Tag: carp

the return of bread

following my previous post about using fox arma mesh to fish with a whole load of new / old baits I thought I would give a quick update from this weekend. This weekends session on Thorney Weir whilst a blank was interesting as it did prove a point in that you can fish bread in Arma Mesh and get it to last over night. Gone are the days that you would have to re cast every 30 mins if you had bread on the hook. Gone also is the notion that you can’t fish bread at distance. I put a 3oz lead well in excess of 100 yards and the meshed bread was perfectly fine.

Some of the bread pellets looked a little muddy as I was experimenting with meshed lob worms… not recommended the worms crawl out eventually 🙂 Continue reading “the return of bread”

It is not the size that matters

Sometimes it is not the size that matters but sometimes the method of capture. I had wanted to catch a double figure carp on my Bruce and Walker Mk4 ever since I purchased it and now that I have a full set of Andrew Field floats I had just the chance. I quick trip down to a small commercial near where I live and 1st cast landed this beauty. She pulled the scales fown to 11lb once the sling was taken off and was well deserved.

Bait… well nothing at all. I was just testing the float at my feet to get the correct shotting on the float and the hook picked up a ball of chod from the bottom. Carp grabbed the chod ( and my hook) when I dropped it back in the water. Continue reading “It is not the size that matters”

Hand Made Floats – the proof is in the pudding

Some of you may know that I have a thing for items of beauty and when I spotted the website by Andrew Field with his wonderful hand made floats, I was smitten. The quality was stunning and I decided then and there that I had to have a few, even though I don’t really float fish a great deal. As my birthday was fast approaching I asked my wife if she could get me a selection as a birthday present which she dully did. I expected to get a single float but what I received surpassed my wildest imaginations ( apparently I don’t have much of an imagination) as I got not only 6 floats but also a really snazzy aluminium float tube. Continue reading “Hand Made Floats – the proof is in the pudding”

how many 20s on the surface

Why is it that the best places to fish are out of bounds ? I present to you this video evidence of a lake near me that is verboten to fish…. that is packed with doubles and 20’s. If you look carefully you will see an easy low 30 also make an appearance and you could virtually catch them by hand.. oh well the lake will just have to serve as a source of amusement as I am not going to risk fishing it and I am 100% confident that no one else fishes it either. Until  hell freezes over I have to leave you with a video – Enjoy !

Now doesnt that make you want to break out the surface gear ?

Echo finally an organisation I can believe in

Some of you may have heard of ECHO, the English Carp Heritage Organisation, and the work that they do in representing the views of us –  the ordinary carp anglers. Their stated aim is to support programs that maintain the health and welfare of the the carp in t he UK. Now for those of you thinking that carp are not native to the UK. You are right, the group is not trying to stop any carp being imported, even the famous “Leaney” carp were imported from Holland back in the 1930’s, they want to ensure that the carp that do come over ( if they do) are free from disease and do not cause disease outbreaks when they get over here. As well as representing the voice of the carp angler in the wider issues that surround the sport. Too many fisheries have bee destroyed by uncontrolled importation of carp from different world wide locations were KHV is endemic. Think of foot and mouth disease, in some countries it is a fact of life and the whole nation heard has it. Well in most EU countries this is not the case and I think that we all agree that it is a good idea ™. Echo want to ensure that the same protection is in place for our carp stocks.

If you are a carp angler you really should join, for your membership you not only get a fancy ECHO badge as above but also the quarterly magazine with articles form many famous carp anglers and even the odd article from me 🙂

SO what are you waiting for ? if you care about your fishing get on over to their website and join now, it is only 20 pounds and so for less then a couple of KG’s of bait you can make a difference for the future of carp fishing. By the way you don’t have to be based in the UK, I was a member when I was based in the Netherlands, if you are carp angler you need to be a member. If you are still not convinced pop over to Carp-Forums.com to the ECHO section and have a read around, the people there are super friendly and will always answer your questions.

