1. sports
2. fishing
3. freshwater fishing

WI
N
HUGE COMPETITION INSIDE
Inside This Issue
Julian Cundiff
Mark Jenner
Marc Lyons
Josh Barkley
Carl Mahoney
Mark Stewart
Max Whittred
Fredrik
Amy Buchan
Ben Gotterson
Wies Ennekens
Terry Howlings
THE CARP FISHING MAGAZINE
WRITTEN BY
THE READER FOR THE READER
@CarpUniverse
Facebook.com/carpuniverse
ONE OF THE MOST DOWNLOADED CARP MAGAZINE ON THE APPSTORE
CONTENTS
7
Mark Jenner
Catching The Bug
12
Marc Lyons
The Incarcerated Carper
20
Competition Time
Win A T-Shirt
22
Josh Barkley
Park Life
30
Carl Mahoney
Freezing Success
38
84
Mark Stewart
Julian Cundiff
You Must Be Mad No Feet Of Clay
Part 2
39
Max Whittred
The Graveyard
53
88
72
99
Frederik
Pursuit Of The
Three Queens
Amy Buchan
Striking A
Balance
Wies Ennekens
One, Two and Finally Three
Ben Gotterson
Winter Raiding
104
Terry Howlings
Watercraft
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6 - Carp Universe Magazine
Mark Jenner
Catching The Bug
Humble Beginnings
77- Carp
Universe
Magazine
- Carp
Universe
Magazine
I start this piece as many, if anyone, reading this great online
magazine would not have heard
of me; I am Mark Jenner a 35
year old carp angler from the
south west of England. Whose
passion was born quite like
yours and over the last 21 years
has also seen the increase of
body’s on the banks, some for
their own reasons some just
with an aim to become famous.
I for one have my own personal targets but these do not outweigh the passion and burn I get
from something that is more
than a hobby it’s simply a way
of life.
Let me set the scene!! The bug
started when I first watched
my cousin (Matt) roll some
Richworth white malt chocolate
boilies, if my memory is correct
I believe it was on a 50/50 birdseed mix. Back then this was
the done thing as shelf life boilies where as hard as nails and
rolling your own from premixed
just add eggs and flavour gave
you a major upper hand in terms
of catch rate and freshness.
Looking back it’s hard to believe
that this moment was about 21
years ago yet the memory stays
firm in my head almost like it
was yesterday — with me being
a sweet age of 14 years old, I
watched and learnt what would
be my first lesson on the carp
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fishing ladder. Then the invite
came and I begged my mother to
allow me to stay overnight with
Matt at a water that was one of
the best day ticket waters for
upper double figure fish in the
south west called Creedy lakes
at Crediton.
Both nervous and excited my
mother agreed and this was
really where the fire was lit
and started to burn within me.
4 o’clock came that morning
and I could not feel my feet the
temperature had dropped over
night it was not like my warm
bed at home, although cars had
started to arrive at the fishery
it was time to shift or miss out
on the swim of our choice. It’s
hard to explain to a non Carper
or fisherman what drives us,
that passion, a way of life that
leads others to think we are a
crazy, mad bunch bivvied up for
days on end in sometimes minus
temperatures and sometimes
all this for what? To learn
that little bit more from
that lake you have chosen
to hunt your prey. It was in
this same trip I saw my first
carp, whilst I was watching
Matts rods as he packed
up the bivvy we had slept
in around 200 yards
away something
magic happened
and off tore one of
his rods with an ear piercing
one tone scream coming from
his Delkim and line peeling from
his Shimano aero 5010 gte bait
runner reel. Although it seemed
to take a while to register it was
probably a matter of seconds as
I heard a voice shout from over
Matts way shouting “strike it,”
so I lifted the rod and turned
the reel so that the bait runner
clicked off the rod bent double
and my knees started to turn
into jelly all this seemed at the
time around 5 minutes but really we know these moments
go in slow motion with that
alarm singing a sweet
tune to feeling the
weight of the
fish on the end
of your line.
At this point
my mind
changed and I knew for sure this
sport was for me, although even
writing this it seems an age Matt
quickly relieved me of the duty
of playing his fish and rightfully
something he had worked hard
in the day to get. After a short
battle it was banked a nice looking 16lb mirror carp, this was
the biggest fish I had ever seen
at the time and for many years
to come. That was that, I wanted
to be a carp fisherman though
the gear cost so much, I started
saving as I had a warehouse job
after school and a paper round
in the morning. Neither paid
very much but it was something
to add to birthday money etc and
I soon had a pair of non-matching carp rods, one being I think
a Silstar carp rod and a Silstar
reel. The reels I managed to get
were no super singing bait runners and the rods where never
near top class, but they got me
catching and learning more
about not only catching carp
but anything that would take
my bait with no bite alarms
and my like coat hanger rod rests
and very
basic setup. They
helped me bank fish in
local lakes and rivers and
where friends from school
would rather go to the youth
centre and what not , I would
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much rather go down the river
and see what I could catch.
I started collecting a monthly
magazine, I can’t totally remember the title I believe it was
improve your coarse fishing
that you got huge ring binder
folders for over the course of
years I built quite a collection
which I passed to someone else
who was starting to fish with
a hope it would serve them as
well as it did me after all the
sport is nothing if you don’t
give something back and help
someone else’s fire burn.
My local lake became Upton
Lake at Cullompton, now a
holiday home only water, it
boasted some great sport with
the chance of a 20lb fish at
the time. I also got my father
to drive me to little farm pools
as my knowledge and passion
grew within me. So still six
months into my fishing life and
I mentioned I didn’t have the latest gear along every trip came
two 2p pence’s and a quality
street lid the metal ones, the
logic behind this was simple
the carp would run and the reel
back pedal as I turned the anti-reverse off the handle would
fly round and round as the fish
peeled line off the reel and the
2p would drop onto the tin lid
alerting me of the run. I later
read in some magazine people
where using fairy liquid bottle
top as bobbins this improved
bite indication tenfold so I went
on the hunt for some of these.
Its only when I brought Frank
Warwick’s book that the reel
thing was not as uncommon
than I thought as he done the
same trick which made me
chuckle as I read it.
There comes times in my
fishing life I have learnt little
lessons some that might make
you chuckle a little. This one
brings me to the next summer
at Upton lakes I had set up on
the left hand side up by the middle point of the island knowing
that carp patrol islands on a
regular basis. I decided to place
one rod in the channel between
the island and my bank where
I had learnt carp also travel.
With the lead hitting the water
there was a huge swirl in front
about 30cm from the island I
was on the fish which is always
a good sign. I set the first rod
down and got the second baited
and ready to cast as close as
possible to the island, with a
flick of the wrist the small ½
Oz pear lead flew right past
the spot I wished it to land and
flew directly into the trees on
the island. I really can’t repeat
those words I muttered, as no
one likes losing gear especially
when you’re trying to save for
other stuff, and I was determined not to lose the weight
and rig I learnt
one hell of a
valuable lesson!!!
