Carp Care

How to Choose Carp Care Equipment

A sound carp care setup starts with a padded mat or cradle, a weigh sling, a bucket of lake water and a fish-safe antiseptic. A retention sling and a pair of forceps round it off for longer sessions and awkward hook holds.

Buying the pieces to suit your water usually works out better than a bundle. A short summer evening on a small pond needs far less than a week on a big gravel pit.

Flat mats suit smaller fish and anglers who travel light, with the lightest folding models packing to about 50 x 25cm. Walled mats add raised sides, from a 9cm foam lip to inflatable walls standing 200mm to 270mm high, which stop a lively fish sliding off.

Look for at least 40mm of foam under the fish, and more for big carp. The thickest mats listed use 60mm to 70mm of foam, and one is rated for fish up to 27kg.

A cradle holds the fish in a padded tray with sides, and framed models lift it clear of rough or sloping ground. Floor cradles sit on the bank like a deep mat, while framed ones stand roughly 28cm to 43cm high.

Read your fishery rules before buying a framed cradle, as some waters ban any cradle with a rigid frame. Others accept a cradle or a large mat as long as it meets a minimum padding depth.

A weigh sling lets you lift a carp onto the scales without it bending or slipping out. Sizes listed run from about 85 x 48cm for smaller fish to 130 x 60cm for big carp, plus 6ft 6in slings for catfish.

Soak the sling and zero the scales with it hanging before the fish goes in. A floating sling with a framed mouth is easier to slide a fish into and back out of in the margins.

A retention sling holds a fish safely in the water for a short spell while you set up a photo or wait for a friend to help. Most come with a cord around 5m long, and some clip onto a bankstick by the standard 3/8in thread.

Use one for minutes rather than hours, and only in deep, cool water. Plenty of waters limit or ban retention altogether, so check before relying on one.

Carp antiseptics come as sprays, swabs, gels and sealing liquids, usually in small bottles of 28g to 50ml. Three phase kits pair an antiseptic with a propolis sealer and a wound membrane for deeper marks.

Dab the hook hold and any scrape before the fish goes back. Several fisheries make an antiseptic compulsory, so a small bottle belongs in every kit.

A collapsible bucket keeps lake water to hand for soaking the mat, the sling and the fish itself. Folding models hold about 7 litres and pack almost flat.

Pour water over the fish often while it is out, especially on a hot day. Lake water is kinder than a bottle that has sat warming in the sun.

Fish welfare advice from the angling press comes down to keeping the fish wet, keeping it low and handling it with wet hands. A towel or dry hands strip the protective slime and leave the skin open to infection.

Kneel behind the mat when you lift a fish for a photo, so any slip ends on soft padding. In England the national rod fishing rules say any fish you cannot keep must be returned to the water unharmed.

Fishery rules vary, but many carp waters insist on a mat and antiseptic, and some turn anglers away without them. Some set a minimum mat thickness of around 40mm, and a few also ask for a landing net of 32in or more.

Read the rules for each water before a first visit, as they can rule out a framed cradle or a retention sling. Where the rules are strict, a large soft walled mat is usually the safe choice.

Mats, slings and nets can carry disease and invasive species from one lake to the next. The Check Clean Dry campaign, backed by the Angling Trust, asks anglers to clean wet kit and let it dry fully before fishing another water.

Rinse slime and mud off after each trip and dry everything before packing it away. That also stops mould and smells building up inside the foam.

What Carp Care Kit Costs

Within each type the spread is wide, with the dearest unhooking mats around thirteen times the price of a basic folding mat and top cradles about six times an entry model. Antiseptics and weigh slings cost far less, so a sound kit can start small and grow.

Extra money buys thicker foam, higher walls, welded seams that wipe clean and slings that float and drain. Inflatable mats and cradles sit at the very top of the range.

Carp care products listed here total 183, and full eTackle reviews cover 46 of them. Our pick of the mats at every budget is in the best unhooking mats guide.