Most rods will handle carp. The thing to look for is, where will you be fishing?
If it is a snag heavy or brush/weed heavy area, your going to want a stiffer rod that will allow you to control the fish. A flexible rod will just let the carp bulldog you into whatever they want to and your lost fish ratio is going to rise.
If it is open water with little to no snags then it really doesn't matter all that much. If it can handle whatever weight you need to hold bottom then your good.
I suggest a reel that can handle at least 12-15 pound test. If you have never fished carp before I suggest using braid in the 20-30 pound range, with about 50 yards of mono backing to keep the braid from spinning over time. This will allow you to learn how to fight them without breaking line off and harming the fish. All too many times I watch people try to fight carp even smallish 8-10 pounds, with light line and fail. I know you can keep the drag loose but even 8 pound or 10 pound line with an = size carp will get burnt through quickly and snapping the line will be frequent. For the fishes health please use line appropriate for these fish, the less you snap off the less fish swimming around with long pieces of fishing line attached to them.
As far as not going Euro rods, of course that is personal choice. But a good 11/12 pole will handle carp like a dream , specially the 20-40 pound fish that are possible. They cast light to heavy weights as far as you want with fair precision, and in my opinion really outperform the normal rods in all aspects of carp fishing. Of course that is all I do any more is carp fish and they are not needed...but I'm just saying you may not want to rule them out depending. Heck even some of the 9 foot poles usually found in places like Dick's for the $30-40 range are very good for carpin. What many people do not realize is that the pole length really helps in not only casting, but playing these large fish.
If it is a snag heavy or brush/weed heavy area, your going to want a stiffer rod that will allow you to control the fish. A flexible rod will just let the carp bulldog you into whatever they want to and your lost fish ratio is going to rise.
If it is open water with little to no snags then it really doesn't matter all that much. If it can handle whatever weight you need to hold bottom then your good.
I suggest a reel that can handle at least 12-15 pound test. If you have never fished carp before I suggest using braid in the 20-30 pound range, with about 50 yards of mono backing to keep the braid from spinning over time. This will allow you to learn how to fight them without breaking line off and harming the fish. All too many times I watch people try to fight carp even smallish 8-10 pounds, with light line and fail. I know you can keep the drag loose but even 8 pound or 10 pound line with an = size carp will get burnt through quickly and snapping the line will be frequent. For the fishes health please use line appropriate for these fish, the less you snap off the less fish swimming around with long pieces of fishing line attached to them.
As far as not going Euro rods, of course that is personal choice. But a good 11/12 pole will handle carp like a dream , specially the 20-40 pound fish that are possible. They cast light to heavy weights as far as you want with fair precision, and in my opinion really outperform the normal rods in all aspects of carp fishing. Of course that is all I do any more is carp fish and they are not needed...but I'm just saying you may not want to rule them out depending. Heck even some of the 9 foot poles usually found in places like Dick's for the $30-40 range are very good for carpin. What many people do not realize is that the pole length really helps in not only casting, but playing these large fish.