With a swift tug I
heard a whistling sound
next thing I knew I was on
my knees with blood trickling
down my forehead the lead
had whistled out of the tree
rig and all whacking me clean
smack bang dead centre of
the forehead leaving an x
shaped cut and me feeling a
little dizzy. I always carried a
small first aid kit just in case
and bandaged myself up like
Mr bump from the Mr men so
the bleeding would stop and
I could gather myself up to
carry on fishing and hope I
hit the spot it was supposed
to hit first time around. I
didn’t really bother counting
fish back then but I would
hazard a guess within my
time carp fishing I had caught
somewhere in the region of
50 or 60 carp ranging from
3lb to 12lb, I saw none of the
monsters that would have
echoed that one catch that
lit the fire that burned deep
inside, but in the same breath
I had to hold respect for venues like Creedy and others
that held bigger target fish
for I as one did not feel I had
the knowledge and skill to go
after such large fish.
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Winter was
soon approaching
and the temperatures started to drop off so with this I
thought of a change of tactic
and switched to fish maggots
more, this leads me to another lesson about clothing while
out fishing. If you are fishing
and your cold you can’t
expect to be fishing to your
full potential so please think
layers. Anyhow this brings
me to the last little piece
that will make you chuckle
or wretch, one chilly day my
maggots where staying cold
and lifeless and I remembered reading somewhere if
you warmed them up between your lips
they come
fully to life
and catch
you more
fish, ha ha,
this one
day whilst
warming a
couple of these
little fellas up I had an abort-
ed take on the left hand rod
which was tucked nicely behind a bush, so I had to drop
down the bank to get a view of
the water where it was placed and
with the excitement I had forgotten I had these
two little maggots in-between my lips as I slipped
down the bank ending half in the water and half
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with my butt on the bank, in this spilt second I
had released my grip of the maggots and before
I knew it they were never to be seen again, thou I
did throw up I never did see them.
This is where I will leave my stories until I have
time to pen some more please stay safe and don’t
be afraid to think outside the box and do your own
thing. Mark Jenner
Marc Lyons
The Incarcerated Carper
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I first thought of writing
this article when sitting in a
French jail cell not long after
my 30th birthday.
While sitting there biting my
nails and wondering how long
it would be before carping
was a possibility let alone a
thought. My cell door swung
open to the site of a gnarly
old miserable flic (prison
guard) slowly slurping out
the words (in broken English)
get your stuff and get out.
and big arse jails to quite,
calm, glass like mirrored images of a Cheshire mere.
Astbury mere was the chosen
destination, now let tell you a
wee bit about this large expanse of water. Astbury mere
was created within a former
sand an gravel extraction pit,
which has been fully restored
to provide a mature lake.
In total the lake extends to
some 44 acres and is a very
attractive piece of water set
Not before the routine strip in a slight valley surrounded
search may I add. So from in part by trees. This water
the land of onions, beret’s is extremely attractive with
13 - Carp Universe Magazine
many bars an shelves some of which you can clearly
see. Astbury mere is owned by Stoke On Trent Angling Society and is shared by the local sailing club
so if visiting here be bare this in mind.
The day was one of the hottest days of that year and I
couldn’t have picked a better time to be here because
the majority of the stock was clearly visible from
the high bank outside the information office. As I sat
the about 40 foot higher than the lake on a sloping
So there I was starting out on a fairly vast body of hill next to a big blue bear on a sort of.... Totem pole
water wondering where to start, but I wasn’t here (god only knows why it’s there) I watched a group
to fish as this was my first trip but to lead about and of around 6 carp cruise up and down the margins
trickle in some bait.
as if they were ocean going cruise liners big, bold,
and beautiful nice big dark commons. Leviathans in
there own right and at that exact moment I knew one
or more would be gracing the filet stitch on my net.
It would only be a matter of time I thought... It was
inevitable I told myself.
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So with this in mind I left the big blue bear and set
off marker rod in hand and a rolled smoke behind my
ear. On my way round it became clear that I wouldn’t
be alone, besides a fair few carpers there was a
high number of tourists visiting plus locals and
their water loving hounds.
After a few hours leading about and introducing a choice bait (5 kg of glm) I was well aware
that this place is deep, deep to say the least.
Over 70 foot in places and at times I’d think
15 - Carp Universe Magazine
my lead had hit deeps beds of weed as I couldn’t feel
it hit bottom. But it wasn’t weed it’s just the lead
hadn’t touched down yet, you would find yourself
waiting 30 40 seconds to feel that tell tale thud.
These depts felt crazy to me it was a whole new ball
game to what I was used to. Fishing small local estate
lakes with depths of around 8 foot. Right then I knew
it was game face time. So with this in mind I headed
home to make plans and get my armoury together.
My plan was to stay light and stay mobile. But due
to other commitments it would be a few weeks
before I could return. So when I finally did return at
about 8:30 on a Saturday morning there didn’t seem
to be much presence on the lake at that time. I had
a few places in mind from my previous trip. So off I
went pushing the car pporter through those wooden
gates leading down to the path. With my ever faithful companion whip (the whippet) tied loosely to the
handle of the barrow, I came to a peg on the westward facing bank. With the boat house to my left and
curry house, yes I said a curry house far in front of
me. 3 rods out, 2 on hinged stiff rigs on washed out
super buoyant pop ups on and a third rod on a withy
pool, something of a underused rig. Maybe the bells
and whistles put people off. But it’s real easy to tie
with a bit of yes you guessed it... practice. This was
fished with a pink crave pop up on.
My first two rods went out in front of me about 90
to 100 yards out in about 40 foot of water on what
seemed like very soft sand it felt carpy to say the
least. I also scattered about 60 baits over each rod.
My third rod I waded out to the edge of the reeds
and punched it out about 30 yards up the margin to
my left in roughly 20 foot of water also a 60 bait
scattering.
Traps set I sat back put the kettle on and started
to day dream of what could be.
What
Cheshire leviathan will
slip up first. Needless
16 - Carp Universe Magazine
to say that first 24 hours went by without a single
bleep, I could clearly see fish through my scope
showing way out of me. Beyond my casting range
probably 200+ yards out.
So as the sun began to set I bore witness to a epic
scene, as the sun slowly melted into the horizon with
only a handful of soft white clouds.
So after a Indian meal form the local curry house on
the far bank, most of which the whippet ate, I retired
to the comfort of my bed hoping to be woken by the
sound of the tone of my receiver, But to my disappointment that just wasn’t to be.
I first woke at
around 5:30
when
the
dog started
to walk about
knocking
over my
kettle
so
now I was awake, moody and mad at this dosey dingo. That was until I saw what was in front of me. The
morning mist was a fantastic site slowly blowing
across the lake. Mini tornado like shapes looking
more like partying ghosts. This place is epic, well at
least the lake and it’s contents are.
