"What was your first carp...?"

[Gary Bills]

I thought I would ask the question, because it is sure to bring back so many fine memories and, hopefully, a number of enjoyable anecdotes.
I can still recall my first cyprinus carpio, even though I am now an old git of 47 and then I was a boy of 13. The common weighed only 4oz; I swung it out, and my fishing companion, Martin, swore it was just a brassy-coloured roach: that is, until I raised its dorsal fin to prove my point! The carp in that particular canal had only just been stocked by a club, and no fish then weighed more than 1.5lbs. They soon grew and gave us great sport; but in the late summer of '78, they arrived at the end of our lines like chunky visitants from another world, the Planet Walker, perhaps! Of course, given a few years when it was already possible to catch fish just short of double figures, our tactics had been honed for carp. But in those early days, we just float-fished worms for the obliging little nippers.
My first carp came from a winding hole, where tall poplars seemed to lean, one against the other, to hold each other up in autumn gales. I was using a 3BB Avon float, for some reason; 6lb Racine Tortue line on a Mitchell 314, and a size eight Mustad "Kirby" hook. I was fishing close to a bankside hawthorn bush, a good spot, in retrospect; but I suspect that I gave such things little consideration. I remember the red top of the Avon bobbing, then sliding under, and a juddering sensation as my 11ft Milbro Blue Maestro started to bend. The rod's test curve was only 6oz, as I discovered later!
Well, I swung the fish out and we weighed it and we measured it and we admired it. We were lucky it didn't expire on the bank! But it swam away OK. I can't remember if I was hooked there and then: but I still remember the sense of unreality, - the idea that carp simply did not swim in my world; and yet, I had just caught one - my first!

[Beresford]

A little diddler of about 4oz. A perfectly marked linear mirror with quite a silvery sheen that surprised me. Took float fished maggots in 2ft of water under my top tip. I had sat totally still for at least ten minutes as a common of about six pounds was working its way towards me. When the float slid away I stuck expecting solid resistance only to realise this little scamp had nipped in and taken the bait. Then it rained for the rest of the day and that put the carp down so I sat in a hedge shivering, soaked to the skin waiting for a lift home. I was nine.

The first big carp I caught was a total, but fortuitous, accident and from that moment on I was hooked.

[Tony1964]

I have been fishing for over 40 years but I didn't catch my first carp until I was in my mid twenties. I cannot remember my exact age, but I remember the rest of that particular day very well indeed.
My brother in law at the time knew that I was a keen fisherman and asked me what was my biggest carp. I told him that I had never caught a carp. He thought that was quite funny and promised to take me to a lake where I would definitely catch!
That weekend we visited a local commercial fishery, Staunton Court Lakes. At the time they had just one mature lake; tree lined with beds of lillies in the margins. My brother in law told me to tackle up with a small 2BB waggler float set at about 2ft, straight through to a size 10 barbless hook. I was to use luncheon meat as bait for the first time, I pulled the hook through a small piece of meat and held it on with a tiny piece of dried grass. I was told to cast to the very edge of the lillies and that the bites would be very fast. I cast out as I was told, let the float settle and waited. Minutes later the float shot away; I struck, with all of the speed and finesse of a walrus, into nothing. The float et al shot over my shoulder. I remember that this happened several times and my brother in law found it very amusing. I was a bag of nerves, adrenaline pumping, determined to hit the next bite. I settled down and within a few minutes I was into the most powerful stillwater fish I had ever caught. It wasn't a long fight but it was very memorable. The result was a lovely 3lb mirror, lovely creamy coloured flanks and a very dark back. I returned the fish, still shaking, and carried on to catch another half a dozen or so before the end of a perfect day.

[Weyfarer]

A common carp of two pounds and a mirror of 1lb 4oz, both caught on float fished bread paste from Broadwater lake (Godalming AS) on 16 June 1964. There is a note in my fishing diary that records the fish were probably new stock.

[Snape]

Not sure exactly but I never caught a carp until I was about 17 having fished since I was 3.
In the early 80s I used to fish around the Portsmouth area with Jon Berry (Guido from GSC) when I was 17 and he was 13 and we caught all manner of smallish carp.
I think one of my first was this chap.

[PDuffield]

A common of about 2lb when I was fishing with hemp and tares in Bristol docks in the early 80's. It was a very selective method that usually only resulted in bites from roach which went up to about 12oz so you can imagine my heart racing thinking I'd hooked a monster roach until it came to the surface. Still happy to have caught it though, a 2lb carp can put quite a bend in a light match rod.

[Mark]

I must have been in my early 20's back in the early 80's, a carp of about a pound from a local canal I think.

[MGs]

A common of about 4oz caught from the Grand Union Canal in 1976, whilst fishing for roach with hemp and tares. Had loads of crucians in the same year.

I had to wait until 1988 to catch a carp of any size, although to be fair I never targeted then, preferring running water.

[The Sweetcorn Kid]

Starting my coarse fishing life as a match angler the first carp I caught didn’t fill me with feelings of achievement, magic or enchantment, only the thought that a few more and I could be going home with a victory and a few quid in my pocket. Sad really, but previous to that I only sea fished so most things I caught were taken home. As match fishing became less appealing, I took to pleasure fishing and, ultimately, carp. It was then that the fish began to mean something, a soft spot occured and I started to respect the fish, and my first double, a 12lber from Hilsea Moat, was the fish of my dreams. So I got there, eventually!!!

[Gary Bills]

Wonderful accounts here - I'm loving it! PS, Snape - you really do look like the famous potions master on that photo...! :D :thumb: