Fishing is a fun, wholesome activity, but if you’re taking it up without knowing much then it can be tough to know where to start.
That’s why professional carp angler James Armstrong posted a video on TikTok explaining the things you should do and avoid when you’re first starting out.
First, James warned people not to “set your sights too high” and to “choose highly stocked water” where “you can get a bend in the rod and get yourself confident in carp fishing”.
His next tip was to “use your eyes” as they’re “the most important tool in carp fishing”.
He said: “That is watercraft – you need to learn the water, you need to watch the water, you need to find the carp, and then you are one step ahead of the rest.”
James then advised people not to “get baffled with rigs”, as he continued: “If you have to, buy some ready rigs – you can get ready tide leaders, ready tide lead systems, ready tide hook links.
“Start with those, get confident on highly stocked waters, catch a load of carp on them, then start to learn how to tile them yourself. If you do wanna tie your own rigs, just stick to a couple to begin with.
“Choose yourself a nice easy bottom bait rig, a nice easy pop up rig, and get it in front of carp.”
He shared people should “learn to cast and feel the lead down”, explaining: “Because there’s loads of bait boats out there, and yes, I do like them, learn to cast first. Don’t just go and grab a bait boat, drive it out there, it’s very easy to do that, but you won’t learn a thing.”
He further reiterated you need to “learn to cast” and “feel the lead down”, “clip up” and “pinpoint areas”.
“Do it all manually to begin with”, he shared, so you have the fishing skills for life.
In the comments, someone wrote: “100 percent agree. My whole family are big for carp fishing but they fish low stocked large lakes and it made it difficult for me to get into it.”
Another penned: “Basics , too many people buying full set-ups and thinking they are carp anglers… speakers to veterans sit watch and listen.”
A TikTok user boasted: “I went fishing my first catch was 20 pound carp I only had to wait 10 mins.” While someone else said: “Thanks for the great fishing tips.”