Kettle on and double tea spoon of coffee was on the
cards. Not long after the bailiff introduced himself to
me, and after a cuppa or three I knew what was in
here. A handful of 30’s and quite a fair few 20’s not
bad for £60 a year, plus a fair few other lakes and
private stretch of rivers on the same ticket.
The day was passing quick as it always does when
on the bank, and before I knew it, it was 2 o’clock
in the afternoon and about 30 yards out to the
left, not so far off my third rod, I could see long,
dark shapes just under the water, occasionally breaking the surface and seemingly
moving towards the margin where my
final trap lay.
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I sat bolt upright on my bed knowing it was on, with
adrenaline pumping through my veins I crept closer to my rods and donned the chesty’s. After what
seemed like a eternity but was probably about 10
minutes the bobbin on the last rod swung into life
smashing the blank with some ferocity that it made
me jump a little. I quickly picked it up and proceeded
to put a bend into what felt like a good fish, it peeled
line of my reel like it was playing games. It must have
took 100 yards of it before I even had any chance to
gain some back.
I wound down tight and proceeded into a true tug
of war, i was putting line back onto the reel when it
decided to for another spurt over towards the right
over towards my other rods, but after gentle persuasion and another 15 or so minutes later I finally
managed to slip the cord under her. And then she
was laying, sulking in the folds of my net.
A wonderful dark common, just over the 20lb mark....
Result !!!
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Josh Barkley
Park Life
24 - Carp Universe Magazine
stalked the top, managing four
carp to just over 10lb. This was
pretty surprising for a water
where we had witnessed a child
retrieve a beach ball from the
middle, without the water going
above his waste. It made us wonIt was back in 2013 that we got
der what the other two waters
our first glimpse of these lakes
when we were allowed to fish the could hold if they were anything
like this one.
smallest of the three waters, a
2-3ft deep lake with a couple of
islands and small, narrow chan- James decided to go and have a
nels where you could often see a look at the other two lakes and
small koi basking in the sun and came back saying he’d seen a
patrolling the margins on a warm lot of big black shapes cruising
around. We chose to stay put, as
summers day. My best mate
we were not entirely sure whethJames had just been given the
thumbs up to fish the lake as he er we were allowed to fish the
had recently got himself a job on other lakes. After another year
the waiting staff. He was told he of fishing the top lake with simwas allowed to bring a guest, and, ilar results, we started asking
unconvinced at first, I agreed to questions about the other two.
come along and give it a shot. We We were aware that they were
leased to a local angling club and
fished both on the bottom and
Working in a hotel certainly has
its ups and downs, but working in
a hotel with 9 acres of un-fished
water in the grounds is undeniably one of those ups.
25 - Carp Universe Magazine
we could fish during the day but
not the night, which admittedly
disappointed us, as we were
really keen on doing the nights. It
was another two or three months
before we heard the news that
the club had pulled out, rumours
started circulating as to why,
people claimed poachers, others
said it was just a lack of interest,
regardless of why, it certainly
got us interested.
The ground keeper said it was
fine for us to fish it as long as
we were bivvied up out of sight
of the hotel. This was more than
okay with us! Our first taste of
the smaller of the two bottom
waters was a night session at
the beginning of September. We
emptied our gear in the two most
promising looking swims and
set up for the next 24 hours. The
afternoon and evening were quiet
and the alarms didn’t register a
single touch, this all changed at
about 2:00am the next morning
when my left-hand rod screamed
into life. I knew straight away
that I was into a nice fish as it
rocketed straight into the pads I
was fishing against. After gentle
pressure, I managed to tempt it
towards the edge of the jungle
of lilies, when all of a sudden
my line when solid. I could still
feel the fish on the end, the odd
tug from the rod tip holding my
nerves on edge. James ran to his
bivvy to grab his waders, just in
time to hear a number of very
loud profanities from my direction as the hook pulled and the
fish was gone.
rod beeped into action and after
a short but hard scrap, a little
pristine common was sitting in
the net. Weighing around 6lb,
it wasn’t exactly a monster,
but with every scale in perfect
condition and a mouth that looked
untouched, we very much doubted it had ever been caught before.
A couple of hours later we returned home, already eager to
plan our next session back there.
It took about two months in the
end to find the time, trying to balance the fishing around college
and part-time work.
Having passed my driving test
the week before, I headed down
on a mild November’s afternoon
to pre-bait a couple of swims
Gutted, I fixed on another PVA
for a session the following day.
stick, flicked the rod back out
Being as keen as I was to fish the
and settled down for the night. I lake again, I brought my stalking
lay there, one eye open, scanning rod down and flicked the rig
the lake for any sign of the fish
to the same pads I had lost the
returning to the swim, but it
wasn’t to be and the night went
by without another knock.
The next morning, however,
at least gave us something to
remember the session by. At
around 10am, James’ right-hand
26 - Carp Universe Magazine
fish from on that first session.
After a couple of hours, I chose
to move the rod into the swim
James had caught his common
from, pre-baiting a couple of
other spots at the same time. The
quick couple of hours with the
stalking rod proved unsuccessful,
but there were clear signs of fish
moving about and my confidence
had definitely grown for the
session the day after.
I arrived two or three hours
before James and set up in the
same swim as I had finished
the evening before. There was
fizzing everywhere and I spotted
a number of fish cruising up the
channel to my right. I decided the
best thing to do was to place a rig
in the middle of this channel and
battling the fish around a fallen
tree that filled a large part of
the swim, I had a chunky golden
common sulking in the landing
net. I got the fish onto the mat
and slipped it into the retaining
sling. I dug out the scales as I
Tucked away from the breeze in was determined to know the
weight of my first fish from the
my bivvy, I wondered to myself
just how likely I was to get a
Park. The display read 13lb 4oz
bite. Almost instantaneously, my and I was pretty chuffed as I
right-hand bobbin dropped to the didn’t expect my first fish from
floor, and then started to lift back the lake to be into double-figures.
towards the alarm. I struck into I gently placed the retaining
sling in the water and waited for
it and immediately I was taken
James to arrive for some photos.
all over the swim by whatever
was on the end of my line. After
about 5 minutes of
fished a handful of boilies over
the top. The other rod was cast
to the left, tucked up against the
island in front of me, presented
over a bed of bait I had catapulted
out the day before.
It was only after the photos had
been taken that I realised just
how beautiful the fish was, size
is irrelevant when fish are as
stunning as that one was.
The rest of the session drifted
by, interrupted by the occasional
bleep on the right-hand rod, now
placed back in the channel. As
the sun began to set, I reluctantly packed up the barrow and
wheeled it back up the track to
the car, endlessly wondering
what else might be cruising
below those murky depths.
In
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In a couple of weeks
we were both back
down at the lake
again, we agreed
to swap swims so
that James could
fish the spot where
we had caught both
fish from so far. I
fished a very small
swim at the far end
of the lake, a narrow
bay, just big enough
to flick a short cast
to the far margin.
I snuck between
some trees opposite
to spread about 30
boilies over the margin spot and then
dropped my other
rig just to the left
of where my rods
were placed. James
had invited a friend
from his college to
fish the bigger of the
two bottom lakes.
