1. People aren't really very good at estimating distances
I read a post on another site recently that described a fish peeling off 100 yards of line. I read another about how someone casted 150 yards with enough accuracy to hit the exact same spot time and time again in the course of a 24 hour session.
I ran varsity track in high school and covered 100 yards in a range from 10.95 - 11.1 seconds at various times. I also played baseball for 12 years of Little League, Junior Babe Ruth and American Legion. My specialty was center field, but I also played catcher quite a bit. Fortunately, I was chosen to numerous all-star teams representing our district in numerous tournaments. I made the throw from deep center field to home plate many times and I'll tell you - It's a long w-a-a-a-y-s.
As a result I like to think I am a pretty good judge of exactly how far 100 yards actually is. When someone says they casted 100 yards my antennae goes up and when someone says they cast 150 yards over and over and over again with pinpoint accuracy during the course of a 24 hour session...let's just say I am skeptical.
2. Focusing too much on the weight of carp ruins the fun of fishing in the first place
I know a person or two that have grown so accustomed to catching big fish in the 30 pound plus range that they actually complain when catching huge numbers of 15 to 16 pound fish. Once when the alarm was going off on a run I heard another guy complaining in anticipation that the fish would be on the smaller side. Some people have developed such a strong focus on catching fish that weigh X amount that I'm afraid they have lost sight on why they fell in love with fishing to start with. As someone who hasn't yet caught a 30 pounder, it's pretty demoralizing to struggle to catch a few carp now and then - and then actually hear an elite carp fishermen complaining about catching too many carp. I see it on Facebook cap fishing groups and I see it in online forums where carp fishermen congregate. I think these types of tendencies and attitudes in the online carp fishing scene are making it difficult to attract new people to the sport. But far, far worse in my opinion - it's making it hard to keep them.
