Okay here is my opinion. 1 for the gear it could be that you made the same mistake that most new anglers make when they buy new rods and reels. They try to fish way out of there element. Meaning they think because they have a 12ft Rod and a Big Bait Runner they have to cast as far as they can.Think about it do you cast to the same places you were catching fish before? Ok now For the Alarms and Indicators if you do not use them correctly you will scare the Fish how? Ok for one the Volume turned up all the way or your Indicators being to heavy Then this goes to your rigs. If your Indicators are to heavy and you are using rig tubing or lead core all you are doing is actually pulling your rig up off the Bottom even with back leads. Then you say you went to the River seen fish feeding and Fished. Okay another problem with new anglers that buy any kind of shelter be Bivy Umbrella etc. They do not fish the best spot for the Fish they Fish the best place to Bivy up. Now on to the to comfortable part seen this a thousand times pepole just flop back in the chair get comfortable and watch there rods. When you were sitting on a bucket or Ground you got up moving around more and you would cast more. Or just pay more attention to the swim you were fishing. Note how you said you seen the fish feeding in the River and you caught them. Did you see any fish when you were fishing? Just because there are Monster fish in a lake and you have the best Boilie on the Market and your presentation is not right you will not catch them. You said it your self you caught more on Corn. Another mistake new Anglers make when Fishing the Hair rig they think they have to fish a Boilie on the Hair. When in fact if you were Catching on Corn then fish Corn. Another mistake new Anglers make is RIG PRESENTATION.You can not fish a 20ml Boilie then decide the fish are not having it and decide to put Five pieces of corn on the Hair because you were catching them on a single piece of Corn, Or you could do the oppisite and fish 1 piece of corn on a hair made for a 20ml Bait. The number one reason you are not catching is the new Rigs and the new Equipment etc. But not because it does not work but because you do not know how to use it. Any one can tie a hair rig and put a Boilie on and use the new rig that is in a mag. But the truth is how can you use something if you do not know how it is supposed to be used. Another common mistake new anglers make is they see Euro anglers catching 50lb fish that is good entertainment but we are not in Europe. I am not saying Euro rigs will not work they will you just need to understand how the rig works.For example I go to Bass Pro Shop buy the best Bass rod line lures and I go out on a lake and just start casting all the lures every were I might get lucky and catch one maybe two but I could have done that in the river behind my house on a worm maybe even better. My point is it does not matter how much money you spend on equipment unless you are using it the right way you are not going to catch fish. I have never heard of a carp being caught on a Bivy or never seen a carp with a Diawa Infinity in its mouth or seen one laying on the bottom in a Bed Chair see what I mean all of that stuff does not mean anything. The only thing that matters is rig presentation and bait But the most important thing of all is Location. Think of it like this say Someone said there were 50 Monster Carp in a lake and I show up find a flat spot that I can sit up my Bivy and I chuck all my rods out. I have been there for five hours no bite not even a Bleep on the Alarm. I am at this new spot were there are all these big fish I spent so much money on this stuff and have not caught a Fish. You know what my first mistake was. I sat there on my rear waiting on the fish to come to me. When I should have had a walk around the place looking in the margins looking for bubbles or for fish jumping. Then going back to the ride and getting the equipment I needed to catch fish.Instead I unpacked all this stuff that has now made me in mobile meaning after you fish for five hours with no bites chances are the only time you want to pack up all your stuff is going to be to get to the ride. Instead of moving to another Swim. Another way to look at it is like this. Say it Rains real hard. I have a big puddle out in my yard I set up my Pod drop in my Rods Bivy up clip up my Hangers. I could sit there all day with all my Fancy Gear But there are no fish there so all I am doing is sitting.The last time I checked the only thing that is sold that is supposed to attract Carp is Bait....And if you make your own and you are doing something as simple as using tap water then you done messed up it takes time to be able to make your own Bait. It only takes one mistake to mess it up. It sounds as if you are just aggravated that is normal just KEEP IT SIMPLE and stick to what you have caught them on before...