We set up mid-after-
28 - Carp Universe Magazine
noon and we were
chatting away, when
my margin rod had
a screaming take
and line started
spinning off the
clutch. I managed to
pull the fish out of
the submerged lily
stems and slipped
it into the net. Once
again, we had managed to land another
scale-perfect
common; this one
was just over 8lb,
not huge but a great
little reward to end
the year at the Park.
It was
Jan-
uary
before
we managed to get
back down to the
lakes, this time I took
another friend, Simon.
He had been really keen
to scope out the lakes
and find a few features
with his marker
rod. Unfortunately
we managed to
choose one of the
coldest days of
the winter so far,
nighttime
tem-
peratures had dropped sharply to below -5˚C. We
had intended to fish the larger of the two lakes after finding some spots and were definitely caught
by surprise when we found almost every last inch
of the 6-acre water covered by a thick layer of ice.
The only spot that remained clear was a patch that
spread about 10ft from one of the islands and was
just large enough to spod a small spread of maggots and boilies over. We wandered round the lake,
looking for where carp may be holed up, but the fish
seemed to have shoaled up somewhere in the deeper water, out of reach due to the how much the lake
had frozen. When we returned to the swim nearest
the clear spot, we spodded out some more bait. Quite
quickly we started to notice carp drifting through
the swim, possibly picking up some of the bait on the
way through.
I put together both my rods and waited, hoping the
rain that had just arrived would melt some of the
ice. Hour after hour passed and the clear patch
grew slowly, still just painfully out of reach. As the
daytime temperatures began to drop again and the
ice started to re-harden, we decided to pack up and
call it a day, the elements had won this time.
Fingers crossed we can get back down there
again when winter starts to make way
for spring, so we can learn some more
of the secrets that these lakes have
to share.
Keep an eye out for more stories
from the Park.
Follow our adventures on YouTube by
searching for Sussex Carpers, and if you
enjoy them then don’t forget to subscribe!
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Carl Mahoney
Freezing Success
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fresh mid feb morning suns
shining and we’re in for a
clear day! A couple days off
work and I could think of only
one thing to do, and thats get
down on the bank and get
the rods in the water for a
48 hour sesh. As I cant start
33 - Carp Universe Magazine
on my syndicate until 1st of
March I thought I’d head down
to a water I’d fished before
which was about half hours
drive from my house. The
lakes a specimen carp lake
with a good head of carp going
upwards of 20lb, not after any
monsters I knew I’d be in with
a chance to nick a few bites!
turning up at the lake early afternoon with the sun shining,
not a cloud in sight I thought
it might be slightly busier but
to my shock I was the only
person on the lake. The lake is
split in two by a bridge
where the fish can swim
freely from one side to the
other, and there happens
to be 2 swims directly on each side of the
bridge and with there
being no one on the
lake I knew I could
control quite a bit
water from one
of them. Setting
up while watching
the water and deciding where I was going
to set my traps I noticed a
few bubbles from underneath
an overhanging bush to
the right of me in
the margins.
I knew
34 - Carp Universe Magazine
the overhanging bush would have
dropped leaves and twigs over the autumn and winter period , so a chod rig
seemed a perfect set up without the
need to drop a lead around and feel
the bottom, a little underarm cast and
bang right on the money 15mm white
chocolate pop up, it could only be a
matter of time. My 2nd rod I choose
to chuck into open water to the deeper part of the lake in a solid bag and
just keep dotting it around and see if
I could pick a fish off. having fished
here before I knew the bottom was
pretty clear so wasn’t too hard to
present a bait. After a few hours of no
action and a few chucks with my 2nd
rod I was starting to lose faith until
my margin rod leapt into action! The
money spot screamed into life and
there I was playing my first carp of
2015. Slowly getting closer to the net
I knew it wasn’t a monster but welcome none the less, a beautiful 7lb
common to get me started, just what
i like. I was off the mark and much
more confident. I got the rod back on
the spot and chucked a few boilies
literally 10 baits around the chod in
hope she would let rip again! A couple of hours passed by and it started
getting dark so I refreshed my baits
and tucked up for the night as it was
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rather cold and waited for what might be my
next screamer! At half 2 in the morning bam
we were away and the margin spot is off agian
im into another carp! it was soul destroyingly cold out and the relief is over whelming as
number 2 slides into my net another common
at around 6lb!! I woke up in the morning to a
frozen lake everything frozen solid. It was an
amazing sight as I couldn’t remember the last
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time I woke up to a frozen lake! With still 24
hours to go I knew it would be a task to catch
a few more carp but like all of us carp anglers
the hunt for carp is never ending so I cracked
on. After an hour or so of breaking some of the
ice I managed to make a few clearings where i
could cast to a part of the lake that wasn’t frozen over. This resulted in another 4 carp on the
bank and proves you can still catch fish when
it’s cold and the conditions are against you. The following night only one more landed and I ended the session
on 7 carp. Quite a session for 48 hours in the freezing
conditions. Get out on the bank guys, get down to a local
water and get your rods out. They are still catchable at
this time of the year!
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Mark Stewart
You Must Be Mad
Carping in winter is a lonely existence at times, sitting alone in what feels
like perpetual darkness,
wrapped up like an arctic
explorer, locked into your
tactics and the never ending, internal questioning of
your final decisions, unaided by the ability to see!
The frantic activity during
the reduced hours of light,
condensing hours that
start to feel like minutes
and the constant strain to
not fall asleep at a quarter
past five coupled with the
test of your sanity is unexplainable to those not
lucky enough to be driven
and obsessed with its rewards.
I love it! The prizes are
there for all to see, the fish
are heavy and in the most
beautiful condition, a result
feels more hard earned
and credible.
The night time loneliness
at any time of year is broken though when you
share your swim with a
beauty waiting safely for
her morning photo call and
the coffee you hold like a
trophy tastes of glow-
40 - Carp Universe Magazine
ing success after the solitude and random thoughts
were abruptly ended by
screaming blue lights, the
world stands still and the
first wind of the reel and lift
of your rod is met with the
unmistakable kicking resistance that justifies every emotion of our sport
in a single second, you are
the only person on earth,
your senses are electrified, you are stood on the
cloud of your own dreams
and the schizophrenic fear
of it ending before it’s net
filled conclusion runs side
by side with the euphoric
joy of its reality.
These emotions are not
confined to winter of
course, every session all
year offers the same rewarding emotions but for
me winter intensifies it.
Those that would scoff at
these emotional words in
relation to the subject have
never experienced the
moments they describe,
those that nod there heads
to it are the lucky ones.
Just as a football fan justifies the long periods of
unrewarded,
nervous
commitment by the split
second the net bulges and
the warm glow of success
fills there soul, so does
a carp angler in the moments that hours, days
and weeks are rewarded
by the same.
