I have always found it curious some of the fads and trendy things to do while carp fishing (though I am convinced they're not really focused on the fishing). I mean it all started back in the day when Terry was doing his thing and eventually the clones started coming out i.e. skate shoes on the bank, etc. These days it could be the ridiculously tight set ups (two tight together on a three rod buzzer is a common one) or the sudden need need to talk like a chav on the bank when they're not like that off it.
What's everyone's thoughts on it? Feels like the spirit of fishing has lost it way in the social media age, everything is for likes and not the spirit of the moment.
What's everyone's thoughts on it? Feels like the spirit of fishing has lost it way in the social media age, everything is for likes and not the spirit of the moment.
In reply to Post #1
My honest opinion is you need to find better waters that don't let idiots in. There's loads of stupid fads, folding handles, personalised bivvy carpets, headlights for your carp porter or whatever nonsense gets dreamed up. But I can honestly say I've never seen it on any syndicates or more exclusive clubs I've been in. I'm thankfully not exposed to it. So find somewhere that you're not exposed to it either and leave the morons to it.
Ya know wot I mean bruv.
My honest opinion is you need to find better waters that don't let idiots in. There's loads of stupid fads, folding handles, personalised bivvy carpets, headlights for your carp porter or whatever nonsense gets dreamed up. But I can honestly say I've never seen it on any syndicates or more exclusive clubs I've been in. I'm thankfully not exposed to it. So find somewhere that you're not exposed to it either and leave the morons to it.
Ya know wot I mean bruv.
In reply to Post #2
Exactly.
Exactly.
In reply to Post #2
'sright.
Innit.
'sright.
Innit.
In reply to Post #1
wouldn't be that worried about them. let people do what they want and crack on with how you want to fish surely. everyone has their own little niche's.
wouldn't be that worried about them. let people do what they want and crack on with how you want to fish surely. everyone has their own little niche's.
In reply to Post #1
Think its entwined with the culture and has been for some time; social media has just exacerbated it - at its root (and I include myself in my formative years) is a bunch of nerds trying to look / cool / experienced / carpy in front of other nerds. Nothing is new (the folded handle tight set up ting was happening 25yrs ago) and IME this has ranged from -
Wearing all black
Wearing Camo / Not wearing Camo
Tight set ups / Single sticks spread out
Tips up / Tips down
13' rods / 6' rods
Brollies in winter / Tarps in winter
Single hookbaits on a chod / 25kg on a tennis court
Moving swims if a fish farts / staying put for a week without recasting
Himalayan rock salt in everything / chilli flakes in everything
Pot noodles / Cob Premier burner with prime rib marinated in a garlic jus and roasted veg
6x pack of Carling / Bottle of Chateau nerf de pap
etc
Now that I'm in my 50's I really don't care and am actually immune - each to their own . . . .apart from the camo thing which I still have issue with
(Just noticed I'm wearing a Diem Camo beanie in my avatar . . . heresy!)
Think its entwined with the culture and has been for some time; social media has just exacerbated it - at its root (and I include myself in my formative years) is a bunch of nerds trying to look / cool / experienced / carpy in front of other nerds. Nothing is new (the folded handle tight set up ting was happening 25yrs ago) and IME this has ranged from -
Wearing all black
Wearing Camo / Not wearing Camo
Tight set ups / Single sticks spread out
Tips up / Tips down
13' rods / 6' rods
Brollies in winter / Tarps in winter
Single hookbaits on a chod / 25kg on a tennis court
Moving swims if a fish farts / staying put for a week without recasting
Himalayan rock salt in everything / chilli flakes in everything
Pot noodles / Cob Premier burner with prime rib marinated in a garlic jus and roasted veg
6x pack of Carling / Bottle of Chateau nerf de pap
etc
Now that I'm in my 50's I really don't care and am actually immune - each to their own . . . .apart from the camo thing which I still have issue with
(Just noticed I'm wearing a Diem Camo beanie in my avatar . . . heresy!)
