1 ST

EDITIO
FREE LINE MAGAZINE OCT 2017 FREE N

GEORGE
LOUGHLIN
Getting Technical -
Snag Fishing

R B
MAYLIN JakeWildbore
on Hardwick
Views from the Bivvy

LEON
BARTROPP
In Pursuit of
Monster Carp COMPETITIONS
WIN A Gowi Bait
Boat worth 700
WIN 12 French Holidays in this Issue
WIN New Year At Anglers Paradise
WIN A Waterside Break in the UK
WIN Urban Bait

Editor/Publisher
Rob Maylin
Bountyhunter Publications
44 Herbs End, Cove, Hampshire
GU14 9YD
Telephone 01252 373658
Facsimile 01252 373658
Mobile 07768 731425
Email: bigcarpmagazine@hotmail.com
Advertising Sales
Kevin Goss
info@freelinemagazine.com
catchreport@freelinemagazine.com
advertising@freelinemagazine.com
www.freelinemagazine.com
Also in the shops this month,
Big Carp Issue 255, Autumn Equinox
issue. Miss it and miss out!
2
VIEWS FROM
THE BIVVY
Robs Ramblings
Welcome to Free Line Magazine Issue 1 A new era in carp fishing
magazines starts here. Free Line is the first ever 200-page-plus, totally
FREE online magazine! Yes, I did say FREE! At a time when carp
fishingtitles are disappearing off the newsagents shelves faster than a
carp attached to a 5oz lead, Bountyhunter Publications have once
again stepped up to the mark and evolved with the times. Big Carp
was the first to have a digital App counterpart through Magazine
Cloner, and now Free Lineis yet another groundbreaking concept.
Why? Because the age of social media is here. YouTube, Facebook,
Twitter, Instagram and half a dozen more platforms already control
hundreds of thousands of viewers, and its set to increase. And if you
want to be seen and be read, then this is where you have to be.
Free Line will contain all the aspects of carp fishing that I know
carp anglers love. My 30 years as editor of Big Carp has taught me this.
There will be comprehensive, unbiased catch reports, open to the
public regardless of which bait company you prefer. These catch
reports will be sponsored by lots of different companies, all offering
great monthly prizes for the best catches!! There will be edgy Big
Carp/Sub Surface style articles, so popular with BC readers, technical
pieces combined with session and campaign carping, venue variation
covering river, canal, syndicate and day ticket carping, and most
importantly, the chance for unknown, successful anglers to get their
stories published, the unsung heroes out there doing it rain, shine,
summer and winter.
The content will be a mixture of exciting new material and some
classic old BC pieces from the archives. My BC Promotions manager
Kevin Goss and I will deal with the daily running of Free Line, with
loads of posts about various aspects across all the social media
platforms. Free Line will be available via its own bespoke website and
from the Big Carp website. You will be able to download it on the bank,
in the bivvy or wherever, anywhere in the world for FREE.
There will also be a simple hyperlink access just click and you will
arrive at the easy to use flick page design. Free Line will also have its
own bespoke App available to download through Amazon, Apple and
the Android marketplace. You can read it on your phone, on your iPad
or tablet, while fishing, at home or even at work. You will be able to
send pictures, videos and blogs direct from Facebook, Twitter or
Instagram.
As with anything totally new, we have time to evolve, upgrade and
update, so bear with us. This is only issue 1. We have loads more
aspects to introduce as we progress. As well as great articles and catch
reports,there will be news, reviews and press releases plus a whole
host of competitions. Issue 1 has a dozen French holidays to give away,
New Year at Anglers Paradise, a 700 Gowi bait boat, bait, tackle, books
and subscriptions!!
I hope you enjoy the new format. If you do, please let us know, and
if you dont, well, please remember its FREE! There arent many things
in this life that are totally FREE but Free Line magazine is!
 IN THE
MIX
Contents
Carp Chat Carpy News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

Carp Scene Reviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

On The Bank - Catch Reports including Catch of the Month and prize winners . . . . . .18

ARTICLES

A Tale of Two Records by Bill Phillips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32

The Woodcarving With Half a Worm by Ben Dowers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60

Urban Carping by Lewis Errington . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68

My Winter Success by Earl Knights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76

Technical Rig Design - Snag Fishing Rigs by George Loughlin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .86

Manor Madness - In Search of Stella by Leon Bartropp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .100

The Country Park by Dave Robinson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .110

The Haunted Mere by Jay Russell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .118

The Unstable Campaign by Lee Colford . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .124

Krassos on Carp - Rob Maylin chats to Mick Krassos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .130

The Old Canal by Tommy De Cleen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .146

Northern Exposure - Midsummer Madness by Tim Childs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .164

No Names, No Numbers by Dan Goult . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .178

Alternative Baits and How to Use Them by Mick Krassos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .184

Private Waters by Kurtis Burton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .196

Canal Technical by Danny Champion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .200

3

Countdown To National Fishing Month Silver Jubilee
With less than a month to its launch,
National Fishing Month (NFM) 2017 is
on target to match the success of pre-
vious years. More than 300 events
(running between 22nd July and 3rd
September 2017) have already been
registered on the official NFM web-
site (www.nationalfishingmonth.
com). Each entry details when, where
and how anyone who wants to learn
more about fishing can take part
locally at events run by angling
coaches licensed with the Angling
Trust.
Tackle manufacturers Daiwa, Pure
Fishing and Leeda all members of
NFM organisers the Angling Trades
Association (ATA) - have been gener-
ous with their headline sponsorship.
Their contributions are significant as
is the support received from the Envi-
ronment Agency (EA), the Angling
Trust (AT), the Canal and River Trust,
Angling Cymru, the Professional
Anglers Association (PAA) and the
Game Angling Instructors Associa-
tion (GAIA).
There are a huge number of local
events organised under the NFM ban-
ner, and this year also heralds several
showcase initiatives. These include a
NFM launch event at Northlands Park
Lakes, Felmores Road, Basildon,
4 FREE LINE
Essex on the 22nd July. Organised in
partnership with Basildon and Pitsea
Carnival Festival, it should be a great
day out for everyone. There will also
be pond dipping, equipment displays
and first aid demonstrations by a
Qualified First Aider.
NFM will be showcased at the
Game Fair, held this year at Hatfield
House, Hertfordshire (28th, 29th and
30th July). It will feature riverside
coarse coaching sessions organised
by members of the PAA alongside
junior and adult fly coaching organ-
ised by GAIA. The Game Fair team
CARP
CHAT
Carpy News
has been busy ensuring that the new
look fishing village area at the Game
Fair will be a fabulous attraction for
the hundreds of thousands of people
who attend over the three-day event.
The National Fishing Month coaching
area will form a central attraction for
anyone interested in having a go at
fishing under expert tuition and, for
children, there is no cost. Tickets for
the Game Fair can be purchased at
https://thegf.yourticketbooking.com
Everyone who participates in a
NFM event across the country will
receive a goodie bag containing a
Get into Fishing booklet full of infor-
mation on how to get started, advice
on different types of fishing, stickers
and a fishing log book. Participants
will also be presented with certifi-
cates of participation as lasting
mementos of their introduction to
angling.
The showcase schedule ends with
the hugely popular Evesham Festival
(26th, 27th and 28th August) on the
River Avon in Worcestershire.
There are hundreds of other events
across the country, open to everyone.
To find a NFM event near to you and
fishingmonth.com. n
book your place, visit www.national-
 CARP CHAT
Pewsey Vale children make a splash
at Marlborough with Fishing 4 Schools
Pupils from Pewsey Vale School in
Wiltshire have been learning to fly
fish at Marlborough Colleges fantas-
tic angling facilities on the River Ken-
net this term, thanks to a collabora-
tion between the two schools and the
national Fishing 4 Schools (F4S) proj-
ect.
Six key stage three pupils Callum
Dawson, Zak Awoodun, George Prout,
Kahlan and Raye Colgate and Joe
Long visited the prestigious private
school each Tuesday to take part in
the six-week course, with profes-
sional angler and F4S founder, Charles
Jardine, Colin Smith and Sean Demp-
ster from the college and F4S instruc-
tors Lee Hooper, Rob Doyle and Julie
Wicks.
The short course taught them
about the anatomy of the fish; they
surveyed the rivers aquatic insect F4S instructor Rob Doyle with pupil Kahlan Colgate.
life, using microscopes to inspect
what they found and learned to tie look forward to working with them all riculum offering an alternative way of
flies and cast. again in the future. learning for children who struggle in a
Marlborough College teacher Sean F4S is a charitable project adminis- classroom environment.
Dempster had the idea after meeting tered by The Countryside Alliance For more information, email char-

Charles Jardine at a country show. He
said: It can be difficult to gain access
to fly fishing and it can be prohibi-
tively expensive for children to take
part, but it offers some very valuable
skills.
This F4S course is an opportunity
to get children out in the great out-
doors and offers a combination of
maths, biology and ecology all with-
out them knowing they are doing it!
Pewsey Vale student George Prout
said; The course was lots of fun. I
caught one trout which was a big
achievement!
And a spokesman for Pewsey Vale
School added: Thank you to Marlbor-
ough College and Fishing 4 Schools
for the fantastic opportunity our stu-
dents were able to experience. We
alliance.org n
Foundation that offers short fishing lotte-cooper@countryside-
courses that fit into the school cur-
England Ladies win silver
England Ladies secured a silver medal in the womens ICFA International on home
soil at Wraysbury Lake, Berkshire.
The match, which was the historic first multi-nation female international for carp
fishing, was hotly contested and incredibly close. England took an early lead but
were overtaken by a Welsh team that was absolutely on form.
England scored a win and three section seconds, but it wasnt enough to secure
the victory. England Ladies have had an unbeaten run over the last two years with
two golds to their name but had to settle for silver on this occasion.
England manager Rob Hughes said: It was a brilliant and very close competition
with only two points the difference between gold and silver. The England Lionesses
were valiant, but the Welsh Dragons were quite simply too powerful on this occa-
sion. They fished impeccably and deserved the win.
The ladies season is now over other than an exhibition competition later in the
year.
12 pts n
Result: Gold: Wales 5pts; Silver: England 7pts; Bronze: Netherlands

Pupils with (from left) Lee Hooper, The England Ladies squad with their silver medals.
Julie Wicks and Rob Doyle.

FREE LINE 5
 CARP CHAT
Bedfordshire Police join Operation
TRAVERSE multi-agency initiative
targeting illegal fishing and fish theft
Bedfordshire Police has become the
latest force to sign up to Operation
TRAVERSE the multi-agency initia-
tive launched three years ago to
tackle fish theft and illegal fishing.
The commitment creates an impor-
tant link with surrounding forces and
provides a wider roll-out of the opera-
tion in the east and south east of Eng-
land.
Bedfordshire Polices promise of
firm support for Operation TRAVERSE
will see a big step forward in the fight
against fish poaching in the county,
which has led to low stocks of some
fish species at some venues.
Dilip Sarkar MBE, Angling Trust
National Enforcement Manager, said:
This is yet another step forward and
indicates an undertaking from the
police service to address anglers
issues and the wider criminality
involved, in spite of its huge array of
other commitments and priorities. We
look forward very much to working
closely with Bedfordshire Police and
our existing and future partners. The
only way forward is for everyone to
work together.
Bedfordshire Police formally joined
Operation TRAVERSE following an
induction day at Leighton Buzzard
Police station attended by members
of Bedfordshire Constabulary Wildlife
and Rural Crime Team, Paul Thomas
(Angling Trust Regional Enforcement
Manager for the East of England),
Radoslaw Papiewski (Building
Angling Trusts Paul Thomas outlines the initiative.
6 FREE LINE
Representatives from Bedfordshire Constabulary Wildlife and Rural Crime
Team, the Angling Trust, the Environment Agency and Building Bridges at the
launch of Operation TRAVERSE in Bedforshire.
Bridges Project Manager with the
Angling Trust) and Al Thomson (Envi-
ronment Agency Fishery Enforce-
ment Officer).
To p i c s i n c l u d e d i s s u e s w i t h
migrant anglers not understanding
UK fisheries law, migrant angler edu-
cation, methods of illegal fishing, how
to spot incidents and how to effec-
tively deliver the operation through
joint patrols with other member
organisations and the Voluntary Bailiff
Service.
Ian Hirst, Environment Agency
Enforcement Team Leader, said: We
are pleased to welcome Bedfordshire
Police as a partner to Operation TRA-
VERSE. This will build on existing
work we carry out with the force
across the Bedfordshire countryside
to tackle illegal fishing. Anyone that
suspects illegal fishing is taking place
should report the details to the Envi-
ronment Agencys Incident Hotline
on 0800 80 70 60, or Bedfordshire
Police on 101 quoting Operation TRA-
VERSE.
Inspector Mark Farrant of Bedford-
shire Police Wildlife and Rural Crime
team, said: Bedfordshire Constabu-
lary will work closely with the
Angling Trust volunteer bailiffs and
Environment Agency Fisheries
Enforcement Officers on planned
days of action across the region to
identify and deal with any offences
revealed in a robust and consistent
manner. I encourage true anglers to
continue to provide intelligence on
illegal activity, as this information will
lead the operation they are often our
eyes and ears by the waters edge and
vital to the success of this initiative.
Paul Thomas, Angling Trusts East
of England Regional Enforcement
Manager, said: We are extremely
happy to welcome Bedfordshire
Police to play a key role in Operation
TRAVERSE working with all our part-
ners to raise awareness, education
and positive enforcement. It is widely
recognised that the links between
fisheries related crime and the bigger
picture of rural, wildlife, business,
hate and organised crime cannot be
underestimated, and the inclusion of
Bedfordshire Police on Operation
TRAVERSE can only further raise
awareness of this serious issue and
now being taken. n
emphasise the partnership approach

Fisheries Enforcement Support Service
and UK National Wildlife Crime Unit
sign Information Sharing Agreement
Helen Bulmer of the UK National Wildlife Crime Unit and Fisheries Enforcement
Support Service Intelligence Manager Gary Thomas, with the newly signed
Intelligence Sharing Agreement
The Angling Trust has signed an
important Information Sharing Agree-
ment with the UK National Wildlife
Crime Unit, setting out the framework
and protocols for the sharing of infor-
mation and intelligence in a legally
compliant, secure and responsible
way.
The agreement was signed on the
18th July 2017 by the Angling Trust
Fisheries Enforcement Support Ser-
vices Intelligence Manager, retired
West Mercia Police Detective Inspec-
tor Gary Thomas.
The FESS is funded by freshwater
rod licence income and is staffed by
eight retired angling police officers
who, in addition to delivering the
popular and highly successful Volun-
tary Bailiff Service, coordinate a multi-
agency response to fisheries crime,
increasing the support available to
the Environment Agency and police.
National Enforcement Manager
Dilip Sarkar MBE said: Whilst to
many this will simply be the small
print, this is actually a massive for-
ward step and further evidence that
the FESS is increasingly becoming a
robust and recognised partner in the
fight against fisheries and wildlife
crime. This is a great piece of work by
Gary Thomas and our partners at the
NWCU.
Intelligence Manager Gary
Thomas said: The sharing of infor-
mation and intelligence between the
various partners tasked with protec-
CARP CHAT
tion of our wildlife is key to protecting
fish and fisheries. This helps confirm
patterns in fisheries and wildlife
c r i m e, a n d i d e n t i f y o f f e n d e r s
enabling operational resources to be
effectively deployed.
The FESS will be actively pursuing
further Information Sharing Agree-
ments with other key enforcement
agencies for the benefit of the angling
community in the fight to protect fish
and fisheries. This professional,
joined-up approach, harnessing mod-
ern policing methods, can only mean
good news for responsible, caring,
anglers but bad news for criminals
and those who cheat on angling.
Chief Inspector Martin Sims, Head
of the UK National Wildlife Crime
Unit said: With the widespread train-
ing of the Voluntary Bailiff Service,
with which our Unit has assisted, I am
really pleased to see this agreement
signed. With the significant number
of extra eyes and ears out in the coun-
tryside as Volunteer Bailiffs, this
agreement makes good sense in
assisting the free and legally compli-
ant flow of wildlife crime information
and intelligence being passed directly
to the Unit so that we can progress it
in a timely manner with respective
police forces.
I would like to thank Dilip Sarkar
and Gary Thomas of the FESS, and
gressing this. n
Helen Bulmer in my team for pro-
MPs urge
parents to
take kids
fishing this
summer
With the school holidays looming and
the prospect of restless youngsters
looking for ways to spend their time
over the long six week break, fishing
enthusiast MPs from the All Party Par-
liamentary Angling Group have urged
parents to take your kids fishing this
summer.
To get the message across, MPs
Scott Mann and Charles Walker joined
Will Barnard, Angling Development
Manager at Thames Water, and Mar-
tin Salter, Angling Trust Head of Cam-
paigns, at College Lake in Hampshire
where they treated a group of young-
sters to a special day out catching
some beautiful carp and roach on a
variety of methods.
Best fish of the day was a stunning
11lb 8oz common carp caught by
Charles son James floatfishing
luncheon meat in the margins.
The students were from the John
Madejski Academy in Reading where
Thames Valley Angling boss Allan
Clark and Martin Salter have set up a
fishing club.
Thames Water is one company that
believes in promoting angling on its
waters and offers a number of Try
Fishing Days throughout the year at
their angling academy at Waltham-
stow Reservoirs in London as well as
at the famous fly fishery at Farmoor
near Oxford.
Charles Walker MP, Chairman of the
All Party Parliamentary Group on
Charles Walker MP, Chairman of the
All Party Parliamentary Group on
Angling, with his son James and a
stunning 11lb 8oz common carp
caught float fishing in the margins of
College Lake in Hampshire.
FREE LINE 7
 CARP CHAT
Angling, said: My son James and I
had a fantastic time down on the lake,
and I can honestly say there are few
things Id rather be doing than taking
my children fishing and helping them
learn about wildlife and nature. I just
wish more parents would take the
time to go fishing with their children.
There are a host of great schemes and
projects out there for beginners, so it
really couldnt be easier.
Martin Salter, Head of Campaigns
at the Angling Trust, added: It is
always great when youngsters catch
their first rod-bending fish, and we
hope that the experience will ignite
the same lifelong passion for our sport
that still burns inside us older anglers.
Young people have a lot of other dis-
tractions in this day and age, but sim-
ple outdoor pursuits like angling have
been proved time and time again to
be good for health and wellbeing and
for gaining a greater understanding of
the countryside and the environ-
ment.
This summer there are a host of
projects and events which offer
opportunities to discover the joys of
fishing, including the Angling Trusts
Get Fishing campaign, Get Hooked
on Fishings Family Fishing initiative
and National Fishing Month, run by
the Angling Trades Association. Chil-
dren aged between 12 and 16 can
now get a FREE Environment Agency
rod licence to fish in stillwaters,
canals, rivers and streams, so its now
start fishing. n
even less expensive for families to
Students Keiran North, Fletcher Richmond and Kyle Kenny from the John
Madejski Academy in Reading with Thames Valley Anglings Allan Clark,
Charles Walker MP, Will Barnard, Angling Development Manager at Thames
Water, and Martin Salter, Angling Trusts Head of Campaigns displaying some of
the many fish caught by the youngsters.
8 FREE LINE
The War Against Drugs Continues
With The Pro-Active Wing Of The
Safer Neighbourhood Teams
Today it was plain-clothes patrols,
and we quickly identified a number of
drug users heading for the Brickfield
Ponds, and so with help from our col-
leagues on response, we flooded the
area, coming in from all sides only
we couldnt find any drug dealers.
Disappointed, we started to talk to
two fishermen on the banks of the
ponds. They had all the gear, tent,
waterproofs, top of the range rods,
bite alarms and enough food for a
week. We were a bit perplexed about
why they had travelled all the way
from Liverpool to Rhyl just to fish
(they couldnt hide their accents), and
our suspicions were raised further
when we saw their knives hardly
typical fishing knives (more likely
knives to protect themselves from
police raids and rival drug dealers!)
After realising that their lines
werent even in the water, we decided
to investigate their story further, and
after finding a small amount of drugs
and a large amount of cash the two
were arrested. We then called on the
real hero of the day, Otis the Labrador,
and his handler, Howard. Otis is a
drug dog, and in a matter of minutes
discovered the large stash of drugs in
the pictures, hidden in the under-
growth a few yards from the tent. The
location was right at the back of the
college, so we suspect they were tar-
geting college students as well.
It was good try, lads, and very elab-
orate. Some of the real fishermen we
saw at the pond told us it was all
expensive stuff. In truth it almost
fooled us. Still, well keep it safe for
you, and it can be collected after your
prison sentences are finished. Were
the fight against drugs. n
not going away and we will continue
 CARP CHAT
Yorkshire students get hooked on angling
with two-day Fishing 4 Schools course
Pupils from Dearne Advanced Learn-
i n g C e n t r e, a t G o l d t h o r p e n e a r
Rotherham, enjoyed two days of fish-
ing-themed fun, thanks to the
national Fishing 4 Schools scheme.
The Fishing 4 Schools (F4S) Der-
byshire and Yorkshire team and local
chef Ben Atkinson challenged the
pupils to a MasterChef style cook off
on the first day (6 July) with Year
Seven pupils creating dishes includ-
ing mackerel burgers, a whole baked
fish and Thai fish broth.
Chef Ben, who until recently
worked at the Spencer Arms in
Cawthorne, Barnsley, said: I started
my career in Cornwall, so I have a lot
of experience cooking fish. I brought
in lots of different types of fish to
teach them how to make things that
were out of the ordinary but that they
could recreate at home. It was bril-
liant how they got stuck in and really enjoyable courses I have been part of school curriculum offering an alterna-
enjoyed it working with fish and in the ten years of Fishing 4 Schools. tive way of learning that fires chil-
vegetables some of them had not Fishing 4 Schools is a charitable drens imaginations.
even seen before. project administered by the Country- For more information, email char-

alliance.org n
Then it was off to Press Manor side Alliance Foundation. It offers lotte-cooper@countryside-
Fishery near Matlock, Derbyshire on short fishing courses that fit into the
the Friday for the youngsters to try
their hands at fly tying, knots and
casting and then angling.
F4S instructor Ben Fox of Hudders- Holidays are here
field, who is a member of the Team
England Youth Fly Fishing team, said: find an angling event close to you
I thoroughly enjoyed taking them
fishing. At 17 I am not that much older This summer
than them, and I think they saw my why not enjoy
England shirt and were encouraged time off by the
to ask me questions about how you waterside and go
get into fishing and get good enough fishing? A few
to fish for your country. hours fishing will
Fishing 4 Schools founder and help you recon-
director Charles Jardine said: This is nect with nature
one of the first events held by the new its a great rea-
Yorkshire and Derbyshire F4S group son to be outside,
and we are delighted it was at Dearne seeing things
ALC. I was so impressed by the bright that usually pass
energetic attitudes of the students you by. Plus the
and the incredible quality of the work excitement of
produced it was one of the most catching a fish
will keep you, friends and family occupied and remind everyone how easy it is to
go fishing. The holidays are here nows the perfect time to go fishing.
Fishing sessions for beginners
Fishing for all ages and abilities. Everything you need to catch a fish is provided
including a free rod licence. Get a date in the diary... www.getfishing.org.uk
Family Fishing at BBC Countryfile Live
Packed with wholesome countryside fun, have a go at fishing and paddling and
meet the presenters with Get Hooked on Fishing at Countryfile Live, Blenheim
Palace.National Fishing Month 2017.
During this national celebration of angling, qualified licensed angling coaches

fishingmonth.com. n
give their time to welcome newcomers at events around the UK. www.national-

FREE LINE 9
 COTSWOLD AQUARIUS TACKLE
REVIEW BY DAVE LITTLE
Well, when it comes to telling a good fishy
story around the BBQ with a glass of wine
in hand, I can tell you it comes as second
nature. So when I was asked to write a
tackle review, I was a tad sceptical to be
honest, but when the editor mentioned
Cotswold Aquarius, well, I smiled happily.
Ive been going about my business these
last couple of years using Cotswold Aquar-
ius gear, and its dishonest if I dont tell you
that when sat on huge windswept empty
pits and mile long rivers, its always nice to
surround yourself with tackle that is, dare I
say, carpy!
This British made luggage is somewhat
special when it comes to the materials
used. Tough and hardwearing, the quality
of this gear is second to none and going
to last you more than a season, thats for
sure, unlike some.
Ive been using the Vulpine rucksack
(picture 1) for more than a year now. Its a
small lightweight rucksack ideal for the
mobile angler. Dont let the compact size
fool you though; Ive even had this with me
on a French fishing trip and fitted enough
tackle and clothes to last a week and also
fitted it in the overhead lockers on the aero-
plane flight there and back! With zip com-
partments on the outside to fit waterproofs
and binoculars and tubs of pop-ups, the
inside boasts enough room for a set of
scales, reels, alarms and a tackle box.
Theres a zipped pouch in the top, and in
the front facing zipped pouch it has a
sleeve and even sewn tubes to fit bank-
sticks and buzz bars. It is a quality ruck-
sack thats been well thought out. There is
even a waterproof liner stitched to the bot-
tom to repel slugs and earwigs when left
in the bivvy bankside for months (not advis-
able).
My tackle box is actually the Camo
Cotswold Combi (picture 2), and this fits
neatly into the Vulpine rucksack. Again Ive
has this over a year, and its working a
3 Be lucky all, Dave Little
10 FREE LINE
1 2
treat. It has a fully padded main body
thats housing two tubs of pop-ups and all
hooks, putty, rig tools, leads and other
fishy gadgets and then an internal divid-
ing flap that has leaders and floater/zig
tackle zipped nicely away. The top com-
partment has segmented pockets to fit
more packets of hooks and rig bits, and
these fit perfectly inside. Like the Vulpine
rucksack theres another waterproof liner
on the bottom so you can wipe clean after
camping in those muddy, wet swims! The
Cotswold Combi also comes with a carry
handle, and why not, as it makes every-
thing so much easier to pack away. Again
another well thought out product.
Another two huge favourites of mine
from Cotswold Aquarius are the Camo
floatation sling (picture 3) and the neat,
ulta smart Camo Slim-buoy landing net
float (picture 4). What to say about a
landing net float? Well it does the job and
cosmetically adds a carpy look to your
landing net pole and is easy to attach with
two draw strings. The Camo floatation
sling now smells of success and is one
specially woven piece of kit. It comes sup-
plied in a purpose made sock for when its
wet and stinking to high heaven. The
material used for the Camo floatation sling
repels water like no other. The soft mesh
sides that surround your quarry is one of
the softest materials I have ever felt. Han-
dles are attached to keep the floats light-
weight and buoyant as possible so lifting
from the water does not damage its frame.
There is a cord supplied for bankside peg-
ging and two, two-way zips with central
cliplock to ensure that crafty old carp does
not slip or flip out. Again, its another
British made quality piece of kit.
A household name, Cotswold Aquarius
has a great carp cult following and contin-
ues to strive to serve all anglers in an ever
caring way. With a bespoke service they
are able to manage, replace or repair all
items of the range now thats an after
sales ser vice you wont receive from
China!
Head on over to www.cotswoldaquar-
ius.co.uk to take a look at their items of reli-
able and durable fishing tackle and acces-
sories, and dont forget to visit the Face-
book and Instagram pages for events and
prize giveaways.
Well, like I said, a tale about an old
carp lurking quietly in the depths awaiting
capture is something Ive written about a
lot before, so its a new one to me giving
all you fishy folk a tackle review. So this
leaves me without further ado to now get
the kettle on and sit back and scan the big
pit for signs of the bigun and dream of
one day having in my net
 CARP
SCENE
Reviews

Lightweight illumination from Coleman

Coleman launches a new CHT Headtorch range with
BatteryLock technology

New for 2017, Coleman has extended

its advanced battery light collection
with a new range of lightweight yet
functional, CHT+ Headlamps. Backed
by Colemans extensive lighting her-
itage, the CHT+ 80 and CHT+ 100
both come with innovative Battery-
Lock technology. This means the
batteries can be completely discon-
nected from the device when not in
use, reducing the risk of residual bat-
tery loss or corrosion damage.
Coleman CHT+80 Headtorch
An essential for anyones outdoor
kit bag, the CHT+ 80 BatteryLock
Headlamp weighs just 74g including
Weighing just 90g including its bat- beam distance on low. A red mode is
its 3 AAA batteries. Perfect for pop-
teries, the CHT+ 100 BatteryLock ideal for preserving night vision.
ping into your pack. The headlamps
Headlamps lightweight construction Switching between modes is effort-
BatteryLock technology will preserve makes it an ideal choice for walkers, less thanks to a button on the top of
battery when the torch is not in use. campers and runners. The high power the headlamps casing and a 60-hour
Comfortable to wear thanks to its CREE LED bulb has a bright, 100 runtime (low mode) ensures you
adjustable, elasticated head strap, the lumen output on high and with three wont be left in the dark. Just like the
CHT+ 80 BatteryLock Headlamp modes to choose from, users can find CHT+ 80, a pivoting head means light
has a bright, 80 lumen output and a the perfect balance between bright- can be angled as required.
reliable 10 hour runtime. The CHT+80 ness and battery life. The CHT+100 BatteryLock and
BatteryLock Headlamps simple The CHT+ 100 BatteryLock CHT+80 BatteryLock Headlamps
design incorporates just one mode Headlamp has an impressive 55m are both powered by 3 AAA Duracell
and its bright CREE LED bulb pro- beam distance on high and a 10m batteries which are included. n
vides an impressive 40m beam dis-
tance. The Headtorchs pivoting head
means its light can be angled and
directed to suit your activity.
Coleman CHT+100 Headtorch
Bright yet versatile, the CHT+ 100
BatteryLock Headlamp is the per-
fect choice for a wide range of out-
door pursuits. Whether hitting the
hills for a night-time hike or navigat-
ing the campsite, the CHT+ 100 Bat-
teryLock Headlamp is a reliable
companion thanks to Colemans Bat-
tery Lock power preservation tech-
nology.

12 FREE LINE

Coleman guarantees a great night sleep
Coleman unveils its latest range of tents featuring innovative BlackOut Bedroom technology
In 2016, Coleman made a revolution-
ary breakthrough with the introduc-
tion of its innovative BlackOut Bed-
rooms, enabling campers to enjoy a
more restful nights sleep on the
campsite. This year, the company has
extended its patented technology
across a new range of fully-featured
models including the versatile Oak
Canyon 4 that is the perfect home
from home on family camping trips.
Exclusive to Coleman, the
advanced BlackOut Bedrooms
block out up to 99% of external light,
promising an end to broken sleep
caused by long, bright evenings or the
early morning light. Incorporated into
a new range of different sized tents
suited to both family camping and
festival camping,
BlackOut Bedroom tents remain as
popular as ever and are revolutionis-
ing the way people sleep while camp-
ing! The bedrooms utilise a layer of
black polyurethane on the underside
of the flysheet.
This, combined with breathable,
black fabric inner bedrooms, blocks
out almost all unwanted light, result-
ing in comfortable and dark bedrooms
CARP SCENE
that promise an uninterrupted
nights sleep. In addition to keep-
ing unwanted light out of the
bedroom while camping, the
BlackOut Bedrooms also help
to maintain a comfortable tem-
perature inside the tent.
By storing energy from the sun
on the surface of the fabric, the
new BlackOut technology keeps
the bedroom up to 5oC cooler
during the day and up to 1oC
warmer during the night. The result? rooms with a spacious and bright liv-
A restful nights sleep and maximum ing area that provides an ideal area for
comfort on the campsite. the family to relax. A high-perfor-
Part of the new range of tents fea- mance flysheet with a hydrostatic
turing Coleman BlackOut Bed- head of 4500mm offers excellent wet
rooms, the Oak Canyon 4 is a com- weather protection, and the inte-
fortable and spacious family tent with grated groundsheet ensures a clean
an innovative hybrid steel and fibre- and dry interior.
glass pole design that offers strength For more information on Colemans
and stability while keeping pack size new range of BlackOut Bedroom
low. Quick and easy to pitch thanks to tents visit: http://www.coleman.
its tunnel construction, the Oak eu/uk/c-796-BlackOut-bedroom-
Canyon combines its large, dark bed- tents.aspx n

Bring the Performance of Your Base

and Mid Layers Back to Life with STORM
When working effectively, a good base or mid layer
wicks moisture to keep you dry and feeling fresh
imperative during exertive outdoor activities when
the weather heats up! However, if the material is
compromised, the garment can become ineffec-
tive, resulting in uncomfortably damp and smelly
fabric next to your skin. STORMs Base & Mid
Layer Wash can improve the manufactured per-
formance of your kit.
When washed domestically using household
products, base and mid layers can lose perform-
ance, as ingredients in these detergents are
designed to stay on fabrics after rinsing to give
them a bright clean look, which can impair their
functionality. Designed to maximise performance
and hygienically clean wicking garments without
effecting functionality, STORMs Base & Mid Layer
Wash is a hypoallergenic cleaner that allows the
treated garment to continue to wick moisture
away from the skin and through the layering sys-
tem of your clothing. In addition to removing dirt
and residue, which impairs wicking performance
and breathability, the Base & Mid Layer Wash con-
tains silver ions to combat odours and aid with
temperature regulation.
Retailing at just 10 for a 300ml bottle, the Base
& Mid Layer Wash works effectively on a full load
of mixed synthetic and natural material garments,
offering great value. Not to be used on fabrics that
are waterproof. n

FREE LINE 13
 CARP SCENE
GOWI Bait Boats
GOWI Bait Boats was set up by a cou-
ple of avid fishing enthusiasts specifi-
cally to provide high quality products
at affordable prices. We are currently
developing GOWI Fishing, a site
aimed at providing information about
fishing locations across the UK and
further afield.
Fishing of every genre, be it coarse,
game or sport, is a huge passion of
ours one which we share with mil-
lions of people. Through GOWI Fish-
ing and subsidiary online presences
like GOWI Bait Boats we intend to
provide more information and access
to products and services, which will
open up this great sport to many more
people.
Our Philosophy
Fed up with lousy after sales service?
These are the most modern, function
rich boats on the market, delivered at
sensible prices. These boats represent
the best value for money on the mar-
ket!
ABS Injection Tough Molded Shell
Optional Colors
Stylish Shape
One-hand Handling Remote
Controller
Patented Protected Hopper
External Charging Battery
Hard Sided Carrying Case
12 Months UK Based Parts and
Labour Warranty
Price Includes Delivery
w w w. g o w i b a i t b o a t s . c o . u k
14
FREE LINE
What their customers say:
Hi all, I have the CL-1 model, which
works as well as any other boat in its
price range. I used it for a 24-hour
session with the 10000mah batteries
and still had charge after taking the
boat out for at least 30 80-yard trips.
YES, you do get particles sticking to
the inside of the hopper. I was using
my particles covered in molasses, and
I even put balls of groundbait in. You
can get about eight tangerine-sized
balls to fit inside the hopper with the
lid on, and possibly more without the
lid, it outlasted a Microcat MK3 doing more you use it, the easier it gets.
the same runs, and it even pushed Ben.
the Microcat back into the bank I bought a CL-1 two months ago now.
when its batteries died. It looks a bit Its a brilliant boat, which works fan-
weird, as the upper body looks like its tastically and does everything I need
based on a car body (Porsche GT Le it to every time. Great service from
Mans). The handset is easy to use the team at Gowi Bait Boats as well. I
with clearly marked buttons, and the would recommend to anyone.
Thanks guys, Dominic Mayes.
I got myself a boat from Gowi and
have been using it for a month. Its
exactly what I needed, and I am very
happy with it. The sales service was
top quality, and I would definitely rec-
ommend them to anyone.
Harry P
BIG NEWS!!
Were delighted to announce that we have
World Carp Master tournament! n
been invited to become involved with the
Caddycell Launches Powerful,
Portable Leisure Lamp
Golfstreams new Caddycell Leisure Lamp is the must-have
accessory for all outdoor enthusiasts who need a powerful,
portable and practical light source. Boasting a powerful 13-
lamp LED bulb, housed in a robust, waterproof casing, the
CaddyCell Leisure Lamp is perfect for taking on nighttime
fishing trips or any activity where a reliable and rechargeable
light source is required.
The handy Leisure Lamp is designed to be used in con-
junction with Caddycells portable lithium battery, which is
fitted with a built-in USB port that makes it ideal for outdoor
activities where a long-lasting, mobile power source is
essential.
When connected to a Caddycell battery, the Leisure
Lamp can deliver up to 30 hours of continuous light, plus 14
full recharges of a mobile phone, making it ideal for outdoor
enthusiasts who are off-grid for any length of time.
Already one of the most popular batteries for powered
golf trolleys, thanks to its ultra-compact size and weight it
tips the scales at just 2.1kg CaddyCells lithium battery
can also charge up laptops, tablets, smartphones and other want to keep your smartphones, tablets and other devices
devices, such as GPS handsets, radios, air pumps, and any charged up when youre off-grid. Having a reliable light
other type of portable technology that can be powered from source is, of course, essential for all outdoor enthusiasts,
a USB connection. and the CaddyCell Leisure Lamp is a simple, practical and
The CaddyCell LiFePO4 16ah lithium battery is wrapped cost-effective way of ensuring that youre never in the dark
in a black neoprene cover and the USB point is safely pro- when youre away from mains power.
tected from the elements via a flap with velcro fastening. The CaddyCell Leisure Lamp has an RRP of 18.00,
Lithium batteries are infinitely superior to lead acid batteries making it great value, as well as a supremely practical,
because of their high specific energy capacity, long cycle choice. Golstreams CaddyCell lithium battery has an RRP
life, compact size, light weight, superior thermal and chem- of 189, and comes with a full three-year guarantee and
ical stability, enhanced safety, comes, charger and neoprene cover.
improved cost performance, For more information visit www.golfstream.co.uk.
and enhanced charge and
discharge rates. The
Caddycell lithium bat- CADDYCELL COMPETITION
tery can be fully Our friends at CaddyCell have put up a fantastic prize this issue for one
charged from empty lucky winner. Answer the simple question below and you could win the
in just three hours. CaddyCell Leisure Lamp worth 18.00 and Golstreams CaddyCell
Golfstreams man- lithium battery worth 189.00 which comes with a full three-year
aging director, Derek guarantee, charger and neoprene cover.
Richford, said: Having What is the name of our new FREE online carp magazine?
your own reliable power a) Free Love; b) Free Line; c) Free Willy
source is essential if you You can enter by email bigcarpmagazine@hotmail.com
or by text to 07768 731425 or Facebook/Twitter, or you can enter by
post CaddyCell Competition, 44 Herbs End, Cove, Hants GU14 9YD
 CARP SCENE
One Step Beyond
Steve Briggs
The first I heard that Chris Woodrow
was writing a book called One Step
Beyond was when he emailed me one
day to ask if Id like to contribute with
a chapter on one of the venues Id
fished many years ago. It came a little
bit out of the blue, as with him living
and working abroad quite a bit in
recent years, I hadnt realised that a
book was in his plans, but Im so
pleased that it was. I must admit that
at first Id simply forgotten just how
much fishing Chris has done around
the globe, and with him juggling a
successful business and family life, he
has invariably made his fishing time
count. A couple of years ago, we met
up again for the first time in ages on
the banks of Euro Aqua in Hungary. It
was his first time there, and yet on the
first night he banked a 66lb mirror
before going on to catch fish up to
76lb he had already left his mark!
Before I ever met Chris, he was
already well known to me from his
days at Essex Angling. The adverts
featuring Chris made him a recognis-
able face to all of us, and he became
Essex Man. But apart from the
adverts and the shop work, its fair to
say that Chris wasnt such a regular
feature writer for the magazines, and
so thats what makes this book so fas-
cinating. There are simply stacks of
stories and adventures that had gone
a little under the radar or Id just not
heard about at all. The 40lb-plus mir-
ror from the Copse Lake sums up
what I mean. It hit the front pages of
Carp-Talk recently, being quoted as
being caught for the very first time,
and then Chris produced a photo of
the same fish when hed caught it
several years before! He just hadnt
thought it necessary to tell everyone
about it at the time mind you, the
fact that he also caught an Essex
record common of 53lb 9oz may have
had something to do with that!
But of course its the adventures
around the globe that really get me
going, and Chris has had so many of
zines and dreamed about going for,
but Chris went there, and he did
indeed catch several big mahseer up
to 75lbs! The big rivers always inter-
ested him, and he made trips out to
the River Ebro in Spain and the
mighty St. Lawrence in the USA,
catching several carp along the way.
But he is also one of the very few peo-
ple I know to venture out to the River
Volga in Russia! It takes someone
with the true pioneering spirit to do
all of those things, often going it
alone! When you talk about pioneer-
ing, then I have to also include fishing
in Egypt, Japan, Romania and Slova-
kia amongst others put all of this
together, and you realise just how
well-travelled Chris is and what an
exciting and different read this is!
Towards the end of the book, there
are some well chosen and varied
guest chapters from people such as
Rob Maylin on Savay, Jim Lightfoot
on the Orient, Sam Jeffreys on
Morocco, Leon Bartropp on the Essex
Manor, Jason Rider on Slovenias Lake
Bled, Steve Sands on his quest for
three 100lb carp and yours truly on
the Secret Beach. Normally Im not a
huge fan of guest chapters, as they
take you away from the feel of the
main writer, but in this case the guest
Ollyskins
Chest Waders
By Rob Maylin
A recent trip to Ribire saw me reading
through the rule book a couple of days
before I set off. David Cooper the owner
is very passionate about his fish and his
fishery no leadcore, no shelflifes and no
photographs to be taken on the bank!
Not the first time I had come across this
rule, because Gillhams in Thailand is the
same. By photographing the fish in the
water, it almost totally removes the
chance of damaging the fish, which is a
great idea if you ask me, but it did mean
I had to order some chesties, double
quick. Theres only one company that
makes the best quality chest waders
Ollyskins. You would have seen them
previously featured on the front cover of
BC. Their sales service is second to none
I ordered them one day, and they
arrived the next. They are very stylish,
hardwearing and perfect for carp fishing,
the waders for the professional carp
angler! and they came in very useful, as
you can see in the pictures! Check them

those again far more than I ever
remember. The mid to late 1980s was
the real starting point for continental
angling, and Chris was there, catching
his first French carp from Lac Rouge
in 1987. From there he went on to fish
the more famous big lakes such as
Cassien and Orient as well as many
more unknown waters, and he started
to organise trips and work as a guide,
helping people to experience what
France had to offer. I do remember
well his trips to Chantecoq and Orient
in the 1990s, and those trips Im
here www.ollyskins.com n
chapters really add something, and out and the other products from Olly
each are very good, covering many
different aspects of our sport. The
foreword has been done by my old
mate Simon Crow.
I am a book reader anyway and love
getting engrossed in someones jour-
neys through the years. Some I look
forward to more than others, and with
One Step Beyond, I didnt know it was
coming, but Im so pleased it has!
Chris, you have produced a great
book, mate, full of entertaining stories
and at last telling the full story of the

world. Well done, mate! n

pleased to say are well covered. Essex Mans travels around the
Those early trips lit the touch paper
and Essex Man started to venture off PayPal
around the globe. India and the giant www.bigcarpmagazine.co.uk
mahseer was just something that Credit card hotline,
most of us read about in the maga- call 01252 373658

16 FREE LINE
 CARP SCENE
Three tiers of defence against biting insects
Lifesystems offers protection and treatment from biting bugs in three easy steps
Several years of increasingly warm
1 2
3
and wet weather conditions have
caused a spike in the numbers of bit-
ing insects in the UK. With increased
risks of both itchy bites and insect-
borne diseases, outdoor enthusiasts
are having to take extra measures to
ensure they are protected. Lifesys-
tems extensive range of high-perfor-
mance repellents and insecticides
makes protecting yourself as easy as
1, 2, 3
1. EX4 Anti-Mosquito Spray
Your clothing is the first barrier
against biting bugs but why not
turbo-charge its protective qualities
by treating garments with Lifesys-
tems EX4 Anti-Mosquito Spray. Easy
to apply onto all types of clothing,
sleeping bags, tents and mosquito Expedition Sensitive is a great DEET- bitten by a midge or mosquito,
nets, EX4 Anti-Mosquito comes in a free choice and can be used by the instantly alleviate pain or itchiness
handy spray bottle that can treat up whole family. with Lifesystems nifty Bite Relief
to 3.5m2 of fabric. The treatment has Created using Saltidin as the active Click gadget.
been developed using the active ingredient, the repellent offers 8 hours Easy to store inside a pocket or first
ingredient Permethrin, a highly-rated of effective protection. Alternatively, aid kit, the Bite Relief Click uses a
insecticide that kills ticks, midges and Lifesystems bestselling Expedition Piezo crystal to release a low-level
mosquitoes on contact. Although 50+ repellent contains 50% DEET for electric charge to the area. Simply
fatal to insects, the chemical has no proven and reliable protection against click the affected area around 5-10
side effects for humans and lasts for biting bugs in a wide range of condi- times to localise the poison and
several washes. tions. inhibit your bodys histamine release
2. Expedition Sensitive or Expe- Easy to apply, both repellents are (this is what causes the itchiness!).
dition 50+ supplied in Lifesystems signature, This helps to soothe any discomfort
Keep ticks, midges and mosquitoes at durable and leak-proof, aluminium and reduces swelling and inflamma-
bay while walking or camping by reg- pump spray bottles and are available tion. Each Bite Relief Click can treat
ularly applying a high-performance in several sizes including a pocket- around 1,000 bites.
DEET or non-DEET based insect sized 25ml option for topping up your For more information or to view
repellent to exposed areas like the protection on the go. Lifesystems entire insect repellent

co.uk n
ankles and wrists. For everyday use in 3. Bite Relief Click collection visit www.lifesystems.
low-risk areas, Lifesystems advanced If the worst happens and you do get

Lets go to the beach!