The early morning photo call where you are now
surrounded by your personal paparazzi, consisting
of your mates, like minded people, sharing and
understanding the feelings you are feeling whilst
you inspect every scale
as though you’ve never
seen one before is magical, this is the moment, a
moment you must cherish,
a moment you have enjoyed just as much for your
mates whilst on the other
side of the camera, that’s
why they are your mates!
The last act is the long
wave goodbye to a new
friend who’s image you will
revisit many times and the
handshake with the water
as it swims safely away
to fulfil another anglers
dreams.
Yesssssssssss!
Max Whittred
The Graveyard
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Of late i have been
extremely enjoying
my time out on the
bank and my fishing
in general, everything seems to be
clicking into place
and I’m learning
loads along the way
as every angler
does. I have been
fishing a day ticket
lake in the heart of
the Norfolk country
side, picturesque to
say the least. It’s
around an acre and
a half in size and
currently holds at
an unknown stock
but estimated at
around 25 fish tops.
It’s not particularly
fished much which
is another bonus
of this gorgeous
lake. Although very
small in size the fish
are very cute and
don’t show themselves willy nilly, the
fish that it holds are
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true jewels and any
Carp caught from
this Clay pit are a
massive achievement.
I had dabbled on
the lake when I was
in my last year of
high school but due
to exams and other commitments I
was unable to really stay in touch with
the fish and their
movements so as
you can imagine
at that point I only
winkled out two
fish. although these
two fish were absolute
stunners
and I was still over
the moon the first
being a stocky 14lb
torpedo
shaped
common and the
second a real character of a Mirror at
18lb, affectionately
known as “lumpy”
for obvious reasons as I’m sure
you can tell.
36lb + and is by far
the most beautiful fish I’ve seen in
Norfolk for a long
time, and a common known as
“Scar”, which is
probably the oldest
and wisest fish in
the lake but more
importantly another absolutely stunning common carp!
Now I was a bit
older and a bit wiser as far as carp
fishing goes I decided to start a
real campaign to
catch some really
Old beautiful carp.
I dearly wanted to
catch the big common that resides in
this pit which was
known to regular- I knew that most of
ly do weights over the captures in the
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prior season had
come from a swim
called pads, this
is an idyllic swim
which has so many
features its almost
hard to determine
where to put a rig.
There is a big set
of snags dead in
front, just off of the
f a r
margin, its a comfortable cast at
around
25-30
yards which would
be anyones starting point so on my
first session back in
a while I proceeded
by putting a bare
lead on my marker
rod as tight to the
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snag as possible, it
went down with a
dull thud so I knew
it was fairly firm
silt. I then made a
further five or six
casts around the
area and found the
same bottom pret- were close to the
t
y snag on snow man
rigs but in a slightly more open section to the left of it
in around 7-8 feet
of water, compromising a size 6
Nash Fang Twister
m u c h with a large rig ring
all over the area. I on the hook and a
then clipped up all length of semi stiff
three rods to the Korda N-trap semi
same distance and stiff in the silt colour
fanned them out to match the lake
and over the area, b e d ,
one being very
tight to the snag
knowing that there
isn’t too much in the
rigs
the context of un- were around
derwater snags 11 inches just to
which important as be safe if the lead
if there was I prob- on the clip did plug
ably wouldn’t have in and slightly pull
fished it quite so the rig into the silt.
tight as fish safety I then put around
is paramount in any 100 Mainline Hybrid
situation that fac- Boilies all over the
es me, if I cant land swim spread with
it what’s the point? a throwing stick
The other two rods which may sound
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strange as they are
usually associated
with range fishing
but as there is a
fence on the margin which prevents
fishing off that section of the far bank I
couldn’t walk round
and chuck a few
baits in a spread
manner
s o
the stick
was the
best tool
for this
type of
baiting.
This session
was uneventful
all bar some ‘pesky’ skimmers, but I
was confident I had
fished well and the
rigs were presented as I had hooked
the Bream and
heard Carp crashing over the bait in
the night. Several
sessions later, and
many Bream, and
hours of watching
revealed that the
carp were definitely in pads still
and definitely beating me up and testing my patience.
My next session
was a quick overnighter after work
and I was itching to
get down the lake
all day, the weather was absolutely perfect with it
being over cast
with
particularly
low pressure. I had
been down in the
week trickling
maybe 1kg of
the ever
faithful
Hybrid
in over
t h e
space
of the
week so
I fancied
my chances. I got
set up and
clipped the
rods up to
the spots
and all the
rigs went
out perfect
first time which
made me even
more confident,
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the night. Several
sessions later, and
many Bream, and
hours of watching
revealed that the
carp were definitely
in
pads
still
and definitely beat- maybe 1kg of the
ing me up and test- ever faithful Hybrid
in over the space
ing my patience.
of the week so I
My next session fancied my chancwas a quick over- es. I got set up and
nighter after work clipped the rods up
and I was itching to to the spots and all
get down the lake the rigs went out
all day, the weath- perfect first time
er was absolute- which made me
ly perfect with it even more conbeing over cast fident, I got a few
with
particularly more baits spread
low pressure. I had out and sat down
been down in the on the edge of the
week trick- bed and made myl i n g self a well earned
brew. After a
beautiful curry and a
few
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more cups of tea, I
was sat looking out
into the darkness
with a smoke in
hand, when I heard
a lump of a carp
launch itself out
what sounded very
close to my middle rod, as you can
imagine I had carp
insomnia that night
and struggled to
get to sleep buzzing
with excitement as
to what fish it could
have been. Eventually the middle rod
pulled up tight and
held there as I was
fishing
locked
up I hit the rod and
it flat rodded me
straight away I
was trembling at
the knees, I’d never felt something
so heavy and I
knew it could only
be one fish. The
sheer power of it
was like nothing I’d
felt before, it went
on powerful lunges
stripping line off of
a near tight clutch
on my Basia, the
spool was spinning, ticking
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steadily and the
wind
was
making the
line howl
as it blew
through
the swim,
the 3 1/4 Tc
Harrison rod
was
bent
double and I
was an absolute mess
playing this
powerful beast. It
had been about 20
minutes and I still
hadn’t
even
seen the tip of
the leader let
alone the fish
when disaster
struck and the fish
decided to swim
toward me and go
through my other
two lines right under my feet. Before I had time to
open the bail arms
on the other two
reels all went slack
and the fish fell off!
I was so devastated that I just
lost what I honestly thought was
the biggest fish in
the lake and
possibly
my main
target
fish, that
I didn’t even
re cast the rod, in-
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stead I called my
Mate and had a
rant and a moan
about my unfortunate mishap. I
drank a couple of
cups of tea then
put about 10 more
baits out in the dark
before getting back
in the bag to go to
sleep. I was soon
awake at first
light sat watching
the early morning mist disappear
off the surface of
the lake. I sipped
my tea knowing I
had to start packing up soon to go to
work, I know that
the fish generally don’t come out
in the day so I was
pretty much
d e va s t a t e d
especially after losing the
monster of a
carp in the night.