In reply to Post #1
Beads, Beanie hats, Happy days, Scaley bangers, and people calling a lake a pond wind me up.
Beads, Beanie hats, Happy days, Scaley bangers, and people calling a lake a pond wind me up.
This is from a guy that took paint stripper to black Gardner bank sticks in the 80s to make them silver and then when stainless became the rage taped them black. Don't follow the fad be in front of it.
Oh and when is luncheon meat coming back? I bloody love it.
Oh and when is luncheon meat coming back? I bloody love it.
In reply to Post #6
Oi! You leave my chateux nerf du pape alone!!! Lol
Oi! You leave my chateux nerf du pape alone!!! Lol
Smashin' It !
It's a culture 'thing' always been around, always will be, but it's more extreme nowadays driven by social media and 'likes'.
The term 'fad' and 'trend' gives it away, very little have any longevity. While it's got nothing to do with me what others like to do, some of it has me head scratching where common sense just seems to go out of the window.
The term 'fad' and 'trend' gives it away, very little have any longevity. While it's got nothing to do with me what others like to do, some of it has me head scratching where common sense just seems to go out of the window.
In reply to Post #8
Ooo forgot about black vs stainless . . . . I've always been a fan of black (based on everything being ultra light weight and minimal) but now that I've got an old mans power barrow I've got a penchant for stainless . . .its also obvs way more retro innit!
Ooo forgot about black vs stainless . . . . I've always been a fan of black (based on everything being ultra light weight and minimal) but now that I've got an old mans power barrow I've got a penchant for stainless . . .its also obvs way more retro innit!
A lot of the carp fishing writing online - not the slang at all, but more when it's verbose, borderline pretentious. Korda's Mindset page is one example. "Deployed via the stick/catapult" gets me 
In reply to Post #1
I've seen people with rods so tight on sets up. I'm looking at it and thinking my rods are not even that close when put away in me rod bag.
Then the other extreme rods so far apart on buzzer bars. They look like they've had an argument..
Does it effect me, no... we are all influenced by fads whether we like it or not. Tackle company's will only sell stuff they can shift. There influenced as much as anyone. If they don't. There not lasting.
I've seen people with rods so tight on sets up. I'm looking at it and thinking my rods are not even that close when put away in me rod bag.
Then the other extreme rods so far apart on buzzer bars. They look like they've had an argument..
Does it effect me, no... we are all influenced by fads whether we like it or not. Tackle company's will only sell stuff they can shift. There influenced as much as anyone. If they don't. There not lasting.
In reply to Post #13
LOL - Yates without the class or charm
I can think of a few writers like that.
LOL - Yates without the class or charm
I can think of a few writers like that.
In reply to Post #1
It does make me laugh when I see rods too tight on the bars on YouTube vids, all 3 delkims being set off at once
It does make me laugh when I see rods too tight on the bars on YouTube vids, all 3 delkims being set off at once
In reply to Post #16
Fads are exactly that a fad, personally I love my rods so tight they are almost inside each other, to me that's tidy, I also can't stand anything out of a bag, I see people with kit everywhere and mentally can't cope.
As an ex squaddie the camo thing makes me retch!
Social Media hasn't changed anything just sped up the fad, we are all probably guilty of copying magazine stars
Fads are exactly that a fad, personally I love my rods so tight they are almost inside each other, to me that's tidy, I also can't stand anything out of a bag, I see people with kit everywhere and mentally can't cope.
As an ex squaddie the camo thing makes me retch!
Social Media hasn't changed anything just sped up the fad, we are all probably guilty of copying magazine stars
In reply to Post #17
I have a angling friend ,good carper, lots of experience etc,who also does the 3 rods close together..
My friends reels touch, everytime he gets a take ,or whatever he clatters the whole set up or has to slow down and methodically extract the rod with the bite or take, now....to me he is hindering the whole process ...it looks ungainly and very cumbersome ,plus he's got what was lovely set of Ss3000,now they are chipped and look fecal ,because of this 'so called fad'..so to me ,as an person who likes things right ...that ain't right...its cost him fish as well..
