it hasn’t then the carp will do its best to find them.
Carp Rods
Must have through action, 10 - 11 feet being the minimum with 13 - 14 feet being the max.
There are many materials that the rods are made from these days from Fibreglass to High Carbon/ Kevlar composites.
Test Curve
Choose a rod with a T/C of 0.68 up to those with as high as 1.3 Kg to suit your planned type of fishing. Close range light baits or arm wrenching bombz, 120m out.
Carp Reels
Initially Carp Anglers have two choices of reel, Centre-Pin or Fixed Spool, however users of these reels will tell you, you only have one choice and that is the same reel they are using. It comes down to personal preferance and also your own level of competence.
Centre-Pin Reels
Should have a diameter of 7 to 10 cm, which will hold, usually, more line than a fixed spool, which does have an advantage if your fishing 500m out into a dam. Some of the difficulties of centre-pins for beginners such as having no drag, line twist and difficulties of casting have been taken care of in many of the new reels on the market.
Fixed-Spool Reels
The spool must have the ability to hold at least 300m of the line you will be using, as well as having a good drag system. The latest reels on the market have high retrieval rates of over 6:1, smooth drags, and added features such as bait-runners, ball bearings and special line laying spool action.
Fishing Line
The line you use should be specified with your rod as being the optimum line for that rods test curve, in terms of breaking strain.
One thing which is important though, which you do have control over, is line diameter. A line of 5kg breaking strain can have various diameters, with the thinner the line, the better it is to fish with, longer casts, knots tie better and more line on your spool. So a spool with a capacity of 200m of 0.2mm line will have a capacity of 400m of 0.1mm etc.
Hooks
Sizes from No 3 to No 10 are being used, but the size should depend upon your bait and how you are going to present it. A dough bait may take a No 3 “ skelm “, where as a mealie pip will require No 10 short shank. In the Vaal Dam they are using sizes up to 2/0.
So a selection of these hooks in the bronze, with some having barbs for worms, will suffice. Many new hooks have hit the market recently with the influx of imports from the UK and the USA. These include chemically sharpened speciality hooks aimed at specific markets, such as carp. These hooks are excellent, although a little more expensive.
Sinkers and Terminal Rigs
This area has become so big over the last 10 years that all the usual rigs as well as new ones will be covered in their own section.