I was dreading
a long day at the
desk sulking about
the lost fish when
I started packing
up, I had all the gear
on the barrow all
bar my rods of
course, and I reluctantly picked up the
left hand rod and
started to wind it
in when I had two
single bleeps on
the right hand rod
by this time I didn’t
really think much
of it expecting it
to be a Bream, it
wasn’t until i was
putting the rod in
the bag that my
Nev let out a loud
shrill. I hit it straight
away and noticed
that it wasn’t at all
a Bream and was
indeed a Carp, a
heavy Carp! It came
in almost straight
away and as it
kissed the spreader block I saw a
dark old looking
common with a
tell tale scar on its
side! I put the rod
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down and peered
into the net a bit in
disbelief to be honest as I was almost
packed up and by
the looks of it had
the scar common
in the net! Buzzing
from it all, I gave my
mate I called during
the night prior a quick call and
he agreed to pop
down to the lake,
which isn’t far from
him, to do some
pics. Whilst waiting I broke the net
down
a n d
slipped
her in the
retention
sling
for a bit of a rest
whilst waiting for
him to arrive. He
confirmed it was
the scar common on his arrival
and he was every
bit as elated as
I was when doing the pics. I gave
the fish a big kiss
and thanked him
for the thrill then
watched it swim
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away which
in my opinion
is the best bit of
catching a target
fish. I was late to
work that morning, and got a bit
of a rollicking from
my
manager
but I really didn’t
care as I was still
buzzing from the
madness only a
few hours earlier.
I’m still fishing
the pit and have
a few more stories to tell of the
place so who
knows hopefully I
can tell you more,
until then tight
lines and be lucky.
Max
52 - Carp Universe Magazine
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54 - Carp Universe Magazine
Frederik
Pursuit Of The
Three Queens
The first visit to Stubbetorp
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My first visit to
this quite unique
Swedish
carp
lake was a day in
the beginning of
May, it was one of
those days made
to remember for
any carp angler.
The residents in
the lake celebrated the first really warm days of
the season and
did put on a magic
welcoming performance. This
first walk around
“my” new water
resulted in a few
spotted smaller
carp in the margins, bigger fish
cruising just under the surface in
the middle of the
lake and snakes
on the banks, everywhere I set
foot there was a
snake.
As so many
times before, it
all started long
before I got the
privilege to see
the lake, walk
around it, feel the
atmosphere and
watch the fish
cruise in the clear
water as the
north westerly gently pushed
the water down
a shallow corner off the lake.
Before I decide
to go on pursuit
for a special fish
or give a certain
lake my best shot
at its residents it
had to get in my
head. Of course,
this lake and the
beautiful fat mirrors in it came
into my mind after some pictures published
at various tackle
shop websites,
56 - Carp Universe Magazine
showing
some
stunning
specimens all through
a whole year and
when the winter
came I could not
stop thinking about
the chunks, the
lake or how much
I wanted to get in
amongst them.
During a session
for pike from the
ice, mid-winter I
met someone who
not only became
a true and good
friend, but also the
man who put in a
good word for me
to the lake own-
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er and made my
dreams of catching
those chunky mirrors possible. The
1st of May the following year I became a member
of the club with the
rights to fish in the
lake and as excited as one can be
I planned my first
visit to the lake. After several phone
calls,
Facebook
chats and a few
sleepless nights of
planning I had a plan
of what I wanted
to try during my
first trip to the lake
called Stubbetorp.
Finally the day for
my first visit at the
new lake came and
I made the trip on
a long weekend so
I had three nights
in front of me and
the plan for the
days at the lake
was simply to get
to know the lake by
observing, walking around, crawl
with the snakes,
try to spot some
fish in the margins
and use the marker rod as much as
possible. I didn’t
know much about
the swims or how
they
were
situated
around the lake but
I wanted to find a
strategic home for
my visit.
Wednesday finally
came, the clock at
work was teasing
me all day, it felt like
the time stood still
but finally it was
time to go home
and I packed all the
gear
necessary
into the car and
started to get go-
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ing.
It was only an hour
drive down and so
far the lake situated
closest to my home
town with big fish
to go after, it felt
good to just have
the one hour drive
to my new home
for the season and
as my right foot got
heavier and heavier on the gas pedal I started to think
about the pic-
tures
of
the
three
biggest
residents in the
lake. There was
a long fish called
Twin fin, one fat
and massive chubby fish by the name
off Luna and a very
high fish with a nice
neck
named
Droppen.
These ladies, the three
queens of the lake
were my main targets
and my hopes were to
catch one a year. It felt
reasonable because
these girls was, for
sure, the most sought
after characters by all
the members in the
club.
The last few kilome-
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ters down a winding dust road seemed
like forever, but soon
I spotted some water
on my right side thru
the forest surrounding the road, I thought
to myself this can’t be
it. I stopped and gave
the lake owner, Garry a call and it wasn’t
it. The little water filled
sand pit was the local
hot spot for having
a bath in the outdoors during the
summer months.
Stubbetorp was
situated
about
hundred meters
down the road on
the opposite side
of the road. When I
arrived at the right
lake there was
no doubt I had ar-
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rived to the right
place. After a left
turn off the main
road, passing a
small gate I had the
lake on my left side
and I passed the
well-made swims
slowly under the
branches of birch
trees. A minute later I parked the car
and shook hands
with Garry and his
wife at the lake
parking and BBQ
area. We had a nice
welcoming talk and
went thru all the
necessary’s of the
fishing in the lake
and started that
magic first walk
around the lake. It
was a magic moment, a new lake
with an extremely
good stock of carp
for Sweden, made
up swims which is
not the norm in my
part off the world,
the habitants of
the lake showed
off from their best
side and we spotted fish all around
the lake, both in the
margins and in the
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middle off the lake.
The creatures living in the forests
surrounding
the
lake also showed
the presence, everywhere I set foot
there was a creepy
crawling snake. By
the time we arrived back to the
car my phobia concerning the snakes
was long forgotten. I had made my
swim choice and
the fishing was the
only thing on my
mind.
The swim I wanted to start exploring the lake from
was situated in the
shallow end of the
lake, a sandy place
to set up at named,
ap p ro p r i a t e l y ,
the Beach Swim.
From this swim my
friend I made on
the ice-fishing trip
during the winter,
Logan, had his best
sessions and for
the coming weekend it felt like the
best choice to be.
As always my bivvy
was the first thing
sorted and after
a bit of work I sat
down in my chair,
all things sorted,
now I just needed
to figure out how
to fish the swim. Do
the tactics and put
it all to work. A cold
coke, some relaxing minutes and a
few cigarettes later the marker rod
was out and Logans
hints from before
the trip proved to
be top tips. I decided to use one of the
set the game was
on, only the carp of
the lake could judge
my decisions for
the coming hours
and for me it was
time for a quick dinner due to the clock
having
changed
from moving much
too slow at work, it
had been very fast
during the time at
the lake, so dinner
was tuna straight
out off of the can
and cookies. Fancy
dining! The movements in my part
off the lake slowed
down just as quick
as the sun went
down behind the
pines and just as I
finished my poor
excuse for dinner
a big fish crashed
just over the middle rod and a few
minutes later my
Delkim played the
As my traps were blurry melody I alspots he fancied
for my middle rod,
a strategic spot
on the corner of a
rock situated close
to a big reed island
and a few meters
on the other side
of the rock the bottom turned softer
followed by reeds
again. Left spot
was on the far side
off the reed island,
not as good bottom conditions but
still a strategic spot
where fish just had
to pass on their
patrols around the
shallow end of the
lake. Right hand rod
placing’s offered
many alternatives
and I decided to
use that rod as a
roaming rod and
try out the different options during
the session.