Get shelter instantly at the beach, picnic or campsite with Colemans Sundome
Get ready for a summer spent on the beach this year with Colemans Sundome.
Take shelter from all the elements this summer and stay protected from the
suns harmful UV rays at the beach, the campsite or picnic area thanks to Cole-
mans UVGuard providing an SPF50. The Sundome weights just 1.9kg and
can be pitched in less than one minute thanks to Colemans fibreglass poles.
The Sundome has collapsible fibreglass poles meaning your shelter can
be set up with ease. Fill the outside pockets with sand or rocks to anchor,
stabilise with the attached guy ropes, and your beach home is ready to
shelter you from the sun, wind or light rain.
The Sundomes groundsheet zips up in seconds, leaving you with a
spacious interior with inside pockets, protecting valuable items
while splashing around in the sea, or to provide a private changing
area.
The Coleman Sundome comes complete with a handy
carry bag and the small pack designs allows you to take it

and light rain while at the beach this summer. n

anywhere to ensure top protection from the sun, wind

FREE LINE 17
 ON THE
BANK
Catch Reports

FREE LINE CATCH REPORT OF THE MONTH

HOBO ARMOUR
Catch Report
WINNER!

Firstly Free Line would like to congratulate Bowie on the arrival of

his new born son! Bowie was fishing Elphicks day ticket lake with
his new son by his side, and he managed to bag a few 20lb carp
off the surface, with this 24lb 6oz common being the biggest of
the session. It was a moment he said he will never forget.

A nice wakeup call for Aaron Gray on his local venue and a new UK
personal best as well. He went on to say: A lovely mirror at 24lb
4oz graced my Evolution Carp Tackle NSR. Solid PVA bags from
Castaway PVA, fished over weed with a handful off boilies scattered
round helped to tempt this beauty.
Catch report courtesy of Darren Dean who was fishing at
Crowsheath Fishery in Essex and caught this 13lb mirror with the
help of UK Bait Companys Pro-Evo pink pop-ups.

18 FREE LINE
Ben Parker with a stunning dark old mirror.
Matty Went with a nice 28lb mirror.

Rick Jones sent in this photo of his little lad, who is only four, Old school Carper Micky Germain with an absolute belter taken
catching his first carp. from a Norfolk pit.

Toby Nathan with a real old character. Reiss Murphy having some great success.

FREE LINE 19
 Free Line Feature Catch Report by Scott Eyre
The Waiting Game
After a busy week and with limited time on the bank over that last
month or so, I loaded the van and headed to prestigious Farlows
Lake. Setting off a little later than anticipated, I arrived at Farlows.
However, I was lucky enough to secure a double peg on Lake 1 for
the weekend ahead and our social, so I was well happy. As I waited
for Richard to arrive, I got the marker rod set up and flicked the
lead out to try and find some clear areas in the hope of introducing
a few spods full of bait and hopefully tempting some carp.
After several casts, it soon became apparent that straight out in
front of me on my side of the peg was a sizeable area that was
gravel, and this screamed carp. Finding an area perfect for
presenting a single bait, I decided that this would be my starting
point. After clipping up the marker rod, it was a simple case of
getting the carp rods wrapped around the distance sticks and
clipped up. Armed with three rods, I opted to present two of my
three rods on the gravel area, fished roughly 6ft apart with a spread
of bait. As the peg commanded a large expanse of water and an
island to my left, it would be foolish of me not to stick a rod on it.
After several casts, I placed a rig tight under an overhanging willow
tree, and with five or six mouthfuls of boilies over the area it was was pumping into our swim. The weather warmed and seemed to
only a matter of time. put a stop to all signs of showing fish. Although this didnt seem to
As the day passed and after copious amounts of tea, high winds put off the bream, which were taking a liking to my baited spot,
and heavy rain, I introduced a little more bait, ringing the dinner much to Richardss enjoyment.
bell so to speak, trying to force a bite. As the wind increased, it Then at 8am on the final morning of our social, I was handed a
made baiting up extremely difficult. As I sat there waiting for the third chance when my middle rod ripped off again. Would this be
wind to calm down, I was greeted by Richard, eager to get the rods third time lucky? Keeping the rod as high as possible and the carps
out and set up, so I left him to it. It wasnt long before we were sat head up, I managed to guide the fish towards us quickly. A spirited
chewing the fat, discussing tactics, when our conversation was battle ensued, and with a few lunges under the rod tip, the ten-
interrupted around 9:30pm as my middle rod roared off. Peeling minute battle ended, and this time I was the victor as Richard
line from the reel, the spool clicked away, and after a short-battle slipped the net under my first Lake One carp. With the fish weighed
with what felt like a decent sized carp, I was, unfortunately, cut-off, and the needle settled at a healthy 22lbs, we rattled off some shots
and I was devastated to say the least. As my line dangled in front of before slipping him back. It certainly was third time lucky! Before
my eyes with a frayed appearance, it was clear that my line had long the rod and rig were back out and the kettle was on, and we
been taken over the top of a mussel bed. Despondent, yet didnt have to wait long before the road roared off and another
optimistic, I retied a fresh rig and went about setting my rod up in carp slipped up. Gracing my net was a mirror of 13lb, proving that
the hope that fish were still in the area and I would get another the tactics and method were working. Returning the fish, I started
chance. As I flicked the rig out and the line sailed through the the painful task of slowly packing down the gear, and with the rods
guides, the lead landed with a firm donk, and with the rig back in still in the water, we were both hopeful for a last-minute bite.
position, I decided to get a couple of hours sleep. Suddenly my rod was away again, and this time the fish attached
Morning soon arrived, and as we sat enjoying a cup of tea in the to the other end was an angry, hard-fighting common. After a short
crisp morning air, my middle rod was away again. My second but hair-raising battle, she was resting in the safety of my net. It
chance had come, another hard fighting carp, but this powerful fish was last knockings as the needle spun around, tipping the scales at
took me straight into the mussel bed, cutting me off for a second 20lb 8oz. It was my second fish over the twenty-pound mark, and
time, and I was back to last nights feeling of anger. I refused to she was stunning, scale perfect! As Richard snapped away with the
quit, persevering with a spot that I know would at some stage camera and a memory card full of photos, I was soon returning
produce a fish. After refreshing all my hook baits, ensuring my hook home with a smile on my face and reflecting on the weekends
points were sticky sharp, I trickled a little more bait into the pond. captures. I cant wait to get back out! Tight lines and be lucky.
By now the wind direction had changed, and with it a new wind

Lewis Power and a scaly 27lb mirror.

20 FREE LINE
Jack Funnell with a huge mirror, caught from a low-stock 60-acre pit
earlier in the year. Robbie Stabler bagged the one he was after called Doris at 31lb 5oz.

Tim Rowland continues his run of good form on the mighty

Stoneacres pit.
Neil Cramb landed this stunning 52lb common.

Lee Bridger with PB-smashing mirror known as The Brute at 38lb

7oz.
Terry Dempsey with a 65lb PB mirror from Lake Sumbar in Croatia!

Josh King bagged the big girl he was after last week known as the
Simon Bradfield with a 45lb 6oz mirror. Grey weighing in at 43lb.

FREE LINE 21
 Both fish fell to the same setup, using a Spotted Fin 22mm wafter
on a blowback style rig. Around 5kg of crushed and whole boilies
with various size catalyst pellets was Spombed out at 54 yards
where I had seen a few fish top, and it was only a matter of a
James Scherer with one known as Harry from Hortons Crayfish couple hours before the first run. The reason for using a big
Pool. hookbait is mainly because I dont think many anglers do in the UK,
and its a little different. It also makes it a little more difficult for
the carp to deal with, so as long as the mechanics of the rig work,
as in the hook flips instantly, its a winner. To be honest, even a size
22mm is small compared to the size of a carps mouth. I may even
add paste to the next one.
Mike Madeley.

Luke Wooderson struck success with this 26lb 8oz common.

Dean Partridge with another sought after mirror from Christchurch

Lake!

Luke Addison with a special fish to him his first 20 from a new Dylan Wallis with a lovely, dark low 20 common from his tricky
water. syndicate.

22 FREE LINE
EVOLUTION CARP
TACKLE
Catch Report
WINNER!

Gary Walker from Wolverhampton in the West Midlands

landed this monster carp at 40lb 13oz from White Springs in
Swansea. He used a helicopter setup and Ronnie rig, comprising
a Vardis size 8 Gripper hook and 15lb Vardis fluorocarbon boom
section with a Simply Baits Rock Lobster 12mm pop-up as hook
bait.

Michael Whitney told us he had the most epic moment of his

fishing life, catching a 41lb Yateley Car Park mirror named Kinky
Back. Michael stalked her 3ft from the bank on a 6ft rod. He
watched the take as it happened and managed to get her in his NSR
in less than ten seconds to avoid the snags. He used an Evo maggot
cluster and real maggot combo to tempt her into having a munch.

Kevin Colman, Zac Clowsley, Wayne Maddox and a few others

Paul Wood had a short session on his local park lake, Gloucester
Park in Essex, and was fishing towards the canal end of the lake. He
managed to land three carp up to 16lb with the help of Galaxy Baits
boilies and PVA sticks made with 18mm Castaway PVA mesh.
recently got together for a 48-hour social on the Burghfield
complex, fishing on Blue Pool for WLM Baits. There were 13 fish
banked in total, which included two new personal best fish in the
form of a 31lb 6oz mirror for Wayne Maddox and a 30lb 6oz mirror
for Kevin Colman. All fish were caught using WLM Baits boilie and
particle range.

FREE LINE 23
Ashley Waddington with the larger of two thirties.
Kev Gray with an elusive mirror known as the Brown Fish from the
historic Motorway Pond in East Yorkshire.

Myles with a lovely scaly one from a recent session.

Andre Wilson with the Strawberry Common from Cotton Farm.

Ross Tierney with a bit of Monday morning magic in the shape of

Oliver Bramhill with one of his syndicates old originals.
this chunky Wraysbury mirror.

Scott Lloyd with a long 30lb mirror off the top while filming on Tom Ward with one of Yateley Match Lakes remaining originals
Christchurch Lake. known as Copse Lake Scaly at 35lb 1oz.

24 FREE LINE
 ENTERPRISE
TACKLE
Catch Report
WINNER!

It was four carp for Emma Rimmer on a 24-hour session at little

Hayes at the Todber Manor complex in Dorset. She was using
Monster Ice and Beast from Monster Baits to catch all four
carp, and here is the best of the bunch.

Jason Richards and Hannah Limb only had a couple of hours spare
to get out on the bank of their local lake, and they made it count. It
only took five minutes after setting up and they had their first fish.
Over the session, Hannah managed to catch her new PB at 17lb
14oz well done, Hannah, great angling! His and hers rods out on
UK Bait Company Pro-Nut wafters, and they worked a treat.

David Waymen caught a few carp over a 48-hour weekend session,

with the carp ranging from 12lb to 14lb. All were caught from
Wylands Angling Centres middle lake using UK Bait Companys new
test bait.

Kevin Goss spent a few hours on his local park lake and ended up
catching two carp early on with this lovely dark mid double being
the better of the two.
Being armed with the new test bait and matching glug from UK Bait
Company helped Matt England slip the net under a huge common
known as Double Belly, well over 30lbs and a new PB for him.
Simple tactics were used with his own size 4 multi-rig with a salted
12mm UKBC pop-up over a bed of glugged boilies coated with
crumbed boilie.

FREE LINE 25
Louise Bowes was over the moon with this one, and who wouldnt
be?
Whilst I was fishing on Lake Pepper at Cottington, I had a phone call
at 4.30 in the morning from Michael, a friend of ours, who was also
fishing on Pepper. He said that he thought hed caught the big girl. I
told him to put it in a retainer and wed be round to weigh and
photograph it at first light, which was about an hour or so away. At
first light Ben and I were on our way. When we got there, as you
would expect, Michael was excited. Sure enough it was the big girl
the tramlines on her side identify her. We weighed her, and the
scales recorded 47lb 12oz. She was down in weight since I last
weighed her in May of this year. The captor, Michael Ashenden
from Bromley in Kent, told us that he had a screaming run in the
early hours. The carp tried to get behind an island, but Michael
managed to turn it and gradually bring it to the bank. He continued
that, and after what seemed ages he managed to get it into his
landing net. In the torchlight he could see it was a lump. It was
pouring with rain so he didnt want to weigh it until the rain
stopped. That was when he rang me. Several photos were taken
and the big girl was returned safely to her home.
Barry Oconnor.
Tom Denton with 30lbs of absolute perfection.
26 FREE LINE
Simon Webb with a cracking 29lber.
Finally the long session of blanking has ended, and what a way to
end it with this beauty of a mirror carp. After being plagued with
bream, I finally hooked into a real fish. This mirror carp only weighs
20lbs, but my god, look at it. It was caught using a size 6 blowback
rig with the long shank hooks from Rig-It Tackle with an 18mm
Bloodworm X bottom bait as the hookbait and spodding out a
mixture of three different types of boilies as freebies. These were
the Alpha boilies in 18mm and 14mm, the Bloodworm X boilies in
18mm and the Scud range boilies in 18mm, all soaked in the
Bloodworm X Haze liquid, all from Natures Baits. Some people
worry about night shots of fish, but I never have that problem
because I always have my Rhino Beam on me at all times while
fishing, an amazing bit of kit and a must-have in my eyes.
Lewis Danes
Joseph Montalbano with a 29lb 10oz mirror.
 Daren Norman with an immaculate looking common from a few
Antony Marrs was blown away when this epic fully scaled roled
weeks back.
over the net cord.

Simon Batty finally banked the one he wanted from his Yorkshire
syndicate when he slipped his net under Baz at a spawned-out
Liam Duncan with a characterful, 30lb-plus mirror from a recent weight of 44lb.
trip.

Nathan Highley with a recent bar of gold from a low-stock Norfolk Luke Oakley with a scaly upper-twenty mirror from Christchurch
pit. Lake.

Dan Wildbore with a brute of a mirror that spun the scales to an Not your average backdrop! Jack Fisher with a dark, sparsely
impressive 41lb 10oz. scaled, 30lb mirror.

FREE LINE 27
 POWA PACS

Catch Report
WINNER!

Lee Lawler recently spent time on his chosen syndicate. Moving

Ricki Stokes got out on the bank a few weeks back and managed to
onto showing fish across the other side of the lake resulted in a
land this little gem weighing 14lb 3oz, caught using the Kraken
lovely 18lber, and just as he was packing away, he caught this
Tackles size 4 wide gape hook and Castaway PVA foam nuggets to
lovely 20lb 4oz beauty. They were caught with a mixture of
protect the hook when settling on the lake bed.
Monster Particles Chilli Mix and a scattering of Custom Bait
Services Fen Spice Peach and Pepper boilies. Rigs were made
from components from Bank Tackles hook and end tackle
range.

Robert Gannaway recently fished a short afternoon session at a

In Matt Osborns own words: Finally!! I fished my socks off for this
one and landed this cracking 34lb beast, taken on two 12mm Pro-
Evo yellow pop-ups from UK Bait Company.
very intimate club water. Baiting a spot with the Crunch Mix with
fermented chilli extract and Assault boilies, he then fished a bottom
bait topped with two pieces of Evolution Carp Tackle orange corn,
and this lovely old common was the reward for his efforts.

Robert Gannaway had a great afternoon recently using Legacy

Caribbean Crunch boilie over Deepblue particles SS mix and
fermented chilli. Snowman rigs of Crunch and Zone took four
Dylan Wallis with another PB in the shape of this old original stunning commons from my club water, feeding a few handfuls of
woodcarving. both after each fish.

28 FREE LINE
 Duncan Maclean just couldnt stop smiling after banking one of his
target fish from the iconic Wraysbury.
Daren Norman has had a fantastic year so far on a tricky Kent water,
banking numerous good fish. So, it was no surprise when images of
this fish came to us.

Will Bale with a simply breathtaking mirror of 30lb 6oz.

Luke Stevenson with Colin from St Ives Shallow Pit at a mind-

blowing 51lb 4oz.

Darryl Dunn finally managed to slip the net under this heavily
plated mirror of 30lb 5oz.

The biggest of four fish for Ryan Stockman.

Ross Hodgetts continues his run of big scaly mirrors from Dinton
Tom Loraine with a big-pit bruiser. Pastures White Swan. This time its a fish known as the Pretty One.

FREE LINE 29
 BANK TACKLE

Catch Report
WINNER!

Jamie Cox with a lovely scaly 30lb 4oz mirror from his Norfolk
syndicate.
Ricky Phillips sent his catch report into Free Line saying, After
joining a new syndicate and having a real struggle, I managed
an overnight session landing this lovely 23lb common, which
fell to UK Bait Company Pro-Evo boilies. Well done, Ricky, its
one stunning carp.

Dean Partridge with a lovely mirror known as Little Pecs at 36lb.

Following a few hot days, Ryan Went headed to his local club water
armed with dog biscuit and the CC Moore Duo floaters. He noticed
that the fish were being more careful than usual and made tactical
changes to his rigs to help get his bites. During his two day sessions,
he landed a 26lb 8oz mirror and this stunning 20lb ghost carp, a
target fish for him.

Ben Parker with this wicked mirror named Merlin out his syndicate.

Bex Nelson has had her first Yateley 20, after watching a small Antony Marrs with powerful looking low-thirty common, which was
group of fish visiting the margin. the result of a short baiting campaign on a new water.

30 FREE LINE
 Craig Mortimer just look at those apple slice scales 33lb 2oz.

A chunky, deep-bodied 37lb 2oz common for Kevin Mast.

Dean McLeod has been putting the Nutcracker through its paces
Sam Walters with a deep-bodied mid-30 common. again on Monks Pit.

Catch report sponsors Winners & Prizes

Hobo Armour - Custom Hobo T-shirt
www.hoboarmour.com

Evolution Carp Tackle Corn Stacks (5 Packs)

Gaz Fareham has had a fantastic run of beautiful carp. & Maggot Clusters (5 Packs) -
www.evolutioncarptackle.com

Powa Pacs Powalite

www.powapacs.co.uk
Bank Tackle - 50 Bank Tackle Gift
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All catch reports to be sent to

catchreport@freelinemagazine.com
or to the Free Line Magazine Facebook Page.
All catch report winners will be contacted directly by Free Line Magazine.

Billy Brickell has struck success with this 24lb mirror over a shallow
For any questions or enquires please message us at
area. info@freelinemagazine.com

FREE LINE 31
 Canal Carping

ATale ofTwo
Records
By Bill Phillips

32 FREE LINE

T
he ripple rings ebbed
away from the yellow
blob bobbing in the
middle. A young boy
sat trembling with
excitement gazing at
a bright yellow grayling float, willing
it to disappear. Dreams of the culprit
being a monster of the deeps, swal-
lowing his dough paste bait, are sud-
denly interrupted by the reality of the
strike. Splish splash and a pristine lit-
tle gudgeon is swung ashore. The ela-
tion felt was unforgettable, I was now
a fisherman. It was a truly defining
moment in my life.
That is my first memory of fishing a
canal; I was alone and happy in my
own company. It was on the Grand
Union somewhere near Tring. My
tackle was a length of cane, some
cord, and, compliments of a step
Uncle, a proper float with a hook to
gut.
I had fished farm ponds many times
using a cork for float and bent pin for
the hook, and the result of this was
lots of bites but never any fish. When
the bent pin was replaced by a hook I
caught loads of small roach and rudd.
On the advice of Uncle Albert I tried
smaller hooks, which resulted in lots
more fish. He also told me to try worm
as bait, which I did on my next canal
visit. The result was what seemed at
the time, a massive perch. Two very
important basic lessons learned.
Step Uncle Albert was a bit of an
A Tale of Two Records Canal Carping
odd character but a keen angler. He
never took me fishing but would utter
advice and allowed me to look in his
tackle shed. I would spend hours in
that shed, looking at all the cane rods,
drum reels, nets and line on rollers. I
must confess that I did sneak a few
old floats, hooks and sinkers into my
pocket. He confided in me that he
was interested in carp, which he
fished for with potatoes.
I was given a home-made bamboo
rod with an old wooden reel. Armed
with such gear I decided to catch a
carp. Many hours were spent on both
the ponds and the canal with chunks
of a raw King Edward potato on the
hook. Needless to say, I soon gave up,
but not before another lesson was
learned. It was on the canal again,
and as usual I was catching nothing
on the spud, and changing to dough
paste was marginally better. A pass-
ing stranger saw me eating a cheese
sandwich and said, Put a bit of that
cheese on the hook son; youll catch
roach. He was right: as soon as I
changed to cheese I caught several
decent roach. The importance of the
right bait was becoming apparent.
My life as a child was a bit of a
mess to say the least. I lost my mother impossible, so my outlet became fish-
when I was nine. My father was an ing, I would go whenever I could.
evil man and abused me terribly. He By the time I was about twelve we
was a farm worker that changed jobs were living in Kent, not too far from
at least a couple of times a year, the Royal Military Canal, a water that
which meant we kept moving from over the years was to influence my
one area to another. Schooling was fishing, and indeed my life a great
deal. The RMC is deep in the south
east of England. It stretches for about
25 miles from Iden lock in the west,
eastward through the Romney
marshes to Shorncliffe sluice. It is not
navigable so there was no boat traffic
other than an odd canoe.
At twelve years old all fishing was
magical; nothing was too much trou-
ble for the reward of a few hours fish-
ing. The canal was about seven miles
from home so accessible by push
bike. Rods tied to the cross-bar with
binder twine, a wicker basket on my
back, and most weekends and holi-
days would see me pedaling franti-
cally towards the canal. The journey
took me from the main A20, along
Otterpool Lane and past Lymne Air-
port. Then the highlight, the descent
of Lymne Hill, a steep, long and in
(Top) The smaller of the two dug out
swims.
(Left) Swim preparation to clear the
pads.
FREE LINE 33
 Canal Carping A Tale of Two Records
hindsight, very dangerous. Often, I
would be with fishing mate Steve. We
would set ourselves at the top, as if on
a starting grid, and then race like
lunatics to the bottom. The prize to
the winner was first choice of swims.
Unfortunately, it occasionally resulted
in parting company with bikes caus-
ing injuries and tackle damage. Stu-
pid, but we still did it, and miracu-
lously we never really got hurt. Prob-
ably the worst pain was at the end of
a long days fishing, weighted down
with tackle, the half hour or so push-
ing the bikes back up that wretched
hill.
The section of the RMC that ran
along the bottom of the hill was
known as West Hythe, it was con-
trolled by Cinque Ports Club. The
main reason for fishing there was
because it was the closest to home.
The water was shallow, weedy and
murky. In those oh so magic days,
nothing seemed to matter. There was
always the feeling of anticipation that
we would catch a monster. We never
did of course, but the enthusiasm was
relentless.
My tackle now consisted of bam-
boo rods with Intrepid Black Prince
and Regent reels. Favourite floats
were of the grayling type. Im sure
that was due to the rings of ripples
they produced when signalling a bite.
Occasionally, a really good bite would
be heard as the float plopped under.
What a lovely sound that was! We
often caught lots of small roach,
bream, perch, occasionally a tench
and then pike in the winter. Never, in
34 FREE LINE
those days did we catch carp. We
knew of them, but had read, heard
and believed that they were all but
uncatchable. Even to talk about them
had to be done in a slow whisper. It is
so strange now to reflect on the mys-
tery the word carp portrayed. Very
occasionally, monster carp would be
seen, usually drifting under the old
brick road bridge, which was so often
a vantage point to be fished from.
It must have been about 1962 when
I was first infected by the carp virus. I
didnt know it at the time, but it was a
massive influence on the future of my
lifes fishing. The day was hot and
still; I was fishing alone at West Hythe
and was bored with the lack of action
in the heat of the midday sun. On the
opposite bank I became aware of a
presence, an almost ghostlike figure,
crouched between two elder bushes.
He was obviously fishing, but what a
daft place to fish, I remember think-
ing. Eventually, curiosity got the bet-
ter of me and I went round to have a
closer look. As I approached from the
bank above him, I could smell his
pipe. It was gently puffing clouds of
grey smoke that hovered around him
like a mist. What are you doing mis-
ter? I asked. Carp, lad. Carp, was
the slow, determined answer. He
(Top left) The only time in my life I
will ever catch my first canal carp,
17th June, 1973.
(Bottom left) June 1973, 22lb 8oz a
turning point in my fishing career.
(Below) August 1974, a new PB and
AAC record at 25lb 7oz.

somehow produced an air that made
me sit low and quiet, also like a mag-
netic field that would not release me.
I sat and studied. His tackle was sim-
ple, but it looked strong. Where was
his float? All I could see was some
chunks of bread in the marginal lilies
to his right. Now and again he would
slowly lift his finger, point and whis-
per, There. This confused me, but I
did not ask; I just nodded knowingly.
Gradually, over the weeks of that
summer, I got to know a little about
this strange fellow. His name was
Ron, and he was fishing floating crust
for carp. Only once did I see him
catch; it was a common carp of some
A Tale of Two Records Canal Carping
six pounds. This virtual stranger, and
the awesome fish I saw him land had
a deep and lasting impression. I was
infected for life, and in fact became a
carrier of the incurable carp fever. I
often wonder if he knew, or if he is
even still alive.
The virus lay semi-dormant for sev-
eral years while I served a long, enjoy-
able apprenticeship acquiring the
skills in the art of angling. During this
time, the memory of Ron and his carp
would often haunt me. I knew that
one day, when ready, I would also
catch a monster carp.
Some readers of this magazine are
probably thinking, Whatever has this
all got to do with big carp fishing? I
make no apology for this. It is to try
and give modern day carpers an
insight into the apprenticeship that
we old school carp anglers served.
Virtually no carp tackle or bait was
commercially available as it is today.
We had to be innovative, resourceful
and to a degree pioneering. We all
contributed to making the world of
carp fishing what it is today, available
to all.
Marriage, children, career, and cre-
ating a home took priority during my
late teens until 1969/70. 1969 was a
watershed. My home and work was
now in Ashford. I had been fishing a
beautiful stretch of the Royal Military
Canal at Aldergate, mainly for tench,
but I had seen carp. Ashford Angling
Club had control of the fishing
between Iden lock and West Hythe
dam, some fifteen or so miles. This
was my favoured stretch of water, full
of character and very pretty. This is
where it all really began.
A love affair resulting in a marriage
that lasted a decade is probably the
(Top) The plopping of pads is a
definite sign of carp.
(Below left) A typical early canal
catch laid out on the dreaded hessian
sack.
(Below right) 32lb, RMC, 28th
October, 1978.
FREE LINE 35
 Canal Carping A Tale of Two Records

sional light plop as a pad is sub-

merged, clearly showing the presence
of a carp. Oh what wonderful memo-
ries.
Alas, so much has now changed.
The romance and mystery has long
gone. A change of controlling clubs
has allowed a large part of it to fall
into disrepair. But, who knows, maybe
she still holds a few treasures; if I still
lived in Kent I would certainly be
looking. However, here are a few sto-
ries from those magical years in the
seventies, a time when many carp
anglers were truly habitual, striving
against all odds. They rose to the
challenges, solved the mysteries,
enjoyed their failures and were
ecstatic with any level of success.
Aldergate is between Giggers
Green bridge and West Hythe dam, a
distance of three to four miles without
the interruption of a road bridge. This
made it the most secluded and undis-
turbed length of the canal. It was the
middle reaches of Aldergate, the far-
thest walk from the bridges where I
was to start my campaign to catch a
canal carp on the magical 16th June
1970. I had discovered the consistent
presence of my intended quarry in
this most beautiful area. Its a magnif-
icent stretch of water, and to this day,
my absolute favourite, with open
fields to the south, nestled into the

(Top left) 30 inches to V of tail and

29.5 inches girth.
(Left) 32lb, 28th October 1978.
(Below) Fred Wiltons letter advising
on bait recipes for the canal.

best way to describe my passion for

the RMC in the 1970s. Even now, forty
five years on I still get very emotional
when I reflect. Sadness for the loss of
that irretrievable magic but then joy
for the privilege to have experienced
such a personal passionate relation-
ship with such a wonderful water.
Strangely, as if it were yesterday, I can
smell the water, the grass, the trees
and even that fishy scent that only
the habitual angler can understand.
The relentless croaking of the frogs at
dawn, the chatting of the birds as
they seek their evening roost, all cou-
pled with the roar of the lions as they
are fed at nearby Port Lymne Wildlife
Park. Recollections of the slightest
flickering of the lily pads causing rip-
ples around individual pads, the occa-

36 FREE LINE
 A Tale of Two Records Canal Carping

base of a steep hillside to the north.

Bedded into the hillside was Port
Lymne Wildlife Park and its noises,
the ruins of Stutfall Castle and Lymne
Castle. All added to the eeriness when
fishing alone as darkness fell. No fish-
ing was allowed from the north bank.
It was mostly thick with trees, many
of which overhung the water. High
heavy bullrushes in much of the mar-
gins completed the backdrop. During
the summer the water was fairly clear
with depths of three feet in the mar-
gins, shelving to eight feet in the cen-
tre. The average width of about fifty
feet was largely occupied by twenty
feet wide margins of lesser yellow
water lilies on both banks. Most
anglers hated them, but both the carp
and I loved them.
Over the next three years I spent
nearly 700 hours failing to catch a sin-
gle carp but did hook and lose a few.
Some of my efforts were so obscure
by todays standards. Rubber gloves,
wooden deck chair, Fairy Liquid tops
and candles in jam jars. I even went
through a stage of preconditioning
tinned potatoes in the canal for a few
days to impregnate them with water
bugs before I would use them on the
hook. This was after only ever getting

(Top) My original old canal carp

fishing armoury: Richard Walker Mk
IV rod, Michell 314 reel, RW hooks and
the grayling float I used as a boy.
(Right) The hessian sack catastrophe
that now hangs on my study wall.
(Below) The Hague Canal in Holland
was a fascinating place to fish.

takes on potatoes that had been out

for over 24 hours. Floating crust in the
margins was one of my more conven-
tional and nearly successful methods.
By 1973 I had built up a consider-
able knowledge of both the water and
the carp. I knew most were commons
to mid teens with a few bigger mirrors
that I saw often. The close season
was spent preparing a couple of
swims in the remote Aldergate area
where the banks were high and steep
making fishing at night difficult. To
overcome this, I dug the bank out to
allow my deckchair and tackle to fit in
a nice flat pitch just above water
level. Sheep hurdles were laid over
the top of the dugouts followed by
sacking and turf so as to obscure the
cave-like den beneath. Rushes were
planted in the front of the swim to

FREE LINE 37
 Canal Carping A Tale of Two Records

obscure the presence of yours truly.

Tinned potatoes and bread were
introduced for a couple of weeks prior
to the start of the season. Signs were
put up with the words Pre-baited
swim. Please do not fish. Bill Phillips.
No one ever did, such was the level of
honour. Can you imagine doing that
these days? Over the following few
years the bigger swim was
encroached by a family of badgers
and became a set for a couple of
decades. Those badgers, along with
many other wild creatures, became a
fascinating part of my time on the
canal.
The start of the 1973/4 season was
the turning point in my canal carp
fishing career. I not only caught my
first RMC carp but also had one of the
big mirrors. I arrived on the opening
night equipped with the right tools for
the job: a Richard Walker Mk 1V,
Mitchell 314 reel and Heron alarms.
The bait was to be my conditioned
potatoes on a size 4 hook free-lined
o n 8 l b l i n e. T h e f i r s t n i g h t w a s
uneventful. I had to work in the morn-
ing but returned at 11pm. During that
night I lost two carp, one of which
pulled the rod in and broke the line. At
first light a fast take followed by a
short but lively fight, resulted in the
landing of my first ever RMC carp, a
small common weighing 4lb 12oz. I
dont expect anyone reading to
understand how much that small fish
meant to me. My duck was broken.
This was the only time in my life I
would ever catch my first canal carp.
At 8am I had another take, and I
was into a much bigger fish. Thirty
yards of line were ripped from the reel
as it ran for an overhanging tree
opposite. After several more runs, a
few problems with weed and getting
it in the net, somehow I managed to
get it on the bank. It was a magnifi-
cent 22lb 8oz leather carp. Later it
was officially weighed and recorded
as a record for Ashford AC. To say I
was elated is an understatement; I
was now a carp angler. Surely the
marriage was born out of the love
affair with this wonderful water. On
reflection, that night was to remain
one the most action packed nights I

(Top) A couple of winter doubles

from The Hague Canal in the mid-
eighties.
(Left) The Holiday Cottage pound
before the boat traffic got too heavy.

38 FREE LINE
 Canal Carping A Tale of Two Records

I recorded many wildlife events of

interest. Badgers and foxes became
friends, and encounters could be star-
tling to say the least. My diary reads
Almost kissed a fox.
Picture this: It was a warm, still
August night, and I was fishing alone
in the big dugout. There was an eerie
feel to the night; it was very dark and
felt stormy. The roof of the dugout had
gone so a brolly was erected to form a
roof, which was about level with the
top of the bank behind me. The roar of
the lions from the wildlife park was
louder than usual. I had goosebumps,
and the hairs on the back of my neck
stood up, an uneasy sort of feeling to
say the least. I shrank back in my
deckchair, watching the bottle top
indicators in the flickering candle-
light. My eyes began to close, and I

was ever to have on the RMC. The

remainder of that season, although
eventful in many ways only produced
another three carp in 250 hours. I
never stopped enjoying the magic of
the challenge, and even though I had
other easier waters to fish, I rarely
betrayed the water I had grown so
fond of. The harder a thing is to
achieve, the greater the satisfaction,
and that I am sure was the driving
force.
The 1974/5 season was to be my
most successful in terms of numbers
with nine carp up to a new PB and
Ashford club record of 25lb 7oz. How-
ever, I did spend a lot more time there,
recording 500 hours. During that time

started to drift when I became aware

of a presence. Very, very slowly the
brolly started to turn. There was virtu-
ally no sound as it continued to sway
gently around. I absolutely froze, too
frightened to move or look. God
knows what I thought it was, but I
know I nearly gave birth. After what
seemed an age, I plucked up the
courage to turn around and look. By
this time the brolly had tilted over. My
head was about level with the top of
the bank, as I peered over the edge of

(Top) An early 22lb from the Devises

area that liked Robin Red.
(Above) Small pound backwater on
the K and A. Some of these areas are
very carpy.
(Left) December 1999, my first and
only canal carp in the snow from
Kingfisher on the way to be painted.

40 FREE LINE
 A Tale of Two Records Canal Carping

times, be fairly aggressive. My poor

old dog, Patches, a fishing companion
in the later years, was absolutely pet-
rified of them. When he heard them
snorting about in the night he would
hide under the bedchair, shaking like
a leaf. I dont know whether its a
descendant of the same family or not,
but the badger set, as the swim
became known, was still there when I
last visited some 35 years on and may
well still be there today.
I could go on about the canals
wildlife, but guess I had better return
to the fishing. Or is it one and the
same thing? One big catastrophe of
the 1974 summer was the loss of a
lovely 10lb common whilst being
retained in a sack. It was a gloriously
hot and still August day. The previous
night had been uneventful so I reeled
the dugout, I literally came nose to
n o s e w i t h t h e c u l p r i t . We b o t h
momentarily stopped and stared into
each others eyes. Then, all hell let
loose. I jumped up, knocking every-
thing flying. The fox gave a high
pitched yelp and did a wheelspin as it
bolted off, actually kicking dirt in my
face. There I was, heart thumping,
shaking, but at the same time laugh-
ing.
In 1974/5 a family of badgers took
up residence in the big dugout and
really made a mess of it. They became
part of every fishing session on the
canal and belong as much in my
memory as the carp themselves. Over
the years, they often startled me or
spooked the fish, but always fasci-
nated me and eventually became less
shy. They even started taking bits of
sandwiches and bait. They can, at
in to go stalking. There were a few
carp basking in the lilies but not inter-
ested in my floating crust bait. Then I
spotted movement in a bed of lilies
close in. No fish were to be seen but
the plopping and humping of the
pads were definite signs of a carp
feeding on snails beneath them. Lying
in the grass I very gently lowered a
small piece of crust where I thought
its nose may be. In an instant the
crust was gone, and I was into one of

(Top) First carp from under The

Chandlery whilst building Cypry.
(Above) The roof under The
Chandlery was now making fishing
awkward.
(Left) First 20 from The Chandlery, a
fish I caught several times.

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 Canal Carping A Tale of Two Records

the hardest fighting canal carp I had

ever had. The line cut through the
lilies like a scythe as it made run after
run. After at least twenty minutes I
was so pleased when it rolled into the
net. On my return to the swim for
w e i g h i n g a n d p h o t o g r a p h i n g, I
realised the camera had been left at
home. I desperately wanted a picture
so decided to sack it and go home for
the camera. Back then, the sacks we
used were the old hessian grain sacks
that we were to later realise did not
allow enough water exchange.
Anyway, I am sure you have by
now guessed that on my return the
poor fish was dead, having spent sev-
eral hours, in the heat of the day,
starved of oxygen. I was devastated.
However, it did encourage me to
me to make some lightweight sacks
from tent material for future sackings.
Lots of small holes were punched in
for good circulation, and a proper
drawstring was attached. It was
another one of those big lessons that
were learned along the way.
Not knowing what to do with the
dead fish and worried that I might be
in trouble if anyone found out, I
wrapped it in the sack and took it
home to bury. While at home I made a
few inquiries and found a fairly local
taxidermist who quoted 23 to set it
up in a glass case for me. Even though
it was a great deal of money I could ill
afford at the time, I decided to have it
done rather than just bury it. That
lovely common now hangs on my
study wall among a collection of old
fish taxidermy and memorabilia that
it is largely responsible for.
The 1976/7 season saw me
accepted to the BCSG and learning
from other carp anglers. One of the
members that vetted me was Fred
Wilton. Fred was kind enough to
write me a letter with bait formula-
tions to try on the canal. That season
I did my biggest baiting campaign
ever on the canal, and it resulted in
my most frustrating seasons. I even
purchased a small motorbike to use
for travelling the 20-mile round trip to
bait up every few days from April to
June 16th. The bait was a PYM pro-
tein boiled bait with a floater made

(Top) First capture of a fish that was

to become a record. Under The
Chandlery at 20lb on 19th March,
2002.
(Left) A very nice linear at 16lb, July
2002.

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 A Tale of Two Records Canal Carping

with the same mix. As an alternative I

also baited with broad beans. I even
tied dozens of broad beans to short
lengths of line, attached them to
stones and threw them in, the idea
being that the carp would get used to
tacking them with line attached and
feel safe. Well, the eels went mad for
the PYM, even in floater form. The
couple of carp I did hook on the PYM
were stalked, but both lost. Broad
beans, in spite of being very success-
ful on other waters, only produced
bite-offs, which indicated my confi-
dence building with the line had
worked. Also they caught loads of
tench and bream on the canal. In
short the bait had worked so well for
other species, the carp didnt get a
look in. By September I had spent
nearly 400 hours and not landed a sin-
gle carp.
My confidence was waning, and I
was doing fewer hours. Mid-Septem-
ber and I was wandering the bank
around Aldergate while waiting for a
mate to go to another venue. All I had
with me was a rod, net and loaf of
bread. I soon spotted a carp tight to
the far bank. Bread would not coax it
to take so I decided to find a worm to
try. The fish appeared to be feeding
from a slight inflow caused by the
recent rain. With only free-line avail-
able I used mud around the hook and
worm for weight to enable a cast onto
the far bank, so as not to spook the
fish. Wonders will never cease- it
worked first time. A couple of sharp
tugs on the line and there it was, a
nice free-lined worm in the opposite
margin. A few moments later and the
carp was on. Only a small common at
9lb 4oz, but I was as pleased with that
fish as I would have been with a big
twenty from any other water, proba-
bly more so.
The capture of that small common
was a turning point in my RMC fish-
ing. I still wanted to catch canal carp
but in less hours and less cost. I rea-
soned that hundreds of rod hours
resulted in a lot of blanks. Short ses-
sions after time spent looking for fish
often resulted in success. I decided to
try and catch carp in fewer hours by

(Top) Another pretty 14lb mirror,

August 2002.
(Above right) Nicely scaled mirror at
19lb 8oz, May 2003.
(Right) Returning a mint 23lb 4oz
mirror, July 20th, 2003.

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 Canal Carping A Tale of Two Records

(Left) 21lb 4oz, 28th September, 2003.

(Below) 19lb 4oz, 28th September,
2003.
(Bottom) Cyprinus Carpio, the
executive bivvy stern exit light years
from the old dug outs.

It was not until late October that a

couple of big carp were located. Then
and only then did I do a few short ses-
sions. 28th October saw me creeping
the banks on a beautiful warm sunny
afternoon. My armoury was a 10ft RW
glass rod with 14lb line to combat the
decaying weed and branches, rod
rest, landing net, a sack (just in case),
bread and some Robin Red paste.
After a while I found a big mirror in
the margins. I crawled through the
bushes and watched for a while. What
a fantastic sight it was too, with mag-
nificent clear water, a monster carp in

the use of thorough observation. A

method that is known to be success-
ful but not often practised. The chart
below was a good reason to give it a
try.
Observation fishing on the RMC
certainly paid dividends in the sea-
sons that followed. That allowed me
to do a lot more on other waters while
still catching a few canal fish. In 1977,
observation plus only 25 hours fish-
ing produced the same result that the
400 hours the year before.
My approach to the RMC for the
1978 season was to be the same.
Observation first, and only when fish
were found would a line be cast.
Closed season visits resulted in only a
few small commons being seen. I
decided to leave it for the early part of
the season enabling me to fish else-
where and give the canal a rest. I
would still spend a few evenings a
month looking for some better fish.
During each visit, I would put in a few
of my latest super bait that was tak-
ing the Kent carp apart, Robin Red.

STATISTICS FOR THAT 1976

SEASON Cost, rate at the time:
Miles travelled = 1,364 . . . . . . . . . .34.10
Hours fishing = 400 . . . . . . . . . . . .800.00
Tackle breakage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20.00
broad beans = 336 tins . . . . . . . . . .28.00
PYM dry mix = 12lb . . . . . . . . . . . .17.00
Eggs = 228 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8.50
Worms = 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .No charge
Carp caught = 1 at 9lb 4oz
Cost of Carp = 6.13 per ounce.
Mental state of angler = IN QUESTION.