I couldn't be fishing like that ,form over function=no
Function over form =yes...
I have a angling friend ,good carper, lots of experience etc,who also does the 3 rods close together..
My friends reels touch, everytime he gets a take ,or whatever he clatters the whole set up or has to slow down and methodically extract the rod with the bite or take, now....to me he is hindering the whole process ...it looks ungainly and very cumbersome ,plus he's got what was lovely set of Ss3000,now they are chipped and look fecal ,because of this 'so called fad'..so to me ,as an person who likes things right ...that ain't right...its cost him fish as well..
I couldn't be fishing like that ,form over function=no
Function over form =yes...
What someone needs to do is make a set of vertical bars won't get much closer than that lol
I honestly couldn't care less about the fads anglers follow, but I do have a little internal chuckle at times. The two that particularly put a smile on my face are; folded reel handles, especially the unneeded outside reel and the having some sort of 'lucky charm' balancing on, or sat under the rods. I'm sure I'd never seen this before Neil Spooner started putting the PG Tips monkey on his rods?
As long as these things make people happy and don't harm anyone or anything else, good luck to them.
As long as these things make people happy and don't harm anyone or anything else, good luck to them.
This one might be a bit irrational but makes me laugh...
I had a break from angling 2012-2022 but one thing I noticed on my return, no one calls them a fish any more? Everyone says ‘carp'. It's never ever ‘a lovely fish' but ‘lovely carp'
Just sounds a bit odd to me everyone going down this path haha. I wonder which high profile angler started exclusively using ‘carp' and everyone followed suit?
I had a break from angling 2012-2022 but one thing I noticed on my return, no one calls them a fish any more? Everyone says ‘carp'. It's never ever ‘a lovely fish' but ‘lovely carp'
Just sounds a bit odd to me everyone going down this path haha. I wonder which high profile angler started exclusively using ‘carp' and everyone followed suit?
In reply to Post #17
Nice one - forgot about that - I too detest messy swims but not sure if this counts as a trend or just bank tramp behaviour. . . peeps with two man bivvies but leave rod bags and luggage out in the wet / barrows uncovered to get sodden / crap, bait and rubbish inside the bivvy / no waste bag hanging in the nearest tree / tbags littering the doorway. . . . .nod behaviour lol 
Nice one - forgot about that - I too detest messy swims but not sure if this counts as a trend or just bank tramp behaviour. . . peeps with two man bivvies but leave rod bags and luggage out in the wet / barrows uncovered to get sodden / crap, bait and rubbish inside the bivvy / no waste bag hanging in the nearest tree / tbags littering the doorway. . . . .nod behaviour lol
In reply to Post #1
I'm allergic to marketing, I hate being forced fed adverts under the guise of "content", so I have pretty much missed most of these fads.
I'm still waiting for the Chris Brown buzz bars and 25 year old Micron fad to come in, so I can feel like one of the cool kids.
The problem with fads, is I feel it messes up a lot of the muscle memory and routines that people have when setting up. I feel I can set up in the pitch black now, that's how much i've come accustomed to the weight and feel of everything I use. That way, all I have to worry about is where the fish are.
I'm allergic to marketing, I hate being forced fed adverts under the guise of "content", so I have pretty much missed most of these fads.
I'm still waiting for the Chris Brown buzz bars and 25 year old Micron fad to come in, so I can feel like one of the cool kids.
The problem with fads, is I feel it messes up a lot of the muscle memory and routines that people have when setting up. I feel I can set up in the pitch black now, that's how much i've come accustomed to the weight and feel of everything I use. That way, all I have to worry about is where the fish are.
In reply to Post #18
It could be worse, they could be half submerged in water for no good reason at all
It could be worse, they could be half submerged in water for no good reason at all
When is a "Fad", not a "Fad", basically if you have a valid reason for doing something, then it is not a "Fad".
