Carp rod

[Justice12]

New to forum, I love it by the way, so much info. Very interested in carp set ups. Should I go 6 or 7 wt. Floating line?

 

[beachbreak]

I wish I could help but I can't catch the grass carp in my lake on anything!

Probably 6wt if open water, 7wt if obstructions in the water (maybe even an 8wt)?

 

[scotty macfly]

I would not go any lighter than a 7wt. Carp are very strong and they pull hard. They are just tanks with fins and an ugly mug.

Yes, go with a floating line.

 

[jayr]

Kyclouserguy is who you seek. He has helped me with my carp and smallmouth setup.

My carp rod is a TFO Mangrove in 7 weight. I use Rio Smallmouth line with it.

 

[bumble54]

It depends on the average size of the carp in any particular water. The weakest link in your set up will be your tippet (plus any knots) so match that to the size of fish taking into account any possible snags, the carp will know where they all are. If your the brave sort you can hold hard on a carp to stop it getting into it's run, it is then more of a tug of war than a fight. One chap I knew used to "horse" carp to 10lb straight into the net, he said "give em time to think and you lose".:yikes:

 

[dennyk]

I enjoy my carp fishin'. I either use a 7 or 8 weight depending on wind conditions. Both outfits have weight forward floating lines. Leaders are 9' and I rarely use anything lighter then a 3x.

Both rods are also 9', I like to spot and stalk carp and long casts are necessary.

Denny

 

[el_deanyo]

As others have said, 7 or 8 wt. I have a 6wt that i use but only is specific spots, as it cannot handle most rigors of the places i normally fish where fish are larger and there's structure you have to horse them out of.

 

[clouserguyky]

Kyclouserguy is who you seek. He has helped me with my carp and smallmouth setup.

My carp rod is a TFO Mangrove in 7 weight. I use Rio Smallmouth line with it.

That is very kind of you, sir! So glad I could help!

I use two setups I use for carp. They are also my smallmouth rods. One is a 9' 7 weight TFO Mangrove with WF7F Rio Smallmouth, like jayr's, and the other is a 9'6" 6 weight Sage One lined with WF6F SA MPX. I use the 6 weight on smaller creeks or when flows are low and I'm fishing from the bank. That particular 6 weight is very strong so it does pretty well, but in general a 7 weight is much better. I use my 7 weight for most situations that I am strictly targeting carp. I chose the Mangrove because it loads well on short casts, is very strong, and is capable of pretty delicate presentation for a 7 weight. If I ever replaced it, I'd probably go with the Scott Tidal. But I don't have any plans to do so.

I've used several 6 weights for carp and most of them are not strong enough to be used for carp intentionally. I used a BVK for a while and it always felt like it was going to explode. Then I used a Sage VXP and it was just too soft to steer the 20lb+ fish. But I've also caught big carp, up to 30", on my 5 weight while trout fishing. Wouldn't recommend it, although it was cool to see so much backing for once. I think the 7 weight is the perfect blend of strength and finesse that you need for carp. If you go with a 6, get a saltwater 6 weight a fighting butt like the TFO Mangrove, Scott Tidal, Sage Motive, etc. Lots of guys use 8 weights on bigger water like the Great Lakes.

So all of that rambling is basically to say, for smaller streams a stout 6 weight will work. For more medium to large size rivers go 7. Big lakes, very large rivers, go 8.