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C A R P C LOT H I N G
W W W . B I G F I S H G E A R . C O . U K
 Canal Carping A Tale of Two Records
full view, picking at the odd leaf on
the surface looking very catchable.
Very gently I presented a small piece
of crust. A few nervous moments
passed, and it swam close to the
crust, stopped, flicked its fins and
swam away. That fish was undoubt-
edly disturbed by the presence of my
crust.
Dragging my net away from the
bushes with some force, whilst trying
to watch that departing carp, I set off
in pursuit, but lost sight of it. Conso-
lation was found in the location of a
very big common grubbing about in
gin-clear water. A small piece of paste
was flicked past the fish and drawn
back in its path. Unfortunately, whilst
trying to gain the last few inches, my
46 FREE LINE
bait caught on a stem and came off.
Unable to move, I could not rebait
without spooking it. Before I could
decide on a plan of action, the fish
moved over my hookless bait, dipped,
sucked it in and swam off the same
way as the mirror.
A bit dejected, I set off in search of
them again but thought I had blown
it. After a short while I found a group
of smaller commons happily grubbing
about, very close in at a depth of no
more than a couple of feet. Belly
crawling close to them, I was able to
present a bait by casting and drawing
back. The rod was gently placed in
the rest with a pinch of bread as an
indicator hanging at the butt. The
reason for the indicator was because I
could see the fish from my low level
but not the bait. The fish seemed to
fade away as if aware of my presence.
Not wanting to waste too much time,
I crawled up into a bush for a better
view. My bait was visible, but the fish
had gone.
Evening was drawing near, the sun
was beginning to retreat like a burnt
out fireball, my hopes were wearing
thin. On what was by far my best ever
spotting day I looked like drawing a
blank. Clinging to the bush, I was
daydreaming of what might have
been and thinking of heading back to
the van some mile and a half away.
Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye,
there was a dark shadow moving
towards my bait. It was the big mirror
again. The feeling of excitement was
tremendous. I was sure that fish was
going to take the bait. The whole of
my body was trembling as I slid back
down to my rod, and not daring to
breathe, settled to await events.
Almost immediately, the indicator
twitched. An instant strike, and the
water erupted. The situation was
close to chaotic. I held on hard to pre-
vent it from reaching a fallen tree
branch some 20 yards to my right. It
wasnt an especially dramatic fight,
just a bit awkward due to my
restricted position. The half-rotted
lilies all tangled to the line, and it
surged through the water like some-
thing out of Jaws. Within a few min-
utes a massive mirror was wallowing
on the surface. I pushed the net into
the vegetation, and one of the arms
broke off. It must have got damaged
when it was caught in the bushes ear-
lier. There I was, the biggest carp of
my life waiting to be netted and a bro-
ken net lying useless at my feet.
Somehow I managed to wade in up to
my knees, I laid the net beside me
using one hand as a spreader block
and dragged the fish over it. In one
frantic move I dropped the rod,
grabbed the net, lifted, and she was
mine.
Lifting that magnificent mirror up
the bank was the most satisfying
moment of my life. I stood there soak-
ing wet and trembling with excite-
(Top) Cyprinus Carpio, the executive
bivvy bow exit.
(Left) An admiring glance from
grandson Rhys with a winter 15lb 4oz
carp that showed signs of liking
Robin Red.

ment as I gazed down at it. God, its
big! I gasped, as I realised it must be
approaching thirty. I safely secured it
in a sack and set off on the couple of
mile round trip back to the van to get
the scales. It seemed the longest jour-
ney ever, running and panting to
myself, It must be thirty; its got to be
a thirty. Eventually I got back with
the scales. The Avons hit the stop,
A Tale of Two Records Canal Carping
ever, and the 8th largest in the UK
that year. My fishing on the RMC for
the next few years was focused on
the very big common that took my
hookless bait; it was big, very, very
big. However, I only saw it a few more
times and never had the opportunity
to present a bait to it again.
In 1981 I was seconded to Nigeria
by my work for about a year, which
pretty much brought my marriage to
the RMC to an end. The biggest les-
son I had learned was to find the fish
before attempting to catch them. If
you think about it, a fifteen-mile
stretch of canal is thirty miles of mar-
gin, that is effectively one hell of a big
lake. So find them first because you
cant cast to them even if they are
only a short distance away. Observa-
tion, mobility, stealth and determina-
tion equals success.
After my return from Nigeria, my
and I knew I had more than achieved
RMC fishing took a back seat while I
a burning ambition for a thirty. I had
concentrated on other waters. By this
achieved it with a new fish and from
time carp fishing had taken off, tackle
my beloved RMC. It was later pho-
had vastly improved and bait was
tographed and officially weighed by
becoming much more available. I
the club at 32lb and measured 32
fished and enjoyed many varied lakes,
inches long with a 29 inch girth. It
rivers and canals in the UK, France
was a huge fish back then by any
and Holland. Caught some fantastic
standards. It was later reported to be
carp, but nothing quite came up to
the biggest carp from a British canal
the mark of those early years on the
RMC.
In 1985 I had a flirtation with the
canals of The Hague in Holland. A fas-
cinating place to fish, it had rows of
what I can only describe as floating
cabins on the far bank. They served
as a canopy that the carp liked to get
under, so of course we would always
be chucking leads at the cabins, try-
ing to get as close as possible. Yes,
youve guessed it, a dodgy cast went
straight through a window. That
together with a constant peppering
with over-shot boilies from our cata-
pults, the residents were somewhat
irate. Now an irate Dutch man, in his
pyjamas, jumping and screaming
from his veranda, is something to
behold. He spoke better English than
we did Dutch, but still could not
understand the importance of getting
baits under his floating cabin to catch
a fish. We eventually calmed him
down and paid for the window. Unfor-
(Top) 26lb 12oz decent mirror only
seen once, January 2004.
(Left) October 2004, my first run on
the new mooring. The fully scaled at
25lb.
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 Canal Carping A Tale of Two Records

terly shown, amongst other dodgy

videos, on the coach trips to Cassien.
That night the temperature plum-
meted to something like -15c; we
were absolutely bloody freezing, hud-
dled down under only a brolly with an
overwrap and wearing what was still
totally inadequate winter gear. Sud-
denly, in the early hours, torches were
shining in our face as two burly Dutch
police officers muttered in broken
English, Are you alive? Apparently,
some locals who had taken an inter-
est in the mad English camping by
the canal in midwinter had called the
police fearing that we had frozen to
death in the exceptionally cold
weather. In the midst of it all, I did
manage quite a few decent fish,
mostly commons up to low twenties
in my time fishing The Hague canals.
It was claimed by a Dutch guy we
befriended that they contained many
into the thirties, but we never saw
tunately, the very next day his cabin
was hit again!
There was a hot water outlet from a
factory near one area that we fished
in The Hague, which resulted in some
good winter fishing, even in subzero
conditions when most of the other the
Dutch canals were being skated on.
One such time I was fishing it with
fishing mate Paul Regent, the canals
all around were several inches thick
with ice, but due to the outlet we had
plenty of clear water to fish. The
downside was that every duck, coot
and moorhen in Holland converged
on to the area we were fishing. I
remember having a screaming run
resulting in a hard-fighting coot being
landed, and after a few pecks and
scratches removing the hook, it was
released. Unbeknown to me the
antics were all filmed by Paul and lat-
anything close. However, we did, on
DETAILS OF MY DECADE ON THE ROYAL MILITARY CANAL several occasions, witness what a
Year Carp caught Biggest Hours fishing Hours preparing good set of scales he had !
and observing In 1986 I moved with my job to
1970 nil nil 200 20 Wiltshire. That move, together with a
1971 nil nil 220 40 nasty divorce, buying a house with a
1972 nil nil 250 50 woman who had all the symptoms of
1973 5 22lb 8oz 250 100 a schizophrenic psychopath, and then
1974 9 25lb 7oz 500 100 splitting up with her, somewhat cur-
1975 2 8lb 9oz 280 125 tailed my fishing for a while. Eventu-
1976 1 9lb 4oz 400 300
1977 1 8lb 14oz 25 150
1978 1 32lb 20 200 (Top) Cyrinus was nearly finished, so
I was getting out on the cut more. A
1979 4 26lb 3oz 70 120 pristine scrapper 20lb common,
1980 2 9lb 12 100 October 2005.
TOTALS 25 32lb 2,227 1,305 (Above) Fully scaled at 31lb 4oz, a
new Kea PB, March 2006.

48 FREE LINE

ally, I got myself sorted, met and mar-
ried the amazing Angie, who, single-
handedly, got me securely back on
the rails.
I am now living in Chippenham,
and the local canal is the Kennet and
Avon. The K and A canal runs from
the Thames at Reading 75 miles west
to the city of Bath where it joins the
Bristol Avon. It was opened as a navi-
gable canal to carry freight in 1810
with 74 locks in those 75 miles, 28 of
these on the Devises flight. In the
1950s it fell into disrepair and all but
dried up until its restoration and
reopening for pleasure craft in August
1990.
The K and A was a very different
canal to the RMC due to it being split
up into pounds between locks. Some
of the pounds are an acre or two,
while others stretch for about ten
miles. It was in 1987, before the canal
reopened, that I started to look at the
possibility of fishing it for carp. Many
of the pounds were very weedy and
looked good prospects, as several
smallish carp had been seen. I
decided to bait up a pound near Fox-
hangers with my favourite homemade
Robin Red boilies, which I was using
with considerable success on a cou-
ple of local lakes. I thought it may not
have been used in the area before. It
was a pretty pound with lots of over-
hang trees on the far bank, very
weedy and only about three feet
deep. To heighten the enjoyment, I
A Tale of Two Records Canal Carping
was to use my trusty ten-foot pound-
and-a-half Richard Walkers, lovely
rods that bend into the butt when
playing a fish. My first few short ses-
sions produced dozens of hard fight-
ing fish, but only up to low teens. Size
did not matter too much, as I was
thoroughly enjoying the comparative
peace and quiet, and I was still fishing
other waters for bigger fish. I fished
most of the pounds on the Devises
ticket over the next few years, my
favourite being the Holiday Cot-
tage, named thus due to the fact it
had a beautiful cottage on the north
bank. It was no more than a couple of
acres in size, almost totally sur-
rounded with high reeds and rushes
with a back bay behind the lock,
which was thick with lilies. It had an
intimacy about it that reminded me of
the pretty farm ponds I used to fish as
a lad. Not only did it look and feel very
carpy, but it was full of carp and
reputed to hold a reasonable twenty.
However, one of the problems with
lots of locks and pounds is that the
fish do move through the locks.
Sometimes this is under their own
steam, but occasionally I am sure
they are caught and moved by
anglers trying to obscure where the
better fish are. As with most of the K
and A, the towpath made it difficult to
set up a bivvy, and also it is a cycle
way which can be a bit hazardous for
anglers.
Again, although I caught a huge
number of carp, none were over 19lb.
What Angie, my wife did catch one
afternoon though, was Patch, my
lovely old dog. I was encouraging her
to fish, in the selfish hope that she
would get into it and want to join me
more often. Anyway, there she was,
doing very well catching a few on
luncheon meat, but found casting a
little difficult. She tended to lay the
baited rig on the ground behind her
and swing the rod sideways. It
(Top) A double for grandson Harry,
May 2007.
(Left) A brace of doubles with son-in-
law, October 2007.
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 Canal Carping A Tale of Two Records
(Above) Typically nicely scaled
mirror at 14lb 8oz, October 2009.
(Below) First capture of the fully
scaled over the magical forty at 41lb,
29th February 2012.
seemed to work ok; it just looked
awkward. Patch, being a bit greedy
like most dogs saw the opportunity of
a free snack. Just as Ang was about to
cast, after landing her umpteenth fish,
quick as a flash Patch pounced on the
rig and swallowed the baited hook.
Ang yelled in horror and dropped the
rod as the poor old dog ran hell for
50 FREE LINE
leather down the towpath with the
rod chasing him. What a commotion!
Ang and I were running down the
towpath chasing the dog with him,
seemingly more frightened of the rod
chasing him than from the hook in his
throat. It turned out ok though, and
after cutting the line and taking him
to the vet all Ang (well, it was her
fault) had to do was feed him brown
bread and sort through his poop to
confirm he had passed the hook. She
never did find the hook; she probably
didnt look closely enough Yuk.
Anyway, he never seemed to suffer
any ill effects, but the biggest tragedy
was that it put Ang off fishing. How-
ever, she does still come with me on
lots of my trips abroad fishing, bless
her.
Up to its re-opening in 1990, Robin
Red had caught me hundreds of K
and A carp up to scraper twenties. For
a few years after the opening I lost a
bit of interest in it mainly due the boat
traffic, but also I was doing a far bit of
fishing in France with family and car-
avan in tow.
During the 1990s we were offered
the use of a friends 45ft narrowboat
August Folly for a few days. We
absolutely loved it and were fortunate
enough to use it a few times. Our
favourite mooring was by the turning
bay and swing bridge at Sells Green.
The canal was by then a murky
brown from the disturbance of boat
traffic and there was little or no weed
left. But, it still fished its head off with
loads of carp to mid-teens, great for
the kids. Unfortunately, August Folly
was sold, so that was the end of our
boating, thought I.
So great was the appeal of the
canal boating I knew I had to have
one. By 1999 I had purchased an old
dilapidated 30ft narrowboat named
Kingfisher. Most of the next year was
spent renovating it, we so loved that
little boat. It was while taking her up
to Devises for painting that I caught
my first and only ever canal carp in
the snow, just shy of a double, but
very welcome.
It soon became apparent we
needed something bigger. I sold King-
fisher and bought a 50ft sailaway hull,
which I was to fit out myself, and we
named her Cypry. Now, anyone that
knows narrowboats knows that the
fitting out of a shell is a massive task.
At the time I had a mooring under the
chandlery building by the Hilperton
marina. This was on a five-mile
stretch of the K and A that I had not
fished, and at the time I did not know
if it contained carp.
The plan was to put a rod out while
building the boat. This I did, most
evenings, and every weekend was
spent working on it, and all the time a
rod would be out. Not the most
attractive place I have fished, but the
pod was set up in the bow so as to be
clear of the low roof (chandlery floor)
above the mooring, which was very
awkward when netting a fish as the
pontoon stopped ten feet short of the
 FISHING REPUBLIC
Welcome to Fishing Republic Basingstoke
The Fishing Republic advice on fishing equip-

Basingstoke fishing tackle
shop stocks a wide range
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lines, aiming to cater for
all types of fishing be it
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We are the largest tackle
store in the area.
The product range ex-
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with fishing accessories,
such as seat oxes, sleep-
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Basingstoke also includes
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and a collection of fishing
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DAVE RAWLINGS
STORE MANAGER
Has been fishing for
Numerous years, with a wealth
of knowledge, specifically in
carp fishing. Dave has fished
rivers and gravel pits in
Bedfordshire as a young man,
before moving around the
country fishing many different
waters, mainly for carp. Dave
has previously worked for Go
Outdoors and been involved in
the Angling Trade for Years!
MIKE PEACOcK SMITH
ASSISTANT MANAGER
Mike aka SMIFFY has been
fishing since the age of 3. Mike
recently served in the Royal
Navy for 10 years and
decided he wanted a change.
He joined Fishing Republic in
March and brings an abun-
dance of knowledge equalled
by his enthusiasm and passion
for industry, his great
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EDDY HAMPTON
TACKLE CONSULTANT
Armed with a wealth of
knowledge gained over years
of pursuing his passion for the
sport, styles & methods include
match, course, river & carp.
Since joining the team Eddy
feels Fishing Republic allows
him to focus on his passion
learn new ideas, pass on hints
& tips, meet great people as
he often quoting Living the
dream
ANDREW JOCK DOWNES
TACKLE CONSULTANT
Jock Downes has been fishing
for 44 years and has caught
numerous species of fish from
11 different countries. Jock
caught his first carp in 1978
and although carp are his main
target (with a UK p.b. of 50lb +)
he has caught big barbel, chub
and bream. Jock is also a very
experienced fly angler and has
caught trout, salmon and sea
trout from numerous rivers
and lakes in the UK.

www.fishingrepublic.net
 Canal Carping A Tale of Two Records

bow. I only used one rod to make it a

bit less difficult. The bait was still
Robin Red, and a couple of dozen
baits were put in every time I was
there whether fishing or not. After a
few sessions I started catching
bream, tench and some big eels but
no carp. Not wanting to waste work-
ing time catching unwanted fish, I
started making the baits much bigger
and harder. Several weeks passed,
and I began to think there werent any
carp in the area, but then as I was
working away one evening a blister-
ing run resulted in a 16lb common.
That fish was the first of many over
the two-odd years it took me to fit
Cypry out. It became almost uncanny
how the bites became so regular. I
would go down to the boat each
evening at about 7pm, put a rod out,
chuck a few baits in and then work till
midnight, except for weekends, when
I would stay on the boat. Ang would weighed in at 26lb 4oz, my biggest K (Above) A propeller damaged 30lb
ring most nights at about 10.30pm, and A carp to date. 10oz carp, May 2013.
almost without exception, and if a (Below) The seventh capture of the
We spent many happy hours on
bite was to come, it would be while fully scaled, what a result! A new
Cypry, catching lots carp from all the British canal record at a massive 46lb
Ang was on the phone. So often did more obscure areas of the canal that 4oz, 15th August 2013.
this happen she had to change the were not normally considered for fish-
time for ringing. Out of 51 carp caught ing. We once stopped directly outside
while working on the boat, 29 of them Dicks restaurant in Bradford on Avon throw food in for the ducks, which is
came between 9.00pm and 11.00pm, for an evening meal. The place was affectively baiting the swim. Within
and most of the rest were just before heaving, and most of the dozen or an hour, off it went, producing a pris-
daylight. Thirteen were over 19lb, six more tables outside right beside the tine 19lb mirror that had probably
of which were between 20lb and 22lb, canal were taken. After the meal I never been caught before. In fact,
a far better average than I had decided to put a rod along the margin almost wherever we moored, I would
achieved on the K and A before. One where lots of people were having a catch a carp at some time or another.
of the 20s, caught on the 19th March meal. My thought being, they must all With eight grandchildren all enjoy-
2002, was a beautiful fully scaled mir-
ror that was to become well known to
me. I in fact caught it again during the
build a year later on the 3rd April 2003
at 19lb.
Cypry was finished in 2003, and the
maiden voyage was to Hungerford,
because I had heard of some decent
fish down that way. When we arrived
there it was thrashing it down with
rain, mooring was difficult, and we
had to make do with a rubbish place
directly outside the church. There
wasnt room for the pod on the bank
so it was balanced on the bow, a cou-
ple of rods quickly put out on the old
faithful RR and a rapid retreat back in
the boat to dry off. Ang cooked a
meal, and as we sat down to eat, the
remote let out a one-toner. I leapt out
and pulled into what felt like a decent
fish. There followed a slow, plodding
fight that lasted long enough for me
to get thoroughly drenched. I eventu-
ally put the net under a big mirror that

52 FREE LINE

ing the boat we decided to do the
build all over again but bigger, with
more beds. Cypry had to be sold. We
detailed the specification for the new
shell and had it built to sailaway stage
by Coalcraft in Rugby. When ready we
took it to Stourbridge for painting and
then delivered it to Hilperton in Sep-
tember 2005. The mooring was now a
full length pontoon in the main
marina basin where I was to fit her
out. This time she the name chosen
was Cyprinus Carpio, ultimatly to
become known as my executive
bivvy.
Working on the boat in the marina
was an attractive proposition from the
fishing point of view, because only
boat owners were allowed to fish in
there. Very few of them did, so I rea-
soned that it would be a bit of a hold-
ing area. Also, the full pontoon made
it much easier both for fishing from as
well as more room for working. The
format was the same as previously: I
would go down to work on the boat
every evening in the week then stay
on at weekends. By this time I had
conceded and started using ready-
made baits, as I was so busy. Bait was
introduced and the rods put out every
time before commencing work. The
fit-out lasted about three years in all,
and during that time I caught a lot of
carp, mostly doubles with an occa-
sional twenty-plus. Sometimes I
would catch two or three in an
evening, but other times I could go a
A Tale of Two Records Canal Carping
couple of weeks with nothing. The
vast majority were caught in the
hours of daylight. With what I had
experienced when under the shop out
on the cut, most coming late evening
and early morning, it would appear
that they were patrolling out of the
basin at night and back in the morn-
ing. Possibly they came in to take
refuge from the ever increasing boat
traffic during the day. The bream were
a real problem, particularly at night,
half a dozen being the norm. Bigger
and harder baits helped a bit but were
not a cure.
It was in the basin while doing
some pre-delivery work on Cypry that
I was to catch the fully scaled again.
Early evening on 23rd October 2004,
my first run from the new mooring
resulted in landing her again weigh-
ing in at a creditable 25lb. Strangely
the next time we were to meet was
when Cyprinus was all but finished. I
had been getting out on the cut to try
her out and also do a bit of fishing, as
the basin had slowed down a lot. It
was 25th March 2006, I had moored
up in a stretch not often fished that I
had been fishing and baiting with
Cotswold Tock, about three miles
from the basin. A few carp had been
seen in the area over the previous
weeks. Two at 16lb and 23lb were
caught in the night, a super result by
canal standards. It was 10am, nearly
time to pack up when the alarm sig-
nalled a run. As I pulled into it I knew
it was a decent fish; the old 10ft RW
glass rod was curved into a half circle
right through to the butt as a heavy
fish rolled and lunged slowly back to
the waiting net. My first thought was
surprise to see another big fully
scaled fish from the canal. This was
followed by a bigger surprise when I
realised it was the same fish I had
caught previously. At 31lb 4oz, a new
K and A PB, she had put on over 6lb in
two years, and was more than three
(Top) A fat 28lb 4oz common,
December 2013.
(Left) A basin caught 22lb battle
scarred mirror as granddaughter Lois
looks on, April 2014.
FREE LINE 53
 Canal Carping A Tale of Two Records
miles from where we last met.
Four years passed before she was
to grace my net again, this time, sur-
prisingly, back in the basin. I had not
seen or heard of her being caught so
had started to think she may have
died or even been poached. By this
time I had retired and was doing a lot
more fishing out on the cut. It was a
lovely sunny 21st May 2010 after-
noon, very still and warm. I had long
finished the boat and was down at
the marina giving it a polish. The rods
54 FREE LINE
have had a few of them off the top,
but the ducks make it next to impos-
sible most of the time, so I dont often
bother. I noticed that the couple were
taking more than just a passing inter-
est in what was taking their bread so
went for a look. Sure enough, there
were a number of carp fighting the
ducks for the bread. How was I to
resist? I went back to the boat to grab
some tackle, but the trouble was, I
had been sorting the gear that was
kept on the boat and a lot of it was at
home. I managed to cobble together
an old telescopic rod with freeline
crust but only had a smallish net.
Regardless, I crept along the pontoon
and slowly lowered the bait to what
looked a decent fish, which soon
drifted away. Due to the ducks, I
reeled in, rebaited and waited to see
another to have a go for. One of inter-
est showed, so I dunked the crust in
werent out as I was a bit bored with
preparation to cast, but the fish
fishing there, and anyway, I thought
drifted away.
most of the carp were out of the basin
Suddenly, there was a loud slurp,
doing their thing at the spawning
the rod bucked in my hand, and a fish
grounds as they always do around
was on. It had literally come out from
this time of year.
under the pontoon I was standing on
There was a young couple sitting
and taken the crust less than a yard
along the perimeter of the basin feed-
from my feet. Id love to say it was a
ing the ducks with bread. The ducks
dramatic fight on the old gear but it
are quite an attraction for the locals
just wallowed around a bit. The
who often bring kids down to feed
biggest difficulty was getting it in the
them. This also results in the carp
net, especially as I realised it was the
having a liking for floating bread. I
big fully scaled. Somehow I managed
to get it to fold into that inadequate
net. When lifting it out, the realisation
that it was big hit me, and a bit of
panic set in, as all the gear to deal
with such a fish was at home. Fortu-
nately, I had a small mat and a sack so
was able to get it quickly and safely
into the sack and back in the water.
As luck would have it, the chap who
was feeding the ducks was a local
carp angler. He kindly offered to pop
and get his mat, scales and camera,
which I gratefully accepted. He
returned after a few minutes with all
the necessary to weigh and photo-
graph safely. She weighed in at 38lb
4oz, a new canal PB.lk I was elated,
and that magnificent fish was still
growing.
Over the past five years, since retir-
ing, my fishing has intensified. I have
been doing several trips to France a
(Top) April 2014, not all the K and A
fully scaled are big a pretty 9lb gem!
(Left) Another fully scaled at 21lb 4oz,
June 2014.

year, I have joined two away syndi-
cates, and a lot of my canal fishing
has been out on the cut. I still do a far
bit at the mooring, but only short ses-
sions. Also, I have fallen in love with
Stuart Gillhams lake in Thailand,
which I go to for a few weeks in the
winter. During these last five years I
A Tale of Two Records Canal Carping
have been fortunate enough to bank
the big fully scaled from the K and A
on three more occasions. I hope you
will appreciate that I would rather not
divulge the exact locations, as they
are hardly fished, and I still fish them
myself.
The first capture of her at over the
magical forty was the 29th February
2012 at 41lb. I had been baiting
steadily with 18mm Cell for several
weeks and was experimenting with
rock salt, which I also introduced with
the Cell. The weather had improved
so I decided on a two-night session. I
set up late afternoon using double
18mm Cell with a third 15mm pop-up
to cap it off. These were cast out with
a PVA bag of rock salt and a dozen or
so baits around each rod. It turned out
to be one of my best K and A sessions
to date. The night produced two high
double commons and one lost. Just
prior to first light, I had a steady take,
and I was hanging on to what I knew
was a big fish that fought slow and
hard for what seemed ages before
showing itself to be the big fully
scaled again. As I lifted the net, I
knew it was bigger and was not sur-
prised when it hit the 41lb mark,
another canal PB. It looked absolutely
huge. I got her safely in the sack and
rang my mate Charlie to do the pho-
tographs. About 15 minutes later,
before he arrived, another rod shot off
(Top) The latest capture of the big
fully at 47lb 2oz 20th June 2014. Have I
caught her too many times?
(Left) Propeller damage healed, but
down to 28lb 8oz, July 2014.
FREE LINE 55
 Canal Carping A Tale of Two Records
resulting in a mental fight and a fan-
tastic 28lb 4oz mirror. After the ritual
of photographing them both, kissing
and releasing her, I settled down to a
further thirty hours blank. Such is the
canal, when they are gone, they are
properly gone, maybe miles away.
August 15th 2013, after a weeks
cat fishing in Kent I brought my
grandson, Rhys, back with me for our
annual boys fishing trip on the K and
A. Our home for the week was of
course Cyprinus Carpio, my executive
bivvy. We were joined by my mate,
Steve, to make up the team and help
with the locks. The intention was to
travel some distance to a more prolific
carping area so that Rhys could be
sure of a bit of action.
The first evening it was raining so
we decided to stop early and fish an
area I had been baiting for a couple of
months, having seen a few good fish
spawning there earlier in the year.
Steve and Rhys opted to fish at the
front, and I fished my baited area at
the back. I baited the hairs with
15mm Cell and tipped them with
15mm cubes of homemade Cell
floater cake, a method from my early
days that still works well, and the
bream dont seem too keen on it.
Baits were cast out under the trees
with 20 free offerings around each
one. I had only fished the swim a cou-
ple of times that year, blanking both
times, so I was not over-confident.
The plan was to move on in the morn-
56 FREE LINE
ing when it should have stopped rain-
ing. At about 1.30am a one-toner
resulted in a heavy but subdued fight
lasting no more than five minutes. To
say I was shocked to see the big fully
scaled roll into the net would be a
gross understatement! I could not
comprehend not only the size but
where she was, a place I had never
expected to see her, as she would
have to have gone through a few
locks to get there!
We spent a few blurred minutes
weighing and rechecking the 46lb 4oz
weight in disbelief, a massive weight
gain of five pounds in a year and a
(Above) 22lb.
(Bottom) A new canal PB common at
30lb 4oz.
half. Pictures were taken on Steves
camera before I kissed her and gently
slid her back. As I did so another
screaming run resulted in a 29lb mir-
ror. What a result! A new British canal
carp record, and it was so nice that
my grandson was there to see it.
Strangely, just that last evening, I had
been telling Steve and Rhys the sto-
ries of past captures of her and shown
them pictures of her at various
weights from 19lb 8oz. We moved off
the next day and both
Steve and Rhys had a few
commons to mid-teens. I
blanked, but was happy
to pass the time fishing
the quiver for silver fish
with a big, fat smile on my
face.
The latest capture was
just under a year later on
20th June 2014 when she
weighed a little heavier at
a new British canal best
of 47lb 2oz. This time I
was fishing alone in an
area that I had seen
spawning activity and
thought I saw her among
them. I baited the area for
a couple of weeks, this
time with Hybrid. The
boat was already there, as
I had done a couple of
blank nights earlier in the
week. It was a warm,
 A Tale of Two Records Canal Carping

stormy feeling night and very dark.
The rods were baited with double
18mm plus a 15mm pop-up to try and
deter the bream. It was not until the
morning that a run occurred, a short
uneventful fight and there she was,
that magnificent fully scaled mirror
yet again. A quick phone call and my
dear wife Angie came down and did
the honours with the camera.
Although it was a bit bigger, this cap-
ture did not give anything like the
level of satisfaction that I felt the pre-
vious year. I almost felt sorry for her,
and maybe I have caught her too
many times and should call it a day on
the K and A. However, I have since
caught a new canal PB common of
30lb 4oz, a fish I have not seen before,
which just goes to show, you never
know for sure whats in there when it
comes to canals.
I have to say that I do worry a bit
about the security of canal carp.
There has been a lot of poaching
going on lately, particularly around
the marina basin by bounty hunters
peans, laying there multi-hook lines
at night. I have seen them several
times, and when approached they
pull in the lines and run off, most likely
to somewhere else. However, since a
few problems with boats getting
messed with, the marina manage-
ment has reported it to the police, and
they do seem to be patrolling it fairly
often. Of course, another danger is
otters; it would be impossible to stop
them if they discover the easy pick-
ings in the canal.
There you have it: my life fishing
canals. If you fancy something differ-
ent to your local lakes, then check out
the canals. Britains canals are home
to some very big fish, which are
largely ignored by the majority of carp
anglers, but, for those that are willing
to put in effort to find the fish, then
the rewards are there. Canal carp can
be fairly easy to catch once you have
found them, as they usually wont
have seen much pressure. Keep a bit
of bait going into an area where you
have found fish and you will catch.
spot. Find these hotspots and times,
and then you can hone it down to
short sessions. Canal carp can be
spooked easily so stealth and back
leads can help prevent them swim-
ming off out of reach. Mobile floater
fishing in the warmer months is very
effective, but waterfowl can make it
difficult.
The K and A canal contains a wide
range of carp, big and small, from
tatty propeller-damaged warriors
through many varied and stunningly
scaled mirrors, long, lean commons,
classic commons and of course some
magnificent full scaled gems. I have
actually caught the magnificent K
and A big fully scaled eight times in
just over twelve years, and its incred-
ible growth over that time can be
seen in the following list of captures:
19/3/02 at 20lb.
3/5/03 at 19lb.
23/10/04 at 25lb.
25/3/06 at 31lb.
21/5/10 at 38lb.
29/2/12 at 41lb.

20/6/14 at 47lb 2oz. n

sneaking in under the cover of dark- They can be very nomadic and often 16/8/13 at 46lb.
ness, but worst of all by eastern Euro- only feed for short periods in any one

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 Exclusive

TheWoodcarving
With Half aWorm
By Ben Dowers

60 FREE LINE
 The Woodcarving With Half a Worm Exclusive
W
hen I first
applied for a
ticket on Hor-
tons Church
Lake it was
fuelled by the
desire to pit my limited wits against
the last two remaining members of
the Famous A-Team: the wonderfully
repulsive Parrot and the unit that was
Shoulders. With them both being so
old I was well aware that their time
was limited before they would be off
to join their brethren in the great lake
in the sky, which of course meant my
time to potentially get my hands on
them was also limited. Though Shoul-
ders and the Parrot sat at the very top
of my list of desirables for their sheer
size and history they were certainly
not the best looking or most difficult
to catch, so alongside those two ulti-
mate targets were several others
almost equally desirable. Some were
other Longfield originals and others
were fish such as Dumpy, the Thorpe
Park Common, the Boxer and of
course the stunning Woodcarving
were all fish I dearly wished to catch.
Though I wasnt fortunate (or skilled)
Spike, my first Church Lake carp.
enough to capture either of my pri-
mary targets before their passing, I
was blessed by some of the venues
other special ones, one in particular
being the Woodcarving, a fish that
several years prior one carp magazine
had voted as the best looking carp in
the UK.
Id been fishing Wraysbury 1 and
the Yateley Car Park Lake for the sum-
mer into late autumn, managing an
average of two nights a week on each
and was looking forward to more of
the same next season. Unfortunately
my Horton application dropped
through the letterbox that winter
alongside my renewals for the Car
Park and Wraysbury 1. I say unfortu-
nately, but of course it was a letter I
h a d a p p l i e d f o r, w a s e x p e c t i n g
(though not so soon) and desired
greatly. The unfortunate bit was what
it would do to my bank account. Yate-
ley and Wraysbury 1 (which at the
time was on the coverall ticket) with a
few local tickets had taken my previ-
ous seasons tickets bill to well over
700 and adding a Horton ticket
would bump it up to well over a
grand. Hmm, could I justify that? I
was working at a Morrisons super-
market as a fishmonger with some
nice carpy shifts, which, although it
provided sufficient cash, didnt leave
much extra, and a Horton ticket was
sufficiently extra to make things
much less luxurious!
It wasnt only financial issues
either: I had enough on my plate
already with two head-bangers, and
Horton making it three could poten-
tially cause some significant psycho-
logical issues. However, because I
already had them by the bucketload,
the main consideration for me was
that should I decide to refuse it, new
rules meant that Id be put back on
the bottom of what was now appar-
ently a seven-year waiting list, and
just like the Yateley and Wraysbury
originals, I doubted that the Horton
ones had that sort of time left. Id
fallen in love with Wraysbury 1, and
while I couldnt honestly say the
same about the Car Park (at the time),
I was more than keen to hold another
of its fish, a bigger, older one. So I did-
nt really want to lose any time there,
though the chance for a go at Shoul-
ders soon persuaded me to make the
FREE LINE 61
 Exclusive The Woodcarving With Half a Worm

sacrifice. I could have brought a to my favourite tried and tested mix. myself into a reasonable area. After
spring ticket for Wraysbury and fished Eventually I decided that I would signing in, a quick brew and a chat in
it before the Yateley and Horton sea- blame that on the massive eel popula- the lodge (which revealed the good
sons started (later that would become tion and assumed that a lot of the news that the carp had gotten their
my plan) but realistically I needed to fizzing over my baited patches was spawning out of the way), I went
spend that time working and saving due to those slim and slimy sods. mooching round the lake.
money by fishing more locally, on the Because of that, and the fact that the When I reached Dog Bay I discov-
Snake Pit. Screw it, do it and worry vast majority of anglers were using ered a large percentage of the stock
about it later I thought and sent them boilies, I had opted for something dif- milling around, but there are only half
all off with the big stack of necessary ferent and had mainly been using a dozen swims in the bay, and the
cheques, then went to work begging sweetcorn. In my previous seasons it majority were unsurprisingly taken.
for extra shifts through the winter and had produced well for me, and the fact However, by a stroke of luck the
spring. that it was such cheap bait certainly Shoulders swim had just become
Id taken my first Church Lake cap- suited my carp angling addiction vacant. This swim is almost on the
ture within my first ten nights, a 26lb induced (dire) financial status win entrance of the bay and controls a
4oz common called Spike on sweet- win! very interesting piece of water, espe-
corn from the Spindly Tree swim. With The lake had done its usual early cially so with several large carp in it.
that being a daylight capture Id also season trick of throwing up some At the time there was a strip of mainly
been fortunate with a classic Horton impressive hits to the lucky anglers ribbon (ish) weed running along the
photo a cracking common and the who had managed to secure swims whole margin, from around a yard to
Church in the background. After that commanding the shallow areas. Leav- maybe ten yards out. Straight out and
I felt sweetcorn was worth its place ing the rest (me included) to play in line with the Church spire (help-
on at least one of my two rods at all catch up for the remainder of the year. fully) at about twenty yards range
times, however it was a while (I forget Fortunately, it had quietened down a there was/is a submerged snag, and
how many nights) before I received bit from the chaos of the start, and the to the right is a small bay, formed by
my second capture. fish were now once more happily the adjacent (point like) Lookout
Having been so pleasantly sur- using the lakes margins. When I swim, and along with the ribbon
prised by my success at Wraysbury 1, arrived there were more cars in the weed, there is a nice overhanging wil-
I was also surprised that I was doing car park than Id have liked, but it was low tree, which finishes off a very
significantly more nights to a capture looking a bit more promising, and I carpy looking part of the lake. Nick
at Horton. The far higher stock den- felt I ought to be able to at least get Helleur had just moved out of the
sity in Horton compared to Wraysbury
had incorrectly led me to believe that
bites would be easier to come by, or at
least more frequent. In hindsight I
suppose I really should have seen it
coming, as those Church Lake carp
were much more pressured than the
Wraysbury 1 fish. With Wraysbury it
seemed that so long as I refused to set
up until Id seen a sign I would have a
good chance, especially as the boat
allowed me to almost guarantee that
my rig and baits presentation and
positioning was effective. At Horton,
even though I still attempted to not
set up unless I was confident in my
position, beyond that (unless fishing
the extreme margins) much more was
l e f t t o c h a n c e, a n d c l e a r l y m y
approach required plenty of fine-tun-
ing for Horton.
It was around a month or so into
my third season, and despite having
done nearly ten nights I was still
chasing my first fish of the season.
My time on the Horton syndicate was
before I had been offered and
accepted a consultancy deal with
Sticky. At the time I was rolling my
own bait (specials?) from my own
mixes, however for some reason the
Horton carp werent responding well Shoulders swim.

62 FREE LINE
VILLEREALC A R P F I S H E RY

Martin and Rob would like to welcome you to Villereal Carp Fishery which gets its
name from its location just outside the picturesque bastide town of Villereal, in the
heart of sunny south-western France. The 7-acre lake is a true hidden treasure
with a beautiful stock of carp into the mid-sixties. Up to six anglers can be
accommodated on a choice of nine swims, of which four are doubles and one
being suitable for differently-abled anglers.
The lake is fully private and secure, with a driveable path allowing you to
load/unload your tackle on each swim.
The average depth of the lake is 5-7ft Carp to over 60lb
and whilst most of the bottom is quite Food packages delivered to
uniform, you can find a variety of drop offs, your swim
plateaus and soft mud/clay areas which are On-site bait
hot spots for the carp. There are features in
Optional accommodation
every swim including three small lily beds
and a fallen tree trunk. (two cabins sleeping up to
There is one area of bankside which is four people in each)
out of bounds to fish from but can be fished A fly & pick-up option with
up to. A couple of poaching spots are also full tackle hire
being created for those who may want to Full use of the adjacent
use their stalking skills. Villereal carp lake campsites facilities which
had been a private fishing lake up until include a swimming pool,
recently with an already healthy stock of tennis courts, bar and
very decent carp. restaurant.
In 2014 another several 20-30lb carp
were introduced and also two carp at over
50lb. One of these carp is now over 60lb and there are several 50lb fish.
On an average week you can expect to see plenty of mid-high twenties, a
good selection of 30lb and 40lb carp fish and perhaps even a 50 or 60lber.
In May 2017 this year 6 anglers caught over 50 carp including the 60lber
(twice), 2 x 50s and numerous others between 20lb and 49lb.
Thanks to the lakes position, none of these facilities impact on the privacy and
tranquility of the water or interfere with the angling.
If you dont fancy the drive from the ports, the lake is located just half an hour
from Bergerac airport and the venue offers a FREE transfer service. With flights to
and from the UK, return flights can be purchased from as little
as 50.

Please book VILLEREAL CARP FISHERY through

ANGLING LINES - www.anglinglines.com/Villereal
See us on Facebook search Villereal Carp Fishery
 Exclusive The Woodcarving With Half a Worm

swim fishless, so although it looked donk confirming it as very fishable eels and small perch Id not only be
promising I certainly wasnt counting indeed. Unfortunately as I was fishing for carp, though I still thought
my chickens. For my first night I retrieving my float I noticed a carp a more selective bait could be the
decided to fish one rod either side of cruise in under the Willow and follow final straw. I attached a new rig (20lb
the weed, as the fish were obviously it into the edge. Idiot, I thought to X-line no-knotted to a Mugga with a
patrolling through it. It looked good, myself, sure Id blown the chance. piece of silicone to form a line-aligner)
and I was half expecting some action, With that fish having obviously with half a worm on the hook and
but I awoke in the morning still fish- noticed my less than subtle behaviour scooped it out, dropping it under the
less, despite some very savage liners and so, likely informed its compan- willow with a small handful of
(?) and several fish lumping out at no ions, I felt that a boilie or corn hook- chopped worms as loose feed.
more than ten yards range. They bait would be treated with very I sat there for a while hoping that
were very obviously still about, and I understandable suspicion. Luckily I they would return, but eventually I
clearly needed a new plan. had with me a big tub of dendrobae- decided that Id be better off fishing
Having seen a few fish show to my nas, which I thought a much more the spot from the Shoulders swim so
right in the little bay, I nipped round likely bait for rescuing such a sce- lifted the rig out and set about getting
and shinned a few feet up the willow nario. Although the willow was only it under the willow, via the two-rod
for a gander. I hadnt been there for around ten yards to my right and well trick. This went relatively smoothly,
long before I spied a short, fat stockie within my water, due to its trailing and soon I had the rig scooped (via
of around 30lbs sneak under the Wil- branches drooping down to the sur- my faithful old super scooper) into
low, and within the next few minutes face it was an impossible cast to get place with another handful of
it was followed by several more. Now underneath it, so I reeled in both my chopped worms around it and a little
this was obviously a chance, but rods and took one stalking. Id settled back lead finishing off the trap. Being
whilst fishing Wraysbury 1 through on the worms as bait, but I was a little further away from the spot meant I
that spring Id seen a few bright yel- worried that due to the large head of could relax a little and put the kettle
low spots that looked like rock hard
clean areas from the boat, though
dropping a lead onto them revealed
them to be horribly slimy. Bait would
disappear into the gunge, and so they
were nowhere near as appealing as
theyd originally seemed. As I hadnt
actually seen a fish drop down onto
the spot under the Willow, I was a lit-
tle worried that the faint yellow glow
I could see may have been a similar
sludge.
Wanting to be certain I grabbed my
marker rod, and after waiting until I
was convinced that there were no fish
in the area, I leant out and lowered
my lead and float from the rod tip onto
the spot with the resulting reassuring

(Top left), Dendras, just in case!

(Top right) Worm rig.
(Right) Cyclops and Mouse brought
the luck.

64 FREE LINE
 The Woodcarving With Half a Worm Exclusive

on without fear of spooking the fish,

at least any more than I had already.
With carp still cruising along the mar-
ginal weed I was finding it very diffi-
cult to stay in my swim and kept nip-
ping the few yards round to the wil-
low for a look every fifteen minutes or
so, eventually seeing a fish cruise
over my bait. Fortunately another
member soon arrived along with
Cyclops and his dog Mouse, which
took my mind off the situation a little.
We sat there chatting and enjoying a
brew on the warm summer day whilst
I was hoping my right hand rod tip
would hoop round at any minute.
After a while I began thinking that
my hookbait must have been pinched
by a perch, but having already caused
way more disturbance than necessary
I was unwilling to check it yet. About
an hour and a half after getting my rig
in position word spread round the my swim appearing far more antiso- hooped round. I jumped off my bed
lake that Shoulders had been banked cial than I am. Little did we know it at chair and nipped the few yards down
from Weedy Bay, and while I really the time, but that was to be Shoul- the slope to my rods, grabbed the
wanted to go and see the beast, I ders last ever capture despite not lively one and leant into (hopefully)
wanted to catch my own even more dying for several more months. my first of the season.
so, so I stayed put. Cyclops took Cyclops returned with Mouse and It kited out from under the willow
Mouse for a look at one of Hortons soon, accompanied by a short screech into the weed, and after a few half-
(and the UKs) finest whilst I stayed in from the alarm, my right hand tip hearted lunges, rose up in the water,

Speechless Well, almost!

FREE LINE 65
 Exclusive The Woodcarving With Half a Worm
pretty much stranding itself on some
ribbon weed. It lay there unmoving,
displaying its whole flank, a long, dark
fish with a very obvious linear scale
pattern. I started shaking, clearly
attached to a Horton jewel, and at the
time one of only four proper linears in
there. Fortunately, it pretty much gave
up then, allowing me to lead it to the
net, almost sliding along the surface.
By the time Cyclops lifted the net
around it we knew exactly what it
was, and my shakes reached a whole
new level!
I left Cyclops guarding the fish and
set about organising the necessary
equipment. Once I was ready, I cut
my line, rolled the net down, checked
its pecs were flush and carefully lifted
it out, up the slope and onto the mat.
As I said before, we knew what it was,
but I still couldnt quite believe my
luck and just had to ask, That is def-
initely the Woodcarving, isnt it? The
answer of course was Yes, and I did-
nt wake up! Wow, Id spent hours
looking at pictures of it, imagining
34lb 2oz.
66 FREE LINE
what it would be like to hold it for the
camera, and here it was, looking even
better in the flesh with the summer
sun glinting off of its mahogany flanks
and golden scales. Apart from one
dropped scale, due to (I imagine)
spawning, it was mint and I was
understandably buzzing. Yup thatll
do nicely for my first of the season; in
fact thatll do as my only one of the
season, I thought, with just that one
fish easily justifying my ticket money!
I unhooked it, then lifted it for the
photos and was about to return it
when another member, Graham,
arrived asking what it weighed. I
realised Id totally forgotten to weigh
it. If ever there was one that didnt
need a number it was this one, but
vainly I did, and it weighed an utterly
irrelevant though pleasing 34lb 2oz.
We carried it down the slope, still in
the mat and lowered it back into the
lake. I knelt on the platform in awe as
it lay there, shining almost the full
spectrum in the sun. I slid it off the
mat and held it steady until it kicked
and cruised off, disappearing into the
sanctuary of the weed and beyond.
As usual the photos, though certainly
good enough, dont come close to the
real thing, and Im still yet to see a
photo that truly does it justice! Within
an hour the lake had put big smiles on
two faces, and it was definitely party
time!
I spent another night in the swim
despite the fact that it looked pretty
empty. I reeled in in the morning and
wasnt at all surprised to find that
something had pinched my worm
hookbait overnight. I packed up and
left more than happy, itching to return
from the minute Id locked the gates
behind me. As it transpired that was
my only capture from underneath that
willow, although I did have at least
another couple of chances there, even
once watching a thirty-pounder
shake my lead off the clip before
shedding the hook, crafty git! Happy
daze indeed!
photos and the giggles! n
RIP Cyclops Thanks for the beers,
 After an impromptu fishing
day session in Telford where
Samantha caught her first carp
she has been hooked ever
since. She has spent the past
15 years travelling around
England and many other
destinations around the world
looking for her next catch.
a Co llins Ratcliffe Samantha has been fortunate
th
d ho o k ba its by Saman in the past to be sponsored by
Hand-rolle a variety of angling
companies providing her with
many great opportunities.
From pop-ups, wafters, sinkers to glugs. Throughout her fishing career
Samantha has enjoyed testing
Only the best ingredients go into our bait. out many of her own bait
creations and enjoys
Carpballs is a trendsettingFishing Bait shop, offering our researching new colour and
first-rate products to anglers from anywhere in the world. flavour combinations.
Were a business made up of innovators and forward- Samantha gets huge
satisfaction in creating bait
thinkers, with the driveto constantly update and create and helping other anglers
new and exciting baits that carp cant resist! catch their desired fish.

