Carp angling gets everywhere!

Maybe the cats are taking he easy option Karl? instead of chasing livies there just mooching round & hoovering up?
I know these carp head do chuck in shed loads of pellets, boilies, etc & i think the cats are switching on to this.
The growth of carp fishing is unreal i agree but, lets let them hide there baits & tactics and keep there little secrets to themselves.
I would be devasted if catting started to become like this, i much prefare to be part of a little special group.....after all that what we are?

That we are and thats the way i would like it to stay, my only fear, and i think this is the point i am trying to make, is that after watching the barbel fishing that i used to love ten years ago go the way of the carp brigade, i would hate to see the catfish that i now so addore go the same way. You may have noticed but i am making a concious effort to promote alternative baits and tactics because i fear its just a matter of time before these converted barbel anglers turn their attention to us. I love being part of the cat crowd because we are so exclusive. We all try and help each other as much as we can and welcome new members with open arms which sets us apart from most other branches of angling, and i dont know about you but i love turning up at a venue, setting the gear up, being looked at as if i have two heads, then putting a 30 on the bank while the bait boat brigade have not had a touch for a week!its such a rush. I suppose i just worry for our future and belive that we need to make sure that the pellet and boilie, although they are great baits and account for some cracking fish, dont become the be all and end all catfish fishing. I just hope that other devoties share my thoughts?

being a a carp angler i am hurt buy what ur saying karl ha ha when i fish for carp i fish for carp i use 1 boilie per rod and fish with a small bag of ground bait and when i fish for cats i fish for cats with lives dead and huge baits ie meat liver and the such . do no what u mean i told u the story but will tell every one i turned up at a venue to see one bank full and the other totally empty i was planing on carp fishing so i chose to use the method on one rod with 2 crains of corn and my usual little stick with a small barrel on the end of the other any way was doing really well on the method rod had 3 carp in quick time then.the shit bit some silly old twat fishing with his wife got out his bait boat out and began to fill it up with pellet and boilies he then drove it over my spot from the other bank witch was only 20 yards from my bank and maybe 40-60 from his bank he then repeated it again taking his rig with it and dumping the lot 2 hrs must have gone by without me geting a twitch then the rod burst in to life and straight away i new this was no carp to cut it short a cat had picked up the lot and as i was only using 12lb braid the cat bit me off but the feeder come in smashed to bits i mean crushed but back to the point . yea carp fishing will ruin cat fishing if there are tits like the old man out there and lets face it there are plenty off them out there. if bait like that goes in why does a cat need to use more energy chasing live about when all it has to do is stick its head down anywhere and can fill its belly in one fell scoup . well if u read this thanks ha ha ha

Dont get me wrong mate we owe a lot to the carp anglers and i have no doubt we will continue to pinch ideas from them, i just fear for the future of all fishing when after taking a carp lad (nobody on here by the way) down to my favourite cat venue he then looked at me like i was an idiot when i told him to set up a little waggler to catch some bait. He had no idea. I think my point i am trying to make is that because of the rise of the multi purpose boilie and pellet, other forms of fishing are gonna get lost to most. I hardly see anybody now in winter on the swale using a stick float for chub and grayling which is one of the most enjoyable methods of fishing there is. Again they are sat behind there pellets no matter what. I just think that fishing in general is getting very narrow minded and i hope our branch does not go down the same road.

I fish for carp but I follow your thinking, that's one of the things I like about pondwood. There is absolutely no ground baiting and no loose feeding at all. As a result you can catch big carp on single maggot!
There is a club water I fish in Crawley in sussex and when I was a teenager (I am 59 now) you could catch 6-7 lb tench in the margins no problem and big bream too. Since Carp fishing took off in the 60's it is now virtually impossible to catch tench there. Mainly due to the large beds of bait spodded out by carp anglers the carp anglers moan abouty being bothered by big tench and bream during the night but if ypou fish traditional methods for them you catch nothing. The only thing they want to eat is pellet and boilies and you have to use carp tactics to get them ie. large beds of partical and fish small boilies or pellet over the top. I don't think this is good for the fish or angling in general and I think the kids that are following us into the sport are not even seeing let alone mastering any of the old traditional methods of angling, all they know is fixed leads hair rigs and boilies. I hope cat fishing doesn't go the same way as it would be a great shame. no it would actually be a tragedy!

Here, here!!!!!

the biggest problem with catfish switching in force over to carp baits is the vitamins and mineras, ect, that they would normally end up getting from live fish, mussels ect, but they dont get ow they only eat boilies and pellets. another problem is the obese fish you see. look through any angling paper and you'll see carp with more stomach then body, and it's starting to happen to catfish.