New World Record carp video now online

Image from http://www.telegraph.co.uk click image to go to their article

After the rather sad posting about Amsterdamse bos, it is nice to get a bit of positive news. Recently Martin Locke head honcho for Solar Tackle caught a word record mirror carp at Rainbow lakes in France. The beastie weighed in at 94lbs ( 42.6kg’s) and recently the video of the capture has been put up on Solar Tackle’s website here.  This carp beat the previous fish from les Graviers The size of the fish has to be seen to be believed and he struggles to lift it due to the sheer size and weight. Even if you are not into carp fishing check it out and marvel that fish that size swim in European waters. The fish was caught in the winter at 94lb, will it top the 100lb mark if it is full of spawn ? When will the 100lb barrier be broken ? Will if be from France or from elsewhere ? Will the 91 from Luke Moffats Les Graviers take the title again ?

Anyway click here to see the video in all its glory

Flurocarbon rigs – the ultimate in simplicity

Fluorocarbon, when it was first released to the angling community several years ago it suffered from many issues namely that it was brittle and super stiff. The brittleness was resolved but the stiffness remained. Recently Fox released their new product, Illusion soft fluorocarbon and i am pleased to say that stiffness in fluorocarbon hook links is a thing of the past. The hook link is softer and more supple and like all fluorocarbons is practically invisible in water as it is a refractive index close to that of water. Some anglers mistakenly fish with red coloured lines believing that as red is the first colour to disappear the deeper you go that their red lines are therefore “invisible”, the anglers who know a thing or two use fluorocarbon as it truly is invisible.

Continue reading “Flurocarbon rigs – the ultimate in simplicity”

The evolution of a rig – the big pig line aligner rig

Let me begin this article by stating, for the record, that there is no original thought in this rig. This is not to denigrate the article or my thinking in the 1st line but there is very little “original thinking” in 99% of carp rigs today. Almost all carp rigs are just an evolution on someone else’s ideas or are designed to encourage people to buy more rig components. The main exceptions to this in recent years ( after the hair rig) have been the Drig, the Chod rig the combi rig ( and coated braid ) and the now ( thankfully) banned “bent hook” rig. There have possibly been more but these are the ones that I can think of and the ones that I use or have used on occasion.

This rig is the product of several years of thinking and would not have been possible with out ” a little help from my friends”. To explain, earlier in 2009 I was a little annoyed that I couldn’t get a good hook hold which was strange as when I 1st started to use long shanked hooks that is all I got but over time I managed to migrate to short hairs and stiff flurocarbon and the hook holds got poorer and poorer. Then a chance discussion with a mate ( who is sponsored) and an impromptu rig clinic on the bank and I was set straight. later in the year whilst on a fishing holiday I had the chance to have a good look at a mates rigs and ( with his permission) incorporate a good chunk of what he was doing into my rig design.  Not only did catch rates improve but also losses decreased which was crucial at the time due to the hard fighting nature of the fishing the lake.
Continue reading “The evolution of a rig – the big pig line aligner rig”

Review – Fox Horizon SFD rods

Well some of you may know that I was unhappy with my rods, don’t get me wrong they were fine rods but 2 3/4 lb tc middle / tip action rods were not actually cutting it where I was fishing. I have lightweight rods in my stalking kit so I decided that to go with my new Fox 12k reels ( well not so new now) what better than a set of Fox rods. I had the advantage of a “try before you buy” when I met up with Mark for a quick session earlier in the year and I was very impressed. So armed with this knowledge I bought myself a 3 some of rods off of the Internet.

When the rods arrived it was like Xmas and I couldn’t wait to get on the bank with them, I popped out to Bosbaan for a quick session in August. Well I was noting but impressed. As you can not loose feed in the lake I tend to fish with largish PVA bags or sticks. This used to present an issue to my previous rods as they lacked the backbone to really punch out a 3 Oz lead and bag. Not so with the Fox rods, they load up nice and slow and release all that power exactly where you want them. Some of the casts in the lake are 85-90 yards and with a big bag it is a difficult cast. Sure, anyone can punch a single hook bait out to 150 yards but add a bag and you really sort out the pack. Continue reading “Review – Fox Horizon SFD rods”