Tel: 01209 831941

Email: info@carpballs.co.uk

www.carpballs.co.uk
or search for us on Facebook
 Off The Beaten Track

Urban
Carping
By Lewis Errington

68 FREE LINE
 Urban Carping Off The Beaten Track

I
was just trying to take in
everything that had just hap-
pened. I was then trying to
work out what the hell was
going on, as the police were
emptying all the contents of
my heavily loaded car on to the road-
side. After not finding what they were
hoping or thinking they was going to
find, and a discussion along the lines
of, I didnt know it was private prop-
erty, officer, we were quickly on our
way. Moments before I had just
hooked and landed something, which
to most would just be a 23lb common,
but it was just the location and the
fact that I was feeding the fish, along
with mullet, before dropping a chod
on the spot that made it a bit special. had been baiting it every day for the
The next day I caught up with one last month and never fished it. I
of the locals, Gio, who had fished the wasnt too keen on the idea at first,
area since he was a boy and now only but as you can imagine Simon and I
occasionally fished it for an hour here did not take too much persuading and
or there between his other fishing. He arranged to meet him there later that
insisted that I fish a spot behind his evening.
parents house. He had been trying to As planned we met behind his par-
get his dad into fishing and said he ents house and had a good chat with

FREE LINE 69
 Off The Beaten Track Urban Carping

70 FREE LINE
We specialise in fishing holidays in France. If you are looking for a
Carp fishing holiday in France and getting your Carp fishing put to the
ultimate test then our Carp fishing lakes in France are exactly what
you are looking for. We have some great Carp fishing lakes in
France and Portugal. If you are thinking of Carp fishing in France
or Portugal then give Rob Watts a call.

7 Drayton Wood Road, Hellesdon, Norwich NR6 5BX

Tel: +44(0) 1603 415984 Mob: +44(0) 7717837879 www.carpfishingtrips.co.uk email: rob@carpfishingtrips.co.uk
 Off The Beaten Track Urban Carping

72 FREE LINE

Gio and his dad before setting up. We
set up around 50 yards apart and
spread four rods along the near and
far margin. Ten minutes later I had a
bream on the far margin rod not
Urban Carping Off The Beaten Track
really what I was after. I redid the rods
and had a couple of beers. Around
4am just before first light, I had a sav-
age take on my right hand rod, which
before I got there had wiped all of our
other rods to the left causing carnage,
and which Simon somehow managed
to sleep through. After a powerful
runaround the fish was in the net. I
hadnt quite realised what I had
landed until it was fully light, but I
knew it was a better one from the
fight.
We packed everything away that
wasnt needed for photos and weigh-
ing. We lifted the fish from the water
and scrambled up the back to lay it on
the mat. In the folds was by far the
best looking common Id ever had in
my net. Once the photos were done,
we were on our way back without a
chance to really think about what I
had just caught. After making phone
call and thanking them for letting me
fish the spot and explaining what I
had caught, I sent a few photos over
to see if he recognised it. He didnt,
which made the capture even more
special, and who knows where the
fish had come from and whether it
FREE LINE 73
 Off The Beaten Track Urban Carping
had ever been caught before or even
since? I was desperate to get back so
arranged another trip.
A few months later another friend,
Harvey, and I had a try. We discussed
an action plan for when we arrived.
As we had four days, and we would
pick four spots, bait them twice a day
and fish a different one each night.
The first night we arrived late and
74 FREE LINE
decided on an area that had a motor-
way passing over the top. We were
fishing either side of the bridge, now
nicknamed Suicide Bridge due to Har-
vey being cut off on the take a few
times in those four days. I had a
phone call a few hours later from Harv
saying he had one, only a small com-
mon, but dark and covered it a
twisted scale pattern. The wind was
mega and the rain was lashing down,
so he retained it for a few hours and
waited for first light. I drifted off and
woke up to Harvey pacing towards
me. Have you got one? He replied
with a small headshake and said,
Police. I was wide awake instantly
due to the million candle powered
torch I had in my face. Yet again they
were looking over my rods. We both
had licenses. They took our addresses
and told us to reel in and be gone by
first light. We decided we would keep
a low profile and fish nowhere near
any main roads and so on.
Apart from that the trip was hard
going with big winds and heavy rain
nonstop. I had to park the car on the
back of the brolly to stop it taking off,
but I was rewarded on the last day
with a clean mid-double common.
The pleasures of urban carping, but
ning uncaught carp. n
its worth all the aggro for some stun-
ONE MAN ONE BAIT

www.CherryCarp.com
 Off The Beaten Track
Exclusive

MyWinter
Success
By Earl Knights

76 FREE LINE
 My Winter Success Off The Beaten Track

F
irst things first: a big activities, and I could see a few fish in control, but how wrong was I? It
thanks to Rob for sitting under the tree on the corner of decided to take a long run along side
allowing me to tell my island, one being the Long Common. the island and snag me up, and I had
story, and a big thanks As soon as the fish moved I managed no choice but to go out in the boat to
t o M a r c Tw a i t e to get a rig in place. It didnt take to free it. Once I was out in the boat and
@pukkasquirrelbaits.c long for them to return, and I could near the snag I realised the fish had
o.uk. I was lucky enough to get a see the Long Common disappear done me. I was gutted, but pleased
ticket for a very special low stocked down, then suddenly my line pulled that it was safe, and it will be caught
private syndicate. My first season did- tight, so I was quick in grabbing the another day.
nt go as well as I had planned but rod to start the battle. I thought I was Once I had got my rig back, I sat in
was a big learning curve for my next
season. The lake has a long close sea-
son so making the best of it while it
was open was very important to me.
Due to having a family, my time on
the bank is only ever short
overnighters, which made it even
harder.
My first season I did around 25
nights for one lost fish. That day will
never leave my memory. I was fishing
the far end of the lake, as I knew it
was an area where the carp like to sit
bathing in the sun close to the snags
on the island. Without seeing any
signs of fish I thought I would take a
look around the lake, and found them
straight away at the other end. I sat
there for an hour just watching their Sweet Candy SCS4 Pukka Squirrel Baits.

King of the pond at 36lb 1oz.

FREE LINE 77
 Off The Beaten Track My Winter Success

the boat thinking that was my last

chance, as it was coming to the end of
season. I knew then that next season
I had to do something different. I
started to think what had I done
wrong that season, and the one thing
that kept popping up in my head was
bait. I had never really been a one cer-
tain bait person, as I had always liked
to keep trying something different. I
decided to do some research on bait
and came across Pukka Squirrel Baits.
I was impressed with what I read and
could see by the photos that the bait
has caught some impressive fish, so
my mind was made up. I gave Marc a
quick call and soon had some bait on
order. I wasnt disappointed either
once I received it! I went for the
Sweet Candy, as its record for winter
captures was certainly a winner, but
then again the SS4 is still a good win-
ter bait, but I fancied the sweet bird
food. i t y, a n d o n l y o n e f i s h h a d b e e n that moment I really knew I had to
The new season started, and I really caught. It was now late in the year, as start putting in a lot of effort in so I
wanted to give it my all. Unfortu- the season on the lake runs from Sep- could gain as much
nately I missed the first two weeks, tember to April. I found out from other knowledge as possible. It was now
but I kept my ears open to any activ- members that no one was really going late November, and Id been walking
to be fishing it through the winter, it as much as possible, which meant I
(Top) Water shot. which meant that I was more than was well in touch with the place, and
(Below) Half Lin at 30lb 6oz. likely to have the lake to myself. From I soon learned where the fish were

78 FREE LINE
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 Off The Beaten Track My Winter Success
32lb uncaught for nearly four years.
likely to be. I decided to start baiting
two areas where I could see fish. I
was baiting small amounts but as
often as I could. With it being low
stocked, I didnt want, or couldnt
afford, to hammer kilos in at time and
having it sit there uneaten.
Time was passing quickly and still
no fish were caught. The days and
nights were getting cold, and having
a family, I was only able to fish Sun-
day afternoon through to Monday
morning at 7am then straight off to
Sweet candy and stick mix which I used to feed them.
80 FREE LINE
work. It was hard work, but I knew I
couldnt give up. The nights were
very cold. I knew it wouldnt be long
till the lake would freeze, but I knew I
had to change something to catch
these fish, as the Sunday nights
werent working. My next trip down
was going to be a Saturday night,
which meant that I could fish Sunday
morning as well. This is where it
started to all come together.
I was up at first light on a January
Sunday morning looking to see if I
could see any signs of fish. It was a
freezing morning; the lake had been
frozen all week before, but luckily it
had thawed for a few days. The sun
was shining, and it was one of those
perfect winter days, then out of the
blue one of my rods let out a bleep,
and before I knew it, it was screaming
at me. I ran to the rod, and after a slow
and calm battle I had a very special
carp in the bottom of my net. It was
the fish that held the lake record The
King Of The Pond. I couldnt believe

my luck the first catch and biggest
fish. Once a phone call was made we
soon had it weighed at 36lb 1oz, a
new PB and my first British 30. I was
buzzing for this to be happening,
especially in winter and one of the
hardest times on this lake to catch
these special fish.
We had another cold spell, and the
lake was frozen for nearly two weeks
Sweet Candy SCS4 Pukka Squirrel Baits.
The long common at 29lb.
My Winter Success Off The Beaten Track
into February. I was gagging to get
back on there. I kept my eye on the
weather, and I could see there was a
spell of perfect weather arriving.
Luckily enough we were quiet at
work, so I managed to knock off early.
I thought I would go and spend a few
hours fishing. As I was walking to the
area I had been fishing, I saw a fish
top. I soon got the rods sorted and
cast on the spots with a SCS4 pop-up
soaked in the Secret Squirrel juice. I
sat there watching for more signs,
then bang, another one showed itself.
I then knew they were feeding on the
baited spot. It wasnt long before I
was attached to an angry carp. This
time the carp gave me a good run
about, but I soon got it in the net.
While the fish was resting in the
net, I got a fresh rig sorted and back
on the spot with a good scattering of
the Sweet Candy. I was hoping if any
other carp were in the area they
would soon find it. I was very sur-
prised when I looked into the net and
could see a lovely scaly mirror. This
one weighed in at 30lb 6oz and was
known as Half Lin. I was over the
moon with another winter 30. Once I
had calmed down I got the kettle on
and made a brew but didnt get time
to finish it, as the same rod was away
again. This time the fish didnt really
give much of a fight, and I half won-
dered what I was attached to, but I
could soon see it was another lump in
the bottom of my net. I didnt know
which fish this was at first, but I was
very happy with another mirror
weighing in at 32lb. Once the self-
FREE LINE 81
 Off The Beaten Track My Winter Success

Wilbys Fish at 33lb 4oz.

takes were taken and the rain had
started, I sat under my brolly thinking
of what had just happened. I really
couldnt believe it three 30s on the
bounce! I had set myself a target of
catching a winter 30, but now I had
three! It was then time to pack up and
head home with a big smile on my
face. My next two visits were quiet
but they were the cursed Sunday
nights!
We were now in March, and the
temperature was still cold. I knew I
had to keep the bait going in little and
often, and they would still be up for a
feed. I had no choice but to fish a Sun-
day night, but something felt different
this time. I knew I had to break the
curse. I just about got the rods out
before it got to dark, and I soon had
my home set up for the night and
cooked my tea. The temperature
really dropped, and I could see the
26lb mirror.
grass turning white, so I thought I had
better get my head down and keep was stuck to the rod! This carp really solid. My heart stopped, but thoughts
warm. wasnt happy and took a nice long were running through my mind. I kept
I was awoken by my receiver run. I didnt have much choice but to the pressure on, but it wouldnt
screaming in my ear, and once I had let it have some line, but then alarm budge. I decided to give it some more
got the rod in my hand I then realised bells rang in my head. I had felt this line, and within a few seconds it was
how cold it really was, as my hand before, and then suddenly it went clicking line off the spool, so I lifted

82 FREE LINE
 My Winter Success Off The Beaten Track

the rod but could feel that horrible some tea out, I got a bleep. I looked at winter success story as much as I did
grating feeling. The next thing I could the rod and could see the line pulling writing it. Tight lines, and dont forget
hear was splashing against the island, tight. I soon had the rod in my hand, pukkasquirrelbaits.co.uk can change
and then I realised it had taken me pulling it away from any snags on the your fishing. Ssssshhhhh

under the bushes that hang off the
island. I tried everything to free it, but
it wouldnt move. There was only one
thing the boat. I then thought what
happened last time! This time would
different, and after a lot of spinning
around in circles in the dark I could
see the fish. Straight away I knew it
was the Long Common. I thought
you are not getting away this time! I
managed to get the net under it, so I
bit my line and the fish was safely in
the net. Oh, and how pleased was I?
Once back on dry land the weighing
and self-takes were done, and I was
then happy to see it swim freely away.
That was the only fish of that night. I
was gutted to pack up so early but
pleased I had broken the Sunday
night curse.
I was more than happy to be
returning the next Sunday full of con-
fidence. This time I managed to get
up just after dinner and knew where
to go. The rods were all set up ready.
Just as I was thinking about sorting
Knights. n
island. Within a few minutes it was Thanks for reading my story, Earl
rolling over the net what a feeling! I
let it rest in the net while I got things
sorted and it was another mirror, this
time 26lb dead on. How happy was I?
I really knew all the hard work I had
put in over the last few months was
really starting to pay off. Id had to
miss the next week again, but I had
planned to do my first 48-hour session
the following weekend. Things didnt
go to plan, as I decided it would be a
good idea to put a kitchen knife
through my finger. This meant a trip
to A&E, and then next day on the
operating table having my tendons
and nerves stitched back together. I
really cannot explain how sick I felt
something I had worked so hard for
just gone. Being stuck in a splint for
eight weeks meant that for my safety,
and the fishs safety, I was unable to
fish. I just had to sit at home thinking
what if, but hey, thats life. Just
remember, leave the kitchen stuff to
women! I hope you have enjoyed my Sweet Candy SCS4 Pukka Squirrel Baits.

G O W I B A I T B O A T C O M P E T I T I O N
Gowi Bait Boats have put up a fantastic boat as
a prize this month for one of our readers!!
Worth 700 the GOWI
BOATMAN CL1 is a state of
the art remote control boat!
www.gowibaitboats.co.uk
Answer the simple question:
This fantastic prize boasts: Heres the spec:
What species of fish is 1. ABS Injection Tough Molded Shell Boatman Model:CL1
Colours Pearl Black, Sky Blue
featured on the 2. Optional Colors Dimensions 688mm X 477mm X 293mm
GOWI T shirt? 3. Stylish Shape Net Weight 7Kg
4. One-hand Handling Remote Controller Hopper Capacity 2.5Kg
a) Minnow 5. Patented Protected Hopper
Power 2x6.4V/10AH or 2*20AH (Removable Lithium Batteries)
Run Time 1.5hrs-2.5hrs (10AH) 2.5hr-5hrs (20AH)
b) Marlin 6. External Charging Battery Pre-set Speed Options 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 100%
c) Mirror Carp 7. Hard Sided Carrying Case Max Speed 80 metres/minute
8. 12 Months UK Based Parts and Labour Warranty Range Circa 400 metres
Working Frequency 433MHZ
Closing date 1st November 2017 9. Prize Includes Delivery Charging Time 5hrs (10AH Battery) 10hrs (20AH Battery)
10. Carry case supplied as standard. Tailored Hard Padded

Send your answer on a postcard or the back of a sealed envelope, making sure that you include a contact
telephone number for the courier company (important) and post to:
Gowi Bait Boat Competition, Bountyhunter Publications, 44 Herbs End, Cove, Hants GU14 9YD
or email bigcarpmagazine@hotmail.com or text to 07768731425

Mark Tag Taggart is at Olivemead Lake for a four-day session and has already
smashed his PB with this 34lb 2oz carp. He has had three catches up to now
and still has plenty of time to try to get them at 40lb-plus. All fish caught on the
multi rig using Size 6 Curve hook and Milky Amino from Northern Baits. The first
carp was 20lb 6oz, the second 21lb 4oz and the final one up to now is the new
PB.
David Hurman went to Cobble Acre Lakes for a 60-hour session. He was fishing
a lake called Marios, and he fished tight to a set of lily pads next to the island.
He approached the water by baiting little and often with some Mainline Cell
15mm bottom baits. The rig was blowback style using our Wide Gape SPT
hooks with a white pop-up corn topper. He caught five carp and one catfish.
The biggest was a 26lb 13oz carp known as No Anal.
Jon Mills had a recent session on Merrington Fishery in Shropshire where he
spent 48 hours trying to catch one of the big girls. Jon fished towards the island
putting out a light scattering of boilies and fished with a small PVA bag of
crushed boilie and pellet. This resulted in a lovely looking 21lb 4oz carp using
Size 6Curve Shank hook and Incredible Baits ID3.
CATCH REPORTS
Aaron Cameron went to Wyreside Lakes for 72 hours on Sunny 2, peg 18. It was
his first time fishing this lake, and it was a wet and windy few days. He was fish-
ing a gravel bottom 11 wraps out over a bed of Hybrid boilies mixed with chili
hemp/maize/and boilie crumb. He had four takes, landing all four fish, the first
being a mirror at 17lb, second being another mirror at 12lb, third fish was by far
the best fish, a long dark gold common at 25lb 1oz and a new PB. He was using
a Size 6 Crank T Offset Hook inside PVA solid bag.
Richard Bullen went back to Brooms Cross Fishery a few weeks after landing
Sue at 28lb. He has now bettered that yet again three sessions in a row with
this beauty, Jimmy, a new PB of 28lb 7oz, caught on a D-Rig with Size 6 Wide
Gape and CC Moore Wafter. Richard is going back again to try to get his first
30lber.
Billy Egginton says: I went down to a local club water on the 06/09/17 for a 44-
hour session. After spending the first 24 hours fishless, I decided a rethink was
needed. The right hand rod was moved to an area in between two weed beds
on a patch of silt. I had seen fish amongst the weed the previous day so figured
there was a chance they were using the gap between. After an hour or so, I
received a slow take on that rod, which resulted in a bream. I flicked the rod
back out the 30 yards and topped up the spot with about four handfuls of
boilies. Less than an hour later the rod was away again, this time with a scaly
mirror at 22lb 4oz using a Ronnie rig and Natures Baits Scud.
www.northernbanx.co.uk
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FREE LINE 85
www.enterprisetackle.co.uk
 Exclusive

Technical Rig
Design
Snag Fishing Rigs by George Loughlin

I
n my last piece, I showed over, just what is the safest way of ent backbone to pull your fish clear.
you one of my preferred rigs tackling snag fishing for those cun- Being a devout follower of the Cen-
for tackling fishing with ning cyprinids? Well there are several tury brand since I started carp fishing
pop-up baits, and in this considerations for your choice of 20 years ago, my personal choice
piece I am going to be look- tackle; firstly, the old carbon will need would be for one of their latest NCS
ing at rigs and safe setups I to be up to the job, and my preference range, which meets the previously
use when fishing around the environs is for a rod that will have the flexibility mentioned criteria admirably, and I'm
of snags or obstacles. Although we to absorb powerful lunges in a hit and more than happy to use my 3.5lb ver-
are aiming to catch our intended hold situation, but still have the inher- sions. Your next major concern is your
quarry, we still have duty of care to
ensure the carp do not come to harm
because of our yearning for a PB or
indeed a particular fish. Carp just love
a snag, whether it be for some quiet
time away from the constant barrage
of leads in the open water, or simply
because they like to bask there in
what they see as sanctuary, you can
bet that where there are snags, there
are carp. With this thought in mind,
when fishing in the proximity of sub-
surface obstacles, initially you need to
try to assess the extent of their spread
and make a mental note of their
severity, i.e. how dense the branches
are and how thick they are. This will
serve a few purposes, but primarily
you can weigh up the chances of
landing a fish safely, extracting a fish
should it get caught up in the snag,
and what sort of rig and lead setup to
use to combat all these factors in a
responsible manner.
Something we must remember is
the fact that it is not a fish at all costs,
and we should have enough respect
for our quarry to fish responsibly. By
this I mean that although the fish may
well be in the depths of the snags, it
doesn't mean that you have to
deposit your rig in the thick of it as
well. The results of such foolhardy
actions can result in major fish dam-
age or ultimately tethering due to
snapped line, which is hardly very
sporting. So with my moral ramblings

(Above right) The essential

components for my definitive snag
rig.
(Right) As long as they are a minimum
of 25lb breaking strain they are
suitable.

86 FREE LINE

(Top left) There is plenty of good
leadcore on the market that is ideal
for the job.
(Middle left) The top 10 snag hook hall
of fame.
(Bottom left) Here is how some of the
sharp end look unleashed.
(Top right) One of the best snag
leaders you can use simply
awesome.
(Middle right) Kryston Snakebite
Gold, as good as it gets when the
going gets tough.
(Bottom right) Gamakatsu G Point
Super Strong Hooks, the ultimate
snag hook?
Technical Rig Design Exclusive
choice of line, which must withstand
the punishing extremes of pressure
and have excellent abrasion resist-
ance if you want to stand any chance
of landing your prize. It is a personal
thing but I have found GR60 and
Krystonite to have been very reliable,
as has Sufix Synergy, even if it has got
the feel of towrope. Another tool in
the arsenal for tackling snags is the
use of a braided snag leader. These
are the cause of some controversy in
certain circles, but like leadcore, as
long as you are proficient in its use,
there really isn't any cause for con-
cern, and in my humble opinion, you
are minimizing the chances of failure
by their use, and your chances of a
successful extraction are greatly
increased. Products such as Kryston
Quicksilver and Fox Armadillo were
invented for this purpose, and they
are both superb at their job, but I have
a slight preference for the Quicksilver
as its coating further enhances its
anti-abrasion properties.
As we head up to the business end,
your next consideration should be
FREE LINE 87
 Exclusive Technical Rig Design
(Below left) Add two Thinking
Anglers beads and Fox Teflon Pear
ring to the hook so it looks like this.
(Middle left) Take 12in of the booklink
and strip back 4in of the coating and
form an overhand loop near the
coating.
(Bottom left) Form another loop about
10mm long and pass the tag end back
through the original loop.
(Top right) Pass the tag end round the
hooklink four times.
(Middle right) Then pass the tag end
back through the original loop and
lubricate the whole knot with saliva.
(Bottom right) Take a Fox tension bar
or similar and pull the knot tight with
a slow and even motion.
88 FREE LINE
that of a safe lead setup, and by that I
mean one that will freely eject the
lead upon a take. At the most basic
level, you could use one of the many
safety clips on the market, my prefer-
ence for those being the variety that
pin the swivel into the clip. The next
type of lead setup I would advocate
the use of is an inline arrangement,
which has the lead secured to the
outer part of the leadcore by utilizing
the tail rubber and wedging the lead-
core at the front of the lead. Upon a
strike, the swivel pulls free of the lead
and the back part of the lead drops
away from the tail rubber, leaving you
in direct contact with the fish. Having
the lead removed from the equation
totally alleviates a major cause of
tethering should the unthinkable hap-
pen and you have a line failure. I real-
ize that this is still not ideal, but a
carp is rather adept at getting rid of
hooklinks and although it would still
be trailing leadcore and possibly a
snag leader, without the lead, the
chances of a fish becoming tethered
are significantly reduced. I am aware
that there are very mixed views on
the subject of what is safe and what
isn't, but this is merely my humble
take on the subject, and you can draw

(Top left) The final improved loop
knot should look like this then trim
the tag end.
(Middle left) Pass the loop through the
eye of the hook and pass the other end
of the hooklink through the new loop.
(Bottom left) Lubricate and pull the
loop tight on the eye of the book and
you should have a connection like
this.
(Top right) Place some shrink tube on
the hook and trim it so it covers to the
end of the loop knot.
(Middle right) Heat the shrink tube
and form a curve to look like this.
(Bottom right) Attach the bait like
this, using bait floss or fine braid such
as Silkwork.
Technical Rig Design Exclusive
your own conclusions and modify
your angling setup to suit.
Aside from the points already men-
tioned, there are another couple of
points worthy of a mention regarding
specific protocols to follow when
snag fishing. Firstly, when setting up
the rods, I generally like to have them
pointing directly at the snag because
this reduces the amount of line that
can be taken when you get a bite. The
clutch should be tightened down, or if
using Baitrunner type reels, that facil-
ity shouldn't be engaged because you
don't want to give the fish an inch
more line than you have to. The idea
is to draw them out of the snag and
keep them out, so this is where the hit
and hold aspect of the battle comes
into play. If the swim won't accom-
modate the rods being pointed
directly at the snag, you should
employ the use of some kind of snag
bar arrangement that stops the rod
being pulled off the rest with a violent
sideways take. This snag bar arrange-
ment can take a couple of forms - pri-
marily you can place a spare bank-
stick on the snag side of your bite
alarm, or you can buy one of the com-
FREE LINE 89
 Exclusive Technical Rig Design
(Top left) Tie a reef knot round the
boilie stop to hold it in place.
(Middle left) Trim the tag ends and
blob the knot with a lighter to close
the knot.
(Bottom left) Finish the other end of
the hooklink using the improved loop
knot and add some rig putty to keep it
on the deck.
(Top right) Hardened hook baits with
a superb liquid attractant just the
perfect match for the rig.
(Lower right) Bait chopper to crush
some Meteor boilies for the perfect
stick reading for glugging.
90 FREE LINE
mercially available versions, or
indeed, make your own as I have prior
to helping with the development of a
new carbon version soon to be
launched by Century. The final cardi-
nal rule for snag fishing is NEVER
leave your rods unattended, and I per-
sonally will not snag fish at night
because as quick as you may think
you are getting on your rods, believe
me, you are a damn sight slower than
if you are awake and sitting beside
them.
So on to the business end of the
setup, and now it is time to decide
what type of rig you are going to use.
I shall endeavor to explain my
thought process regarding my choice
of terminal gear and some of the
excellent alternatives. Ultimately
though, I am not trying to tell you
what gear to use but merely offering
up some suggestions from the
plethora of goodies that are in abun-
dance within the confines of every
tackle shop in the land. Indeed, I have
spent many hours trawling the dis-
plays in my local shop, Harefield
Tackle (www.harefieldtackle.co.uk),
as there is always some new terminal
Technical Rig Design Exclusive

FREE LINE 91
 Exclusive Technical Rig Design

gear arriving from some company or

other, and it is a good opportunity to
blag a tea or coffee. Hopefully, you will
be able to glean some valid info and
put it to good use culminating in
either your first snag caught carp, or
to merely add another leviathan to the
album. Because of the extreme pres-
sures exerted on the end game, I will
always opt for a 25lb hooklink, as the
increased breaking strain will be
needed to deal with the harsh envi-
rons in which it is placed. Hooklinks
will always be a coated braid rather
than fluorocarbon or mono because of
their tendency to cut a lot easier than
a braid, and also the fact that braid
offers a superlative knotting medium
because of its tight Dyneema struc-
ture causing it to grip itself in a simi-
lar manner to leadcore when it is
spliced. Mono and fluorocarbon are
inherently smooth, and if a slippage
does occur under extreme pressure, it
will be more likely to occur with
these, so thats the reason behind my
thinking.
With regards to the sharp end, my
hook choice would be for shorter
shank variety, as I believe that these
cope with extreme pressure in a far
m o r e f o r g i v i n g m a n n e r, a s t h e
strength of the hook is concentrated
in a smaller area making the hook flex
less. Couple this with a heavier gauge
wire and my basis for a suitable snag
hook is born. I have previously
expressed a preference for using a
beaked point due to the superlative
hook holds I believe they offer, and I
am still very happy to use them in
snag situation, especially the
Gamakatsu Super Strong pattern, but
I am also equally happy to utilize a
straight point as long as the pattern
has proven track record such as the
ESP Big T's. Some of my beak-pointed
bad boys for the job include the awe-
some Fox Teflon SSBP Arma Points,
Fox Series 2XS, ESP D-7s and the
Owner C3, C4 or C5X, all of which are
wickedly sharp to the max and above
all, very strong.
I have also been fortunate to try
out some new contenders in the hook
market with the latest offerings from
Solar and Atomic Tackle in the form of

(Top left) The final glugged rig

perfection, just add carp!
(Left) The finish rig on the bottom, just
enough for a mouthful then theyre
hooked.

92 FREE LINE

the Stronghold X-Wide Gape and the
Stinga and Claw hooks respectively.
All of these patterns fulfil the criteria
for what I believe is useful as a snag
hook, and after some bench testing
and real world testing applications, I
am more than happy to have them as
part of my end game arsenal. The rig
itself has been a favourite with me for
snag fishing because of its very sim-
ple construction and its hooking effi-
ciency. I am of the opinion that carp
are rather less cautious in their feed-
ing rituals if they are in the sanctuary
of the snags, because they generally
encounter less pressure than in open
water situations. Primarily because of
the increased discipline needed,
many anglers do not find snag fishing
very relaxing so this is a perfect sce-
Technical Rig Design Exclusive
nario for baiting a trap without all
your efforts being made advanta-
geous to other anglers. To get the
carp less guarded when feeding in a
snag haven, prebaiting for as long as
possible is a good option to start, and
I will generally opt for a mixture of
particles and different size boilies and
chops initially, and then just modify
the ratio of particle to boilie so that
the particle quantity is ever-diminish-
ing and the boilie is increasing. This is
done because I want to get them so
used to the bait that if they encounter
it elsewhere, hopefully they will view
it as the carping equivalent of a
celebrity chef prepared, gastronomic
feast! Once you begin to get an idea
of the bait acceptance, you can gauge
when to start the rod and line tactics
(Left) The inline drop lead
arrangement simplicity itself!
(Below left) It just drops off on a take,
leaving you in contact with the fish
and no lead to worry about.
and let the groundwork pay divi-
dends.
The rigs dynamics will play a
major part in its efficiency, and it
helps to have an idea of what you
want to achieve with the various
components you are going to be
using. When using the contents of the
tackle box to construct your new rig,
don't be afraid to experiment time
after time until you are happy to take
it to the lake. If the rig works, then
great, but a screaming run is not the
time to find out that the hook isn't up
to the job or the hooklink is too weak
so those important three words,
attention to detail have never been so
apt! Obviously the only real test is by
actually fishing with the rig as you
can never hope to emulate the
dynamics involved in an actual take,
so a lot of what is written about rigs
and their reported anti-eject proper-
ties, including this piece, is pure con-
jecture based on what we think it will
react like. But what I hope to achieve
is to at least give you the information
so you can draw your own conclu-
sions about its worth and effective-
ness based on your own individual
circumstances. My particular rig can
be constructed very easily as the pic-
tures show, so if you feel that this
could help your angling take few
moments to knock one of these up
and use it with complete confidence.
As you can see, the only nonstandard
element of the rig in the normal sense
is the fact that there is no hair and the
bait is tied directly to a Fox Teflon
pear shaped sliding ring via some
baitfloss. I feel that this offers a major
advantage for hooking fish when
using short (under 6) hooklinks and
fairly large hooks because only mini-
mal movement is tolerated before the
carp is pricked. The bait moves very
freely thanks to the shape of the rig
ring and the Teflon on Teflon really
accentuates this lack of friction and
allows the bait to be blown back with
ease. This arrangement also makes
the chances of the hook not being
taken in on a pickup a very remote
factor in the equation, so all in all it is
highly efficient for the job in hand. I
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 Exclusive Technical Rig Design
have illustrated similar hook patterns
that are my top ten snag hooks, and
any of these will work well with this
given rig configuration. With regards
to the lead arrangement, check out
how simple yet effective the drop off
inline setup is and give it a go. These
components were successful in cap-
turing the stunning upper-20 linear
from some fairly severe snags so the
94 FREE LINE
proof of the pudding is there to
behold.
During the course of this rig series I
will be bringing you some guest
appearances from some prolific big
fish anglers, both known and
unknown, like last months excellent
insight in to the rig mind of PAA
coach and big fish man, Matt Eaton.
This month I want to bring my good
(Above) Snag bars, the old and brand
new.
(Left) The waiting game.
mate Mick 'The Greek' Krassos into
the spotlight (not that he needed
much encouragement!) so he can
reveal some of top tips and show you
why his rigs have accounted for so
many big carp, making him one of the
most successful up-and-coming carp
anglers on today's scene. Mick has an
uncanny knack of getting amongst

(Above) The essential components for
the rig.
the biguns wherever he goes, and he
is a very worthy addition to my hum-
ble ramblings. Many of Mick's tricks
stem from his use of his favoured end
tackle, primarily from the ESP camp,
but with a few other manufacturers
products thrown into the mix, as
there isn't any one manufacturer that
Technical Rig Design Exclusive
does everything you need.
The Greek will now take us through
his favoured snag rig and the reasons
behind its construction along with
the choice of the essential compo-
nents he favors when making it. First
off, his primary concern when snag
fishing is the fishs welfare, and to
ensure that if things do go the way of
the pear, at the very least the fish is
not going to be trailing a lead. To
ensure that this happens all the time,
ESP size 11 Bolt Clips are used and
even the bream and tench are able to
'knock' the lead off. Mick's rig has
been 'borrowed' from some of his
angling pals that fish some notori-
ously difficult southern pits where it
has accounted for a multitude of very
big carp. Like all rigs, this one has
gone through various phases of
development, and in its present guise,
it is deemed to be the most effective.
Mick hastily informs me that the rig
has been dubbed 'The Caveman' due
to its brutally unfair assault on the
carps senses because they just don't
know whats hit em! How's that for
confidence? Naturally due to the
increased pressures exerted on the
end game, Micks hooklink choice
gets beefed up to 25lb breaking
strain, and he likes to use the Sufix
Sheath Skin for this particular rig
because of the excellent camo proper-
ties of the outer skin in both green
and brown, coupled with the fact that
the inner braid is both strong and
supple.
For the sharp end, a Teflon hook is
chosen, as Mick feels this gives him a
more stealthy presentation due to the
lack of glare. He also feels that Teflon
coated hooks are infinitely sharper
than their non-coated counterparts,
and ultimately, if it gives you confi-
FREE LINE 95
 Exclusive Technical Rig Design

1 5

2 6

3 7

4 8

96 FREE LINE
 Technical Rig Design Exclusive

Opposite page:
1. The Greeks favoured Teflon coated
hook sticky sharp!
2. There is no way they are getting off
this bad boy.
3. 25lb Stealth Skin is the preferred
hooklink for the Caveman rig.
4. Start off by stripping back 5in of the
outer skin and form the hair loop.
5. Position the baits on the hair
leaving approx 6mm from the apex of
the bend to the top of the bait then
introduce the silicone sleeve at the
pivot point.
6. Tie a simple knotless knot going
round the shank 7-8 times then
lubricate the knot before pulling
tight.
7. Take some good quality shrink
tube, cut off approximately 1in and
position it on the hook like this.
8. Either steam or immerse your hook
to shrink the tubing and form a curve
like this.
(Top right) Aim to make your hooklink
between 6-8ins long and form a figure
of eight loop at the opposite end ready
for joining by your preferred method
to the lead arrangement.
(Middle right) Lubricate the loop well
and pull steadily and slowly to
tighten down using a Fox tension bar
or similar.
(Bottom right) Trim off the tag end of
the loop once the knot has been
bedded down and fully tightened.

dence, then who am I to argue? The

pattern of hook for Mick's rig is criti-
cal to its functionality, and for this
reason he likes to use a size 5
Kamasan CarpMaxx, as the curved
shank is of paramount importance in
the dynamics of the rig. The Carp-
Maxx has a straight point and the eye
is slightly in-turned giving a reliable
and solid angle of pull. This also
means that the shank of the hook
would have to be opened up to the
extreme to render the hook hold com-
promised, so all in all it is perfect for
the task in hand. To further accentu-
ate the curvature of the shank, he
then adds a 1in length of shrink tube
and forms quite an aggressive curve
after steaming, which enhances the
bent hook effect without the barbarity
associated with the famous bent hook
rigs of yesteryear.
Something else that is crucial to the
rig is the strategic placement of a
small piece of silicone on the shank to
determine the pivotal point of the
hair, and according to the crafty
Greek, it also serves as visual indica-
tion of an aborted take if the silicone
has moved (not that this rig suffers
those!). He prefers the hooklink to be

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 Exclusive Technical Rig Design
(Top left) To ensure the rig lies flat,
add a cople of blobs of rig putty to the
hooklink and your final Caveman Rig
should look like this.
(Top right) A tank view of the rig in
water next to some baits awesome
and ready for some big fish action.
between 6-8ins long, and the rig func-
tions best when a double bottom bait
configuration is utilized. When using
a size 5 hook he likes to use double
14mm baits if possible, or failing that
a single 18-20mm bottom bait. The
large bait offering and the awkward
hooking arrangement make it
extremely difficult for the carp to
eject, which is the perfect hooking
98 FREE LINE
scenario. I can certainly attest to the
rigs effectiveness as I have tied one
up and it resulted in a mid-20 mirror
on the first outing. Have a look at the
pictures and give it a go; you will see
it is not hard to construct, and it may
just get your first snag caught carp on
the mat for a photo shoot.
I would like to thank big fish man,
Mick Krassos for sharing this little
gem with us, as I know how secretive
some of these hardcore hauling
machines can be about their little
edges. Hopefully both of these rigs
will find their way into your rig wallet,
and perhaps you can take their devel-
opment to a new height. Next month
I am going to be looking at fishing in
weed, and I will have another big fish
angler who has a certain affinity for
fishing in the green stuff. This angler
has caught big carp from waters such
as Withy Pool, Monks Pit, Stanwick
and Tolpits to name but a few, and he
has tended to be content in quietly
catching big carp wherever he goes.
Also, being a genuine weekend or
overnight angler, his results are very
impressive indeed with a string of
40s to his credit, so we will be privi-
leged to have a good friend of mine,
Simon Atkinson, opening up his rig
wallet and tackle box and giving us
an insight to his successful rig and its
components, and Im sure we can all
learn something from his approach to
fishing in weed.
Until next time, be lucky. n
Unit 4b, Armoury Bank, Ashton-In-Makerfield, Wigan WN4 9BN
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Exclusive

Manor Madness
Leon Bartropp in search of Stella

I
ts good to be back writing
for Big Carp after Rob rang
me to ask if I could give you
the readers an update on
my fishing over the spring
and summer, and its been
a particularly interesting and fruitful
six months. If you have been follow-
ing my on-and-off quest over the
past few years on the Manor, and in
particular my pursuit of two of the
lakes finest specimens, The North-
ern Linear and Stella, you will know
that these fish are both around the
low to mid-40 mark, depending on
the time of year. They are both I feel
destined to be 50lb-plus fish in the
not too distant future, eventually tak-
ing over the mantle of the big girl in
the Manor, which is a much older
fish. I dont know if you are like me,
but once you set your sights on your
target fish you just have to have it.
You have to be dedicated and single
minded in putting that fish on the
bank. In previous seasons I have not
been able to give the water the
attention that it deserves to be able
to put my targets on the bank. Whilst
I felt I had been relatively successful
for the amount of time I was spend-
ing on the water, and having had
some truly cracking fish this last
The plan was starting to work
Manor Madness Exclusive
summer to mid-30s, I hadnt got
amongst the bigger specimens, in
particular Stella and the Northern.
It was time for a change of tactics;
I had managed to get bites by using
quite a bit of bait, the Monster Tiger
Nut had caught me some terrific fish
at all times of the year, and I was also
using quite a bit of particle to com-
plement the 10mms and 15mms in
my mix, sometimes putting in a
bucket of spod over the three rods
each night. All was fine, but I felt
something was missing from my
approach, as I hadnt completed the
jigsaw yet. Whilst working one of the
shows last winter, I think it may have
been the Brentwood show, I got talk-
ing to a friend of mine. He had had a
truly tremendous year, catching his
target fish on two different venues,
and it was evident from listening to
h i m t h a t h e d c h a n g e d c e r t a i n
aspects of his fishing. Hed really
thought about how to target these
bigger fish, and more importantly he
had formulated a plan and stuck to it.
I realised then that I had to come up
with my own plan and stick to it no
matter what. Previously I had chased
the fish around, but this year I would
target swims where the two target
fish had been caught from between
March and October.
Stella visits the bank probably
three times a year, if you are lucky
once in the spring when she is at her
heaviest weight, maybe once after
she has spawned, and then again in
the autumn if you are lucky. The
Northern likes to visit the bank a lot
more frequently, probably five or six
times a year. Looking back at past
captures in my diary, it seemed that
Stella liked the area in the middle of
the lake, and two swims would give
me the best chance of catching her
in the spring, The Middle Pads and
The Garden seemed to be her
favourite haunts, in particular The
middle Pads, which was somewhere
she seemed to slip up in the spring-
time. The Northern on the other hand
liked a few different swims, usually
at either end of the lake The Rope
a n d M u m s b e i n g f a v o u r i t e s ,
depending in what direction the new
wind blew. This indicated to me that
she was one of the shoal fish, as the
shoal tended to get straight on a new
wind. Stella on the other hand
seemed to be very territorial; she had
her select feeding tables and I was
sure I knew where they were.
I also had the chance to use a new
bait, Dynamites Fresh Fish boilie. I
FREE LINE 101
 Exclusive Manor Madness
wont bore you with the quality
ingredients of this bait, all I will say
is that I have to have 100% confi-
dence in the bait I use and I had
100% confidence in this bait from the
start. Its basically a fishmeal bait,
but it doesnt use eggs to bind it
together. Most baits containing eggs
will stodge the fish out, but this was
something different that the fish
could pick up and single out from the
other baits being introduced into the
lake. I would also be changing the
way I introduced my bait before I
fished and whilst I was fishing.
Rather than bait one or two swims
from the off, I was going to bait the
whole lake. I would baits spots on a
little-and-often basis, not depositing
very much bait into one area, instead
dropping half a kilo or so on each
spot around the lake. I also started
baiting like this earlier than I would
normally, at the end of February this
year, which is a lot earlier than I nor-
mally start my baiting campaign.
This hopefully would get the fish
used to seeing my bait all over the
lake, the plan being to make them
see this as a free and safe food
source.
I had noticed in previous seasons
30lb mirror and what a stunner
102 FREE LINE
that most anglers would bait with
15mm baits, but not mix and match
any different sizes up. I felt that by
introducing 10mm, 15mm and 20mm
baits I would have an edge, then only
deposit a very small amount of mixed
sizes whilst I was actually fishing,
maybe ten or 15 baits over each rod.
A little edge that I didnt see anyone
utilising the previous season was to
crush or chop their baits before cata-
pulting them out, something that
had worked for me over the years on
other waters. The way I see it is that
everyone chucks out these little
round balls, and the anglers baits
become so predicable to the fish. By
just changing the shape or crushing
a few baits gives your baiting a dif-
ferent approach, the hope being to
fool a wary carp into my net for its
photograph. Sometimes the simplest
of changes reap the maximum of
rewards in carp fishing; youve just
got to think outside of the box some-
times, which I agree can be very
hard when you are used to catching
and fishing a certain way. I had also
decided to cut out the particles the
hemp, maize, sweetcorn and any pel-
let had to go, as it definitely seemed
to attract the smaller fish in this lake.
So a plan was hatched; I was
happy with my rigs, although ESP
had just brought out their MK2 Stiff
Riggers, and I really wanted to incor-
porate these super sharp and strong
h o o k s i n t o m y a r m o u r y. I j u s t
couldnt get along with fishing the
chods that so many of my friends had
been telling me were the nuts.
Undoubtedly the chod is one of the
best rigs around as you will see from
the weeklies, but I just cant get on
with them. I spoke to a good friend of
mine Jon Mac, who had come up
with a nice little pop-up rig, and he
explained to me how it worked and
how to tie it up using Krystons
Snakebite. I tied up a few, and I liked
what I was seeing, how the pop-up
sat above the stiff rigger; it was like a
big sharp claw. I knew then that I
just had to use this rig, as if a fish
picked this up they would be nailed.
I made a couple of minor changes
like using Striptease as it was
slightly stiffer in 20lb strain, and
rather than cut off the excess coating
I simply pulled it back and steamed it
over the kettle to produce a sort of
stiffer boom that the fish would find
harder to get rid of. As with anything
you have to gain the confidence to

(Above) A big common caught on
lightly baiting the spot
(Below) The business end
keep using it, and this can only be
gained by captures as Im sure you
will agree, so even if I didnt catch on
the new rigs for a while I wouldnt
discard them; I would stick to my
plan and use them, as you couldnt
argue with Jons captures over the
years can you?
My first baiting trip was one morn-
ing midway through February on my
way to the Secret Lake that I had
been targeting over the winter. I
arrived very early in darkness on a
Monday morning; there was no one
on the lake. It had been fishing very
slowly over the winter, with just the
odd fish coming out to those who
persevered. I remember giggling as I
Manor Madness Exclusive
drove out of the car park after
depositing a few kilos around the
lake the plan had started and there
was no turning back now; I just
hoped come that all the hard work
would bear fruit. I continued baiting
through February and March, not
being able to get down to fish until
the end of March due to work, family,
and finishing off at the Secret Lake,
so my first trip down I was buzzing.
I had been baiting for a month or
so, and I felt really confident that this
spring would be my chance to bank
one of my target fish. As I drove
through the gates early one Tuesday
morning I could see that the lake
was fairly busy this time, but not
packed as it can get in the spring. I
stepped out of the van, took in the
early morning air, started walking
round with water bottle in hand, and
stopped in a swim called The Pump,
which gave me a good view of the
whole of the lake. There were various
brollies and bivvies dotted around
the lake, but no one was in The Mid-
dle Pads where I felt I had to target
for a chance at Stella. I wandered
down, placed my bottle in the swim,
and sat and rolled up a fag as you do,
and watched intently for signs of
fish. A fish head-and-shouldered
across the pond in The Garden, an
area I also hoped to get in at some
time, but on closer inspection I saw
that Jon Mac was in there. I walked
round, drank his tea, and we chatted.
This had been his first night on the
water, and he had managed to land a
lovely mid-30mirror that hadnt been
out for a few years. I didnt really see
very much for the next couple of
hours so decided to stay put in The
Middle Pads I was sticking to the
plan. I sorted myself out, positioned
the rods with pop-ups on all three
rods, and baited each spot with a
mix of different size baits with my
catapult. There wasnt a spod in
sight; I had left them at home, so I
didnt feel tempted to use them.
The night passed uneventfully, but
around 10am the following morning I
saw that Jon Mac was into a fish. I
reeled in and wandered round, as it
seemed like he was into a goodun,
and after a hardy battle I pushed the
net under a long, dark mirror. It had
hardly any scales on its flanks, and
on closer inspection I could see that
it was indeed Stella. I had been right
in my location; she had come from
The Garden. Whilst I was as happy
as punch for my mate Jon, it was one
of my target fish, and seeing as she
only visited the bank a couple of
times a year, I felt a bit deflated; it
was as if my plan was over before I
had even had chance to put it into
practice. We hoisted her up onto the
scales and from memory she went
45lb 10oz. She looked so impressive
with drops of water glistening in the
morning sun as we clicked away for
a very happy Jon.
This was only his second night on
the lake, and he had bagged one of
the biggest fish in the lake good
angling, mate. After we had chatted
and I had drunk more of his tea I
wandered back to my swim. I sat
there for a while contemplating what
had happened, but I had to stick to
my plan. After all, I had put a lot of
effort into baiting and working out
the plan, so I wasnt going to give up
now, and I also had The Northern to
go for. I managed a couple more
nights in the swim, and was
r e w a r d e d w i t h a l o w - 3 0 m i r r o r,
which boosted my confidence in my
approach and the new rig. Id been
stealthily baiting a few spots in the
dead of night with the bait when no
one could see what I was doing. I
just had to keep on keeping on I told
myself, as I catapulted a few more
baits out in the darkness while all
FREE LINE 103
 Exclusive Manor Madness

