I've recently took an interest in carp fishing and was thinking about building a couple of rods. I watched some rod reviews on-line and noticed they spoke about butt guides which were size 50 and size 16 tip-tops. Also, there were relatively few guides compared to how rods of similar length are built in North America.

Does anyone know the rationale behind this style of guide system?

Hi Tom,

Others might have differing opinions but from what I have experienced, tradition and function take a dominant role in their rod design. European carp anglers take their sport very seriously and until now have stuck with what works for casting long distances(even though not all carp fishing requires casting). They typically prefer larger stripping guides which I assume is for heavier line/mono on larger reels and they use fewer guides to be less restrictive and reduce friction while increasing the recovery of a long rod loaded to extreme measures.

American Tackle is a major sponsor of the “World Carp Classic” which is the super bowl of carp fishing. It’s a multinational event that takes place once a year at different venues where the world’s best carp anglers have qualified to compete for the coveted win in this competition.

This year, American Tackle held a “MicroWave CastOff” competition in Lac de Madine. This was an accuracy focused closest to the pin event where the casters take the total of 3 casts at 120 yards and the lowest score wins. We had 60 of the world’s leading carp anglers compete using MicroWave50 guides on Century Rod designed competition rods using mono-filament line. The winner and new champion averaged 7’ from the pin and there were even some hitting the flag. ALL were blown away by how well these guides cast, minimal effort to make the distance and extreme control for targeting.

In the weeks since, we’ve been approached by brands and teams to design MWG rods exclusively for their carp endeavors(or connect them with rod sponsors using MW50’s).
My suggestion is to take a look at the MW50’s or even the new MW30’s, I know up to 60 carp enthusiasts that would suggest the same thing…

Feel free to contact us if you have any questions or would like more information; Don Morse at (800) 516-1750 ext. 1207.

Best Regards,

Darrin Heim
American Tackle Company

Tom i'm over in the UK and a large number of my builds are carp rods.

The ringing patterns and sizes used are suited to powerful rods and large reels - in escence almost surf rods for freshwater.

Our blanks over here are rated in test curves (rather than casting weight) which is the amount of weight required to deflect the tip by 90 degrees. Typical test curves for carp rods are between 2.5lb (usually 10-12ft) and 3.5lb (usually 12f-13ft) - covering leads (i think you call them sinkers?) of between 2-6oz.

So a light (or short to medium range) carp rod would be 11ft long, have a 2.5lb test curve, and probably be used with a 2oz sinker and fished anywhere from under the rod tip to 70yds - on this rod you would probably have 7 or even 8 guides from 30mm-10mm to suit a 6000 size fixed spool. The blank action would be progressive.
A heavy (or distance) carp rod would be 13ft long, have a 3.5lb test curve, and probably be used with 5 or 6oz and fished at up to 150yds - on this rod you would use what we term as a "big pit" fixed spool reel (you would call it a surf reel) and would only have 5 or 6 guides from 50mm -16mm. The blank action would be fast.

Hopefully it makes a bit more sense to you now. If you need any more info or advice just pm me.

all the best,
marty

W.V.A. Custom Rods
UK

Thanks for the input.

Darrin: I'll consider the microwave guides. I'm typically using minima these days bur perhaps it is time to experiment a bit.

Marty: Your explanation of surf rods for freshwater makes sense. Whenever I watch carp fishing videos from the UK I am always surprised at the size of the leads being used. They certainly seem suited for the types of fishing techniques employed and the distances being cast but for where I am in my carp fishing career they are a likely a bit much.

In the area I'm fishing for carp there are - according to some books - carp that would max out around 20 pounds (but I have only caught them in the 6-8 pound range). Also I prefer river locations. The casts are short, 25-30 feet would be a lengthy distance, and so far the heaviest lead I have used is 1/4 oz.

I admit that I am totally new to this type of fishing and will likely evolve in my tactics but steelhead rods/blanks seem to fit the bill (for now).

Tom aside from casting long distances there is another reason why we use heavy weights for carp fishing.
Carp feed in a "suck + blow" manner (rather than biting) and often the most efficient way to hook them efficiently is to employ a "shock" rig, using a short hooklength and the bait mounted on a "hair" that suspends from the bend of the hook. (This wont make sense to anyone until they have researched it!)

The carp suspends over the bait and "@#$%&" it in - the hook point catches and when the carp moves just a few inches it hooks itself properly against the heavy lead - bites often show as a savage affair as the shock of hitting the lead results in the carp ripping off at 100mph - and remember we are fishing for carp here that can reach 60lb+.

my description is very basic and doesn't tell the full story but hopefully you can now see why we use such heavy leads, which require powerful rods and hence guide sizes and patterns that seem alien to the average angler in the US.

Marty that explanation makes a lot of sense. I've just started researching carp techniques and hair rigs. The heavy weight system + hair rigs also explain the use of reels with the bait runner feature as I have seen in various videos.

So far my fish have come on corn threaded on a hook with a sliding sinker rig - about as basic as you can get. I need to watch the line and rod tip for the bite and/or my high tech "bobbin" indicator ( a piece of cork and a hairpin). We have some retailers who specifically sell carp gear. I get lost with all of the bollies, pop-ups, pellets, scents, etc. but am looking forward to learning more.

One last question about the rod set-up. I've noticed that many carp rods are pretty minimalist with just a reel seat/butt cap. Is this just an aesthetic choice or is there some performance reasons?

Pretty much an aesthetic thing Tom, although you do want to keep the rod as light as possible if your after ultimate casting performance.

No reason why you couldn't embellish them with thread art or highly coloured eva etc, - fact is that a lot of UK and European anglers like a clean minimalist "hi-tech" look to their carp rod..