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early Friday morning, just after 3 am
I was abruptly woken up by a screaming Delkim and as I
struggled my way
out off of the Tempest a heart attack
wasn’t far away,
the rod which was
fished locked up
had a god bend on
it and as soon as I
picked it up the fish
tried a move to get
behind the big rock
I was fishing next
to. By taking a few
steps backwards
the fish was away
from the rock and
now set its mind
to escape into the
reed island. So the
same procedure
was repeated and
the heavy fish went
to the right instead.
Under hard pressure due to all the
rocks in the lake the
Wake up call came Torrix made a nice
ways love to hear.
As I picked up the
rod and bent into
the fish it was clear
it wasn’t the fish I’d
like it to be on the
other end of the
line. After just a
few minutes a new
rig was placed
next to the rock
and another Peach
and mango boilie
was waiting to get
picked up by one
off my targets and
I was off to bed.
Laying in the sleeping bag I was quite
happy to have met
one off the lakes
residents, even if
it was one off the
stockies, a carp
is still a carp and I
was on my way,
this was my last
thoughts as I fell
asleep exhausted
from a long day.
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curve and the fish
was a hard fighting creature. Soon
I had her under the
rod tip where the
hassle of the rocks
out in the lake was
not so extreme and
the big girl went
for a few tours
along the bank on
the clutch before I
eventually lifted the
net around her and
stood here shaking
in my undies feeding the mosquitoes.
The beautiful mirror carp weighed in
at 13,075 kilo (28lbs)
and got slipped in
to a sack awaiting Garry the lake
owner who promised to stop by on
his way to work
at 6 am. Due to the
heavy campaign
with the spod rod
the previous evening, when 10 liters
off a spod mix rich
in food was divided
between my spots
I chose to put out
a handful of boilies
with the catapult
and after the bait
was placed bang on
the money I went
back to bed. After
the long evening
and the poor sleep
in the night that
was much needed. I was well happy about the nice
fish I just had and
as I slipped away
further in to the
world off dreams
I thought this was
really a great start
of my hunt for the
Queens of the lake.
Just as I went to
sleep, my left hand
rod was off and my
Delkim made some
noise that made
me jump out from
the bivvy and the
sleeping bag, tired
I forgot the bivvy
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boots and I found
myself standing in
the mud with an
ever so curved rod
in my hand. The fish
instantly aimed for
the reeds and I had
to put great pressure on it to avoid
it getting snagged.
I really love the action in the Harrison Torrix rods,
they have made
some good work
over the years and
this morning they
proved to be working well. After one
of my more
memorable
fights I sat
d o w n
in the
m u d
for a
tired and exhausted. The scale told
me I had another heavy fish as
it locked at 12,625
kilos (27lbs) and
this stunner also
was placed in a
sack awaiting Garrys arrival. After
a wash up, quick
breakfast and coffee Garry finally arrived and he
was well pleased
with the results
for my first night
at the lake. After
while
after netting the the photo session
stunning fish both he had to hurry for
work since he now
was running late.
I made up a bunch
of new rigs, baited
them and attached
the stick mix bags
to them to be sure
to be ready for
more action later
on in the session.
The weather was
windy after lunch
but the sun was
shining, warming
up the lake and as
I reeled in my rods
I hoped to get a
chance for some
nice stalking in the
margins where I
had seen some fish
the day before.
Armed with landing net, rod and
a unhooking mat
in which I carried
a big bag of chum
mixers and all the
essentials I made
my way around
the lake towards
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the far side of the
lake. About halfway
around the lake I
spotted a fish and
decided quickly to
change my plan.
After some work
getting the chum
mixers out quietly
and getting the net
in position I was sitting behind a bush
just at the water’s
edge with the rod in
my hand watching
a smaller fish taste
my free offerings
floating
around
just in front of me.
“This will be piece
of cake” I thought to
myself, confident in
having a fish ready
for the camera later in the day when
Logan was due to
arrive at the lake.
After sitting behind the bush a bit
too long trying to
hide my legs were
getting numb and
I was thirsty and
a bit to warm that
golden opportunity came to get the
bait out. The fish
was feeding regularly and had its
back against me so
the hook bait was
carefully chucked
out the few meters passed where
I thought the fish
would move on in
the near future. I
know so well to always look at the
hook bait, to never
let it out of sight but
due to the excitement off the feeding carp in front of
me I kept looking
at it and wishing
for it to approach
my bait. It only had
to turn around and
open its mouth and
it should be mine. In
the corner off my
eyes I spotted a
pair off lips coming
up, slurping and my
bait was gone. Surprised I hooked in
to the fish more by
reflex than choice
and it was followed
by a big slash and
a roaring clutch.
Trying to stand up
at the same time
trying to stop the
fish and gain some
control of the situation after sitting
behind the bush
was not the easiest and best move
I have made, but
after a bit off a
struggle I was on
my feet, playing the
fish in open water.
After the commotion the fish made
when I hooked it, it
was now tired and
did not really put up
a god fight. I was
more than happy getting a nice
and fat carp in the
net and now I had
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the fish I wanted to show for the
camera when my
friend arrived. The
time had passed
faster than I knew
and after getting
all my gear back
to base camp the
phone rang, Logan
was in the area and
soon at the lake. As
soon as Logan got
out of the car I think
he knew I have had
a good stay So far
at the lake, walking
down to my swim
I told him about
the fishing and as
we got down to
my rods I pointed
at the line for the
sack with a big grin
on my face. Being a
good sport Logan
congratulated me
on the results and
assisted to some
great photos.
gan’s
favored
swim, the temperature in the lake
was rising and I had
great fishing Logan
decided to set up
on the other side
off the lake from
me also in the shallow end of the lake.
After helping out
getting all things
carried down to his
swim Logan started getting ready
for the fishing and
I went back getting
my barbeque going. After 24 hours
at the lake a proper meal was much
needed and as
the grill got ready
I baited up my
swim, got the rods
out and even had
a beer. The food
tasted great after
the long day behind the bush and
I was more than
Since I was in Lo- confident
when
the evening came
and the sun disappeared behind the
tree tops on Logan’s side of the
lake. The fishing
didn’t live up to my
high expectations
the following night
and morning. It
seemed that I have
gotten the best out
of the lake on the
first night. Logan
managed to bank a
nice fish just under
10 kilos and I was
talented enough to
snag a fish in the
middle off the night.