(Right) I like to give them a light

coating of oil
(Below) Upper 30 mirror, they were
liking the different sized baits

around the lake slept it would

come good in time.
The following week I was back
again, with the plan foremost in my
thoughts the week I had been away.
I was surprised to see the lake quite
busy, but once again The Middle
Pads was empty. Strange, I thought,
as it was quite a good swim in the
spring, but a few of the other guys
must have had the same ideas as me
and been targeting Stella. Perhaps
they had also worked out that the
swim was one of the best opportuni-
ties to land her, she had been out, so
they were giving it a wide birth so to hand spot seemed to be much harder this I mean the line literally hangs off
speak. It didnt worry me as I had than the previous week, or so it the end of the rod tips. There is a
introduced a small amount of bait seemed, and again I baited liberally shelf all the way round that drops
when I had left. I cast all three rods with different sized squashed baits, down quite close in to around the
out again to the same spots as the and settled in for the next couple of 20ft mark at the bottom, and the
previous week, not using a marker days with thoughts of my target fish. slack lines hug the slope closely so
rod this time. I had been fishing fairly Something I feel worth mentioning that the fish dont get spooked so
close in and I wanted to keep the when fishing the Manor is that I have much. I also started to use the 20lb
disturbance to a minimum, so I just worked out that I can get extra bites X-Line this year, which sinks like a
cast out a small 2oz lead. The left by fishing an ultra slack line, and by stone, and you cant see it in the

104 FREE LINE


water; its like pulling up a piece of
carpet when you reel in. Once I cast
onto my spots, I slackened off the
line, and I knew it was hugging the
bottom nicely.
Over the next couple of days a few
fish showed in the area, and I man-
aged to nick three fish, a nice low-20
common, a 30lb mirror and a thickset
30lb common as well. My confidence
in my tactics was booming now, and
the stiff riggers were holding their
own in the hook holds, in fact the
hook holds were right back in the
mouth, which told me that the fish
were really confident in the bait, so
all was going well, and the plan was
working nicely.
My next trip down was a couple of
weeks after this, around the end of
April. I had been down in Oxford a
week earlier doing some work, but I
had still been sneaking over to drop
in a bit of bait, and I was gagging to
get back. I rolled into the car park
and saw that again it was quite busy,
but every lake must be busy at this
time of the year, as it can be one of
Manor Madness Exclusive
the best times to catch those whack-
ers at their best weights before they
spawn. I grabbed my bottle and
started my walk round; I wasnt even
thinking about The Middle Pads
swim, and I hadnt even contem-
plated it being free with the lake
being so busy. The weather was due
to turn warmer over the next couple
I hurled myself
down between
the shrubs, and I
could see the left
hand rod bent
round double on
the rest
of days and the swim fished well in
hot weather, as there were reeds
either side of the swim giving the
fish some nice cover, plus I knew a
couple of fish had been out from
there the week before while I had
been away. I was about to walk past
it when I realised that it was free, and
I couldnt walk past it without hav-
ing a look I thought. I climbed one of
the trees and slid the Polaroids down
onto my eyes. Peering through the
green leaves in between the
branches I could make out a few
shapes beneath the surface to the
left of the swim just out from the
reeds. After a while, as the sun came
out more the fish came up in the
water, I could clearly see four or five
fish, and I was sure one was Stella as
(Left) 10mm, 15mm and 20mm a
winning combination
(Below) Little changes make all the
difference
she looked so much bigger than the
others out there. I ran back to the van
and loaded the gear onto the trolley,
adding some mixers to weigh me
down even more.
On arriving back to the swim I
fired out some mixers, but they were
not too confident; they kept swim-
ming underneath them and werent
interested. I then tried casting a zig
out past where they were and gently
pulling it back near to where they
were sunning themselves. At one
point Stella, as I had definitely identi-
fied her by now, broke away from the
others and headed towards my cut
down piece of yellow foam. She
came upon the hook bait and it was
if she could sense something was
wrong, because she sped up and
almost foul hooked herself in the side
as she glided past the foam and the
small size 10 hook. My heart was in
my mouth at that moment, and I was
all ready to jump down the tree and
do battle with her; theres nothing
better for getting you going and
making you more determined than to
see your target fish up close and per-
sonal. I stayed up the tree for a cou-
ple more hours, but the fish started
to drift away and out into the middle
of the lake as the sun got higher into
the sky. Id have to stay in the swim
for the next couple of nights as she
was definitely in and around the
area.
I gently cast my 2oz lead down to
the left of the reeds onto the spot,
which was definitely getting harder,
no doubt about it. It had also got a
bit wider, the weed around the spot
was a lovely lush fresh green colour,
and it was getting better and better
each time I fished it. They were defi-
nitely visiting the spot, and I was
sure Stella was feeding there too; I
just had this feeling it was happen-
ing down there even though I could-
nt see the spot. I cast the other two
rods out, sprayed a few baits around,
and settled in for the night.
That night I just couldnt settle,
whether it was the caffeine intake I
dont know, but I was very restless,
even expectant that something was
going to happen. I was so sure of it I
was surprised when I awoke at first
FREE LINE 105
 Exclusive Manor Madness

(Right) Ultra slack lines and bobbins

on the floor
(Bottom) I couldnt believe we had
landed her

light to see the bobbins in exactly

the same position that I had left
them; I was sure I was going to get
one that night. My friend Ping Pong
was in the next swim up so I wan-
dered up to have a cuppa, and it
must have been around 10.30am by
the time I started wandering back to
my rods. As I was meandering back,
just looking at the water for any
signs when I swear I could hear a
couple of bleeps as the line tightened
up on one of my rods. No sooner had
I started to investigate than the
Delkim let out a one-toner. water, the alarm gave a series of life jackets and pushed ourselves out
I hurled myself down between the bleeps, and the line pinged out of the onto the pond, the fish was still stay-
shrubs, and I could see the left hand clip. I couldnt believe it the fish ing deep and fighting for its life, spin-
rod bent round double on the rest. I had buried itself into and under my ning the boat around at times. As I
picked it up very slowly so as not to middle rod, and what with fishing held on, Ping Pong managed to posi-
pull the hook, as the line was ripping such slack lines I just couldnt see tion us over the fish, and I could see
off the clutch. It was a goodun, slow, how the fish had managed it. This through my Polaroids that it was a
powerful and it kept very deep, just wasnt good, as by now I was playing really good fish. As she came closer
plodding along doing its own thing a good fish, but it had my other rod to the boat I could see it was HER; it
really. The fish started to kite round attached to it too. I called Ping Pong was Stella!! She was going left to
to the right, and the line was getting over, and asked him to get the boat. right, then kicking her tail and trying
near to my middle rod. The middle We were going to have to land this to use the boat to get rid of the hook.
rods line started to come up in the fish from the boat, so we donned our What a fight it was, under the rod tip

106 FREE LINE

 Manor Madness Exclusive

and out in the pond, something Ill caught your target fish after lots of together for sure that morning, and I
never forget. I finally managed to get hard work and a bit of time, you will had stuck to my plan.
her head up and towards Ping Pong know exactly what I was feeling as Well its September now and I
who was manning the net. I deli- she slid over that net. I hoisted her have been targeting The Northern
cately brought her further towards up for the shots on the mat, and she since the end of April. Ive been get-
us, and she finally slipped into the behaved really well I must say a ting amongst them and sticking to
net sending plumes of water up and real lady of the lake. I then got in the the plan, and I can feel Im getting
over us in the boat I couldnt water and Jon Mac managed to get closer with every trip, so hopefully
believe we had landed her. s o m e r e a l l y g o o d s h o t s f o r m e, the next time I write it will be about
If it hadnt been for Ping Pong, then thanks mate. I kissed her goodbye the capture of this other stunning
I just wouldnt have landed her with one last time as I slipped her back to fish, but until then be lucky and may
both rods tangled up. I secured her f i g h t a n o t h e r d a y. I t a l l c a m e your nets be full of whackers. n
in the net and we rowed the short
distance back to the swim where a
few of the boys had gathered. I took
a moment to get everything ready
and steady myself for having my
photo taken with her. She looked
awesome in the sunlight, and I let
the guys weigh her as I was a bit
blown away to be honest. She pulled
the scales round to 46lb 4oz, and
whilst that was a good weight for
her, it was immaterial. I had worked
hard over the past four years to try
a n d c a t c h h e r, a n d I w a s o v e r-
whelmed with euphoria. There was
definitely a sense of achievement, I
cant explain it, but if you have

Letting her go to fight another day

FREE LINE 107

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FREE LINE 109

 Off The Beaten Track

The
Country
Park
By Dave Robinson

110 FREE LINE

 The Country Park Off The Beaten Track

M
y love for park
lakes started
when listening
to stories about
big public
parks and all
the rumours they had built up over
the years, particularly one park lake in
the Lea Valley where the locals had
kept the tales going for the best part
of a decade to keep others away.
Every park has a story, or a myth
whether it is a black cat or a bunch of
druggies they all have them. This
particular park is within walking dis-
tance of Cambridge city centre and
the route to take to the local 24-hour
Tesco. I had been told of a couple of
incidents where anglers had been
thrown in and robbed for their gear,
but I believed it was stories like these
that kept the anglers away. I knew it
was close to the city but was certain
it was going to be tame compared to
the other venues I had fished in the maze, and I was certain if it got dark anglers. I knew nothing about the
past. Somehow I was pretty confident there was no way I would track down lake whatsoever; its inhabitants were
that it was going to be nothing like one of these park signs, let alone the either myths or uncaught. I spend a
the stories. van. I was shocked to learn that couple of hours each day walking
I started walking around the park nobody apart from joggers and dog around; whether it was before work or
after work most evenings at the back walkers used the park, but an old after I would always be there. I spoke
end of the year. I began by looking at friend told me that its still a bit early to a couple of the park wardens one
maps of the complex as it was like a in the year, and I would see no other morning, and they informed me that

FREE LINE 111

 Off The Beaten Track The Country Park

112 FREE LINE

LAKE HERITAGE

Lake Heritage is stunning 17-acre lake,
complemented by tree-lined banks in tranquil
surroundings. The lake itself has a hard clay
base, is totally weed free, and boasts a huge
stock of high quality, hard fighting beautiful
carp. Several of the carp are over 60lbs, and
many upper 50s will soon be hitting the 60lb
mark, and the lake produces numerous
catches of 30s, 40s, and 50s on a regular basis.
The lake is set beside a small picturesque
village, which has bars and restaurants, and
an English bailiff is on hand to attend to all
your needs.
We offer full equipment hire for anglers
wishing to travel light and have everything
taken care for them on arrival, as well as the
option of a normal drive and survive holiday
fishing package. You can fly and rent the
equipment, and nationwide flights can be
booked by Ryanair and Flybe to our local
airport of Limoges, with airport pick-ups
available on booking.
There is access to clean toilets and shower
block, power supply for the use of all electrical
equipment, a fully stocked tackle shop with
many top brands of baits and equipment and
food packages, shopping runs and 24-hour on-
call English bailiff.

For full details of everything we offer here at Lake Heritage please visit us at
www.lakeheritage.co.uk We are looking forward to hearing from you.
For all bookings and enquiries made from the UK, please contact lake owner
Mick Heritage on 07806 685005 or email lakeheritage@hotmail.co.uk
 Off The Beaten Track The Country Park

no one was fishing the park, and if get a bite on my first night is one ble. Although it was March it almost
they did, they wont even be on the thing, but to catch one of the scaly felt like a winter capture; the trees
lake I had been walking round. I mirrors is just something else! I was were still bare, and the tufties were
couldnt believe what I was hearing! I blown away with what was sat in the still out in force. I was waiting for my
knew if I introduced a steady flow of bottom of my net. All that walking dad to do the 50-mile round trip to
boilies I could catch from the off. Ive and baiting was worth it, as Id come and photograph this scaly crea-
always found other anglers to be the caught after just seven hours of fish- ture. I was over the moon and really
main thing that slows down my fish- ing, so I could wait till it got light. I sat didnt want to pack up and go to
ing, so when I get chance to fish a there for three hours behind my net, a work, but as long as I baited, I was
lake on my own, I take full advantage. smile from ear to ear, deep in thought. happy.
My first session was a 12-hour The colours on this fish were incredi- I returned the following night, keen
work overnighter. I had been feeding
the middle of the pit with a heavy
scattering of bait for a few weeks. The
plan was to start by spending the
time I had learning what needed to be
done as the water warmed up and my
spring began. In my head, I was
thinking that maybe everyone could
be right; maybe I was to early. Id not
seen anything to go on and was rely-
ing on bait application. As the
evening drew to a close I had seen
nothing but a few tench, but I was
woken at 3am by a savage take on the
left hand rod. The fish kited and came
towards me slowly. Id only had my
rods out for a few hours, so it had to
be a tench, surely?
After scooping my net frantically
into the darkness I netted one of the
most amazing carp Ive ever seen. To

114 FREE LINE

The Country Park Off The Beaten Track

FREE LINE 115

 Off The Beaten Track The Country Park
as mustard. I couldnt get my gear out
of the van quickly enough, I was so
excited. Although the park had been
fished for decades, it was unknown to
us, which really put a spring in my
step. When I arrived back in the swim
the first thing I noticed was the birds
diving in the zone, and I could see
they were coming up with my bait.
This told me that the carp had not vis-
ited the middle of the lake during the
day whist I had been at work. I only
left 3kg when I went to work, and I
was sure that if they had been there it
would have all been gone. I continued
to set my traps, just like this night
before. Two rods were put in the same
area with a healthy scattering of fish-
meal just before the daylight slipped
away.
I was woken at first light by a
dozen swans landing in the mist; it
was so early that I couldnt hear the
A-road yet. As I sat there under my
brolly hoping, praying I would see
something before work, a big red mir-
ror crashed out right up the other end
of the lake, some 250 yards away. As I
watched the water settle again and
the savage fizzing fade away, I was
sure I was missing something and
knew what I had to do. I packed up as
slowly as possible and walked back to
the van wondering what would be in
store for me next time I returned.
I had decided that the plan was not
to fish the weekends due to the park
being filled with hundreds of mem-
bers of the public and dozens of dogs
in the water. I was going to only do
two nights a week up till June and
hope to have the job done in that
time. It turned out that it wasnt going
to be as easy as I had first thought
after word had got about the lake
doing a bite. A couple of the locals did
the weekend in The Bunker, fishing
out into that main body of water. They
had eight rods coming out of two
social swims side by side. After see-
ing this I knew it was over for now,
but next time I will make sure I do it
properly.
The plan was to make a small swim
up the other end of the lake on the no
fishing bank, fill it in and hope
nobody saw me in the process. For a
few weeks I kept coming back, not
fishing, just baiting and walking. As I
learnt the lake I noticed that the
Bunkers were the only two swims
that actually got fished, and as long as
I did everything at night and was
116 FREE LINE
gone before first light when other at least a decade, and I was there to
anglers were on I could fish the other reap the rewards. These carp were
end, no problem. On my travels, I incredible; something I will remember
found an old fallen tree lying out into forever. Unfortunately, the otters had
the lake. I jumped down the steep briefly visited the swollen jungle in
back and slowly made my way over. I the depth of last winter, and three fish
could see it went out over onto a little that I know of had been taken. Im
island. I noticed an old rope by way of almost certain they will return for
a handrail and worn bark from foot- years to come until there is no reason
prints. As I jumped down onto the to come back. Proper carp are slowly
lakes will be a thing of the past. n
island I found an old piece of carpet. It dying out, and soon these old park
was clear I had just found and old
swim from before it was a country
park. There was a small gap in the
bush, just the right size for two rods.
This island was over 100 yards into
the out of bounds, and I knew straight
away this was going to be the area
where I fished from now on. Some
might say I was stroke-pulling, but
Ive always been one for going to
extra miles to increase my catch rate.
Unbelievably, I caught from the off.
It was almost like they hadnt been
fed for years. It was still chilly, and I
was ripping it up like it was July. I
caught some incredible fish in some
terrible conditions, and it turned out
that as long as I kept the bait going in
the bites would keep coming, and I
realised that it could all be over before
it began. I learnt so much and caught
some lovely carp along the way. If it
wasnt for other anglers Im sure I
could have got the job done sooner,
but thats fishing I guess.
This pit was a prime example of
effort equals reward because it
seemed the more I put in the more I
got out. I honestly dont think many
people had pushed the boundaries for
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 Off The Beaten Track
The Haunted Mere
By Jay Russell
E
very spring I like to
have a good walk
around some of the
lakes in my area,
many of which are
rarely fished, if ever. A
couple of these contain just a handful
of carp, and its just a joy to watch
these fish behaving in their natural
state without interference from
anglers. There is, however, one very
special place in which, until a couple
of years back, I had never even seen a
carp, despite plenty of trips over the
years. I had only seen a few tench and
a couple of very long, lean pike, but it
was such a beautiful place to visit,
untouched by humans for many
years, as if time had stood still. Many
of the locals didnt know of its exact
location (many didnt know of its
existence) because it lies hidden by
the dense trees and vegetation that
thrived in its habitat.
The stinging nettles seem to grow
taller than any Ive ever seen before,
which meant trousers and long
sleeved tops were a must on these
visits, and the dense canopy provided
118 FREE LINE
by the trees and years of unmolested
foliage meant the humidity could rival
that of any jungle! Many of the huge
mature trees around the five acres or
so of deep and crystal clear water had
fallen down over the years, making
actual access to water itself difficult.
However these did make excellent
vantage points for the keen-eyed
angler, if a little precarious at times.
On one side of the mere, a huge reed-
lined margin marked slightly shal-
lower water, and several times it was
here I was fortunate enough to watch
members of the local deer population
venture down to drink the cool, clear
water. Despite the lack of fish, I was
still just happy to enjoy the peaceful
but rather strange atmosphere the
place had; its calming effect was per-
fect for dreaming about new seasons
ahead, and many plans were made for
the coming seasons from my old
favourite looking tree.
I had over the years heard rumours
that the mere had actually held a very
small number of carp at some point in
its life (a very long time ago, in fact),
but up to this point I was yet to see
any for myself, despite many years of
springtime looking. This tranquil
place was always put to the back of
my mind though, because after Id
had a couple of fruitless trips in
search of the possible carp I never
really made any plans to fish it. That
was all to change after a chance
encounter with a friend. While fishing
a club lake in the Colne Valley, one of
the other anglers I often shared a beer
with most Wednesday nights (I was
fishing midweek at the time) invited
me over to have a look around a now
well known Colne Valley mere, which,
being only half an hour or so around
the M25 from the club lake, I agreed.
With no fish showing even the slight-
est interest in my baited spots at the
club lake, I pulled the rods in, gabbed
a couple of beers and jumped in the
most rusty and unroadworthy van I
had ever seen!
25 minutes later we somehow
safely pulled up in a little layby not far
from the entrance to a set of lakes,
one of which was to become steeped
in English carp fishing history. Hop-
ping over the gate, we briefly skirted a
short section of the lagoon next door
until we got to the most awesome
lake I have ever seen (well, I say
seen: it wasnt actually easy to see
much of it at all). It really did remind
me of the little mere closer to home,
albeit a slightly smaller version. We
both felt the same kind of atmos-
phere: the mystique, and a little of the
unknown. We walked a little way
around the mere, kept back from the
water by the thick undergrowth, and
had a quick look at the water from a
couple of the more accessible parts.
We quietly drank our beer as the sun
started to get lower in the sky and
raised a beer to the BM before we
made our way back to the club lake. I
really got into my fishing down in the
Colne Valley that spring and summer,
and I put all my efforts into trying to
catch a few of the most paranoid carp
I had ever fished for (but that, as they
say, is another story).
It was now nearly into autumn, and

I hadnt really expected to be starting
on another venue, and with no other
tickets I planned to go back to my lit-
tle mere for a better look around and
maybe put a little bait in and really
see if those carp where still around,
but as the days started to cool and the
days shortened I decided that the fol-
lowing spring would give me a better
chance.
The autumn and early winter was
spent up in Oxford. I had a fantastic
time with plenty of socials with the
locals and some of the guys from the
club lake, which made up for the pal-
try handful of carp I actually managed
to catch up there. I was still happy
with the season I had had because I
learnt so much about margin fishing.
Being so up close and personal with
those Colne Valley carp, you couldnt
help but learn from their reactions to
our rigs and bait. I even managed to
up my personal best twice at the club
lake, so of course I was well chuffed. I
had considered going back to the
Colne Valley the next year, but to be
honest I didnt really have much of an
idea where to fish, and I didnt have
any tickets forthcoming. As winter
came and went I decided that I would
give my haunted mere a lot more
attention, at least until I had sorted
somewhere to fish, which, of course, I
knew for sure still held carp!
It was around April time that I
stung myself to numbness once more.
Walking through the dense wood and
onto the haunted mere, the first
decent bit of warmth and prolonged
sunshine had given me the urge to
climb that old tree once again. While
soaking up the sunshine and taking in
the magical feeling of the place, I
made myself comfortable on a
branch. Well, as comfortable as I
could with hundreds of little bumps
on my skin caused by the stingers,
which were hurting even more now
thanks to the added sweat and the
irresistible urge to scratch at them! I
hadnt banked on the nettles being up
so early in spring, so I had foolishly
chosen to wear just a khaki T-shirt
and jungle combat trousers, offering
absolutely no protection from the
stingy leaves, a lesson I would
remember next time for sure.
At least the huge banks of nettles
were undisturbed, which was a good
sign that nobody else had been there,
and once inside I was pretty hidden
from outside view. While Im sitting
The Haunted Mere Off The Beaten Track
up that tree, enjoying a little smoke
and enjoying the magical feelings you
get from being here, I will take this
opportunity to explain the fishing sit-
uation at the haunted mere.
Reed Lined
The mere is owned by a local
farmer. It is surrounded by flat arable
fields on two sides. The other two
sides are at the bottom of a big hill,
which is well known to the local his-
torians for dragon slaying in years
past, Anglo Saxon warriors were
believed to have roamed those fields
and camped around the mere, using
the cover to hide from local enemies.
Well, thats what we were told at pri-
mary school. In fact I even drew a pic-
ture once of the dragon being stabbed
to death by a brave slayer when I was
about five. I was so proud of that I
might have to dig it out and display it,
but it just shows the local interest
that people have in those hills. Mark
has done some research and has
explained it in his own story so I will
not spoil it for you; I will just say that
there seems to be some truth to the
ghost of the mere that we were told
as young kids by our parents. I guess
they were probably just trying and
keep us away!
As we got older we got braver and
after school and weekends if we were
not fishing the local river we would
often head up to the hills overlooking
the mere, causing no trouble at all, but
the local farmer still wasnt impressed
with us being there, so we tried to
avoid him as much as we could. And
with those memories still in my mind
I once again tried to avoid him at all
costs while going about my hunt to
spot a Haunted Mere carp. We did
later find out that this farmer didnt
exactly have any rights to this land
himself. So in essence if I were to ever
fish the haunted mere it would have
to be as covert as possible.
I had initially been concerned
about where to leave my car. One
idea I had was to park up about a mile
away near to the pub and walk down,
but this would lead me very close to
the farmers house, and of course I
was keen to avoid being seen coming
and going. The other idea was to park
up in an old road going leading to the
sewage works on the other side of the
valley, but this was an even longer
walk across several fields, but it
would at least take me in behind the
mere and out of view of any house. As
luck would have it though, I neednt
have worried. While on my way to
another lake I noticed a little layby
nearby was often being used by the
local dog walkers as a convenient
place to park for the afternoon, and
seeing that this was only a few hun-
dred metres from the meres hidden
entrance it was perfect, and it also
gave me a good excuse if ever I was
challenged in open land. With a dog
lead in my hand, I hoped I could sim-
ply say my dog had run off. Perfect.
OK, back to the mere. The following
spring I was determined to spend a
lot more time looking for any signs of
carp. I had no real distractions, with
very little work coming my way for
the foreseeable future and with only
one other ticket acquired, my time
was to be split between the two
waters. Besides, the mere had been
untouched for so long I had all the
time in the world to see for myself
what this place held. So what was the
hurry?
I guess I was up that tree for a cou-
ple of hours and with my bum now
nearly as numb as my arms and legs,
I decided to try and find a couple
more vantage points. There were sev-
eral areas I hadnt really explored
despite several decent looking climb-
ing trees. Walking around the mere
was extremely difficult: much of the
ground was very, very soft after years
and years of leaf fall and other rotting
vegetation, and I was often up to my
knees in wet, stinky compost type
mud. Add in the amount of fallen
branches and tree trunks, nettles and
brambles, and it really was slow
progress.
Despite the mere being fairly small
it still took me well over an hour and a
half to get back to the original looking
tree. Realistically I had only found just
two other places I could actually get
to the waterside and give myself a
decent view. There were just too
many fallen trees across the margins,
and it was impossible to climb onto
these fallen trunks, as the composted
mud was just too deep and soft, so
even with just a light footstep it
would sink with no weight at all. The
first new place I found was almost
opposite my favourite tree. It was no
more than a mass of twisted roots, but
with the added leaf litter it made a
semi-hard platform just a metre in
size. Above me was a huge chestnut
FREE LINE 119
 Off The Beaten Track The Haunted Mere
tree canopy, which cut out the glare
from the sun. The water was so crys-
tal clear I could easily see down to the
bottom, which looked something like
15ft deep! The roots that were actu-
ally in the water were home to a mass
of tiny black snails, thousands of them
in fact. This was one rich lake, and
any fish present would be able to
gorge on the naturals to their hearts
content.
The second area I found was two
thirds of the way along on the left
hand bank, alongside a huge bank of
reeds. It was no more than just a par-
tially rotten trunk of a tree that had
died many years ago. There was just
one remaining branch, and I managed
to clamber onto it and was high
enough so I could just see over the
edge of the reeds. I could make out
the top of the marginal shelf just few
feet wide before the bottom dropped
of into the clear depths. It would be
from this very branch a few days later
I was to see my first two of the
haunted meres secrets. The sun was
getting high in the sky by now and
was really getting warm, and with the
humidity and sheer effort involved in
getting around the water I decided to
call it a day, as I hadnt bought any
supplies with me.
That evening I had a call from one
of the lads at my other water telling
me that the carp were starting to con-
gregate in the snags and in numbers,
and as I was yet to see my target fish
for myself the opportunity to see what
I was going to be fishing for was to
good to turn down, so the next day
was spent watching a mid-forty
pound common sunning itself with
some lovely looking mirrors well over
the thirty pound mark. Luckily
enough a few of the regular guys
were able to name quite a few, so at
least I knew one of my chosen venues
held a few whackers to go for.
Rocking
The next few days were cloudy and
windy with a little rain, so I decided to
give the mere a miss for a couple of
days at least until better fish spotting
weather returned. I spent this time
getting all the gear ready for my main
water. I respooled the reels with new
mono, ordered bait for the spring
campaign, and then I just pottered
around making sure all of the gear
was ready for another year of abuse.
The better weather returned, and
120 FREE LINE
soon enough I found myself doing
battle with the triffid-like vegetation
down at the mere once more. This
time I had cleverly remembered to
wear slightly more suitable clothing,
but still camo attire of course.
I quickly skirted around the edge of
the field and made my way in through
the back of the mere so as to avoid a
lot of the nettles and brambles. Also I
didnt want to leave too much of a
sign I had been there by trampling
through the obvious entrance. Tram-
pled down nettles was something I
was keen to avoid, even a couple of
leaves turned over can catch the eye
of a person, alerting them to the fact
that someone has been there. Without
too much of a drama I managed to
guess my entrance point about right,
missing most of the nettles and end-
ing up somewhere near to the tree
trunk that overlooked the reeds. I
popped on my new Polaroids, climbed
the soft trunk and clambered onto the
branch. The sun was just over the
tops of the trees and the water was
flat calm perfect.
Within just a few moments some-
thing caught my eye to my left. It was
just a slight movement of the water at
first, and then a tiny piece of dorsal fin
touched the surface. I could tell it was
a carp; it had to be, and as I watched
it intently from some ten yards away
it looked tiny! It was slowly working
its way along the reeds. I followed it
intently for a minute or so, and by
now it was only a yard from my tree,
and it slowly sunk away. Just as I took
a deep breath it reappeared right
below me, no more than ten feet away
now, and somehow it had multiplied
into two carp, and what I was wit-
nessing blew me away. There were
two of the most beautiful carp I had
ever seen! Both fish were a deep
brown and chestnut colour with huge
scales covering their flanks like
armoured plates, and not only were
they the best looking carp I had ever
seen; they were both definitely over
thirty pounds!
I was absolutely dumbstruck. I
cant find the words to describe how
beautiful these carp were unknown,
probably never caught before, and my
heart was absolutely pounding, I can
tell you. As I strained for one more
look before they disappeared from my
view my foot slipped off the rotten
wood and sent me falling backwards
8ft down into the soft, stinky, black
compost mud. There followed a plop
as my brand new Polaroids made
their way to a watery grave. I just lay
there giggling, which soon turned into
a full-blown howl, as I contemplated
what had just happened. Every carp
angler dreams of a find like this, and
somehow the carp gods had chosen
to show me. Those long forgotten
carp existed, and what stunners they
were. Have you ever seen those two
fully scaled carp Martin Clarke caught
from Sheephouse? Well these looked
just like that, but just a little smaller.
However, the size didnt matter to
me!
Untouched
Stinking like shit and covered in
black ooze, I decided to head home for
a shower and a cuppa. I had intended
to nip into the nearby pub for a pint
and some lunch, as it was turning into
a gloriously warm spring day, but I
thought perhaps I wouldnt be too
welcome. So instead the afternoon
was spent trying to clean my car seat
and getting rid of the smell.
I was buzzing that evening; I went
onto one of the forums I use and
typed out a little story about what I
had found. I was almost exploding,
and I needed to let it out, but at the
last minute I decided against it,
deleted it all, turned off the computer
and nipped up to the pub after all. I
just sat in the beer garden replaying
in my mind the pictures of those two
carp swimming along that reed line. I
wouldnt have been able to sleep that
night if it wasnt for those beers; I was
just so excited!
The next day I contemplated get-
ting a few bits of tackle ready and giv-
ing it a go that morning, but to be
honest there was no way I would be
able to fish anywhere near where I
saw them. There were just too many
logs and branches in the way to safely
land a fish, plus casting would be
nearly impossible with the trees lean-
ing over the water so I decided
against it. No hurry, remember. I had
decided that I would spend as much
time as I could up the trees just
watching, trying to figure out any
patrol routes or feeding areas and
most importantly where the hell I
could actually get a line or two out
and have a good chance of safely
hooking, playing and landing one, that
is if I was lucky enough to hook one of
course. I kept reminding myself of the

fact that they were only carp, but I
was thinking back to the problems I
had read about by the guys fishing
the Colne Valley mere trying every-
thing to catch one of those special
fish. Particles placed on little clear
spots went off after being totally
ignored, or being cleaned off leaving
just the hookbaits, but eventually lit-
tle yellow pop-ups had turned the
tide and accounted for the first few
carp landed for a long time. So at least
when I did start to fish for these carp
I would stick to fishing the method I
had already complete confidence in
boilies. That would be one less thing
to worry about.
I must have made a dozen trips
down after I saw those two scaly
carp, but despite mostly good fish
spotting weather and still, crystal
clear water I didnt see anything at all,
not even a roach! It was a couple of
weeks later when I had my next
sighting.
I had been spending most of the
time looking around those reeds and
under that chestnut tree, but to be
honest I was getting a little bit bored
of looking in the same place despite
the few handfuls of boilies Id placed
regularly being eaten, so I decided to
climb my old tree and watch the lake
from there. I still had an hour of light
left so up I climbed.
It gives a fantastic view of most of
the lake, and 14ft below me was a
margin surrounded by three huge
rhododendron bushes. There is just a
small gap between them directly
beneath me about 6ft wide. The water
looked deep, as I could not see the
bottom. I rolled a smoke and leaned
back against the tree just chilling
really, still thinking about those fully
scaled carp and wondering where
they could be. I longed for another
look at them. Looking out and exhal-
ing my smoke there was a bit of
movement, a gentle rocking of the
water down to my right about thirty
yards out. It was very difficult to make
out exactly what it was; I just had
that feeling it was carp, and not just
one but several. The movement was
just too much for little fish and after a
while I could make out a bit of fin
here, a little bit of back there. I
watched for maybe half an hour, but
as the sun reached the tree line the
gentle breeze stopped and whatever
it was slowly drifted away.
My head was starting to ache, and
The Haunted Mere Off The Beaten Track
my tobacco was getting dangerously
low, so I decided on one last smoke
then home. No sooner had I taken my
last drag than I just happened to look
down, and it was a good job I did. Out
of the blue a big, old carp glided
between the two bushes. My heart
instantly went into meltdown, and I
strained for a better look. This was
totally different to the other two coal
black in colour and so much bigger! I
only saw it for maybe five seconds as
it drifted through the gap. I just sat in
that tree staring down, forgetting to
blink, jaw dropped and my heart
thumping. Good job I gave myself
time to calm down really, as my legs
were shaking, and it was difficult tree
to get down from.
As I came to terms with it and
replayed it over in my mind, my first
thought was, did I just dream that? I
couldnt have, and I can picture it
even now. It had to be as wide and as
long as the big common Id been
watching in my other water only days
before, which was around 45lb-plus.
In my mind its still so vivid. It was
however so dark I could not tell if it
was a mirror or a common despite the
water being so clear. It was directly
below me and so unexpected I didnt
think or even get a chance to look at
its flank. It was as if the haunted mere
had opened its window once more,
just wide enough for me to have a
small glimpse as a reward for so much
patience and me believing in it. If the
mirrors were the jewels then this was
the crown an unknown whacker!
Still shaking and my heart still thump-
ing, I half climbed, half slid down my
favourite old tree, and in a daze
walked back to my car.
By now it was getting near dusk,
and I now seriously needed a drink at
the local. I contemplated what to do
next. Now I wasnt just fishing for a
couple of cracking fullies; I now had a
seriously big carp to catch. I pon-
dered over that pint for some time. I
needed to tell someone about all I had
seen at the haunted mere. I just
couldnt keep it inside me. I needed
some one else to experience the
unique atmosphere, the magic, the
pain in the arse getting to the lake
undetected and above else to see
those very carp for themselves in case
I woke up and it was all just a
dream I know just the mate to call,
wheres my phone.
There was no happy ending
though To cut a long story short
despite chances and strange occur-
rences and funny moments things
started to happen to the lake. Our
fishing ended without a capture, and
the landowner sold the fishing rights.
To this day that bigun and the origi-
nal few have not been banked. Its
still a good story as not every journey
ends in a huge fish on the bank. I
have fond memories though, and its
mystery carp. n
kind of nice knowing there are still
FREE LINE 121
Our specimen lake, Station, is one of the most
popular day ticket waters in the Midlands, a real
haven with some stunning fish in. Lavender Hall
Fishery was first established 25 years ago. Station
is clay lined, but as in any lake, the silt has built up
over the years in the open water, which is a very
good feature to fish to but, make sure your rigs will
present your bait, as the silt can be deep in places.
Around the three islands you will find the gravel
and clay areas that are obviously fished a lot and
do produce many fish as most island spots do. The
depth does vary across the lake with the roadside
genuinely being a bit shallower around the 4ft
mark, and the far side of the lake is around the 6ft
mark. It was once an all-out runs water, but this is
not the case any more, as over the years we have
netted the lake to remove the smaller carp and
silver fish etc.
The fish stocks are certainly not low with around
100 carp in a two-acre lake, but these fish are very
pressured and have seen it all. The swims are very
well spaced, but with just 11 of them, it can feel
busy quickly if a few anglers arrive at once. We do
only allow eight anglers on the lake to give
everyone a bit more room.
Fishery manager Tom Lawrie says: At the right time of year it does like
its bait. Its a water where Im happy to fish over lots different kind of
baits, i.e., either particle or boilies. Certainly for the bigger fish Id go for
boilies, and a good particle mix with corn for numbers of fish. In the
summer it can be a great surface and zig water. The fish do move around
quite a lot they get all over. You dont always want to fish to the three
islands; they will of course produce fish, but they also know that they are
very vulnerable there and will be extremely cautious. In the winter you
would expect to find the fish out in the middle channel and in the deeper
open water areas, but they can come in close along the eastern side of the
lake. Its a very good margin water, so try to always have a rod in the edge,
as it is often where the big girls get caught.
How to fish the lake:
Station is a very busy day ticket water. For those wishing to do the day
down there always check availability before coming down.Anglers
wishing to night fish the lake must book in advance, as places are
limited to prevent overfishing. (You do not book an individual peg on
the lake, just a space on the lake. It is first come first served regarding
which peg you fish.)
Specimen Lake Prices:
15.00 Day ticket (maximum of two rods per angler)
13.00 Concession day ticket (under 16s or over 65s)
15.00 Night ticket (Runs from dusk until dawn)
13.00 Half-day ticket (starts from 1pm daily)
10.00 Concession half-day ticket (starts from 1pm daily)
25.00 24-hour ticket (maximum of two rods per angler)
The lake is available to book exclusively for
a group of anglers. Please get in touch for
more information regarding this. To book in
or to check availability, call 01676530299,
or if for some reason you dont get through,
call Fishery Manager Tom on 07796998309
or email lavendertackle@gmail.com
Tom, Lavender Hall Fishery
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 Off The Beaten Track

The Unstable
Campaign
By Lee Colford

I
dont know about you, but for
me this last winter was a
headbanger. I fished hard for
no reward, and come the first
signs of spring and my first
bite for months, I only bloody
lost it due to a cut off on my leader. Id
had enough, and a new challenge
was needed. Thankfully I had just the
place in mind. The venue is one I had
done the odd trip on over the last few
years, and I had picked up snippets of
info from the odd angler I met, and of
course the dog walkers. Plenty of you
will no doubt see dog walkers as a
pain at times, but who better to get
info from than people who are using
the towpath regularly? Obviously
their perspective of fish sizes may be
a little over the top, but generally the
numbers they see and the areas they
see them in are spot-on. If you
havent guessed yet from the towpath
clue, the venue in question is a canal
not just any canal, but one that is
actually disused and closed for
angling. The reason for this is the
banks are crumbling away and unsta-
ble. The local council has erected long
stretches of fencing preventing you
from getting to the waters edge

124 FREE LINE

 The Unstable Campaign Off The Beaten Track
along a lot of it, although there are a
few places to get the rods out.
After the loss of my first bite in
months it was soon half term for the
kids, so for a couple of weeks the rods
would be gathering dust. I put this
time to good use though; in fact it
probably worked out better, as I took
my time to pick an area and get the
bait going in. Over the half term I
made the nine-mile round trip on my
bike four times, each time emptying a
bucket of hemp, tares, tigers and
Excelsor boilies from Beechwood
Baits over the area. I was buzzing for
it on the few days leading up to my
first trip. On all my recce trips I had
yet to see another angler, but had
seen a few carp. Empty banks and
rarely caught carp I was looking for-
ward to this! I decided to start off by
just fishing short evening sessions,
arriving around 7:30pm after riding
there from home and fishing through
till 1am before riding home again. A
lot of effort, but I was sure it would be
worth it.
Friday dragged, as it always does
when youre watching the clock,
waiting for that magic time when you
can leave the world behind and go
fishing. The journey there was trouble
free, and I made good time in spite of
the nonstop rain. I was all set up by
8pm and was happy with how it was
all going. Around 9:10pm the right
hand rod bent round, and I was in!
The fish put up a short but spirited
fight in the fading light. As I drew it
over the net I couldnt quite believe
my eyes! Over the last few years I had
heard the tales from the dog walkers
and the occasional angler about the
On my return the following evening
it was a simple case of flicking the
rods back out with just a handful of
Excelsor and tigers around each. It
was looking good with the odd fish
showing in the area, maybe tench,
but with the sun out and not a spot of
rain like the previous evening, I was
more than happy. Again I didnt have
too long to wait, and just before 9pm I
had a take. This time the left hand rod
was the one to go, and instantly it felt
a better fish than the two the previous
evening. It tried hard to find sanctuary
in the reed bed, but thankfully walk-
ing backwards got it away before it
put up a good fight under the tip. As
it popped up for netting my jaw hit
the floor, as a huge mouth and head
big golden koi, but never had I actu- neared the net with large scales
ally seen it. Yet here it was staring adorning its side. I scooped it up
back at me! It went 12lb, but honestly,
who cares? After a few pics I returned
it and got the rod back out. I was just
in the process of sending a few quick
messages when once again the recast
rod was away! I was liking it here
already. Another spirited but short
fight ensued, and a lovely old looking
11lb 4oz mirror had me smiling from
ear to ear. It was just gone 10pm
when I had the rod back out, but see-
ing as I had already been blessed with
a lovely brace of fish I decided to give
it till 11:30pm then depart earlier than
planned. As it happens it was a good
decision, and I flew home on my bike
that night. Before I left though, I
deposited half a bucket of hemp,
tares, tigers and Excelsor over the
area.
FREE LINE 125
 Off The Beaten Track The Unstable Campaign
quickly, and instantly dropped the rod
to take in the beautiful scaly creature
I had been blessed to catch. What a
fish! I let out a little victory cry to
myself whilst securing the net and
getting the mat and camera ready. It
looked even better as it lay glistening
on the mat in the fading sun; I was
truly buzzing! For the record it went
19lb 12oz, but I really couldnt care!
Feeling blessed with my two short
evening successes I decided to leave
at 10:30pm and again give them a free
meal and not push my luck too soon
in the campaign.
I had a few beers that night once
home, and they tasted ever so sweet
after a blank winter, I can tell you.
126 FREE LINE
or so that I should have had one, but
put it down to overconfidence
because of my results the previous
weekend. I figured they would trip up
eventually, so I sat on my hands. How
wrong! I left it till 9:30pm before it got
the better of me, and on retrieving the
rod that had seen the most activity
around it, I noticed it was tangled! A
wasted few hours there, but I live and
learn. I had been using the other rod
as a roaming rod, trying a different
spot with minimal bait just as a con-
trast to the heavily prebaited area, but
it didnt produce either. By 11pm the
activity had ceased, so I put out
another good hit of bait and left for
home, a lesson learnt and noted. Also
the old weed had come up and was
floating around everywhere making
line lay a little difficult at times.
Another problem to solve, but I fig-
ured it was coming, and already a
solution to this problem was ready to
go.
The following Wednesday I again
I only had the one evening session
rode up and give them a good hit of
that weekend, so that was it till the
the bait mix. I couldnt wait for Friday
week after. I planned on doing a full
evening to come around again.
night next time and try to get the
Friday arrived a little earlier after a
evening and dawn bite times into
bit of sweet-talking to the missus; the
play.
pull was already getting strong. It was
I couldnt make it back to fish for a
looking good, and I had a quick lead
fortnight, but I carried on with the
about on the spot to see if it was get-
baiting. Every three days I made the
ting clearer, and it certainly was.
journey on my bike; I was racking up
What was once dying weed and
some miles, thats for sure. I baited
sticky silt had become much cleaner,
with a bucket full of the same mix of
and the lead slid along the bottom.
hemp, tares, tiger nuts and Excelsor
Unfortunately I spooked one on my
boilies every time. My last trip to bait
first cast! I got the rods sorted the
up was earlier in the day than previ-
same as last week and was confident
ous baiting trips. It meant I had a
of a bite as the reeds were knocking
chance of spotting anything, whereas
like crazy. I was thinking after an hour
before, I was getting in and out
quickly on dusk, which didnt give me
much chance of fish spotting. To be
honest it wasnt till I was making to
leave after baiting that I spotted any-
thing, and it was only another koi!
 The Unstable Campaign Off The Beaten Track

This one was white with black and

orange markings. I had never been
told or heard anything about this one.
Im guessing they have come from
the local housing estate after out-
growing their owners pond. God
knows what else could be in there.
Thankfully I had managed to
arrange a lift for the weekend. Plans
were afoot to do a full night, so with
any luck the baiting would have
worked its magic, and I would get
amongst them again.
I arrived for my overnighter at
9:20pm and quickly got the rods out. I
had just laid the bedchair out when I
noticed in the distance two fluores-
cent yellow jackets heading my way
down the towpath. Ah shit Was I
about to be told to pack up and go
home by the police? I sat down and
didnt do anything but watch as they
g o t c l o s e r a n d c l o s e r. A s t h e y
approached I nodded in their direc-
tion and said, Evening. They replied
with an Evening of their own and
carried on walking! I guess I was wor-
rying for nothing, ha ha! All was quiet
till around 3am when I had a bream-
like occurrence on the left hand rod. I
took my time, put my shoes on and
casually walked to the rod. Upon
picking it up it hooped over, and a
carp rolled on the surface. I had a little
trouble with the ever-increasing
weed clinging to the line. It was mak-
ing it difficult to net, but in it went
eventually, and a 21lb 14oz ghostie
was my prize. My first twenty of the
year, and the fish were gradually get-
ting bigger from the spot. Nothing
else occurred, and I was packed up

and heading for home by 10am.

