Carp fishing in Holland

Carp fishing is immensely popular in the Netherlands, and that’s due to our many great carp waters. From the smallest ponds and ditches to our major rivers and lakes: they all have a healthy carp stock, with a mix of common carp and mirror carp in all kinds of sizes and patterns. Next to that in the Netherlands there have been many projects to release carp in the wild, so that there’s carp swimming around pretty much everywhere.


A common carp 


Additional permits

Of course you can set up your bivvy at the waters’ edge and start angling for carp, however do keep in mind that in order to be allowed to do so, you not only need a VISpas, but also a night fishing permit (Nachtvistoestemming). And in case you want to use three rods, you also need a permit for a third rod (Derde Hengeltoestemming). These two additional permits come in the form of a hologram sticker, which you simply stick onto your VISpas. With a normal VISpas you’re only allowed to use 2 rods, and only during daytime in most cases. Be sure to check the GENERAL TERMS OF USE of the VISpas for the exact rules and regulations with regard to night fishing and fishing with three rods.


Night fishing for carp


Much more

But, did you know that there’s much more to carp fishing in the Netherlands? Take for instance fishing from a fully equipped cabin boat or a floating (propelled) cabin in the Benedenrivieren! Or do you like active fishing with a pen rod? In summertime the carp in our beautiful polders can be caught using floating bait such as bread crusts and floating dog and cat food. This makes for an exciting, visual way of carp fishing. By the way, the same is true for float fishing, which is all about creating small foraging spots and fishing them one by one. The polders in the Netherlands are perfect for this kind of fishing, because the carp is present is almost all of the ditches and when the weather’s warm they give themselves away through moving reed, bursts of bubbles or simply because you can see them sunbathing right underneath the surface.


Carps always fight hard

In the Netherlands we carefully release our carps back into the water after we catch them. Catch & release is the absolute standard!


Read more about carp? Click here.
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