Carp Fishing Set Up

Whether starting out carp fishing or looking to buy a complete carp fishing set up for the beginner to carp fishing this a brief guide as to what to look out for on a budget.

Carp fishing is a kit intensive sport. Whilst there is an argument for cutting your teeth stalking with light kit most anglers getting into the sport are looking to angle in the most common way with a two or three rod set up and static approach. Complete set ups are generally a bit poor so you are often better assembling a set up of reasonable quality from scratch.

With modern well stocked carp fisheries it's never been easier to catch a carp for youngsters so this brief guide should give you some idea on what you need to start and allow you to progress for a number of years.

Rods
The quality and price of rods nowadays is phenomenal. If you started the sport in the 80s or even 90s you would have had to endure broomstick thick floppy rods if you were buying on a budget.

Most beginners should not really be concerning themselves with stiff distance chuckers so 12ft 2.5lb or 2.75lb rods are ideal. A mid action to through action is also slightly more forgiving for beginners playing fish.

When you upgrade your kit, eventually, these can then make ideal floater or stalking rods if of sufficient quality.

Most of the big manufacturers now offer good quality rods on a budget. As the theme of this article is budget set ups all these rods a reels are sub £50 and will do the job. Worth a look are:
Chub Snooper - £49
Daiwa Regal X - £49
Shimano Alivio - £49
Shakespeare Cypry - £39

There are load of other rods out there so it's always worth a chat in your local tackle shop. Ridiculously cheap rods, sub £30, are usually false economy and will require replacement very quickly and of course the rod is probably the one piece of kit that will affect your angling ability the most (outside rigs and bait) so spending a little more here is usually worthwhile.

You will also need a marker rod if you are going to take the sport seriously, look for something slightly stiffer with a more tip action.

Reels
There are two main schools of thought in modern carp fishing. Baitrunner or Big Pit. As you need a smooth progressive drag and free spool mechanism, which will be slackened clutch on a Big Pit, reel quality is important. For beginners a reel with a baitrunner facility is probably easiest to get used to. The classic suggestions for these are:
Shimano Baitrunner ST - £55
Daiwa Regal RG4000 - £39

Alarms
Reliability is key here and Fox is known for good cheap alarms.
The trusty old Fox Micron Ms are a proven winner at around £29 and have been used by some great anglers to catch the countries biggest fish.

Swingers, Hangers or Monkey Climbers??
For simplicity, price and effectiveness it is hard to beat hangers. The key things to look for a smooth well finished line clip and sufficient weight to not suffer too heavily in wind.

Bank Sticks
Trusty stainless is still hard to beat for longevity and 12"-16" sticks should suffice. I have never liked rod pods and few top anglers use them unless absolutely necessary so that tells it's own story. Just leave the mallet at home if you don't want to get other anglers backs up. A screw in peg to make a pilot hole will suffice in all but concrete.

Line
There are loads of good quality lines available on a budget. 12lb is just abolut right for a beginner. One of the best is Daiwa Sensor which has a proven track record and is only around £8 for a 1200yd spool.

Landing net
Again a wide range of nets are available. The key things to look for are a micro mesh, larger meshes entangle leads, and sufficient depth. Preferably look for at least 40". Handles should be light and stiff and a solid metal spreader block is preferable.

This covers the big pieces of kit. Bedchairs, bivvys etc. are a another matter. For most anglers, note not campers, a profile style brolly with sides should suffice however there is a degree of personal comfort to be considered. Rigs are a book in themselves and a chat in a good tackle shop is usually the best bet, rig tying tips can also often be picked up here.

Kit is very personal and no doubt many would disagree with elements of these set up choices however the kit here will happily allow you to angler for some pretty big carp all over the country.