I again baited the spot through the
week and fished it on the Friday night
but no joy. I got a feeling they had
moved off to spawn somewhere. What
with the good weather the previous
week, it seems they were waiting for
it. I stuck some more bait on it before
I left though and planned to keep it
going in through the following week,
but not planning to fish it. I thought
giving them a few free meals without
pressure could pay off after their
yearly ritual. I rode up to bait it again
on the Wednesday. Just as I was fin-
ishing a guy came along who said he
had been fishing it a little further up
for the past month or so! (Rumbled!!).

FREE LINE 127

 Off The Beaten Track The Unstable Campaign

It was quite clear to him I had been

baiting, and I had also cleared weed
from the front of the swim with the
rake. The way he came across, I could
imagine him jumping on it. Time
would tell I guess, but I had a feeling
this could be the beginning of the
end. I would go back up to bait again
Saturday evening, and I would be able
to tell if my peg has been trodden or
not. My next trip fishing I had pen-
ciled in for a Wednesday day session.
After that I decided to make the call
to either carry on or leave it be. The
weed was now up to the surface
along most of the stretch, and my
spot was quite obvious, just a 12ft
wide gap in the weed from bank to
bank with large piles of weed on the
bank from my raking efforts to keep it
fishable.
Saturday I went to stick some more
bait on the spot, and lo and behold I
came across the other koi. I man-
aged a quick pic on my phone before
he disappeared under the weed. I was
getting an itch for the need to catch
me this fish. On the plus side the

swim had looked untouched from the
guy who rumbled me on Wednesday,
so all was good at the minute. I
planned to stick another small bucket
in on Tuesday then fish a day on
Wednesday. Just to add, the koi
wasnt the only carp I saw that day.
I Arrived around 9am on Wednes-
day and was fishing in double quick
time due to getting everything ready
the night before. I had made the effort
to get back up the previous day and
just top up the spot a little in prepara-
tion. With the weed the way it was,
there was no real way of fish spotting
in the area, and honestly, it wasnt
looking good. Im not one to waste
my sessions, so at 1pm I was off and
heading for the area I had seen the
other koi hanging around. Due to not
knowing how clear the area was of
weed, I switched over to chods. An
hour later I had my first bite. Due to
the nature of the ground where I had
set up, my rod butts were resting on a
bucket. The rod went flying on the

128 FREE LINE

 The Unstable Campaign Off The Beaten Track

so I was more than pleased. life, it just goes to prove that effort can
An hour later the left hand rod was equal reward! Im in need of a break,
away, and after a good scrap and no so I may just go back to the local to
drama from the weed, my second of exorcise the demons of that blank

take, but thankfully I was on it quickly.
Instantly it locked up in weed, and I
was left winding it in, not sure if the
carp was still attached. Trying to net
it all was a pain; the first time I
thought I had it all only to notice my
line sticking out of the net with a carp
still attached. I dropped everything
and started ripping off the weed, and
in it popped second time around, and
a stunning little common of around
9lb was my prize. What it lacked in
size it certainly made up for in looks;
chunks. n
the day was in the net this time a winter and try and catch a few
mirror with large fins, big scales and
again lovely dark colour. It probably
weighed around 13lb but I didnt
weigh it; I really didnt care. All the
while the other koi was hanging
around the area, teasing me by stay-
ing close to the surface despite the
rain. I switched one rod to a zig and
put it on the patrol route I had seen
him using, but to no avail. I packed up
and rode home at 5pm, happy that I
had made the move and got the most
from my session.
With the weed now at its worst Ive
decided to call an end to it for now.
I may go back in the autumn to see
what else lurks beneath the surface,
or to try and get my picture taken
with the other koi, but for now Ive
got other plans. Over the period of
time I undertook this campaign, I
rode, for baiting up and fishing, some-
where in the region of 140 miles and
only put in around 50 total fishing

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 Exclusive

Krassos on Carp
Rob Maylin chats to Mick Krassos

Rob: Its always a pleasure to meet

up with Mick, and were here today
at the beginning of July really to
catch up on Micks fishing since the
last time he was in the magazine.
Regular readers of Big Carp will
remember the Krassos on Carp
series that we ran last year. We
were actually chatting a few
moments ago trying to remember
exactly where we finished off, and
we think it was the last session
down on Horton that year when
Mick caught the Thorpe Park Com-
mon, a fantastic fish. Mick has just
informed me that it has been out
over 40lbs now from Horton last
week. mentioned a couple of issues ago in
So Im going to pass you over to Big Carp, Mick has been doing very, (Above) Back to Horton for my last
season to try and bag Shoulders
Mick now, and were going to catch very well down at Horton; hes had
(Below) A winter 34lber from Horton
up on the winter, right through to a fantastic season down there that known as Buddha
the spring, and right up to date. As I culminated in the capture of the

130 FREE LINE


Parrot once again.
Mick: Hi Rob. Yes, I think it has
been about six months since I was
last round here doing a tape. I think
we left off when I caught the
Thorpe Park Common and Cossack
last time I was on Horton. I contin-
ued to fish Horton for the autumn,
and even though I put a bit of time
in I really struggled. I dont know
why; I think I was still trying to fish
Krassos on Carp Exclusive
to spots that were producing in the
summer instead of getting round
the bays and using boilies, giving
what they wanted through the
autumn time. I was still trying to
use the same tactics, which didnt
work, so basically autumn time was
a blank down there for me even
though I fished it hard, trying to
move on fish.
So I gave up about November
(Left) Winter was spent getting a
bend in the rod two in the net at
once.
(Below) A mid-20, caught in winter.
time, and through the winter I just
spent a bit of time with my mates
doing a few socials. The first social
was with my good mate George
Loughlin, when Mike Hutchinson
gave us permission to fish down at
Blue Pool, and it turned out to be a
really good session. In two days we
got something like 22 fish, which
was quite good going really consid-
ering I dont think Ive had 22 fish
all year. The biggest one I had was
only a low 20, but Georges one was
the biggest at about 26lbs.
I d i d n t b o t h e r g o i n g f i s h i n g
through December, and then I think
the next session out was Yateley
South Lake with George Loughlin
again. It was really quite cold with
ice on the ground really cold con-
ditions. I had never fished there
before so I had a quick walk round
and the only place they could be
holed up in was between the snags
FREE LINE 131
 Exclusive Krassos on Carp
(Above) Spring was spent catching up
with my mates and having a few
socials at Linear fisheries and
Frimley. A stunning mirror from
Frimley.
between the two islands. So George
and I doubled up, and we fired out
singles to the snags. In two nights I
had four fish up to 23lbs, but
George didnt have anything so it
was nice to get one over on him
again! Yeah that was really good.
That was really my last session
through the winter on my day ticket
venues, social-wise, and next time
out was down to Horton, trying to
catch Shoulders. This was at end of
February, beginning of March, and
it turned out to be a nightmare. My
mate Gary Lewis turned up for a
social and it was windy and rainy,
really good conditions for fishing,
and really low pressure. About quar-
ter to two that morning I heard a
bang on the bivvy, and I woke up to
find four lads were nicking my gear.
I looked out and chased them off,
but my rods and my alarms, my
132 FREE LINE
marker rod, and my spod rod had
gone, literally everything had gone.
I quickly went and got Gary next
door, and they had nicked his two
marker rods and his spod rod as
well. Looking through the gardens,
luckily enough I found my alarms
and my stainless, which was a
result, but the next couple of weeks
were a washout really, as I didnt
have any gear. At this point Ill say
thank you to a couple of mates who
helped me out Gary Lewis, Beadle
Dave Slowen and Nick Helleur. If it
wasnt for them, I dont think Id be
fishing now, because I cant afford
to replace my stuff, and it wasnt
insured, so I would like to say thank
you really.
My next session down was about
a week to ten days later when I had
Beadles stuff, so I thought that
might bring me good luck, as the
last fish out on his rods was Tet-
leys. By this time there were a few
fish coming out, it had started to
warm up again, and a couple of the
lads down there had a few, so it was
really looking good down there for
the end of the season. I got down
there and youll never guess what
happened the bad weather came
back again! I could not believe my
luck, but I decided to go in the Cap-
tors swim. Even though there
werent many fish showing in there,
I knew it had a good track record for
producing Shoulders at the back
end. I think it was the season
before, or maybe the season before
that, Chilly had Shoulders out of
Captors at the end of the season.
Anyway, two days back into the
session I was fishing my normal
spot, just over the back of the bar in
14ft of water at 90yds out, and I had
a take on the right hand rod. It
turned out to be one of the Fishers
Pond fish, Bullet, at 34lb 4oz so it
was a nice welcome back. I was
due to stay down there all week but
the weather turned for the worse,
and again it was really cold and
rainy. I think it went to an easterly
wind, and I just couldnt take it; it
w a s f r e e z i n g d o w n t h e r e, s o I
decided to go home, hoping that the
weather would change in a day or
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and Tales
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 Exclusive Krassos on Carp
two, but it didnt. Anyway, it was
the last week of the season, so I had
no choice but to go down there
again and go for it. Again, luckily
enough, I jumped back in the Cap-
tors swim, as I badly wanted Shoul-
ders now, and I knew that if it was
feeding it would be coming from
there. That last week of the season
was a real mistake really because
134 FREE LINE
the weather went quite nice again,
with a nice breeze on the water and
low pressure again, and of course
they were all down the other end,
werent they?
Gerry Hammond I think had two
fish up to 37lbs out of the Plateau,
and one of the other lads, Dan, had
a brace of 40s out of the One Up,
Merlin at 42lbs, a stunning fish,
which I landed for him, and the Par-
rot at 44lb 14oz. I couldnt believe
it; I was blown away what a
brace, but hey, credit where credit it
due. I dont think Dan has fished
down there much this year, but hes
had three fish now, and 39lbs is the
smallest one! Dan whatever you are
using, I want the same, mate! Any-
way, that was it for that week; I did-
nt have anything else even though
there were a few coming out. I
think Graham Dell had Hercules at
38lbs, and there were a few fish
coming out. I think Pete Kingsbury
had Uno at 37 or 38lbs too. But by
this time it was too late; it was a
bad move on my part trying to go in
a swim that has produced before. I
have learned my lesson now, so I
think Ive just got to fish where the
fish are instead of going on past
form. So that was the end of the
season unfortunately a quiet end
to the season for me anyway.
So now it was into springtime
(Above) A typical Frimley common.
(Left) The new bait from Richworth,
the aewsome KG1.

(Above) Another stunning common from Frimley.
again, and I didnt really have any-
thing planned. It is the last year I
am going to have my gold card, so I
thought Id catch up with a few
mates over on Frimley. I was think-
ing about doing a bit of time on Lin-
ear Fisheries over in Oxford, as
there are some stunning fish over
there, big scaly things, and its not
all about the size some of those
f i s h a r e 3 3 - 3 4 l b s , a n d t h e y r e
absolutely clonking.
My first session down there was
the second week in April with my
good mate Danny Stroud, who I
havent seen for probably about a
year. I keep in contact with him on
the phone, but Ive not fished with
him for about a year now since
Linch Hill, so we organised a ses-
sion up there on Hardwick. We got
down there late on the Friday after
speaking to Ian McMillan, who said
the best swims to get in were along
the left hand spit. I couldnt believe
it; every part of the lake was full
apart from this left hand spit, so
Danny and I ran round there
quickly, put our buckets in there,
and we had two nights to fish. I
saved a blank down there with one
Krassos on Carp Exclusive
fish which was about 4lbs, but
Danny had eight fish including two
33lbers, one of which was a lovely
linear. I think he lost three as well! I
couldnt believe it; I had one fish, a
4lb mirror, so that was that when
your lucks out, your lucks out!
Just as Sam went
to net it, it rolled
over onto the
leadcore and the
hook pulled.
I couldnt be having that, so I
thought that when Danny was
away Id get back down there for
another session, to try and even
things up. So of course I jumped in
the swim Danny was in, and I had
three up to 24lbs, lovely looking fish
with big apple scales on them, a bit
like the Linch Hill fish. Theres a
plateau thats 7ft on top thats liter-
ally the size of an umbrella, so if you
dont land on this youre basically
into the dark, into the deep and
smelly silt. In the cross winds it can
be a real nightmare trying to fish
onto a little plateau, especially
when youre trying to get three rods
onto it as well. It was really good
fun down there, and I did mean to
go back, but my other mate, Sam,
phoned and asked me to come
down Frimley with him, which I
couldnt really turn down because
I d n e v e r r e a l l y f i s h e d F r i m l e y
before, well, only once or twice. Its
a really nice place, but again, luck
has been against me down there.
The first time I went down there
last year with Martin and Barry I set
my bedchair on fire, so I thought oh
no, not the jinx again! But anyway I
decided to go down there on the
Thursday with Sam, but he beat me
to it; he got down there about 5am.
I strolled up about 2pm, and Sam
was in Deep Point, and by this time
hed had a couple of fish up to low
20s, the best being a 23lb common,
and it was looking really good.
I think all the fish were down
there, and Moggy was absolutely
caning it down this end, having big
FREE LINE 135
 Exclusive Krassos on Carp

hits, so I thought well, when in

Rome! So I stayed down that end
that session, and I went in to Daisy
Bay. There were quite a lot of fish
showing in there, just cruising on
the top. They werent really going
down, but I thought, if theyre in
there, they might go down of a
night. By this time, most people
were using maggots on there; I
tried to stay on the boilies, and at
the time I was using KG1 with a bit
of plastic corn and little scruffy
bags cast to showing fish. I had one
fish that session, a 23lb common,
but everyone was absolutely caning
them on the maggots in there, so I
thought you know what, Im going
to have to get on this myself. So
next session down I went in Double
Boards, and again Sam came down
and he went in the Fallen Tree next
door. Sam was first of the mark
again with a low 20 in the night, but
the next afternoon, I had a take on
the left hand rod on the boilies up
against the back of the bar on the
back of Double Boards. That was a
low 20lb common again most of
them are 20lb commons in there,
arent they? I had two rods out on
the maggots and one rod out on the
KG1, and about half hour later, the
other rod on the maggots went off. I
played it all the way in, got it to the
net and I think it was a fish they call
Shoulders at about 36lbs. Just as
Sam went to net it, it rolled over
onto the leadcore and the hook
p u l l e d . I t h o u g h o h n o , I d o n t
believe it! I was gutted, especially
with the bad luck I had been having
from the start of the year. I then got
the rod back out there, and put a bit
more bait out.
It was quite quiet that night and
nothing really happened, but again
the same time the next morning it
roared off, this time with another
small common, and then it was time
to go home, as my 48 hours were
up. Its really patchy on there at the
moment; Sams mate Dave came
down for his first session, and I
think he had something like 12 fish
with three over 34lbs, and next ses-
sion he had Charlies Mate as well

(Top) Two things I never leave home

without.
(Middle) Return to the famous Church
Lake, in pursuit of Shoulders.
(Left) My Horton terminal bits.

136 FREE LINE

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 Exclusive Krassos on Carp
(Above) My first blood for the 2007 season, The Virginian at 36lb 12oz.
at 44lb 14oz! So job done for him,
and well done Dave, you jammy git!
My next session down I decided
to go in the Deep Point; its the
same sort of water as the Double
Boards but a lot easier, especially as
I was fishing the mag-aligner as
well by this time. I was only down
f o r 3 6 h o u r s t h i s t i m e, a s I h a d
things to do, and it was getting
really busy at the weekend so I did-
nt really want to stay during it.
Basically I just fished the mag-
aligner, casting to showing fish
every now and again. I had three
fish that session up to 24-25lbs, no
real biguns. I foul hooked one
again, which was another night-
mare, a 34-35lb common right in the
pec talk about bad luck. I dont
know what was happening but I
just couldnt get amongst the big-
ger fish; I was either losing them or
foul hooking them, so basically it
was a nightmare start of the year,
especially the winter/spring, and I
was really looking forward to Hor-
ton by this time.
There was one more session left
138 FREE LINE
down at Frimley, and again I went
in the Double Boards. I think I had
three in 36 hours that session,
including one of those rare little
mirrors, which was really nice;
theyre not the biggest in there but
theyre nice and pretty. Again that
was on the mag-aligner; I dont
know what it is about Frimley, but
they just love the maggots in there
dont they? Everyone was on the
maggots by this time, even though
they werent all fishing the mag-
aligner. Some were just fishing PVA
bags of maggots with little 12mm
boilies over the top, but yeah, the
maggots were absolutely caning
the place. I cant afford to keep on
the maggots at 20 a gallon the
old bank balance was going down,
so it was time to pull off there.
There were two weeks left before
the start of the season on Horton, so
it was time to call Bob at Richworth
to get some bait off him to start
baiting up there. There are probably
50 fish over 30lbs in there, and prob-
ably six over 40lbs, and I knew they
liked their boilies. I couldnt believe
it quite a lot of members, probably
half the syndicate dropped out for
some reason, and there was no one
baiting up, so it was time to get
down there. I pulled up in the pub
car park under the cover or dark-
ness, and just went round with a
catapult spreading a bit of bait out
really. I just know with that amount
of fish in there, it didnt really have
to be in one area, I just spread the
bait out everywhere, along the Back
Bank, along the Church Bank, RIP,
Scooter, Ski Slope, Church Bay, and
that way no one could see me, espe-
cially Del with his prying eyes
sorry Del!
I was driving down there all the
time; I couldnt really fish a lot
because it took a lot of the time up
every other day, or every three days,
going down baiting up. I was bait-
ing up with 14 and 18mm KG1
boilies, the new bait out from the
Richworth stable. Its a weird sort of
smell, a fishmeal/fruit sort of smell.
I wasnt really sure how the fish
would take it because there are
quite a lot of big bream in there, I
 Krassos on Carp Exclusive

(Top) Spotty at 37lb 12oz.

(Bottom) Spotty the other side who said the stocked fish in Horton aint got character?

FREE LINE 139

 Exclusive Krassos on Carp
know the bream like the fruity
flavoured baits, so I wasnt really
too sure how they would accept
them, especially with the eels in
there.
So anyway I stayed with the KG1,
and baited up for two weeks. Before
start of the season I went down for
the barbeque and the draw, and
luckily enough I came out 5th
a g a i n , t h e s a m e a s l a s t y e a r. I
couldnt believe it; my luck was
getting a bit better, and I thought
maybe this would turn my fortune
now, and Id start getting down
there and catching a few again,
hopefully including Shoulders. We
all turned up on the Friday ready for
start of the season, and I chose Ski
Slope again because Id had a result
in there last year. I was hoping that
with all the pressure of the lines
being out, the fish might be pushed
out into the middle of the lake, but it
just didnt really kick off this year. I
dont know what happened, but I
think the first week John the cabbie
had one just over 30lbs, but that
was it really.
After three days I thought Id pull
Parrot for the second time. I dont normally like repeats but this time its a new PB at 43lb 8oz.
140 FREE LINE
off and try and get back for the sec-
ond week, since it was not fishing
well that week. I came back, and I
think Phil Kingsbury had the Wood-
carving, and that was it really, noth-
ing else had really been out by this
stage. By this time last year there
were over 20 fish out, and I think it
was lucky if there were five fish out
this year -the fishing was really dif-
ficult. Anyway, I had a look round,
and it looked so moody; they were
showing in Weedy Bay, but they
werent really feeding and there
was someone there anyway. Theres
a big common in Horton called Tet-
leys that hasnt been caught for the
last two years since Beadle had it at
40lb 1oz. It was in Weedy Bay and it
looked absolutely massive, but as I
said, there was somebody in there
so I couldnt fish there. I dont know
if I really wanted to fish there actu-
ally because even though they were
s i t t i n g t h e r e i n t h e w e e d, t h e y
werent really feeding. I was just
hoping they would they would drift
off to somewhere at night, so I had
a walk round the lake, but I couldnt
really decide where to go.
I was just walking round for a few
hours, and Pete Kingsbury lost a
grass carp out of the Scooter. I was
standing in One Up; he had a take
on one of his rods, and it came out
of the water like a dolphin. So I
thought that Id drop in after him
since there were a few fish in front
of him, even though it was a grass
carp, and he was packing up in a
minute so. The others do hang
about with the grass carp in there,
so I thought Id go round and put a
bucket in the swim and see when
hes off. He was supposed to be off
that afternoon, but because hed
had a bit of action, he was going to
stay until the next morning, so I
decided to jump in the Lodge Steps
for the night. There are always a
few fish resident in the Lodge Steps
just fish 3 or 4ft out, and it does do
the good ones, fish like No Name,
Thorpe Park common, it does do the
good ones. Even Shoulders had
been caught from there a couple of
times, so I thought Id do a night in
the re, s e e w ha t ha ppe ns i n the
morning, and if they were still in
front of Pete, Id move over there.

The swim where I had three fish over 36lbs in less than 12 hrs surely Shoulders must be close? Fingers crossed.
Pete came round about 10am and
said hed had enough, so I decided
to jump in after him in the end. I
think Pete had two or three out of
there in three nights, so I thought it
would be rude not to; it was the
only swim with any action really,
and there were still a few fish in
front of him.
So I quickly went round there
with my stuff. Id never fished the
Scooter before, but I spoke to my
mate Simon Davey, as that was his
favourite swim, and he said its just
fishing the weed or fishing the clear
areas. I spent probably three hours
marking up in there, just thrashing
it to a foam because I knew once it
was all done, they would all be
clipped up, so as long as I am in
there, I wouldnt really need to get
the markers out again. The spot I
found was probably about 40yds
out. Basically there was weed, then
a silt channel about half a rod
length wide, and then another weed
bed. I just put the marker out there
and cleaned the area off with
another marker and another lead so
it was nice and clean. At this point
I decided to spod a bit of bait out. I
didnt go mad; I probably put a kilo
of 14s, a kilo of 10s, a jar of CC
Krassos on Carp Exclusive
Moore Hemp, and a kilo of halibut
pellets just get them rooting about.
I dont normally like to fish pop-ups
normally over particles or anything
small, but because it was quite dirty
and silty I was fishing 1in pop-ups.
I didnt want them wafting about,
so I was fishing them right on the
deck, anchored down. I fished them
either side of the float, and I
decided to spod out a kilo each of
14s and 10s in the KG1.
About 9pm I had a screaming
take on the left hand rod, and I
thought here we go, first blood, but
it turned out to be an eel. Then I
had a bream, and I thought it might
be down to these fruity baits. I was
sitting there wondering what to do.
Id put quite a bit of bait in through
the closed season, and I was start-
ing to think I might have done the
wrong thing. Should I have gone
with the fishy flavoured ones
instead of the fruity fishy ones? But
I though, oh well, its too late now
because I had put in probably 60-70
kg of bait in the closed season. I
quickly got the marker out again
before dark and put a little bit more
bait out because I thought the eels
and bream might have wiped me
out.
I got up about 5am and there
were a few fish showing round the
area, not bang on the spot, but just
r o l l i n g r o u n d i n t h e v i c i n i t y. I
thought I was watching the water,
but I must have dozed back to sleep
again, and about 6am the left hand
rod pulled up tight. I thought here
we go again, a bream or an eel. I
struck into it, but straight away I
knew it wasnt a bream or an eel; it
started taking line and it was a
really good scrap, going right to left.
I had to try to put a bit of pressure
on it because theres a car under-
water on the right hand side of the
Scooter swim. The divers went
down there probably 8-10 years
ago, but they couldnt get it up, so
they cut the roof off. So I thought if
I dont give it a bit of pressure here
its going to cut me off. I thought Id
test the hook hold out, and luckily
enough the fish turned and the
hook didnt fall out. It carried on
coming in, and then it just went
nuts under the rod tip, which was
lucky as it got it away from the car.
About ten minutes later I put the
net under it, and it was nice to see
Hortons first carp of the year for
me, which turned out to be The Vir-
ginian at 36lb 12oz a good start. I
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 Exclusive Krassos on Carp

got Phil down from the Ski Slope to Anyway I just dont like them, so I lier on in the year, and I didnt have
do the photos because hes good decided to start messing about with everyones number back in yet, so I
with the camera. He doesnt mind X-Line, and that way I could fish had to phone one of the lads in the
coming down to do my pics, and really slack lines to just take on the Plateau swim. He quickly ran and
vice versa; Ill reel in if hes got one. contours of the bottom. So I was got Del to get the boat for me, and
Its nice once youve got one; you fishing really slack lines, but I was by the time he was getting the
want decent photos, so he came still getting liners, and Sam said, boat, the left hand rod pulled up
down and did the photos for me. Yo u r e g o i n g t o h a v e o n e i n a tight and ripped off. Sometimes you
Phil went back down to his swim, minute. I thought maybe it was the know youve the same sort of fight
put his rods back out, and about bream out there or the eels again, before, its a weird feeling, and I just
three hours later he had one called just knocking about. knew this felt familiar. I got it all the
Chips at about 32-33lbs, so that A few minutes later the right way in and I saw it was the Parrot
was nice for him. I think that was hand rod pulled up, hit the butt, and again. I thought bleeding hell, not
his second fish of the season, so he it was just one of those savage again, so I quickly bullied that one
was off to a good start as well, a bit takes, cracking the butt. I was play- in as I had one on the other rod. I
like last year. ing that one and it was stripping didnt really let it fight, so I quickly
After that I got the rods back out, line off; it hit the surface straight bundled that in the net, and Del
but by about 10 or 11am there was away, and Ive been told as soon as started going back with the boat. I
nothing really in front of me. It you hook Shoulders it hits the sur- said, Del, what are you doing? He
looked quite dead; there was no face and just messes about, so I said, Youve got it in havent you?
fizzing, no oil slicks coming up, so I was just wondering if it was him. It I said, No, that was the other rod,
decided to quickly run back to the started going on a mad run, taking quick, get back here!
van, get a bit more bait, and get the 30yds of line to the right of the Del quickly came over with Vince,
rods sorted for the afternoon. Again swim, and as I was saying before, one of the other bailiffs with the life
rig wise, I just kept it simple; I was theres a car on the right hand side jackets. Vince got out of the boat,
messing about with the new of the swim. I didnt really want to and I quickly put the life jacket on
Striptease from ESP, the 15lb green lose it there, but I couldnt stop this a n d w e n t i n t h e b o a t . We g o t
one, which is really nice, a lot better fish; it was either going to take line behind the car, and you could see
than the old stuff. I was fishing one or the hook was going to pull, so I this fish kept on coming up and
rod on the new Striptease and one had to let it take line. All of a sud- coming up, but it would come any
rod on the normal Stealth Skin from den it went solid, and I thought it further. I dont know what was hap-
Gardner, just fishing a size 10 ESP was lost basically it was weeded
Longshanx hook with a bit of shrink up, and it was behind the car as
tubing on a bent hook rig as soon well. I didnt have Dels number in
My tackle box, if it doesnt fit it
it picks up it cant eject it. So that my phone, as Id lost my phone ear- doesnt come simple.
was fished on both, with 1in pop-
ups, and that was fished on 6ft of
l e a d c o r e, h e l i c o p t e r s t y l e. T h e
weed wasnt too bad at the time; if
it had been any worse I would have
tied my leads on. So I got back, got
fresh rigs on and got the rods out
for the afternoon.
I dozed off about midday, just sat
there, and nothing was really hap-
pening. I was just watching the
water through the afternoon, had
something to eat, and about 5pm
one of the lads next door, they call
him Fireman Sam (its funny how
everyone has got nicknames down
there) came into my swim for a cup
of tea. We were just sitting and
chatting and I had a few bleeps, a
few liners on the right hand rod. A
lot of the lads use backleads down
there, but I dont like backleads at
all, what with the weed. You dont
get a good line angle to the rod,
plus I dont think you get a good
indication when you get a pick up,
especially when youve got humps
and bars or whatever in front of you.

142 FREE LINE

THE BIG CARP ROTARY LETTER SERIES
The greatest collection of thinking anglers ever amassed

01252 373658
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 Exclusive Krassos on Carp
pening, but in the end it had a load
of line round it, stuck behind the
car, so I had to handline it in, which
was a bit dodgy, what with using
small hooks as well. So I was
quickly trying to tease it in, and this
was going on for about 10-15 min-
utes. In the end I thought this isnt
looking good, especially as there
was all line around it, and it was
behind the car as well. I thought the
line was going to snap, but luckily
enough the X-Line held firm. In the
end I got the top of the leadcore,
pulled it over the net, and there was
another one. It looked 40lbs, and I
thought bleeding hell, Ive got a
brace of 40s here! I got it into the
bank and I just had to sit down for
five minutes; I couldnt take it all in
really. It wasnt fishing well, but I
possibly had two 40lbers in the net;
I couldnt believe it. Talk about
when your lucks in, your lucks in!
So my luck turned for the good
then. I knew the Parrot was an old
fish, so I let it rest and I got the
other one out first. It wasnt 40lbs;
it was Spotty at 37lb 12oz those
stock fish are so massive, it dwarfed
the Parrot! It just looked so much
bigger, but it was 37lb 12oz. I did
the photos for that, got some good
shots, slipped him back, and it was
time to get the Parrot out. Even
though I was chuffed to catch it
again, I dont really like repeat cap-
tures, so I was a bit gutted in one
way; I would have like to have
caught one of the other fish I
The tackle I have faith in.
144 FREE LINE
havent caught before. I got it on
the scales and it turned out to be
43lb 8oz, which was a new PB for
me, so it made it worthwhile catch-
ing it again. I got some good photos
of that and slipped it back. I did
another night or two in the swim
and nothing else happened. They
moved off from there, so they were
just there for 12 hours, hit the spot
hard, started ripping the bottom up
I learned my
lesson that
fishing
helicopters in the
weed wasnt
really the best
presentation.
and feeding, and then they moved.
It was weird, after I got the rods
back out, after I caught the fish, the
bottom had changed so much.
Beforehand it was quite silty, but it
had changed to quite hard now. Its
amazing how much they rip the
bottom up; it was well clean, and it
was easy to present bottom baits on
there now. So that was it really for
that session; I didnt have any more.
The next session down it wasnt
fishing well again. It was really
patchy, one or two fish would be
out, and then nothing would be out
for four or five days. I decided to
jump in the Plateau swim; I did a
few nights in there and had a few
fish over me, but I just couldnt get
a take. I learned my lesson that fish-
ing helicopters in the weed wasnt
really the best presentation. I
should have probably fished a
safety clip or something, with a lit-
tle stick on to get a decent presen-
tation, but Ill know for next time.
Thats about it really; Im going
back down tomorrow for a few
nights, and hopefully Shoulders or
Merlin hasnt been out yet. Fingers
crossed I might be able to have on
of them, but this is definitely my
last season on Horton whether
Shoulders comes along or not. Ive
got a few tickets lined up for next
year, and I cant really say no to
them. One is for the Manor over in
Essex, which I have been dying to
get on for a few years now, espe-
cially with the Annie approaching
60lbs, and its got loads of back up
fish in. I cant really afford both
tickets so I hope Shoulders hurries
up, otherwise that will be it. But if I
catch it, Ill let you know Rob, and
hopefully Ill get amongst some of
the other fish too. They still havent
spawned yet, so at the moment
most of the fish are coming out at
35lbs-plus. Ive got to try and get
down while I can to catch them, so
u n t i l n e x t t i m e, t h a n k s R o b f o r
catching up with me, and hope you
all enjoyed reading this. Until next
time, bye bye.
Rob: Thanks a lot Mick; its always
a pleasure to have you here mate.
Micks going to be doing quite a bit
more in Big Carp; hes one of those
guys that you the readers seem to
enjoy. Hes got a very unique style
about him; hes a young successful
angler, and it seems there are a lot
of them around these days, but not
many of them can write like Mick
unfortunately. So Mick will be doing
pieces in the magazine on feature
finding, on plumbing, and lots of
other aspects of carp fishing as
well. Also, of course, well get back
together with Mick to catch up with
the second half of the season down
at Horton, and we wish him all the
luck in the world in catching Shoul-
ders I am sure it will come along,
mate. Well as Mick says, until next
time well leave it there, so thanks
very much. n
 BIG CARP
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The Legendary Big Carp Series

This is the first in a series of watercolour paintings capturing Englands fantastic carp history.
The Legendary Big Carp series has been especially commissioned to celebrate a massive milestone in
Big Carp magazines history the 200th issue! Bazil, that famous Yateley North Lake legend, seen
here in her natural habitat, is the first in a set of numbered and signed prints absolutely
breathtaking and scale perfect. The A3 prints are very modestly priced at only 25 and are available
now on the Big Carp website www.bigcarpmagazine.co.uk. Visit the site, go to the shop and select the
Fine Art section. There is also more information on the rest of the series, which will be available at
one to two-month intervals, but I can tell you that the Black Mirror, the Burghfield Common, Heather,
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 Exclusive

The Old
Canal
By Tommy De Cleen

146 FREE LINE


B
ack in the day, around
the first half of the
90s, I started to fish on
the Belgian canals.
These waterways are
the waters I favour
fishing over lakes and so on. Its quite
hard to say why I like fishing these
kind of waters, but its the magic, the
atmosphere, the unknown (I cant
really put my finger on why) but for
some reason the buzz of catching
carp from a canal gives me more
pleasure than from a pool/lake. Also
canal fish are all different in shape,
size and even strain, not like on lakes
where all fish stocks come from the
same fish farm strain. I have been
fishing on and of for many years on
canals, and the canal that I am writ-
ing about now is quite special to
me
It all started many moons ago, more
like 10/11 years ago, that we (me and
my mates) fished it for the first time.
Jurgen my mate drove over it with
work one day and thought it looked
like a nice water/canal, and on a
The Old Canal Exclusive
sunny afternoon I came along to have
a look around very soon after he
passed over it. We also got some info
from a friend who lived in the area (a
friend I had met not so long ago on
the river Nicolas, aka Big Nic) and
we soon got fishing on the lovely old
(Above) All packed and ready to go
dangling.
(Left) Dawn at the canal.
(Bottom) Flaming Red a great bait!
canal with some really good results
with fish up to 17kg, but for some rea-
son or another we did not fish there
very long. We only had a few sessions
in that summer and moved on the
other green banks.
But this canal kept fading in and
out of my mind for all these years and
I wondered what it would be like. I
heard from my friend Big Nic that it
was still quiet there (only the local
anglers), so after some talking with
my angling mate Jurgen, last year
2012 around March we started to go
back to fish this lovely old canal.
Some things had changed but not
much (some trees were cut what a
shame) only the fish got a bid bigger
and as Big Nic told me not many
anglers fished here (only some locals).
So we had a few very good sessions in
the spring with some very nice fish
caught by me and my mate Jurgen
(yes we still fish together and we love
it) up to a 40lb/19,2kg common, but
many other good fish no real mon-
sters but these fish are all I ask for.
They dont need to be all 20 or 25kg in
my book a great carp is a great carp
no matter its size.
I love angling, and thats what I do;
I go out and do my thing and enjoy
every minute of it, and the carp I
catch are part of my life (my angling
life) and these old and not so old great
looking creatures are all characters in
their own right! So we had a good
FREE LINE 147
 Exclusive The Old Canal

spring in 2012, but we did not stay on,

as other waters were calling us. But it
was great to feel the buzz again from
fishing this canal again. My god I
missed fishing there all those years
ago, even if it was for a short time (a
few sessions). The section we fished
was the same as the one we started
fishing all those years ago; the only
difference was the trees were cut and
in one bay at the lock. There was a lot
of weed and a few fishable holes to
put traps in, so thats what we did and
the rest was/is history great
angling stays in the mind. Also after
the France trip last year I blanked my
socks off Not a single fish was
caught after July, and I tried very hard
but to no avail.
Bait wise I could not go wrong; I
was using a very good bait that had
caught me many fish in the past, so
that was not the reason for blanking
nor the rig I have been using, as it
caught me fish for many years so why
blow now? No, it was like higher
powers had something to do with it
a spell/curse those new rods
maybe? I did not know what was the
reason for the blanking, only that it
was very strange.
But this year, 2013, in the long win-
ter we had, the canal was calling me
again, and bearing in mind what we
had from there last year, I would not
mind some of that angling again, so
we started again quite early in the
year. It was a slow start with just a
few fish, because the water temp was
very low, and this weather was not
good at all. The carp seemed not
interested in the bait (they loved it
last year, so they will do again) and
they did after a few sessions, it all
came right.
At one section (Stretch 24, Ill call
it) there is a small bay like area. Last
year at one stage it was full of weed
with some holes/spots to fish to (set
traps in), and I caught many good fish
from this hole in the weed, but this
year there were no holes, and it was
hard to fish this weed infested
area/bay, so a move was on the cards
to another section of the canal (we
never really fished other sections,
only a few times) but with not much
success, so thats why we kept going
back to Stretch 24, but it was at the

(Top) I love this place.

(Centre) G-Force inline leads.
(Bottom) 26lb-plus.

148 FREE LINE

 SIGNED COPIES
AVAILABLE TO ORDER NOW
Day Ticket Tactics and Tales
There are many benefits to day ticket carping. No
large sums of money up front is a big bonus in
todays economic climate, what with some of the
top syndicates fees approaching 2,000 per year,
and the average syndicate charging at least 500
per year. Not everyone has that sort of disposable
income. Its not only the cost, but in many cases the
most popular syndicates have long waiting lists, up
to ten years or more on some venues, so even if you
do have the money, its not guaranteed you can get
a place.
Day ticket carping also gives the angler an
opportunity to fish a variety of different venues.
Paying a large sum to join a syndicate means that to
get your moneys worth you need to fish it. You will
have all your eggs in one basket even if the venue
isnt fishing well. Day ticket waters tend to be very
well stocked, as they want their customers to catch
so they come back again. This is particularly nice in
winter when bites can be few and far between, and
very often syndicate ticket holders will resort to
moving on to day ticket waters for a bit of action!
With the right tactics and techniques, day ticket
fishing can be extremely rewarding, but its a very
different approach to that of syndicate fishing. They
tend to be hard fished with a quick changeover of
angler and constant introduction of different baits,
but use this to your advantage and you can increase
your catch rate by many times. Short hit-and-run
sessions can prove devastating, as I have proved
myself on many different waters. The angler that
hones this approach can be unstoppable. A prime
example of this is father and son carp anglers, Barry
and Ben Oconnor.

Syndicate Tactics and Tales

Syndicate carping has become the backbone of our
carp scene in recent years. Not that syndicates are
a new thing far from it, as they date back to the
1950s at Redmire and probably earlier than that.
However a syndicate gives the serious carp angler
many benefits security for cars, tackle and even
the angler himself, camaraderie while fishing with a
group of likeminded friends, the opportunity to work
at certain areas or swims with respect from your
fellow fisherman and an open exchange of
information and catches, which benefits both the
anglers with only limited time and those with more
fishing time on their hands.
Yes, today there are some excellent syndicates
around, albeit that some can be very expensive and
others very difficult to join. There also appears to be
a more gentlemanly attitude to other syndicate
members; the cutthroat, fish-at-any-cost ethos so
common in todays scene is not apparent or at
least I hope so!
This journal is the seventh in our technical
series and not only offers some very useful
technical advice from Wayne Iszatt, Steve Briggs
and Barry Oconnor but contains a host of chapters
dedicated to many of the UKs top syndicate venues
including maps, photos of the stock, details of the
facilities, history of the venue, how to join and also
some great tales from anglers who have fished the
venues over the years. These venues include
Farriers, Horton, Wellington, Rockford, Roach Pit,
Grenville, Ashmead, Catch 22, Burghfield, Manor,
Cleverley, Dinton and Fryerning with a star-studded
list of anglers who have been successful on these
awesome syndicate fisheries.

A Lifetime of Dreams and Memories

Paul started fishing for carp way back in 1982 at the
age of 14 but had already been fishing for several
years before that for anything with fins, mainly on
The River Thames and it's tributaries in Oxfordshire,
and the gravel pits around Stanton Harcourt for
perch and pike.
His early carp fishing career took him from all
the Oxfordshire lakes, into Gloucestershire and then
his true passion of chasing heritage carp saw him
fishing the likes of Yateley, Elstow and the Colne
Valley.
This book he describes as a "throwback" to
how carp fishing books were written in the eighties
and nineties. Paul is no stranger to writing and had
his first article published back in the eighties in the
then Carp Society magazine "Carp Fisher". He wrote
for many years as a contributor in Big Carp
Magazines Rotary Letter and has written chapters in
several carp fishing books most notably, A History of
Yateley Volume 1.
Paul isn't interested in the numbers game and
generally has only ever fished short sessions
whenever he could fit them in around family and
work commitments. He believes strongly in angling
etiquette which in his view is sadly lacking on many
of the busier waters these days and has forced him
away from many of his local waters.
In the pages of this book you will find a real life
story, one all anglers with busy commitments
outside of angling can relate to and will empathize
with.

PAYPAL ORDERS www.bigcarpmagazine.co.uk

PAY BY CARD 01252 373658
 Exclusive The Old Canal

moment it was unfishable!! So look-

ing around and trying other sections
(between other locks and sections)
we did a five-night session and did
well with seven fish each, and I got to
know another section. I will be trying
more sections next time out, as we
have found out more about other
parts as well, and Ive seen some
good fish. We will find out more as we
go along about the stock in different
sections. This canal is old and so
there is no more boat traffic, and
everything is wild with snags, reeds,
lily pads and overhanging bushes
along some parts of the canal; its just
a great place to fish, and like I say, it
has great character fish.
On one three-night session I did
even better Here is an outtake from
my fishing log book (great to have a from the previous session so I used bait and an Essential I.B. pop-up bal-
smartphone I can use to write stuff them again, this time only in PVA anced to perfection, and the left hand
down). It was on the 9th of May; I was mesh bags (golf ball size bags). I also rod was the same only with a self
back on the old canal, and around made up some stick/bag mix with made banoffee pop-up. The banoffee
lunchtime the traps were set. Same as pellets, some groundbait and boilie did well on the previous session, but
the previous session, I had a mix of crumb (I use the almighty Flaming on this occasion I had one small com-
boilie sizes with me (like last year, I Reds from Starman products). Rig mon on them, and had two on the IB
did good on these mixed size boilies) wise its always the same with me a combo (mirrors of 26lb-plus and 30lb-
of different colors. I had some left blow back rig and snowman presen- plus). This was all in the first 12 hours
tation. of the start of the session. That first
(Top) Doom and gloom. On the right hand rod I fished a night gave me a mirror of 20lb-plus
(Below) 33lb of stunning canal mirror. snowman with a Flaming Red bottom and a 22lb-plus mirror. This all was

150 FREE LINE

 The Old Canal Exclusive

40lb common, the first one from the stretch that I had never fished before.

30lb-plus they come in all shapes and sizes.

FREE LINE 151

 Exclusive The Old Canal

around 3am, and by 4am the traps

were set again Number six came at
9am in the shape of another 22lb-plus
mirror. I caught this one three feet
from the opposite bank. Six fish in
less than 24 hours man, what a
great start to a three-night session.
At 8pm after a quiet day of rain
with no sun (the sun came out at
around 6pm), the water came back to
life (what the sun can do to the fish!).
We even saw a few roll, and at 8pm
the left hand rod burst into life and
number seven was soon in the net, a
mirror of 28lb-plus. The evening
passed and I was thinking the next
one would run off any minute and it
did at 11:30 with a nice common of
20lb-plus fish number eight (what a
session!). But I started thinking that
the right rod was not in the right last couple of hours), and if the fore- small commons. His theory was that
place, or maybe it was in a tangle. cast was right wed get some sun in fish came from the left, so he moved
But that was something for the the afternoon, from about 12 till 4, so 200 metres to the left of me. Fair
morning. The weather was crap rain, rain and a lot more rain, but at enough and good angling for moving,
overcast and rain. No sun equals no 10am the left hand rod was away if not catching. In the process of mov-
carp over here; they need sun on their again (and in these overcast rainy ing, with me helping him, I fell and
backs at the moment to get them conditions, so there goes my theory). ended up with one foot in the canal,
going (something I had noticed in the In the end a 33lb-plus mirror was in but thats fishing for you. At around
the net number nine! 5:15pm that left hand rod was off
(Top) Flaming Red dip and Northern
My mate Jurgen decided to move again with a 28lb-plus mirror on the
Specials a deadly combo! swims. He was about 200 metres to other. After this one the traps were
(Below) 30lb 8oz. my right, and had caught only two being set again (nothing wrong with

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 THE RIVER AND CANAL SERIES
Tales and Technical, a must read series for the river and canal angler

01252 373658
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 Exclusive The Old Canal

Dave Crowford with his first carp from Belgium.

32lb 6oz.

154 FREE LINE


that left hand rod), and who knows
what the night/eve will bring or not
bring (ten fish in the bag already). At
10pm and that quiet left hand rod
burst into life once more with a mirror
of just 20lbs no monster but wel-
come all the same.
A few more hours to go; it was my
last night would I end up with 11 or
more fish 12, 13, who knows? But it
stayed quiet, and after a good nights
sleep I woke up to a nice sunrise and
a mate with a bent rod in his hand. He
is catching (what a nice feeling, and I
was very happy for him), and a mirror
of 30lb-plus was put back after some
nice pics I took of it. So with the end
of the session in sight there was one
more for my mate in the shape of a
36lb-plus mirror. We took more pics,
and after the fish was returned we
started packing up. At last hed had
two more, and in the last hour of the
trip. So that made 11 for me and four
for my mate. The next time it could be
the other way around, but I dont
mind because I love fishing this place.
It would be another stretch/section,
as we had a bit of a walk around and
saw some more carpy stuff.
Well by now the summer had been
Canal carp.
The Old Canal Exclusive
quite hot. Who would have thought
that the winter (not really had a
spring) would turn into such bloody
hot weather in July? I was having a
break in August from a this mental
fishing I experienced (last year by the
end of July I started on my half year
blank), and by now I caught double
the fish I had last year, and the best
time was ahead the autumn Sept,
Oct, Nov and who knows, maybe
December as well? But I hope this
will be for a second article, as now Ill
follow up on what I have caught on a
few other trips/sessions at the canal.
So after the 11-fish haul/session,
we (me and my mate Jurgen) had a
two-night (weekend) session on the
longest day of the year, the 21st June,
at yet another new section of the
canal we were trying for the first time.
We had a look and a walk around after
the last session, and this section took
our fancy, so here we were at the cas-
tle section. I call it the castle
section/stretch because there is one
near the banks of the canal at this
section. Why fish this section?
Because when we walked here last
time and we saw a few good fish and
what looked like a really big common,
so thats why we had to try (and will
do in the future). On the first two-
night session my mate had four carp
to mid twenty, and I had a mirror of
31lb-plus, again on that deadly
combo of baits.
I had now changed to Northern
Specials yellow pop-ups on one rod as
my pot of Essential IBs was nearly
empty and the tackle shop I went to
did not have the IB in stock. So
bought two pots of the Gaz Fareham
Northern Specials (and they are even
better than the IBs just my personal
opinion), but the other rod was fished
with an IB and a Flaming Red bottom
bait, and a snow man as always on a
blow back rig. This rig was been
fished critically balanced with golf
ball size PVA bags full of DSK pellets
(mixed size and breakdown times
excellent stuff I think). This blow back
rig is critically balanced with the help
of the weight of the hook and the
Taska baseline tungsten aligner (I
tweak it to my own standard, and I
dont need the hole, so I cut it, see pic-
ture).
This tweaked aligner does the biz
for me 100% of the time, and is just
perfect when using 16mm barrel
FREE LINE 155
 Exclusive The Old Canal

shaped dumbbells and a 14mm

Northern Special. It sits just perfectly
with the length of the hair and bait
just of the deck. This rig and way of
presentation has caught me a lot of
fish, even on this canal with lots of
soft stuff/silt on the bottom. And
while I am at it Ill talk through the
rest of the setup: the reel line is Kon-
tour from Korda, leadcore and flying
back lead. I use the Jell-E-Wyre hook
link material, a G-Force curved hook
in size 4 or 6 and the leads are inline
square shape fished drop-off style.
This drop off system is just so I have
straight contact with the fish, and the
lead cannot snag up on anything
underwater that I dont know of, or
the pads and obvious snags. I have
used this setup a long time and never July and I made plans to guide (a cool bit too hot), and a great session was
change a winning combo I always thing to do, guiding anglers on the ahead. Just a quick detour to the
s a y a n d w h y c h a n g e ? I d o n t water I know) an English mate, Dave, supermarket for some food and
drop/lose many fish, so it must be the to fish the canal for an eight-night drink/beer, and by 8pm the traps were
right balance in the tackle. session, I did not fish the castle set at the rock section (where I had
One thirty on this 36-hour session stretch again. that 11-fish haul in June). I was
so happy days, and I will be back to The 5th of July came around and buzzing and so was Dave, as we
this stretch again this year. As my Dave Crowford was on his way in the fished in the same area as I did in
holiday from work was upon me in early hours of that Friday to be guided June.
by me on an eight-night session on The first 24 hours were very quiet
the canal. By noon he got to my place so I wondered if this was this the
(Top) Let them rest because they fight
like demons.
and loaded the van with my gear and right choice, as I did not see any signs
(Below) From the old canal at 42lb- o f f w e w e n t d a n g l i n g. We w e r e of fish in the area. But then out of the
pus, 2012. buzzing as it was just right (maybe a blue fish started to come in very close

156 FREE LINE

 BIG CARP LEGENDS SERIES
The anglers that shaped todays carp scene

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 Exclusive The Old Canal
in the margin and start fizzing and
stuff, and at around 12 I had my first a
common of 20lb. At about 4:30 I had
another bite, this time a mirror of 28lb
10oz, but after the mirror it all went
quiet at my end. At around 10 Dave
was in, and I was really happy for him,
as he caught a stunning common of
28lb (a new common PB and his first
ever Belgian carp).
It was way too hot in the day now
with temperatures of 26 and more,
and after catching a really small com-
mon and two more from the rock sec-
158 FREE LINE
tion, we decided to move after four
nights to a new section. We had a
quick look the evening before, and the
decision was made to move the next
day because we saw a few good fish
basking under the pads. It was a new
challenge for me as well, as I had not
fished this section before. On the
morning of the move we first did a run
to the supermarket to stock upon
some more food and beer/drink. We
had a cold beer at a terrace of a pub
and looked at some fit local wildlife
But back to the fishing and the task at
hand
Running around with the barrow in
this heat my god!! At around five in
the afternoon of the 9th July 2013 we
were set up again and traps were out
to the spots. The canal is all about the
same in depth and the bottom is all
covered in silt so its nothing really
special. Maybe some harder spots
can be found, but carp love feeding in
the silt so no need for thrashing the
water to a foam with the marker to
find spots. I clipped up at around 30
to 35 metres and used bankside mark-
ings to aim at when casting. I fished
between 15 and 20 metres from the
bank at a range of 30 meters, and I put
around 2kg of bait out scattered
around in an area of half a tennis
court. I like to keep the fish moving
around on a large area to look for their
food. I also scattered some pellets
around, but not much. By 10pm Id
had three bream and a tench so the
PVA bags with pellets were left aside,
and I fished and baited with just
boilies.
My head hit the pillow and the next
thing I remember I was playing a carp
(Top) I love the canal.
(Below) My mate Jurgen with a canal
lump.
 The Old Canal Exclusive

One from the last summer session with Vince.

Just stunning at just under thirty.

FREE LINE 159

 Exclusive The Old Canal
in the middle of the night in the pitch
black. After 20 minutes I was sure the
fish that was on the other end was a
bit special and it was special. It
was my first fish from this section,
and after a 35-minute fight I pulled
her over the net cord. It was a com-
mon, and on the scales she went 40lb
(18,2kg). Man, what a mint fish, and
my first from this stretch! I was over
the moon and was shaking like a leaf.
It was all coming together; on this
session I could do nothing wrong, and
the blanking from last year was long
forgotten. I had a few very nice fish
from this stretch two more thirties
(commons) and a few low twenties.
On Friday afternoon Dave had his
fourth fish of the trip, a common of
25lb-plus, and I was glad he had one
(Top) Spring is in the air.
(Above) Loving the view from the
Supa Brolly.
(Right) The rock stretch.
160 FREE LINE
the Saturday, as Dave had a long trip
back to the UK, and I offered him a
shower at my home. I had that 12th
fish, a mirror of 21lb 4oz and at seven-
ish we packed up and drove home.
Dave had a great time/session with
four really nice fish. He said it was
what he dreamed of, so he will be
back in the autumn to fish with me
again.
Dave had been only gone a few
hours when I was planning another
session to the canal, but first I had to
score some points with the girlfriend,
so I took her out to dinner and told her
in a gentle way I was going to do
another session soon from the 22 July
for four or five nights. This was my
last weeks holiday of my three-week
summer holiday from the school I
work at not the best of times for
three weeks holiday if you are a carp
angler so I make the best of it.
So after a week of doing things with
the girlfriend, it was that time Id
looked forward to for a whole week,
as shopping in the high street is not
my thing; I dont like the crowds. Give
me a green tent and some rods and Ill
keep myself happy without all the
stuff of the real world (I like to get
away from it all) and do my own thing.
Carp fishing is my thing, and man I
love it. It became a way of life; a pas-
sion and kind of a virus I cant get rid
of. Its like music, which is also a big
part of my life without carp fishing
and music I would go mad.
So on the 22nd July I was off to the
more, but by now at 5pm on the Fri-
canal with Vince a mate of mine who
day I was on my 11th fish. Id caught
had never fished this canal/water. We
six on this stretch and was there a
got a lift from my good mate Jurgen
12th one near the baits? We were
(thanks for that, mate!). It was my last
going to pack up in the early hours on
weeks holiday so I was going to

make the best of it and decided to fish
the same section/stretch again. I
even took the same swim because
there is shade almost all day so the
Supa Brolly would be out of this heat,
as it was bloody hot that week (with
temperatures of 35 degrees and
more). Because of this heat it was
slow, as by 1.30 (from my diary entry)
on the 24th I had three fish: a high
double mirror and two low 20 com-
mons.
At 6am the following morning I had
another mirror of just 20lb. It was
strange really that they were all a
smaller stamp of fish I was catching,
but I was catching carp, and thats
why I go fishing for them. Its not all
about size not to me anyway. Its
sucking in the atmosphere on the
bank, the nature and the whole pic-
ture that I enjoy, and thats what its
all about, not the next monster. Carp
angling is more than just catching
monster carp; I am not in it for the
The old canal ten years ago.
The Old Canal Exclusive
weight race, but enjoy my angling
and share catching carp with good
mates who think the same about it.
I had coffee at Vinces in the morn-
ing and the traps were back in posi-
tion. I was trying a chod rig for the
first time, and by the evening I redid
one rod, refreshed the bait, cast it
back in position and reeled in the
chod rig again, as I have no confi-
dence in this rig. I put the blow back
on and cast to the snag tree in the
water, where one or more carp kept
crashing/head and shouldering. At
2.40am that night I had a bite and lost
it in the pads. Twenty minutes later at
3am the snag rod went off, and after a
hefty fight a 22lb 4oz common was on
the mat. At 4am the trap was set
again, but the snag rod was for later
(too risky casting in the dark).
I had nothing all day, and it was
very hot weather, so at around 8pm I
did the rods again for the night ahead.
At 11.50pm I had a bite on the right
hand rod, which turned out to be a
mirror of 24lb 6oz. I couldnt get any
sleep because it was even hot at
night, and this weather was starting
to do my head in. We all love summer,
but this heat was too much. On the
last night I lost a fish at 2.20am, and at
4.20 I caught another mirror of 24lb-
plus. At 5am the rod was back out in
hope of a better fish, and at around
8am the right hand rod was off, but
this one dropped off after a few sec-
onds.
After the lost fish I started packing
up and so did Vince, who had caught
a few fish as well that week. So again
it was a good session with a few nice
fish caught between the two of us.
For me August would be a months
break from angling, and I would
recharge myself for the next stage
September, October and November,
the autumn, and who knows
Monday it was back to work n
maybe a bit of winter? But then on
FREE LINE 161
Exclusive The Old Canal

The old canal, May 2012.

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to do is go to the BOSSARD Facebook page
1 You must like the Bossard page.
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 Exclusive

Northern Exposure
Midsummer Madness by Tim Childs

B
efore we get started
on this months piece
Ill just apologise for
there being no
Northern Exposure
in last months mag,
Rob was heavily inundated with
some excellent material and some-
thing had to get left out. Luckily this
time Ive a bumper piece for you that
include news on a couple of awesome
local captures, some excellent new
products and the latest on my own
fishing over the last two months or so.
For those of you whove been fol-
lowing this series over the last few
months youll know that my current
articles are predominantly about the
fishing that I and various friends are
currently enjoying in the north west
of the country. The initial feedback
from anglers in the area that Ive
spoken to regarding the series has
been excellent, and the fact that
they seem to be enjoying reading
the articles is reward enough in
itself, though some have even asked
if they could get in on the act by giv-
ing me news and pictures of their
own captures. So for all you northern
carp anglers out there, thanks for
your comments guys; Ill strive to
keep up the good work.
There have been one or two
recent notable local captures for
friends and acquaintances, but
respect for the anglers and venues
concerned, and the fact that I have
my own beady eye on the waters in
question dictates that for now the
exact details will have to remain
under wraps. The guys involved
know who they are, so well done on
your local captures lads. Ive men-
tioned in the past how fish weights
are on the increase, and that there
are now fish over 35lbs in one or two
waters within my area. This is a
large fish for the north, but one that

(Left) Floater bits from E.S.P.

(Below) Matt with his sneaked 26lb
fish

164 FREE LINE

Northern Exposure Exclusive

is more than achievable if you look

for them. This is a personal target
that Ive set for myself over the next
few months/years and even more
good news for the north is that the
once magical and unobtainable 40lb
fish that are all to common in the
south of the country are actually
swimming around in a few select
waters north of Birmingham! Of
course on a national scale this is
quite insignificant compared to the
south, but at least it means that any
northern angler can have the oppor-
tunity to fish for large carp if they try
hard enough, without having to
make the usual 150-200 mile trip.
My own fishing has continued in
much the same vein as it did over
the last couple of months by fishing
either afternoons or early mornings
and to be honest it suited me just
fine. I didnt really miss doing the
nights and found doing short ses-
sions both more productive and cer-
tainly less tiring. For the foreseeable

(Above) Baby Lumpy old and crusty

but welcome
(Left) Dynamite Baits, floaters and
pop-ups

FREE LINE 165

 Exclusive Northern Exposure
future its day fishing only for me,
and Im extremely lucky in the fact
that my target water that Im cur-
rently fishing seems to produce the
majority of its fish during the day-
light hours.
I mentioned last time the fact that
there had been a few fish caught on
both zig rigs and surface fishing.
Now when it comes to zigs Im more
166 FREE LINE
than confident in my tactics and
methods but if theres one area of
my fishing that I continue to strug-
gle with then its standard floater
fishing tactics. Despite being geared
up with all the necessary bits and
pieces including hooks, line and
controllers from E.S.P (thanks Dave)
I seemed unable to stick a hook into
a fish off the top,. Talk about frus-
trating - my hair was turning
increasingly grey with each passing
day! The worst point came towards
the end of June when after finding a
few fish cruising near the surface I
patiently got them feeding on top,
and after setting up the controller
rod I was all ready to go. Things
(Top left) Rods on the deck waiting for
the spools to spin
(Top right) Aquas bait carryall ideal
stalking kit
(Below) Long 21lb mirror on the zigs
 THE ROB MAYLIN SERIES
50 years on the bank with Rob and Friends

01252 373658
www.bigcarpmagazine.co.uk
 Exclusive Northern Exposure

were looking good as I continued to

trickle a few mixers in every couple
of minutes, and the fish grew
increasingly confident in their feed-
ing. I then decided to set up the
other rod up with my usual and
favoured zig rig. With the long hook-
link in my hand I could see one or
two mouths taking the baits, and
decided that as soon as Id set up
the zig rod Id be firing out the con-
troller on the other one. Just then a
mate of mine, Matt, walked into my
swim, and after seeing the fish slurp-
ing down the baits commented how
I should get the controller out there
quick sharp. Im just tying this zig
up first mate, then Im ready I
replied.
Matts enthusiasm soon got the
better of him, and after much cajol-
ing, and with my agreement he
picked up the floater rod and fired it
out for me. What happened next can
only be described as unbelievable,
as within a few seconds of the con-
troller hitting the water, and just
before I took it from his grasp the
Free Spirit Surface Creeper hooped
over and he was into a fish. Despite
Matts best efforts to shove the rod
into my hand I insisted he carried on
with it, after all hed cast it out and
hooked the fish so I felt it only right
he took credit for the capture. After a
good scrap that led him a merry
dance on the light setup we soon
had her in the net. To be honest the
whole thing was that unbelievable I
didnt know whether to laugh or cry.
Matt knew how much Id struggled
and longed to get a fish off the top,
and the fact that hed nailed one first
cast on my rod within seconds only
went to drive that final imaginary
nail further into my coffin! I took the
pictures of Matt sheepishly holding
her, and I dont know who was more
embarrassed, me for letting someone
catch one on my rod, or Matt for
doing just that. At a little over 26lbs
she was a nice fish to catch off the
top and would have certainly put a
smile on my face.
We later laughed about the whole
situation; to be honest there was lit-
tle I could do but take the friendly
mickey taking firmly on the chin.

(Top left) Mini Funnel Web ideal for

stopping tangles
(Left) Glugging the floaters

168 FREE LINE


Trying my best to remove the cap-
ture from my mind I then set about
casting out the zig rod, and was
soon rectifying the situation as
within a few minutes the spool went
into overdrive. This fish went off like
an express train, and finally came to
a halt after weeding me up a good
100yds out. After much rod bending
and steady pressure I got her mov-
i n g, a n d e v e n t u a l l y a f t e r m u c h
sweating and patience had her cir-
cling under the rod tip. It was then
we could see the problem, as it
became clear she was actually foul
hooked near her pectoral fin, so no
wonder shed fought so well. Once
safely in the net we removed the
hook from her flank and slipped her
straight back - a lovely looking fish
of around 23lbs, and similar in looks
to the awesome Woodcarving in
Northern Exposure Exclusive
Horton. Oh well, things were just not
meant to be on that occasion. I soon
had the rod cast back out in the
zone, and it came as no surprise
when after another 30 minutes or so
that rod signalled another take. This
time all went to plan, and I soon
slipped the net under a crusty old
warrior that went by the nickname
Baby Lumpy due to it having a small
lump on its side, possibly a broken
rib.
When it comes to fishing zigs it
can take a little getting used to if
youve not tried it before, but having
used these tactics down in Oxford
on a number of occasions I was
more than confident with this
approach. My next few fish fell to
either small pieces of Gardner
Ta c k l e s n e w z i g r i g f o a m o r
trimmed down 15mm spicy shrimp
and prawn pop-ups fished on long
links. It was nice and easy fishing -
just turn up find a few fish cruising
on top, then fire out the zigs, put the
rods on the floor and wait for the
clutches to spin off. Travelling light
and moving regularly meant you
could try for a number of groups of
fish in different areas each day, and
it was as simple as that. A couple of
new items that helped with this
approach were my Aqua bait carryall
and their 50in Rover brolly. The car-
ryall is made to carry a number of
items such as catapults, spods and
PVA, and includes a plastic bucket
with a detachable top section to
house all your essential baiting
items. Having these close to hand
meant no more messing around
undoing bags and rig wallets before
you start fishing and therefore wast-
ing valuable time. The Rover Brolly I
found was not only very light in
weight and ideal for the day-only
sessions that I was doing, but more
than capable of withstanding any-
thing that this inclement British
weather could throw in its direction.
When it came to feeding when
surface fishing, spodding mixers
proved to be the best option as a
variety of different size floating pel-
lets could be used, which would
hopefully get the fish confused as to
which bait had the hook attached.
Other anglers were soon utilising
these methods as well, and a num-
ber of captures came to sub-surface
baits over the following few weeks.
It wasnt all plain sailing though, as
there were occasions when despite
trying different baits and adjusting
the height of the hookbaits bites
simply refused to come my way.
Others where more fortunate and
seemed to be able to get amongst
the fish on every trip. You know
what its like; a couple of blanks and
seeing all around you catch fish
(Left) Spodding was most effective
(Below) Geoff with The Pig at 37lb 8oz
FREE LINE 169
 Exclusive Northern Exposure
soon has you doubting your own
ability, which to be honest was just
plain silly, as Id nailed a number of
fish before with these tactics, and
was in fact doing exactly the same
on those occasions. Despite this I
decided to scrutinise everything I
was doing in an attempt to keep the
bites coming my way, and after pick-
ing the brains of one or two other
anglers, and after examining every
last inch of their rigs I went away for
170 FREE LINE
a rethink and a brainstorming ses-
sion.
Having a couple of days away
made all the difference; I returned
with a more positive outlook, and
was now more determined than ever
to flex those carbons once more.
When it comes to zig rig compo-
nents I have always favoured small
hooks and light hooklinks matched
to either E.S.P Big T Raptors or
Korda Wide Gapes in size 10s to
Drennan Double Strength in 8, 10 or
12lb breaking strains. Fishing the
pressured Oxford waters like St
Johns or Hardwick taught me that
to get bites you needed to fine down
your end tackle, but on a venue
where zigs and surface fishing is rel-
atively new, and after watching
other anglers in action, it soon
became clear that you could get
bites on a number of different baits
and almost any hooklink and hook
size.
I knew at this point I was doing
nothing wrong, and once you realise
that its a lot easier to concentrate
on other more important matters like
location.
One thing worth mentioning, and
one of the tips I picked up from one
of the other anglers is that if any of
you guys are suffering from tangles
when casting out those long links,
then try attaching a mini thumbnail
size PVA bag of mixers to your hook.
For these I use either the Korda
Longchuck PVA or their boilie size
(Top left) An essential item at any
time of year now available through
Korda Tackle
(Below) Nice common taken on the
spicy shrimp pop-ups
 BIG CARP
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 Exclusive Northern Exposure

(Above) At last the suns out caught her, she weighed what she missing and in some cases damage
(Below) Lovely mid 20 again off the weighed at the time of capture, and to the fins and tail. I tried to treat as
bottom
the lake was soon buzzing with the many of these areas as I could, and
news of an upper-30. There were a obviously as much care was taken
number of us on hand to help Geoff as possible when we had them on
version, and find them both ideal.
out when he landed her, and the fish the bank. There are a number of
These tiny bags not only eliminate
was handled exceptionally well antiseptic lotions on the market, but
tangles, but once the PVA melts you
when on the bank. We took a few personally I use the carp care kit
have a few freebies right next to
shots and soon got her back into the from Thinking Anglers. Ive been
your hookbait, and by having the
water where she waddled away using this item for the last 12
mixers soaked in oil you get an
strongly. Obviously from the fishs months and find it to be spot-on. In
immediate attraction right near your
health point of view we all hope she the pack you get both mouth and
hookbait, which can only increase
can successfully shed the rest of the body ointment as well as a pack of
the chances of a take. Another little
spawn she is carrying and doesnt cotton buds to apply the lotion with.
tip that I learned from watching oth-
turn up dead. At the time of writing Now to make this excellent product
ers in action (nice one, Penky) is to
its a few weeks after the capture, more readily available it is now
use a rig bin like the ones sold by
and there have been no signs of her, being distributed by Korda, and
Gardner Tackle to house pre-tied
so its fingers crossed that all will be should be available in all of their
zigs. These can be ready baited, and
okay. retail outlets by the time you read
again can save an awful lot of time
One thing worth mentioning at this. All in all an excellent piece of
and messing around when the fish
this point is the fact that after their kit that more and more anglers
are feeding heavily.
yearly spawning ritual a number of should carry.
The surface action continued and
fish were showing signs of damage, July was soon with us and the fish
over a couple of weeks, and a lot of
including one or two with scales kept coming out. If you remember
fish succumbed to this tactic. A
number of anglers took advantage of
the fishes willingness to munch on
a floater, so it would be unfair to sin-
gle out anyone for their own individ-
ual captures. This was until one of
the local anglers owd Geoff got his
floater fishing head on and within a
few weeks showed us all how to
catch consistently with both zig rigs
and with standard floater fishing
tactics. The icing on the cake for
Geoff came at the end of June when
after a couple of days excellent fish-
ing he went on to land a new lake
record, and huge for the area, 37lb
8oz mirror. Although as you can see
from the pictures this fish was obvi-
ously carrying spawn when Geoff

172 FREE LINE

Northern Exposure Exclusive

the whole country was suffering

from torrential rain with heavy flood-
ing in places. Despite the heavy
influx of water the fish continued to
succumb to surface fished baits at
regular intervals, and it was rare for
a day or two to pass without some-
thing getting caught. My next cou-
ple of fish succumbed to trimmed
down pop-ups fished over-depth,
and despite not getting amongst any
of the bigger fish it was good to get
the rods bending once again.
Despite the regularity of the cap-
tures the angling pressure had eased
off since the early start leaving
around ten or so regular anglers to
battle it out, and with 20 acres of
water and well over 100 fish to go at
it was hardly mobbed out. Geoffs
run of fish continued; he seemed
able to get amongst them on virtu-
ally every trip, and despite their
weights being low he managed to
bank a number of 20s during this
period. The relentless rain continued
and really tested both my willpower
and my gear. Continuously getting
everything soaked and having to dry
things off every time I arrived home
was starting to become a chore to
say the least.
The next significant piece of
action came my way in mid-July,
and after the recent surface fest I
was itching to get some proper bot-
tom bait fishing done once again,
the first opportunity came quicker
than expected, as over a couple of
days the water started to take on
colour as an algae bloom started to
take hold. Past experience had
taught me that when conditions are
like this the fish can be quite easy to
catch, as the added colour in the
usually gin clear water gives them a
false sense of security which can
lead to confident feeding. I planned
to take advantage of this as the fish
had received little or no pressure on
the bottom for some time. My first
day session failed to produce a bite
despite having fish show all over me
as they continued to roll and display
on the surface. Strange, I thought,
but decided that a couple of kilos of
boilies should get them in the mood
for a munch. This proved correct, as

(Top left) Q rings and Superskin from

Gardner tackle
(Left) New marker floats from Korda
and Gardner

FREE LINE 173

 Exclusive Northern Exposure
This lovely looking common took a
liking to the spicy prawn
I returned the next evening and
managed to nail a cracking 23lb
common after only a couple of
hours fishing. I left just before dark
having first deposited another cou-
ple of kilos of bait in the general area
just to keep them going. I checked
the weather later that night and
things where looking good for
another bite or two, so with this
news fresh in my mind I planned to
return after work the very next day.
Unfortunately I didnt arrive home
until late so I couldnt really get out,
but made good use of the time by
spending a couple of hours walking
the bank and checking out one or
two areas ready for the weekend.
The weather once again took a
bad turn, and relentless heavy rain
on the Friday again put play on hold.
I was itching to get out, and having
finished work early spent the rest of
the afternoon stuck looking out of
the window and praying for a break
Luckily for me I
had a cunning
plan that I was
about to put into
practice
in the clouds, but as expected the
rain never stopped, and I reluctantly
faced the fact that there would be no
fishing today. The weekend proved a
bit of an anti-climax with no action
for anyone; it became obvious that
the hectic action that we had been
experiencing over the last few
weeks was finally slowing down,
and I would have to pull one or two
tricks from up my sleeve to fool a
few more fish. Luckily for me I had a
cunning plan that I was about to put
into practice. August was almost
with us and there is one area of the
lake that I knew the fish liked to visit
regularly during this period. All I
needed now was a bit of time and a
little cooperation from the fish, and it
would all be plain sailing or would
it?
August has always traditionally
174 FREE LINE
been known as a poor month for
carp fishing. With spawning well out
of the way by this time, and the sum-
mer days both long and hot, fishing
can be slow at the best of times.
Hold on a minute did I say long hot
days of summer sun? Well this year
the weather that we had in July and
the run up to August was more con-
sistent with that of a mild autumn,
and the rain, well; I dont even want
get started on that one. With the
weather being all over the place over
the last few years and the fishs
movements and feeding habits dic-
tated by the elements i.e. wind, tem-
perature, the sun and rain, no won-
der theyre a little confused these
days. Personally I now pay little
attention to supposed traditionally
good times of the year, and just get
out there as much as possible letting
the fish tell me where and what to
do as opposed to going by the
handbook.
The first week of August was pen-
cilled in for the Tony Parsons event
down at Linear Fisheries. Ive been
invited to fish this wonderful event
right from the off some five or six
years ago, and was looking forward
to participating in it once again.
Then when the floods were at their
worst I had the news that the event
was cancelled, and the complex shut
for a couple of weeks. Word on the
grapevine was that Roy and Chris
where having severe problems with
flooding, and that at one point they
had to evacuate the complex! Hav-
ing known Roy for a number of years
I know he would have been working
flat out to ensure all that could be
done was done to try and return Lin-
ear to some sort of normality, so
good luck mate with the clear up. By
the time you get to read this article
things should have settled down and
the floods subsided.
Disappointed as some of the
youngsters and adults must have
been about the cancellation of the
event, please lets not forget the
hundreds of people who lost not only
all of their belongings and household
goods, but also in some cases their
lives in the last couple of months, it
will take millions of pounds to repair
the damage the floods that hit
Gloucestershire and Oxford caused,
so in the greater scheme of things a
few cancelled fishing events and the
loss of a few carp to other lakes or
rivers, as difficult as it is for us as
anglers to deal with, is not really the
end of the world.
Anyway lets brighten the mood a
little and lets get back to the fishing.
Just when you thought the rain was
never going to stop the first few
days of August brought the welcome
return of the sun and for a few days
the country basked in glorious sun-
shine. Things were slowing down on

the local lake, and as Ive already
mentioned I had a plan to try to keep
those bobbins from sitting still for
too long. The weed that earlier on in
the year threatened to flourish and
grow out of control was now starting
to die back a little, or at least it didnt
appear to be growing any more, and
in areas that last year saw 5ft or so of
weed in the same depth of water
now had little more than a foot of it
over the bottom, and even in the
thick parts I dont think the weed
was any higher than 2-3ft, and that
was in 8ft of water. This lack of weed
in my mind meant two things: firstly
the fish would be more encouraged
to move around the 20 acres of
water as apposed to sitting in a two-
acre weed bed all summer, and the
wind direction could be at times an
influential factor on their location.
Also the lack of weed meant a lack
of natural food, and subsequently
anyone who could take advantage of
that fact with quantities of bait
could in theory be on for a right
result. There is one area of the lake
that the fish love to visit on a regular
basis during the late summer/
Northern Exposure Exclusive
autumn period, and with the cooling
winds and consistent rain the fish
would be dictated by their changing
environment and hopefully start to
visit these areas sooner than normal.
The fact that there are a couple of
bloodworm rich silt beds in this
I got busy with
both the
throwing stick
and the spod rod
and things
seemed to be
coming together
nicely
area, and the lack of weed, only
added strength to the equation, and
my thoughts were confirmed after
spending a few early mornings look-
ing and watching the water for signs
of activity.
I quickly got to task and in two
very short sessions managed to
Getting busy with the marker rod
catch a lovely mid-20 mirror and a
not so lovely mid-double. Both these
fish fell to single fish flavoured pop-
ups cast to showing carp. The Cam-
fusion/Longshank Mugga combina-
tion from Gardner was still working
well, but I did start to experiment
with their Superskin hooklink and
this also proved effective. The Super-
skin, being brown in colour, was
ideal on some of the harder sandy
spots, and I was more than confident
with these two hooklinks for the
majority of my fishing for the time
being. Another new Gardner product
that I started to play around with
was their new Q rings. These split
ring type attachments are perfect for
quick-change type hooklinks, as
they dont seem to tangle on the
cast, and are strong and well made.
I spent a couple of evenings with
the marker rod, and soon started to
build up a picture of the hot areas
within the swims Id got my eye on.
When it comes to marker floats there
are now a number of purpose
designed floats that are suitable for
all ranges of feature finding, and the
days of turning my own floats out of
balsa sticks are well and truly over
as companies like Korda, Gardner
and E.S.P all have marker floats in
their range. I got busy with both the
throwing stick and the spod rod,
introducing both 10mm and 15mm
boilies at regular intervals, and
things seemed to be coming
together nicely. News then suddenly
hit the local grapevine about the
capture of a massive 37lb 4oz com-
mon - this fish is an absolute beast
and one that I was lucky to catch
myself a couple of years ago. This
latest capture fell to the rods of my
old sparring partner Smokey, and
after spending a considerable
amount of time and effort over the
last year or so pursuing the beast he
finally slipped the net under her at
her biggest ever weight. This fish
meant a hell of a lot to me when I
caught her and became a little
obsession, and I know the jubilation
he will have felt at the time, so a
genuine well done on the capture
mate - you deserved it for sticking it
out so long.
My next session was a short after-
FREE LINE 175
 Exclusive Northern Exposure
Look at the scales on this belter
noon/evening trip and after reposi-
tioning a single heavily-glugged
hookbait to a showing fish at around
120yds at the usual evening feeding
time of around 7pm my left hand rod
was away. After hooking the fish,
and despite getting it all the way in
and almost ready to net the hook
pulled in the last few seconds of the
fight, and I was left to reel in nothing
but the rig. I returned the next after-
noon hoping for another chance, but
unfortunately no runs were forth-
coming on this occasion. I managed
to winkle out another nice fish the
following week, again on a glugged
fishmeal pop-up and at 23lb 12oz it
made up for the one Id lost the pre-
vious week.
Things were starting to pick up a
little as my next fish fell to the same
tactics, and despite the water not
really fishing particularly well by
consistently working hard and
sometimes moving two or even
three times a day I managed to keep
one step ahead of the fish, and the
bobbins kept moving. This next fish
came at the end of a hard day, and
after fishing two other swims at
opposite ends of the lake I dropped
into an area where Id seen a few
fish show. The old adage ten min-
176 FREE LINE
utes in the right spot etc proved
bang-on, as after casting both rods
out amongst a group of head and
shouldering fish the lefthander
roared off after only a few minutes.
This fish was particularly pretty,
long, and lean with large sovereign
type scales running down both
flanks. I packed up there and then
h a p p y t h a t I d m a n a g e d t o f o o l
another one.
With things looking good for a few
more fish I was eager to get back as
soon as possible. Unfortunately a
couple of days of work got in the
way, but I was soon planning my
next early morning stint. The
weather was once again damp to
say the least with strong winds and
squally showers, but armed with
waterproofs and plenty of stubborn-
ness I arrived early the very next
morning. Pushing the barrow down
the path in the early hours I had a
good idea of the area I fancied, but
still I spent 20 minutes or so scan-
ning the water like a hawk. My
hunch paid off as in this short time
Id had three or four sightings of fish,
and that was good enough for me. I
quickly got the rods out and dived
under the brolly trying my best not
to get any wetter than I already was.
The saying wet as an otters pocket
sprung to mind as the rain drops
dripped from my now cold and
runny nose.
After firing out both my rigs I
made myself comfy and poured a
cup of coffee from my flask. Despite
my best attempts the morning
passed by without any action, and
before long I was heading back to
the car with another blank firmly
tucked under my belt. The next few
days were spent back at work but a
couple of friends made use of their
time and banked a number of fish in
a couple of nights fishing. The best
of these was a lovely common that
fell to the rods of Penky who landed
himself a nice 24lb common, and
then Adam and Matt got in on the
act with a few on their next trip.
With the fish now getting caught it
was time I pulled out all the stops
and continued banking a few of the
park lake residents. With time and
space now running short Ill have to
leave you for this month, but with
the cooling autumn weather on its
way there should be one or two
bumper hits as the fish get down to
some serious munching, so lets
hope I can report on a few more cap-
tures next time. See you then. n
 oCARP TO 33LB-PLUS oALBINO GRASS CARP TO 25LB-PLUS o CATFISH TO 73LB-PLUS

Lin Brook Carp Fishery

e So uths premie
Th ket carp fisheryr
day-tic
/LQ%URRNFDUSVKHU\LVDH[FLWLQJQHZ BOOKING LINE:
GD\WLFNHWVKHU\QHVWOHGLQWKHKHDUW 
RIWKH$YRQ9DOOH\5LQJZRRG (PDLOOLQEURRNFDUS
VKHU\#RXWORRNFRP
o6WRFNHGZLWKSOXVFDUS 6QDLOV/DQH%ODVKIRUG
o6L[DFUHVLQVL]H 5LQJZRRG%+3*
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DYDLODEOHSUHERRNLQJRQO\
oYROWHOHFWULFLW\LQHYHU\VZLP
YROWHOHFWULFLW\LQHYHU\VZLP
ZZZOLQEURRNFDUSVKHU\FRXN

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 Off The Beaten Track

No Names,
No Numbers
By Dan Goult

Sunset on the Middle Level.

178 FREE LINE

 No Names, No Numbers Off The Beaten Track
T
he start to my fishing
this year has been
pretty uneventful with
only the odd session
through the spring.
One of these was on
my syndicate at the time, Northey
Park in Cambs. This resulted in a
three-night blank, and whilst there I
decided that my time on there was up
and it was time to move on. As the
place was growing ever more popular
what with the incredible stock pres-
ent, which meant it was getting
rather busy, I knew it may be a strug-
gle to get on of weekend, which is
really what my anglings limited to. A
long, hard think was needed so as to
decide where my angling would take
me next. Two places came to mind:
one was a 35-acre pit in Norfolk,
which I soon acquired a ticket for, but
knowing this place also gets busy I
needed a second choice as well.
My attention soon turned to the
numerous Fen drains close to my
home. I know a number of them hold
a good head of carp, as I had a little go
a few years back for them on a drain
called the Middle Level and caught a
A mid double mirror from the drains a few years back. Just look at it! Mint!
mid double mirror that was absolutely
stunning and also lost one that I never
saw. I also knew of others that had
caught some of these unknown carp.
This was ideal for me close to home,
off the beaten track, unknown scaly
beasts and the main thing, quiet, with
possibly not another angler in sight.
No names and no numbers, where
weights are totally irrelevant and
even the small ones are cherished.
I knew I had already got one advan-
tage by deciding to target these
drains, as I already knew most of
them like the back of my hand. This
was because I grew up on them,
learning my trade as such. My dad
spent many an hour teaching me how
to catch roach, bream and nearly
every other coarse species from these
drains. I absolutely loved the draw of
the Fen drains and just loved being
there, especially with my dad; he
really is an inspiration to me in my
angling and many other things in life,
and for that I cant thank him enough
in my eyes hes the greatest angler I
know!
As my angling progressed I took to
match angling at a very high level,
which took me all over to many differ-
ent venues. But I always loved fishing
the drains close to home, especially
chasing the numerous huge bream
shoals they contain. It was whilst
fishing for these bream I think I had
my first encounter with a drain carp,
as amongst catching some big bream
I had a bite that absolutely tore my
light quiver tip rod off of the rest and
then went on to tow me all over the
place for nearly 15 minutes, only for
the hook to pull at my feet. I say
think as I had never had a bream nor
tench fight like that. My dad also sug-
gested it was a carp.
A few years later and I gave up the
match angling and took to carp fish-
ing, a further few years on, and here I
am today writing this. The run-up to
the magical 16th had dragged a bit for
me, but had given me chance to scout
out a few likely looking areas to con-
centrate on. Also it gave me a chance
to gain a few brownie points with the
missus by suggesting I take our new
black Labrador pup for a walk down
the river, with the Polaroids obvi-
ously you never know when you
might spot a few carp!
FREE LINE 179
 Off The Beaten Track No Names, No Numbers
These remained motionless a few times!
The run up to the start of the sea-
son saw me baiting an area on the
Middle Level. For nearly two weeks I
was putting a full bucket of mixed
particle and probably around a kilo of
18mm Equinox over two spots every
other night. Nearly every time I went
to bait up there were numerous
bream rolling near to my spots. This
didnt put me off at all, as Im sure the
carp would be near if not alongside
the bream shoals. I was unable to
start on the magical 16th but still got
down to bait the area after work ready
for an evening session the following
day. On this last baiting mission, the
area looked devoid, with not a single
roach or anything showing. I stayed
around the area for a good hour
watching, but it wasnt until I was just
about to jump in the van for home
that I saw what Id been waiting for. A
mid-twenty common threw itself
clear out of the water yards from one
of the baited spots. This really got me
itching to get down there with the
rods. The next day at work really
dragged, but I was soon on my way
down there full of anticipation after
what Id seen the evening before. To
cut a long story short, no carp were
forthcoming, but two bream were.
I kept on eye on this area for the
next few nights but never saw
another sign of a carp. Not wanting to
put a l l my e ggs i n o ne ba s k e t I
thought it best I try somewhere else.
My attention turned to the Ouse
along a section called Ten Mile
Bank. This is a lot wider and deeper
than the Middle Level, and I know of
some carp to mid-30s had been
caught from there. The same as the
180 FREE LINE
Middle Level, this section of the Ouse
is also home to large bream and tench
shoals, plus all other coarse species.
This brings me on to the rig Ive
decided to use on the drains, as I
wanted something simple, but some-
thing that would also take a lot of
interference from nuisance species
but still reset and be presented cor-
rectly. With the carp in the drains not
overly pressured, they are not exactly
going to be rig shy, so my rig revolves
around a large size 4 Fox Armapoint
SR hook. This is tied to 25lb Fox Cor-
tex Matt, blowback style. But instead
of using a ring for the blowback part,
I decided to use a small piece of sili-
cone to trap the hair. This is down to
the flow of the drains, as I do not want
this to affect the presentation of the
effectiveness of the rig by moving the
hookbait up the shank, which it
would with a rig ring. Its also pretty
inevitable that the rig will be inter-
fered with by bream etc, so the way I
tie this rig I know it will still be pre-
sented every time. I do this by tying
the knotless knot with the coating of
coated braid still intact with only the
hair stripped back. This allows
enough stiffness so the rig lifts and
falls back perfectly every time with a
nicely balanced hookbait, which is a
18mm hard hookbait tipped off with
12mm Northern Special in varying
colours. I decided a hooklength of
around 8 to 10 inches fished on a hel-
icopter rig would suffice.
I found a lovely looking area, just on
a bend with numerous boats moored
nearby, as we all know and hear that
these are carp magnets. Once again I
saw quite a few bream show and the
odd tench. I was soon priming the
area every day for a week with some
particle and again 18mm Equinox.
With work done for the week I was
soon heading down to the Ouse after
work on the Friday, only to turn up
and see someone set up where Id
been keeping an eye on and prebait-
ing. Obviously this cannot be helped,
but I was a little disappointed to say
the least. So off to find somewhere
else it was I knew of a couple of
other areas where carp had been
caught and seen before along this
stretch. The first one I got to someone
was also setting up, and the second
looked really good, but the banks
were just not practical to fish safely
overnight. With it being so close to
the road, I didnt really fancy a car
driving over my brolly! With that I
thought I would try and find another
spot on another drain, and making my
way back along the Ouse I remem-
bered a section that I used to bream
fish. I was soon pulling the van up to
this area. It looked perfect on a
slight bend with lilies lining both the
near and far margins. It was decided I
would fish here for the night, with two
rods finding their way to the far mar-
gin at the bottom of the shelf and the
third fished to the left of the near side
marginal shelf. With a good helping of
mixed particle and 18mm Equinox
over each rod it was time to relax and
chill out. The night was uneventful,
but to be fair I wasnt that surprised,
especially after dropping into some-
where on a whim, but you never
know with a rod in the water.
A few days later I had a text from
my mate Jack, saying he was out
scouting a few areas out, and he had
just seen a black as your hat common
show along Ten Mile Bank on the
Ouse. He described whereabouts this
was, and it sounded exactly like
where I had fished a few days earlier.
I arranged to meet Jack the next day
and see if it was definitely the same
area, which turned out it was. This
was the sign I needed, especially see-
ing as this section of the Ouse is miles
long, and to see one show like that is
very rare. A plan was made between
Jack and me to prebait the area regu-
larly two or three times a week. This
was once again a mix of mixed parti-
cle and 18mm Equinox. It was also
decided to scatter the bait along a
diagonal line across the whole river.
This way carp going upstream or
downstream would cross the bait at
some point. It also gives me a good
OFF THE BEATEN TRACK SERIES
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 Off The Beaten Track No Names, No Numbers
area to spread three rods, with one in
the near margin, one in the centre and
one on the far margin.
To cut a long story short, a couple
of overnighters with nothing to show
for my efforts was taking its toll on
me, and I decided to a drop back onto
the big pit. At least I knew they would
be in front of me somewhere but not
miles and miles away like they can be
on the drains. This also coincided
with an email from Steve at CC Moore
offering me the chance to use and
test their new yet to be released
Pacific Tuna bait. So I thought it
would be quite apt to use it some-
where with a decent number of fish.
Work commitments also picked up,
which meant even less time behind
the rods, but I still managed to catch
the odd one from the pit but none of it
special gems. I had a Monday booked
off work at the beginning of Septem-
ber and decided I would have a day
with the rods somewhere. A phone
call from a good friend, Liam, saying
he had caught one from the Middle
Level drain soon had my mind made
up where to go. I knew the area it had
been caught from and thought where
This one loved CC Moores Pacific Tuna. What an achievement buzzing!
182 FREE LINE
there is one there may well be more.
The gear was loaded in the van at first
light on the Monday morning along
with my Labrador pup, Barney. I know
labs make great shooting dogs, but
this one makes an especially good
carp dog; he absolutely loves going. I
pulled up to the area where my mate
had caught from but didnt fancy it
there and instantly remembered a
spot a little further downstream. The
barrow was loaded, and I made my
way to the spot. It was clear it had
been fished recently, but this didnt
deter me. I soon had two hinge stiff
rigs, with Pacific Tuna cork ball pop-
ups that were meshed in tights and
glugged in the awesome Tuna Lo30,
cast to the far bank with probably
around 100 15mm Pacific Tuna baits
scattered over the top. I soon sat back
and relaxed. The morning passed
pretty uneventfully, but a little past
lunchtime I heard a bosh that was a
bit too heavy to be a bream down to
my left. Around 3pm a single bleep
from my Nev had my eyes fixed on
the rod, only to see the Terry Hearn
blank hoop over and nearly go skiing.
I was on it in a flash and soon playing
an animal that was towing me all over
the place, eventually locking up in the
lilies in front of me. With a bit of con-
stant pressure I soon drew a lovely
looking common over the net. I was
buzzing with my first river carp of the
year!
As I lifted it onto the mat I could
see just how immaculate it was, with
a very large, cavernous mouth with
not a mark in there, nor along its flank.
It had probably never been caught
before at all. I was in awe of it and so
made up to have caught it. For the
record it weighed 23lb, but I wouldnt
have cared if it weighed 3lb the
weight was totally irrelevant. I knew
it was an achievement to have caught
one from such an expanse of water,
which is over 20 miles in length, and
also being as it was one of the
unknowns no names, no numbers.
Since catching this common Ive
acquired access to a Cambridgeshire
pit that not many know of, with some
of the most truly stunning carp you
will ever see, and some quite large to
40-plus. So I will being spending what
ing these. More of that to come n
time I have through the autumn chas-
 BIG CARP
fine arts presents
WAT E R C O L O U R C A R P PA I N T I N G S
The Legendary Big Carp Series

Here she is at last! Regarded by many as the ultimate big carp, the stunning Black Mirror, captured here beneath
the Colnemere snags. The Black Mirror joins Bazil and Heather in our legendary carp hall of fame, soon to be
joined by other famous carp that have shaped our big carp heritage, starred alongside the UKs most famous carp
anglers and made us all gasp at their beauty and give those who have dedicated their lives in pursuit of them, the
utmost respect. One of my favourite carp of all time strong, dark and so very difficult to put on the mat. Once
again an absolute masterpiece, the one and only Black Mirror is available now as a small number of signed and
numbered prints (100). Anyone interested in this or any of the others take a look at the website.
At the very modest price of 25, this is a collection not to be missed.
There will never be a collection like this again. Now is your only chance to own the history fish collection.

Price 25.00 plus 8.00 Recorded Delivery and tube.

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 Exclusive

Alternative Baits and

How to UseThem
By Mick Krassos

Y
ou only have to sensory area of the human palette in our waters.
look on the shelves (Im not sure what the carps take Unfortunately, we as anglers can
or in the freezers of on this is), and with all the colours often become blinkered with our
any well stocked of the rainbow and shapes and perceptions of bait, and tend to
tackle shop these sizes to suit, we are indeed spoilt stick to the same tried and tested
days to feast on the for choice when selecting our new boilie based concoctions along with
selection of boilies available to the wonder bait to bank some of the their matching liquids, pastes and
angler. With flavours covering every guileful, carpy residents that reside stick mixes. This sheep-like prac-

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 Alternative Baits Exclusive

(Opposite) A selection of alternative

baits
(Right) Fake flake? Its fooled you;
now go fool those carp!
(Middle) Plastic pellets used like this
are another weapon in the armoury.
(Bottom) A classic combination of
KG-1 bottom bait and tipped with
Enterprise pop-up corn

tice can then lead us into the repet-

itive scenario of turning up, putting
some bait out, and waiting for the
carp to come along and hopefully
choose our bait offering over the
anglers in the next swim, or indeed
all the other anglers around the
lake. What I hope to do here is to
influence your thought process a
little, adapt the way you think about
your bait choice, and hopefully shed
some light about the multitude of
alternatives out there and how to
use them effectively.

Floater Fishing.
With the warmer weather now
upon us, we can start to utilise
some rather interesting baits to
tempt these midwater and surface
feeding cyprinids. A favoured
method of catching carp on the sur-
face in the spring and summer is to
use one of the many floating dog
a n d c a t b i s c u i t s a v a i l a b l e, a n d
whilst these have plenty of oils in
their makeup, because of the poros-
ity of their nature, they will start to
soften immediately and take on
water. Depending on the type of
biscuit used some will stay on the
surface longer than others, but one
thing is for sure, and that is that
they will all saturate and sink even-
tually.
To overcome this irksome ele-
ment in floater fishing, there are
some clever alternatives to use that
have the same effect, but have the
added advantage of never getting
saturated, and stay on the hook on a
long cast. Enterprise Tackle have
come up with the ultimate solution
for the chum mixer user in the form
of two sizes of counterweighted,
artificial dog biscuits. There are five
in a pack, so more than enough for
a few sessions, as long as you avoid
casting up trees! These really are a
godsend because they can be
fished on a hair by removing the
shot from mixer and replacing it
with the plug supplied, or alterna-
tively they are fished with the shot

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 Exclusive Alternative Baits

in place and you lightly hook the

bait opposite to the shot. This has
the effect of making the hook stay
out of the water and not only does it
hide it from the view of the carp, it
also creates a very efficient hooking
arrangement without anything
potentially impeding the hooking.
The second item I like to have in
my floater fishing arsenal is a selec-
tion of cork balls and plugs, which
are easily used in natural form or
will readily accept your chosen
flavour or oil by putting them in
soak prior to fishing for that added
attraction. The cork balls and plugs
can be trimmed to naturalise their
look from the machined finished
products you buy and they can be
hair rigged or glued directly to the
back of the shank of the hook or
tied on with a latex band. Their
buoyancy makes them suitable for
using a slightly larger hook if you
desire, and they really are a great
edge for floater fishing or zig rig-
ging to tempt those midwater

(Top) A stunning 20lb common

caught on the boilie/corn combo
(Left) Playing a fish on the alternative
baits try it; you might be surprised

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 THE BIG CARP HUNTER SERIES
The Unsung heros prolific catches with a unique tale to tell

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 Exclusive Alternative Baits

(Above) Plastic corn soaked in a

classic flavour simply awesome!
(Right) Nature gave us the great tiger
nut, and the imitations look good
enough to eat.
(Below) The awesome mag-aligner,
courtesy of the legendary Rob Maylin

whackers.
Bread is also a fantastic floater
fishing bait, but by its nature it is
very unstable and prone to leaving
the hook at the most inappropriate
m o m e n t s . Wi t h t h i s t h o u g h t i n
mind, there is even an artificial
bread product available to hair rig
or hook directly, and this can be
constantly cast without fear of los-
ing it. There are also no worries
about a carp swallowing it because
it remains tethered to the hook or
hair very effectively, and the only
thing you might need to keep mon-
itoring is the unwanted attention
from the venue waterfowl, as Im
sure we all know how much they
love a bit of bread!
The final item I like to utilise for
some floater fishing or zig rigging is
high density foam, which is avail-
able in small strip blocks or squares
from Solar, Nash Tackle or Fox. For
floater fishing I like to use the sandy
coloured version trimmed into a
mixer-like shape, and again this can
be punctured to soak in your cho-
sen liquid attractor. The foam also
comes in black, red, yellow and
orange, and for zig rigging a small
piece of this can really prove to be
deadly if fished at the right depth. It
is a strange feeling to cast out a bit

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Alternative Baits Exclusive

of black foam in 10ft of water, but

the countless carp that get caught
like this bear testimony to the effec-
tiveness of such a method. Many
theories surround why this works,
but I truly believe that just as a
great white shark tests its potential
food for palatability by a gentle
bite (many surfers would disagree
about the gentle aspect though!),
a carp goes through the same ritual
of overcoming its curiosity by suck-
ing it in for a test, by which time its
too late and theyre hooked!

Pickin them up on Pellets

Pellets are used extensively in
our pursuit of specimen fish
whether its carp, barbel, bream or
tench, and there probably arent too
many anglers out there that havent
used these great baits in their fish-
ing at some point. There are a few
drawbacks with pellets, and the
major one is the fact that from the
moment they hit the water, they are
in dissolve immediately mode, so
straight away you are battling for a
take before they turn to their pow-
dered form and leave you with a
bare hair or hook. What doesnt help
is the fact that you have to drill

(Left) Forgotten old school baits for a

breed of new school carp.
(Below) A stunning mid-20 mirror
caught on the mag-aligner.

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 Exclusive Alternative Baits
them to get the larger ones on a
hair, so even though you can get
really large versions, the moment
they are drilled the water is pene-
trating from outside and in, and the
clock is ticking! Fear not though
because Enterprise Tackle have
come to the rescue by making some
artificial pellets in floating and slow
sinking form, and in useful sizes of 6
or 10mm. These are just the thing if
you are looking for a subtle presen-
tation in the form of a miniscule
bag, or when you are chucking out a
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pellet loaded method ball or indeed
fishing over a pellet loaded spod
mix. The same principle for flavour-
ing can be applied by long term
soaking in your favoured attractor,
and they can also be bought with a
seafood flavour, or another version
is a bloodworm and shrimp pellet
with belachan - simply brilliant.
Mixing it up in a spod fest
Small baits are something that all
carp will readily accept, but there
are some limitations on how certain
(Left) CC Moore supply an excellent
range of pellets and particles.
(Below) The Linch fish used to love
particles and pellets.
small baits can be applied or used
in certain angling situations. For
e x a m p l e, i f y o u r e s p o d d i n g a t
100yds and your mixture contains
sweetcorn, it is a bit of a risk to
think that a couple of grains of corn
will still be on the hair after the
velocity of the lead and hooklink
hitting the water at that range. So a
viable alternative needs to be
sought, and this comes in the form
of artificial particles such as differ-
ent plastic corns, which float or sink
and even glow in the dark! I like to
use the mini corn stops on the hair
in conjunction with my old
favourite Tuttis, and I pre-soak the
stops in the tutti flavour to give that
added boost to the rig.
Then you have floating, sinking or
flaked maize, maggots, casters,
hemp, tiger nuts, peanuts, and even
a camo corn with its very own silk-
weed disguise! So you can see that
the whole spod mix is well catered
for, and you can now fish any of the
mix with a real and artificial version
to make a critically balanced rig. As
you know, when fishing particles,
 BIG CARP
fine arts presents
WAT E R C O L O U R C A R P PA I N T I N G S
The Legendary Big Carp Series

The ninth carp in our gallery of Legendary Carp Paintings is the largest carp ever to swim in UK waters. Our
current British record was pursued by many, yet only caught by a comparative few. One of the first documented
captures from Conningbrook, its home, was by Paul Forward, who caught Two-Tone, as she was eventually named,
at as very modest thirty pounder, but she soon attained much heavier weights, as was destined to become a UK
record. Anglers such as Terry Hearn, Jim Shelley, Dave Lane and Lee Jackson are amongst those who held Kents
biggest prize. In fact the British record changed hands several times as she steadily grew beyond the incredible
60lb barrier until in 2008, Oz Holness claimed the record at 67lb 8oz, a record that stands today. Sadly she has
now passed, but is recaptured here in this incredible painting in all her glory speeding off through the depths.
As with the others, only 100 signed and numbered prints are available.
Available now for only 25.
Others in the series include: Bazil, Heather, The Black Mirror, The Burghfield Common, The Bishop, Mary and
Marys Mate, The Royal Forty and Jumbo.

Price 25.00 P&P: UK 8 recorded delivery & tube;

Europe 12 recorded delivery & tube; ROW 15 recorded delivery & tube.

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 Exclusive Alternative Baits
fish tend to move around less, so
even using artificial hemp on the
hook and on the hair will be a great
method to employ as they become
preoccupied on the small particle
feast.
Plastic Fantastic!
These plastics really are a viable
alternative to boilies, and they are
also a great partner to them with
useful products like corn hair stops
that are great for adding a little bit
of colour to your boilie hookbait,
192 FREE LINE
and the permutations for the differ-
ent rigs and bait combos are really
only limited by your imagination.
As an unfortunate consequence of
their introduction into this country,
and their rapid spread throughout
many river systems and lakes,
American signal crayfish have also
become a real problem to a lot of
fishery owners and anglers alike.
Anyone who has ever fished a
venue with voracious critters in will
be only too aware how destructive
to your baits these little monsters
(Left) Pepparami an excellent all
year round bait.
(Below) Tiny pieces of cork catch
hundreds of carp each year, either
fished on the top or as a zig rig.
can be. Now there are methods of
bait protection to try to deter these
crays, but even with the shrink tube
they are so dogged that they will
keep on tearing at it until they can
tease it open enough to get at the
boilie meat. Baiting up with
boilies is totally unviable when the
water is infested with them
because having watched their
antics in the margins with boilies,
you can see that very few will be
left for the carp! You will need an
alternative to the problem, and that
comes in the form of all of these
plastic particles, nuts and seeds,
but the boilie diehards out there are
catered for by a few companies who
are now producing a selection of
plastic boilies that can be bought
pre-flavoured or neutral, and even
refillable with your own liquid
attractor. These really are the only
way to tackle these crayfish trou-
bled venues, but the carp will read-
ily accept them. You only have to
look at such waters as Fryerning
Fisheries, Boyer Leisures Harefield
Lake and the BCSG jewel in the
crown, Korda Lake, to see the mas-
sive carp that can be caught where
the crayfish reside.
Old skool baits
To a mo de rn ge ne ra ti o n o f
anglers it might seem strange to
think that carp were actually
caught on baits before the inven-
tion of the boilie all those decades
ago. Now I am not going to going
into when the boiled cheese pastes
and new potatoes ceased to be
popular and boilies began to take
the lions share, but there are alter-
native hookbaits from yesteryear
that still have a useful place in
modern carp fishing.
Many lakes in this green and
pleasant land in which we angle are
home to one of the most attractive
carp baits of all time, and indeed
such is the popularity of this mem-
ber of the mollusc family, many
boilies contain a good percentage
of it in their base mix. Of course I
am referring to the humble mussel,
and whether its the freshwater

A stunning 30lb common.
variety or the marine family, carp
just love them. However, using
them as bait has its problems, and
most noticeably the fact of trying to
keep the bait in a neat package
either on the hook or hair. The cure
for this problem comes in the form
of artificial mussels, and in waters
where these molluscs reside they
are a seriously good addition to the
plastic bait armoury. Lets not for-
get other marine favourites such as
shrimps, cockles and prawns either,
and whether their salty nature
makes them a prized bait or not,
there is no doubt that in certain
waters, they are devastatingly
effective and should not be over-
looked.
Then there is the meat, that good
old fashioned spam or luncheon
meat which is only ever spoken
about by the avid chub or barbel
angler. This great British institution
has never ceased to be a fish
catcher, but we dont see it in too
many anglers boxes today, and the
reason why it has fallen from favour
is unclear. Perhaps if one of the big
bait manufacturers put their name
to it would once again be en vogue.
There is no doubt that it is an awe-
Alternative Baits Exclusive
some fish catcher, and the fact it is
made using the cheapest, fatty
meat products means its rubbery
texture is great for hooking or hair
rigging, and its flavouring is obvi-
ously a winner.
There really is no need to feel
pressured into spending vast
amounts of money on boilies if you
are on a limited budget, because a
quick trip to the local supermarket
to pick up alternatives such as
spam, a tin of sweetcorn, or a jar of
cockles will see plenty of carp
caught. We know that carp must
associate those little round balls
with danger, but a salty cockle or a
bit of old skool spam may just see
them drop their guard long enough
for them to get caught. Dont get
m e w r o n g, I a m a s b i g a f a n o f
boilies as anyone, and my Rich-
worth baits fall in to my earlier
comments at the start, but even the
good old boilie can be outfished on
their day, and I have had plenty of
carp on spam topped with a bit of
plastic corn or spicy sausage with
fake corn. At the end of the day they
are only fish; they are not curing
cancer or flying to the moon, they
swim around all day and night just
snacking here and there, so if they
have got to eat, they will get caught
at some point. The only factor to
consider about the frequency of
them getting caught is their ability
to associate food with danger, and
just like humans, there must be a
few clever ones in the pond that
can generally spot a rig or danger-
ous bait, and there are some venues
where they never get caught.
You can see that as well as the
conventional, there are the uncon-
ventional and sometimes forgotten
baits that have only lost favour with
the angler but not the fish. Perhaps
thinking outside the box and trying
a different approach to your baiting
may just help you bank a not so
wary carp, as they take your differ-
ent bait over all the other anglers
identical offerings.
Well thats all for this month folks,
next time I will be taking a more in
depth look at carp safety and some
of the equipment I use. Remember
try to make the most of it now
because winter is only around the
corner, and this has got to be my
favourite time of year to catch carp,
so until next time, be lucky in your
pursuit. n
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 ORDER ORDER ORDER
LEGENDS SAVAY GEEZER
MUG MUG MUG

Big Carp Ceramic Mugs 6.50 + 2 P&P

call 01252 373658

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or visit

WIN A HOLIDAY FOR TWO!

Our good friend Kevin Coventry has kindly put up
a fantastic competition prize in Big Carp to
celebrate Big Carps 250th issue.
And it could not be simpler to enter.
All you have to do is go to the CHEF DE
VILLE Facebook page
Heres your chance 1: You must like the CHEF DE VILLE page.
to win a holiday for 2: You must like and share this competition.
3: And just write Done in the comments.
two including food Closing date is25th DECEMBER2017
at Chef De Ville!
Good Luck!
 BIG CARP
fine arts presents
WAT E R C O L O U R C A R P PA I N T I N G S
The Legendary Big Carp Series

That enigmatic history fish Jumbo from Yateleys Pad Lake is the next in our Legendary Carp series. This awesome
creature was arguably the most difficult of the big Yateley trio to catch simply because it lived in the tiny, shallow
Lily Pad Lake and was constantly under incredible angling pressure from those that pursued it. This great chunk of
a mirror attained an all-time high just short of Walkers record and was caught by such great anglers as McDonald,
Maylin, Hearn and Sharp. Truly a legend, Jumbo now sits side-by-side with its peers Bazil and Jumbo on the wall of
fame. This painting took the artist over six months to complete such is the attention to detail. There are four more
paintings to go to complete the set. The next will be Two-Tone, our current record, and there will also be Walkers
old record Clarissa, what may be the next record, The Wassing Linear and that great character Arthur will
complete the set. Available now for only 25.
Others in the series include: Bazil, Heather, The Black Mirror, The Burghfield Common,
The Bishop, Mary and Marys Mate and The Royal Forty.

Price 25.00 P&P: UK 8 recorded delivery & tube;

Europe 12 recorded delivery & tube; ROW 15 recorded delivery & tube.

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 Off The Beaten Track
Exclusive
PrivateWaters
By Kurtis Burton
D
uring a hot sum-
mers day I strolled
down to a local pri-
vate estate lake. I
walked around and
found the fish in a
shallow, snaggy and very weedy part
of the lake. I could see two clear spots
amongst the weed. These were my
chosen spots, and I was fishing a long
hooklength just in case it wasnt bang
on the money. Fifteen minutes after
the rods went out I had a few bleeps,
and the tip bent around. After a short
but hairy fight the fish was in the net,
a stunning little mirror around the
average size of fish Id had out of this
lake.
As the day went on the alarms
stayed silent. That day Id been given
some new bait to try from a good
friend, Dave Gash at Vale Baits. This
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bait was dark in colour but strong,
smelling of garlic and orange.
It got to around 3pm, and the right
hand rod was off. I was taking my
time with this one, as it felt a better
fish. Just as she went over the net
cord, the left hand rod bent over. I
couldnt believe it; Id waited hours
for a run and then they came within
minutes of each other. I had two mir-
rors on the mat, one very lean and
well muscled. I thought that would
have been it for the day, as on this
place three fish is a great day, but
minutes after getting the right hand
rod back in it was off again. This time
it as a very fat common just over 20lb.
This was the biggest fish Id had out
of here and a real character.
Half an hour later I was in again,
and I couldnt believe it! As the fish
got close in I could see it was another
one of the bigger fish in the lake,
another perfect common just over
19lb. I was over the moon with this
success, but little did I know the next
hour was going to be amazing. Id
seen a few fish in the margins during
the day, so Id been trickling bait in
and watching the fish go down on it.
I moved my left rod just inches from
the bank.
Whilst watching a fish come into
the margin spot and getting excited,
my other rod ripped off. This fish
broke the water as soon as I hooked
into it. It looked very dark. Playing it
easily through the weed, I eventually
got it free of any weedbeds and she
came in slowly. When it was close
enough to see I backed the clutch off
a little, not wanting to lose this one to
a hook pull. All the hard work was
paying off.
Private Waters Off The Beaten Track

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 Off The Beaten Track Private Waters

As she slipped over the net cord I a self-timer, so I had to do a video erupted. I was in shock. Never before
was so relieved, and I had a massive then screen shot, and I knew the had I been so successful. A stunning
smile on my face as I lifted her onto quality would be poor. After texting fully scaled was the last victim. Was it

day? n
the mat. I had to get some mat shots my mate Dave telling him how Id got the new bait or was it my red-letter
of her because my camera didnt have on with the new bait, the margin

198 FREE LINE

 BIG CARP
fine arts presents
WAT E R C O L O U R C A R P PA I N T I N G S
The Legendary Big Carp Series

The Royal Forty swam off the carp anglers radar right under the noses of the best carp anglers of the
1990s in its London Park home for many years until it was discovered. In fact even after it was caught,
initially its home was kept a closely guarded secret. It wasnt until Big Carp Legend Ritchie McDonald got
on its trail and landed this incredible fish that it was finally put on the map. Terry Hearn couldnt wait to
tick this one off his list and sacrificed a season on the Car Park Lake, and the capture of Arfur as it turned
out, to be one of the few who had held the queen of Richmond Park, a venue which at the time was well
off the beaten track with no night fishing! Truly a legendary carp of our era. Available now for only 25.

Others in the series include: Bazil, Heather, The Black Mirror, The Burghfield Common,
The Bishop, Mary and Marys Mate.

Price 25.00 plus 8.00 Recorded Delivery and tube.

Call 01252 373658 for card payment or go to our website for secure Paypal payment.

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 Canal Carping

Canal
Technical
By Danny Champion

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C
anal carping is
almost ignored these
days as the day tick-
ets become a play-
ground for the glory
hunters try to catch
the same fish. The meaning of a large
specimen of true value is truly lost. I
see canal carping as a way back into
the old school days of carp fishing, the
simple and unknown. Never in my life
did I think I would catch a canal 40; it
was one of those moments in my life
Id never forget. I never set out to
catch it but the more time I spent
looking for carp the more I got to
know about her (Split Tail). She had a
tail the width of a dustbin lid with
pectoral fins a foot long, and her long,
grey body was battered with scars
from years of swimming along an old
canal a true warrior of the channel.
This is the kind of fish that deserves
the right to be called a specimen; she
wasnt bred in a fish farm and fed on
pellets all her life but had to search
and eat naturals to survive in a place
that not many can grow in. most of
her brothers and sisters have been
taken away and eaten by poachers. I
Split Tail from the Basingstoke canal at 40lb 2oz.
Canal Technical Canal Carping
was asked by Rob Maylin to write this
article on the technical side of carp
fishing, and I had to think long and
hard about whether I wanted to write
and share the information that I have
collected over my search for the
unknown, as not everyone has the
same views as I have. Canals can be
literally taken apart in months by
anglers taking all kind of fish away to
eat. And yes, this happens in this day
and age. But I thought to myself the
more anglers on the canal that are
just as passionate about the fishing as
I am will not only protect the fish
stock but help the fish grow and be
able to keep an accurate record of the
stocks. I hope the information you
read will help you unlock your local
canal. Be aware its not for the faint-
hearted but well worth the wait.
The first thing I will talk about is
the best time to start your campaign
and how to get the basic information
you will need along with the best
ways to remember the important
information. January is probably the
best time to start preparing for your
season on the canal. I find January
extremely hard fishing, so I tend to
write this month off. Canals are
extremely hard to get to grips with
remembering locations, so its well
worth buying a diary to keep notes
and photos in. I would start by look-
ing on old forums to find out the
basics.
Most canals have long history of
diehard carp anglers who spend years
searching for the unknown. These
forums will give you a good idea on
the fish stocks and locations.
Although the information will be old,
it will get you started. Sometimes you
will find the odd photo amongst the
forums. Print these out and stick them
in your diary with the weights written
on the back so you can start to put the
puzzle of the canal together. Face-
book is one of the most annoying sites
on the Internet, yet is can be
extremely helpful. Most canals have a
Facebook group here you will find up-
to-date catch reports. Now if youre
like me I spend at least five hours a
week in my local tackle shop, which is
another good place to find out more
information. Dont ignore the match
anglers their numbers are far
greater than carp anglers, and they
FREE LINE 201
 Canal Carping Canal Technical
are not as secret squirrel as most carp
anglers.
So now you have research the canal
from what other people have had to
say. I suggest looking on Google
Maps. You will probably find it hard
seeing the water from the maps, as
the trees seem to cover everywhere
202 FREE LINE
bar the turning bays and flashes. Still,
this is vital, as most of the fish will be
in these turning bays. I wouldnt jump
ahead and try to cover all the canal on
your first year. When I first started I
did a five-mile stretch closest to my
house, which gave me more than
enough water to cover. I would write
in your diary the nearest roads to
each turning bay and give each one a
name or number. By doing this you
will be able to keep an accurate
record of fish sightings and catch
reports. I would also look for where I
could park, as some stretches can be
anything up to two miles before the
next road or track. I can tell you from
my own fishing that the warmer
months tend to produce more bites,
as most of the canals are very shady.
This means the water can take longer
to warm up. In turn the carp in the
Basingstoke canal spawn a lot later in
the year. In 2015 the fish spawned in
the second week of July, a week after
I had Split Tail out at 40lb 2oz, and she
was full of spawn. I know this for a
fact, as the week after I fished the
same spot and had a very worn out
35lb 6oz common. She obviously had
just finished releasing her eggs and
(Top) My local tackle shop where the
tales from the canals are recited.
(Below) What a stunner! The big
common at 35lb 6oz.
 Canal Technical Canal Carping

needed a good meal, but she was the

only female I landed in that session. I
had six other fish, but they were all
immature males ranging from low
doubles to mid twenties.
Once you have completed your
research I would then start looking at
locating the carp on the canal. What
you will read in the next few pages is
what Ive found on my local canal.
You might find it different on your
local, but as a whole this information
should put you on the right spots.
Locating carp on canals has always
puzzled me, but once youve been
walking along the canal for a few
miles you always see them, especially
in the warmer months. A good place
to start is to just go for a walk. Id
think nothing of walking the canal suggest having one rod half way and zigs with fake bread downwind from
footpaths for the afternoon racking up your other rod 20 yards out! the carp. As long as the winds push-
over eight miles. For the older gener- Ive always looked under bridges, ing the right direction you can lure
ation I suggest riding a bike. This is thinking the carp must like it under the carp away from the boats into the
the quickest way, but I think you can there, but on the whole of my local area your zigs are. Be warned though,
miss a lot, and you can spook the fish! canal I can only think of one bridge doing this can result in multiple
The far side of the canal is always that produces carp, but this bridge is takes! On my local canals there are a
where you will spot the carp under unused. Once again I think this is few lakes which branch off from the
the overhanging trees. Failing this, Id more because the carp spook off from canal. These lakes are fenced off and
suggest looking around the turning the noise and vibrations. I mean who used as fisheries or private grounds.
bays. The fish will most likely be wants to eat below a bridge with cars You will find that the fences never go
cruising the opposite bank. I believe going over your head? The other issue all the way down, normally leaving
they do this to get away from all the fishing under bridges is that things about two to three foot allowing fish
noise a vibrations on the footpath often get chucked off them, so you to move in and out of the canal. These
side, but be aware that turning bays never know what youre fishing over! areas are where the monsters live,
can end up being a prime spot for fly When it comes to narrowboats, some and every now and then they move
tipping, so you may have a lot of work carp will associate these boats with into the canal and get caught.
to do before you start, and as the food, as scraps of food get chucked Now once youve found the areas
name suggest narrow boats can be a over the side! Unfortunately some you are planning on fishing its well
nightmare in the summer months canal authorities rules restricted you worthwhile looking at the gear youre
turning in these bays! from fishing in the areas the boats are going to need to take with you. Fish-
Now, the flashes on the canals can moored. If this is the case Id suggest ing with everything including the
be amazing places in the winter if fishing as close to the area as you can kitchen sink is definitely not the way
your canal is shallow. With a deep and baiting a line from the boats to forward; you need to be as light as
flash you can be sure most of the fish your spot. Another good way Ive you can, as in canals and small nar-
will be in this area. The Ash Vale flash found fishing near narrowboats it to row dark areas, having a 12ft rod can
near Aldershot is a prime example of float bread on the top. But before I do be a nightmare. Ideally you need a 9ft
this. I wouldnt suggest casting to the that I would cast out two over-depth 3lb rod. This may seem overkill, but
far side of the flash, as the carp will be
used to the fact that people feed the
ducks on the footpath, creating an
ideal prebaited area for anglers, but
the downside to this would be the
fact the ducks know this, and you will
more than likely end up hooking a
duck or two. This can be a big prob-
lem, as in the past Ive noticed that
once theres been a bit of commotion
in the swim the carp will move off,
and you might as well go home. Id

(Top) Ash Vale Flash in Aldershot.

(Right) Tackle and equipment
Colnmere baiting spoon.

FREE LINE 203

 Canal Carping Canal Technical
Set up ready for action.
(Bottom) The float will drop or move
when a fish is on your area.
dont underestimate the power of
carp in a small canal, as they have
nowhere to go. I have a set of Wych-
wood Extractors; these small, tough
rods are the only ones for me. They
come in a 6ft version too, and this is
ideal for under bridges! When it
comes to reel choice, the Shimano ST
Baitrunners are the ones for me. There
is absolutely no need for a big pit on
the canal; theyre too bulky and will
get in the way. Being a tackle tart on
the canal will just end up with disas-
ter. The amount of times I have cyclist
running over my rods and dogs chew-
ing my cork handle, and yes this really
does happen! Ive had rods go for
swims during the night when a barge
has decided to come past and ignore
the fact that my Delkims are scream-
ing! This is why I always use back
leads. This eliminates any problems
with boats. When I decide to spend
the night down the canal I use a little
60-inch brolly system, as theres not a
lot of room on the public footpaths,
and to be honest spending more than
24 hours at the canal is extremely
hard, as the only thing youre looking
at is 15 yards of water. For the anglers
moving on from big gravel pits this
can be a challenge in itself.
Weed rakes can be really handy on
canals, not so much clearing weed
but cleaning the bottom of debris. The
one pictured has a 30ft rope attached,
so it easily drags back most items
including the odd bike or trolley!
Once Ive cleared the area with the
204 FREE LINE
rake, Ill put my waders on and check
the area myself to make sure I know
what Im fishing over! I wouldnt sug-
gest doing this on your own though
always have a friend with you and
take a prodding stick to check your
next step, and never go in the water if
theres boat traffic of any kind! ! This
is an advantage in a lot of different
ways: not only can you tell what the
bottom is made up of, but you can
also see depths and the colour of the
bottom. Another good tip is to trim a
little hole in the overhanging trees as
long as its not an SSSI area. (Site of
Special Scientific Interest).
Now Ive known people to make
their own gravel spots after theyve
done this. Im not saying go buy tons
of gravel and fill it in, but a 25kg sack
of pea shingle should be more than
enough to make a decent hard area
for you to fish over! Just make sure
you give the shingle a good clean
before you chuck it into the canal. If
the canal authority has a problem
with this, you can always use Sensas
gravel, which match anglers use to
make their groundbait sink faster. Its
basically gravel, but as its designed
to be used with bait they shouldnt
have a problem with it. When it
comes to baiting up or putting your
rig over your area, the Colnemere
Developments bait pole is the only
way forward. This will allow you to
bait up and place your rig easily and
quietly in the day or night. It comes
with a standard reach of 12 meters,
which is more than enough for most
canals, but you can buy extra 1.8m
infinite extensions, allowing you to
reach those spots next to the boats in
the turning bays or the moorings, not
to mention getting under those over-
hanging trees on the far bank where
carp always seem to be. I also use the
pole when prebaiting; its a fast way
to get a lot of bait out, as the spoon
can hold well over a kilo of mixed
feed, making it the stealthiest form of
prebaiting you can do.
Another piece of tackle that is
extremely handy is a pole rig. My idea
behind this is to place the pole rig
over my baited area permanently
fixed to the canal bed. This will stay
out there until I have finished my ses-
sion. This will help you see if there are
any fish over your spot. The pole float
will move when a carp swims under-
neath it, giving you a heads up when
the fish are over your spot!
Canal fish, like all carp, eat any-
thing and everything, but Ive found
some carp do have their favorite
snacks! If you look close enough
whilst you walk down the canal you
will find loads of natural food that the
carp love! At the right time of year
blackberries have got to be one of the
best; they have a sweet, sharp taste
that the carp seem to love! This has to
be one of my favorite baits; not only is
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 Canal Carping Canal Technical
it free, but when the berries get
knocked off by the birds it naturally
prebaits the swim! The blackberries
can also be great for adding to a stick
mix or to coat boilies with. Once in
the water it gives off a nice halo of
attractions. Be aware though, some of
the berries can float, so its worth
sticking them into a bucket of water
first and using the floaters as an extra
in your stick mix.
Sweetcorn is another effective bait,
as match and pleasure anglers use
this frequently so it forms part of their
diet all year round. The downside of
sweetcorn is that because of the
colour you may find unwelcome
attention from the ducks or a swim
full of bream, but dont let this put you
off, as most of the carp I have caught
from the canal have been using the
Evo corn stacks as a hook bait.
Another free bait you can collect and
use on the canal are crayfish. The
carp love these. I tend to crush them
up and add them to my boilie mix or
cook them and use the meat in a stick
mix. I believe this will give you an
edge any time of year, but please
remember to only use the crayfish on
the area of the canal you caught
them, as you can end up spreading
206 FREE LINE
crayfish eggs on parts of the canal
that havent got a large number of
crayfish in.
When it comes to selecting a boilie
anything works, but using fishmeals
or bright boilies can be tricky, as
almost straight away the crayfish will
be tucking into your bait. I use a dark
milk protein boilie or a good quality
bloodworm based boilie. I dont think
the size of boilies matter at all at the
canal, but if you do have a lot of
bream in your swim Id suggest
20mm. The smaller fish will still have
a go at the boilies, as Ive seen on my
underwater cameras. Ive seen roach
lift 18mm boilies clean off the deck!
Now we all see bloodworm in todays
baits, but how much bloodworm is
actually used in creating the bait?
Apart from a few top brands theres
not as much as you might think, and
most of the bloodworm that get
added is in powder form, not fresh. I
buy the 1kg Marine Nutrition 100%
Bloodworm, and as this is same price
as a kilo of boilies its great value for
the money. The carp will feed over
this all year round, and Ive found it to
be the best bait to keep all the pests
away on the canal.
They also do 1kg bags of Mysis.
This tiny freshwater shrimp has a
very high nutritional profile, and the
carp simply cant get enough of the
stuff. The only downside to these
baits is that it can tend to go off on
the bank in the warmer months. You
can stop this by adding salt and
water. By doing this in the right levels
you can drain the excess water away
in a sieve, and you have PVA-friendly
100% pure bloodworm Mysis. These
little bags are ideal for stalking; when
Ive used this method in the past Ive
found that tipping the Evolution corn
stacks with a maggot cluster blends
into the bloodworm providing a
stealthy hookbait. Liquid additive is a
funny one really; personally I dont
add anything apart from hemp oil or
Betalin to my baits or hookbaits. I
think you can end up making the bait
too obvious to the carp. I aim for a
nice balance but long-lasting addi-
tives.
Once youve found the carp on the
canal its always worthwhile starting
to prebait. I would start by baiting up
with sweetcorn, as this is probably
the most introduced bait. A tin each
day for a week would be a good start.
This will help you out later on match-
ing your plastic sweetcorn hookbait.
This will also keep the crays away for
longer. After the first week I would
check my spot for activity and
remaining bait! How is this possible
without disturbing the fish, you might
ask? The Waterwolf underwater cam-
era is the way forward. This cheap lit-
tle camera will drop to the bottom
showing any bait left in the swim, and
with its massive four-and-a-half hour
recording time, on day seven its
worth leaving the camera out to
check which fish are coming into
your swim! A few days after the cap-
ture of Split Tail, I decided to drop the
camera in to see how much of the bait
had gone. I left it out here for a few
hours just in case I got footage of any
carp feeding, and when I plugged it
into the laptop thats exactly what I
saw. This was enough for me to get
my rods out of the car and fish for a
few hours, and sure enough an hour
after placing my rig out I had this
beautiful 22lb dark mirror!
(Top) The blackberries blend in
nicely with the hemp.
(Left) Bloodworms in the purest form
fished with bloodworm boilies a
lethal mix!
 Canal Technical Canal Carping

15lb fluoro, and in extreme cases I will

use a 30lb coated braid. Now this may
make you laugh or make you think
twice about carp fishing, but I always
use the biggest hooks I can get my
hands on. I take this approach in all
my angling, but its even more effec-
tive on the canal, as the carp tend to
have really tough mouths from eating
all the crayfish. The Krank in size 2 is
my preferred hook pattern, but I have
used Continental Muggers in the
same size. You may tie the rig of your
choice with the hooks and think to
yourself it looks silly and its overkill,
My trusty Waterwolf. Its amazing budget Id look at cooking up your but over the last few years its all Ive
whats on the market these days. own particles, sticking with mainly used, and yes, in my option it has
(Bottom) The dark 22lb mirror. hemp and maize, but be sensible and increased my catch rate massively.
prepare it properly. Also you can use Its also reducing the amount of hook
If you dont have the camera, the blackberries I mentioned earlier; pulls; I would say 99% of the fish I
spending an evening watching the you can find tons of these on canals, have hooked I have landed, and I put
water may not be as effective, but will and they wont cost you a thing! this all down to the size of the hooks.
still give you an idea if the fish are Mashing them up and mixing them The main question I get asked is
feeding. Depending on what you find with liquidised bread will create a what about the smaller carp? Surely
you may wish to fish the swim, but nice bed of bait that the carp will be they will notice the hook when taking
dont rush into it. The more time the more than happy to feed over. the bait. This brings me onto the next
fish feed in one area the more chance Now when I think about what rigs I part of all my rigs critically balanced
you have of seeing new carp in the would use on canals, the first thing hookbaits. If used in the right way
swim, as canal carp tend to stick that comes to mind is all the rubbish these little gems will act natural in the
together in pairs or small shoals. Once on the bottom, the silt and the cray- water, and fish will fed confidently
you have a few fish in your area, I fish, so straight away all my hook around the bait, and you will nail the
wouldnt think twice about starting to links are at least ten inches long. Then first fish that picks it up. An 18mm
add boilies to the mix. The size of the I start looking at what hook link mate- Cell wafter will be critically balanced
fish and amount of fish will determine rial I use. I normally fish with 12lb flu- on a size two Krank. Theres no need
how much you decide to put in. When orocarbon; in my opinion the clear for putty one less thing to worry
I was fishing for Split Tail from the material is bombproof, but with all about. The same can be said for the
Basingstoke, I was using anything these obstacles I still increase that to Evolution corn stacks, these deadly
from 1kg to 5kg of boilies a week, and
when the fish were feeding hard I was
feeding them 5kg of mixed chops a
day along with a tin of corn. What
most people forget is that the canals
are full of pest fish, and Ive seen little
roach and rudd on the underwater
camera, smashing into the boilies, so
how many pest fish you have will also
determine the amount of smaller baits
you decide to use.
As a rule I would leave the swim for
at least two weeks before I start to
fish. This allows the carp to feed
freely, and in return for your efforts
you should have a fish on your first
session. Another way Ive found very
effective on the canal is to tie PVA
bags full of little goodies to chuck in
whilst on my walks. I would spend
my spare time in the evenings tying
these up ready for the next day. Id
make up anything up to 50 bags a
night, and as I was at home I even got
the missus involved! Prebaiting can
be very expensive, so if youre on a

FREE LINE 207

 Canal Carping Canal Technical
little pop-up corn will sit perfectly
above a size 2, and as theyre plastic
they will withstand the battering of
the crayfish! Ive caught all sizes of
carp on size 2 hooks from the smallest
at 7lb right up to 46lb, not to mention
this was the rig that caught me Split
Tail!
Now Ill move onto types of rigs I
would and wouldnt use. Ill start off
with the chod rig that I refuse to use
whilst fishing on a the canal, as the
chuck it and hope is not my kind of
angling. Im more precise and would
rather not fish than chuck something
out Im not 100% confident in. The
hinge stiff rig is another one that per-
sonally I wouldnt use, as I prefer to
use a stiff boom section, and you sim-
ply cant use that on my local canal,
as the rig wont sit right with all the
debris. The KD rig is another no-go for
me, as there are too many pests, and
the hair can end up twisted around
the shank, making the rig useless. Ive
found the basic blowback rigs and
hair rigs all do well when on the
canal, but I have more confidence
using the D-rig; this simple rig is so
effective. Ive stalked carp and seen
the carp hooked on the first time the
fish has attempted to suck the bait
208 FREE LINE
into its mouth. The most important
part of this rig is the amount of turns
on the whipping knot and the amount
of turns on the knotless knot. I use
seven turns on the whip and five
turns on the knotless. Combined with
the critically-balanced hookbait, this
will allow the hookpoint to be heavier
than the eye, allowing the
point to drop and take
hold. A very important
part of the rig is to ensure
the top whipping knot is
in line with the barb, or
where the barb should be
on a barbless hook. Using
a micro ring hook swivel
will give you the added
movement on the hook
bait as well as letting it
move freely over the fluo-
rocarbon. I tend to use this
rig along with two metres
o f t u b i n g. T h i s m i g h t
sound overkill, but it keeps your line
pinned down and protected when
youre playing the fish. Anyway its
not like youve got to worry about
casting far.
L e t s m o v e o n t o t h e 3 6 0 - r i g,
another effective rig for the canal, as
the rig will sit on anything thats on
the bottom. The 360-rig is very unpre-
dictable as far as hook holds are con-
cerned. Ive found using the Fox long-
shank curve to be the best hook pat-
tern to combat this problem. Another
problem you may find with this rig is
that in recent years the rig has been
banned from venues, as the eye of the
hook can get caught up in landing
nets and rip the carps mouths. A
away to combat this is by covering
the eye with a small piece of shrink
tube. This will stop the eye getting
caught up when the fish has been
landed. Tying the rig couldnt be more
simple: the only knots that are
involved are four-turn grinner knots
on each side of the swivels. I would
start by threading a size 11 ring
swivel onto a size 8 Fox long shanked
curved hook. This will give the hook
the weight and movement. I would
then place my first hook bead right
the way down the shank, locking the
swivel down to the eye of the hook.
The next component is a critical
part of the rig the Thinking Anglers
micro ringed hook swivel. This amaz-
ing piece of tackle will provide the
right amount of movement for the
hookbait whilst on the shank. To fin-
ish off the hook you simply add one
more hook bead opposite the barb to
lock the hook swivel into place. I
would then tie a semi-soft boom sec-
tion like IQ2 from the hook to my cog
system, and that simply, its job done.
Now when it comes to hookbaits you
need just the right balance; the hook
needs to sit up right from the ring
swivel. This can be done by simply
using the Evolution corn stacks. If you
would like to use pop-ups then I sug-
gest adding putty just under the rig
swivel.
The last piece of advice I can give
you is to work closely with other
anglers and respect each others
views. I can think of two anglers on
the Basingstoke canal I hold in high
regard and have a well desevered
mention in this piece. If it wasnt for
Cameron Coxhead I wouldnt have
any photos of Split Tail. On the day of
the capture I had no camera other
than my phone, but within ten min-
utes of landing the specimen,
(Top) Evolution corn stacks.
(Left) The D-rig with a Cell wafter,
perfectly balanced.
(Above) The deadly 360-rig.
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 Canal Carping Canal Technical

Cracker at 38lb

Arthur, named as he has half a tail, 31lb 2oz.

210 FREE LINE

 Canal Technical Canal Carping

Cameron was there on the bank car-

rying a camera with a set of spare
scales and willing to strip down to his
boxers to take water shots for me.
Thats sportsmanship at its finest, my
friends. He was rewarded with this
fine specimen called Cracker weigh-
ing in at 38lb another example of
angling at its finest.
Now the other chap, Will Crowdy, is
a pure carp catching machine. He
was a carp in his previous life! Hes
the only angler I know who would
rather eat boilies than a Pot Noodle
a pure book of knowledge. This young
chap kept me up to date with the
canal whilst I was out of the country,
and when I returned the three of us
worked together for weeks, keeping
each other updated on the swims and
fish activity. Canals are all about
working as a team; even if you have
your own separate spots its always
handy to have a mate pop down to
see whats happening in your swim. 27lb.
Here he is with Arthur at 31lb 2oz, canals in Britain will be full of great being either removed or eaten. Ill
another old fish. angling events such as the ones I leave you with this thought: if I canal
I hope you have enjoyed reading have written about. It would mean a carp can grow to over 40lbs whos to

know theres bigger carp in mine. n

this as much as I have enjoyed writ- lot to me to see more anglers fishing say theres not a fifty in your local? I
ing it. Hopefully the future of our the canals protecting the fish from

Win NEW YEARS WEEK AND FANCY

DRESS PARTY For Two People

at Anglers Paradise in Devon in Fishermans Panorama, one of their luxury villas!

Our great friends Zyg and Zenia have kindly put up a fantastic competition prize in Big Carp to celebrate our
250-plus issues. And it could not be simpler to enter. All you have to do is go to the Anglers Paradise
Facebook page where, pinned to the top, you will see the competition.
1) You must LIKE the Anglers Paradise page.
2) You must LIKE and SHARE the competition.
Good Luck from Zyg,
3) Finally write Done in the comments. Zenia and Rob
One lucky winner will be drawn at random. Closing date: November 1st.
Circumstances permitting, I'll try and make it myself - Rob
Big Carp Magazine!
a history of excellence

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