I have all my rods tight together on 11" bars, none of the reels touch despite handles on the right hand side rod and centre rod go under the reel next to it to the left, but it causes no issues picking the rods up.
Why I do it, when I am in a small swim, it gives me more space to stand in front of the swim to play and land fish. Plus when I 'm sat watching my rods, the tips are only a few inches apart and I can see tiny little knocks better. Another reason, if I get a fish that I'm playing and its close in and decides to go under the lines of the other two rods, it is far easier to pass the rod under two rods very close together than wide apart, also in a similar vein, it makes it easier to net a fish reaching over the other two rods.
Another reason, I like my rod butts in the bivvy doorway ready to grab and by having them close together, I still have room in the doorway to get in and out.
But the main reason, I am a clumsy bugger, and many a time I have stepped over my rods and managed to kick one off its rest, put my foot down on a reel handle and on occasions, get the snag bars on an alarm up my trouser leg or even part of the back rest up my trouser leg. Having my rods close together, stop this.....apart from the odd occasion.
I have all my rods tight together on 11" bars, none of the reels touch despite handles on the right hand side rod and centre rod go under the reel next to it to the left, but it causes no issues picking the rods up.
Why I do it, when I am in a small swim, it gives me more space to stand in front of the swim to play and land fish. Plus when I 'm sat watching my rods, the tips are only a few inches apart and I can see tiny little knocks better. Another reason, if I get a fish that I'm playing and its close in and decides to go under the lines of the other two rods, it is far easier to pass the rod under two rods very close together than wide apart, also in a similar vein, it makes it easier to net a fish reaching over the other two rods.
Another reason, I like my rod butts in the bivvy doorway ready to grab and by having them close together, I still have room in the doorway to get in and out.
But the main reason, I am a clumsy bugger, and many a time I have stepped over my rods and managed to kick one off its rest, put my foot down on a reel handle and on occasions, get the snag bars on an alarm up my trouser leg or even part of the back rest up my trouser leg. Having my rods close together, stop this.....apart from the odd occasion.
In reply to Post #25
Had really thought about it, until you mentioned it in your post. Everyone back in the day seemed to set up there shelter as close to there rods as possible. I even remember having me rod buts in me bivvy door at time.. no one seems to do that anymore. In fact its quite the opposite.
Maybe it was Kevin Maddocks Carp Fever book . Which was required reading for anyone with an interest in carp fishing.. for those that don't know. There was a couple pages dedicated in picture form showing you how to strike your rods on the take while sleeping by your rods. Getting out the bag putting on your boots while holding your fishing rod in one had..honestly you can't make it up.. Not sure it worked like that in practice for a lot of people mind...
Had really thought about it, until you mentioned it in your post. Everyone back in the day seemed to set up there shelter as close to there rods as possible. I even remember having me rod buts in me bivvy door at time.. no one seems to do that anymore. In fact its quite the opposite.
Maybe it was Kevin Maddocks Carp Fever book . Which was required reading for anyone with an interest in carp fishing.. for those that don't know. There was a couple pages dedicated in picture form showing you how to strike your rods on the take while sleeping by your rods. Getting out the bag putting on your boots while holding your fishing rod in one had..honestly you can't make it up.. Not sure it worked like that in practice for a lot of people mind...
In reply to Post #26
Yes I remember reading that in Carp Fever.
He also mentioned that there was a time when he never used a torch. That was a fad that never caught on
Yes I remember reading that in Carp Fever.
He also mentioned that there was a time when he never used a torch. That was a fad that never caught on
In reply to Post #25
Honestly Zack, I can't think what a couple a couple of inches ‘rod space' would make any sort of difference to what you've said, each to their own I guess
Honestly Zack, I can't think what a couple a couple of inches ‘rod space' would make any sort of difference to what you've said, each to their own I guess
In reply to Post #26
I remember that, the step by step guide was comical. Even showed you the various ways to adjust your brolly wrap to suit
I remember that, the step by step guide was comical. Even showed you the various ways to adjust your brolly wrap to suit
In reply to Post #26
Yep, remember it too. I've got tbh, I still have my rods as close to my bivvy as possible, old habits die hard.
Anyone remember those vulcanised bivvy socks so you could just go straight to your rod from the bag?
Yep, remember it too. I've got tbh, I still have my rods as close to my bivvy as possible, old habits die hard.
Anyone remember those vulcanised bivvy socks so you could just go straight to your rod from the bag?
In reply to Post #30
Carp Tec ones? God awful things!
Carp Tec ones? God awful things!
In reply to Post #31
Still got mine somewhere..
Still got mine somewhere..
In reply to Post #30
Still got a pair and yes,I still use them.
Still got a pair and yes,I still use them.
In reply to Post #30
not got them anymore as I wore my pair out & they were discontinued when I went to buy replacements.
I thought they were brilliant, really practical, kept my feet warm & really easy to clean (wipe with a towel) although they could be a bit slippery in mud. I remember the first time I wore them on a social with some friends - they gave me loads of abuse & took the piss something rotten. By the end of the weekend, they had all gone online & ordered themselves a pair
not got them anymore as I wore my pair out & they were discontinued when I went to buy replacements.
I thought they were brilliant, really practical, kept my feet warm & really easy to clean (wipe with a towel) although they could be a bit slippery in mud. I remember the first time I wore them on a social with some friends - they gave me loads of abuse & took the piss something rotten. By the end of the weekend, they had all gone online & ordered themselves a pair
In reply to Post #30
My kids bought me a pair of real tree version on these ones
Safe to say I've never worn them lol
https://www.anglingdirect.co.uk/prologic-bivvy-neo-socks
My kids bought me a pair of real tree version on these ones
Safe to say I've never worn them lol
https://www.anglingdirect.co.uk/prologic-bivvy-neo-socks
In reply to Post #28
>>>>a couple a couple of inches ‘rod space' would make any sort of difference to what you've said,<<<<
Really! I have just had a quick look at some of the dimensions of some pods and I see one 600mm wide, a pod that size would virtually take up the full width of the doorway and is more than twice the width of the bars I use on the pod that I sometimes have to use if I cannot use single sticks.
And doing a quick look at the size of "Bars" these days, it seems that the manufactures are creating the so called "Fad" of rods being close together by having a maximum size of around 300mm.
>>>>a couple a couple of inches ‘rod space' would make any sort of difference to what you've said,<<<<
Really! I have just had a quick look at some of the dimensions of some pods and I see one 600mm wide, a pod that size would virtually take up the full width of the doorway and is more than twice the width of the bars I use on the pod that I sometimes have to use if I cannot use single sticks.
And doing a quick look at the size of "Bars" these days, it seems that the manufactures are creating the so called "Fad" of rods being close together by having a maximum size of around 300mm.
In reply to Post #32
I hated the things, chucked them on eBay a few years ago and got a fair bit for them
I hated the things, chucked them on eBay a few years ago and got a fair bit for them
In reply to Post #36
600mm wide pods, are you taking the mick nowadays
600mm wide pods, are you taking the mick nowadays
In reply to Post #25
In a tight swim a tight set up makes practical sense; but tbf the only 'real' sensible set up is single sticks with rods spread / pointing directly to each spot in a direct line. Reality is however this takes time with multiple rods and its quicker to set up a pod / push in a single stick with buzz bars on your average 24hr session so nobody bothers . . . add to this the current 'fad' (perhaps) of 3x on a spot at 150yards and it gives the folding handle brigade an excuse . . . .
In a tight swim a tight set up makes practical sense; but tbf the only 'real' sensible set up is single sticks with rods spread / pointing directly to each spot in a direct line. Reality is however this takes time with multiple rods and its quicker to set up a pod / push in a single stick with buzz bars on your average 24hr session so nobody bothers . . . add to this the current 'fad' (perhaps) of 3x on a spot at 150yards and it gives the folding handle brigade an excuse . . . .
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