As I had breakfast
worthy a king consisting of bacon,
fried eggs, toast,
tomatoes and coffee the wind started to pick up after
the calm night. By
the looks of it there
was not going to be
much of a stalking
opportunity during
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the day, due to this
I made the brilliant
decision to take a
nap and see what
the weather was
like a few hours
later.
Logan and I joined
forces for the midday stalking and
the conditions demanded
some
team work since
the winds just
picked up during
the day. First we
managed to find
a quiet corner
where it was possible to present a
hook bait and some
free offerings that
wouldn’t blow off
to the other side
off the lake in just a
few minutes. Now
it was just time to
wait for the fish to
realize we had a
floating Saturday
dinner all served
just for them. It took
some time before
our guests arrived
and during the time
we waited I had
many
questions
for Logan about the
lake and the fishing. Information is
never a burden to
carry and I wanted
to know all there
was to know about
the fishing. We had
superb time chatting away in the
sun and we actually managed a carp
each just under 10
kilos before it was
time to get back to
the bivvy life getting ready for dinner and the last
nights fishing.
I always get a little
sad when I know
it’s time to go
home the day after, just as I have
stopped watching
the clock, started
to find the pace off
nature and enjoying life the most,
real life knocks on
the door and I prefer bivvy life better than anything
else to be honest.
As the last preparations started I
heard Logan from
his side of the lake
shouting and doing
funny things. After
a few laughs from
me I asked what it
was all about and
apparently a big
snake had found his
bivvy a good place
to live in but after a
bit off persuasions
the snake moved
out and Logan was
happier. Since I
don’t fancy snakes
at all I had to make
sure my base camp
was free from the
crawling
inhabitants of the forest
68 - Carp Universe Magazine
surrounding
the
lake and I was happy to discover that
I had no uninvited visitors. Dinner
tasted perfect as
always behind the
rods and the night
came quick, it was
time for the sleeping bag and the
hopes were high
for the last night
this trip. The night
went by a bit too
silent on my side of
the lake and I slept
like a child through
the night and Logan’s side of the
lake was no different during the dark
hours. In the early morning I heard
a splash from the
other side of the
lake and looked out
of the sleeping bag
to see Logan net
a fish, it was just a
stockie. During the
morning Logan had
one more small fish
saving the day for
him. I had two fish
later in the morning but not much
to show for the
camera or get the
weight sling out for.
Logan was finishing his last book
during the day and
I was lazy with all
the packing up trying to get all the
gear
organized
for my next trip.
Just the whole kit
except the bivvy,
a net, unhooking
mat and the rods
was tucked away
in the car as heaven opened up, and
the rain started to
soak my bivvy. Just
my luck! After hiding out in the empty tent for about
an hour Garry
stopped by the lake
and we had a chat
as the rain slowly
stopped and as we
chatted away I began to dry off the
bivvy with a towel.
Just as I was on my
way to pull up the
pegs from the bivvy my left hand rod
was off and Garry
shouted out loud,
you’re in mate! As
I picked up the rod
the fish went left
in to the reeds in a
hurry and I winded
as quick as possible
to get some pressure on the fish, just
as it went in to the
reeds I managed to
get the pressure
on the angry fish
and turn it around.
As I pulled the fish
carefully out to the
open water I felt
it was not one off
the biggest but still
I wanted it to be
the last fish off the
weekend so after
69 - Carp Universe Magazine
playing it carefully
Garry handed me
the net and soon
we had the fish on
the unhooking mat.
There was no reason the unpack the
car and bring out a
sling and scale but
one off the roundest carps I held I
my hands got captured by the camera before it was
time to get the rest
of the gear in to the
car before the next
shower was on its
way.
After I said my
goodbyes to Garry
I had an hour in the
car to reflect what
I had learnt during
this first trip to the
new lake? It did not
take a rocket scientist to figure out
the fish in the lake
liked to be fed, they
liked it a lot and re-
sponded well to
the spod mix as
well as boilies and
groundbait. It felt
as if the fishing in a
swim was best the
first night, but I was
not fully confident
in that conclusion. I
also noticed during
my days at the
lake that the smaller fish preferred
pop-ups, at least
that was the impression I got. The
fish move around a
lot, I had seen several nice chunky
carp cruise the lake
several times. With
my new wisdom in
mind I have already
started to make a
plan for my next
trip to the lake as I
made the journey
back home with a
big smile all over
my face.
7070- Carp
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73 - Carp Universe Magazine
Amy Buchan
Striking A Balance
A Teenage Girl In Carp Fishing
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Hi, I’m Amy, a 16 year
old girl who has been
into carp fishing for
most of my life. I am
hoping that this, as
my first article, will
give an insight to
readers what it is
like to be a teenage
girl in the world of
carp fishing and how
it all came about.
My earliest memory
of fishing is going to a
local day ticket water
with my older brother, Lee, and my dad,
who have both been
into fishing from a
young age, and
I was around 6
years old. I remember my dad went
to have a look at the
next peg along and
left me with Lee, who
at the time would
have been 16. Lee
decided it would be
a brilliant idea to get
me to
try and
cast and for him to
have a laugh at how
bad a 6 year olds
casting ability with
a 12ft rod would be.
So, I cast the rod (not
very well) and then
looked down at my
hand to see a slice
in my finger. What
I didn’t know then
was that it was braid
on the reels, and I
didn’t have
a fin-
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ger stall or glove
and had no idea how
to cast. All I can remember about the
rest of that trip was
my dad having to go
and find a shop that
was open to get me
some plasters and
not being very happy
that Lee had caused
me to slice my finger,
especially because
when I was younger
I had a massive fear
of blood, I only had to
see red paint to be
scared, it is a good
job that Goo wasn’t
sold then.
Following on from
that session,
I knew
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that my dad and Lee
went to marshal the
BYCAC in Oxford
each year, and I constantly wanted to
go with them, after
a few years, when
I was 8 years old,
my dad finally gave
in and decided he
would take me to the
BYCAC for a week.
He had explained to
me about 10 times
that if I was going
with them, then I
couldn’t come home
and had to stay for
the week, but I had
no intention of backing out. I can honestly say that I am so
glad that I didn’t back
out all of them years
ago. I caught my first
ever carp that week
from Brasenose 1,
and something clicked
then that
I wanted
to car-
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ry on fishing. Also, at
the age of 8 years
old, at my first BYCAC, there was one
night where I was
being kept awake
by everyone talking,
but dad wouldn’t
tell them to be quiet for me, and anyone who knows me
knows that when I
was younger I was
fairly shy. So I got out
of bed, and
stormed
over to where everyone was
and I told Ian Chillcott to be quiet as I was trying to sleep (with
attitude) – surprisingly. he did it I,
and the rest of the week nobody
kept me awake again – I believe
it made it into Black Lizard, under
“Chilly gets B****cked by 8 year
old girl”, times have changed
now though and it mainly everyone telling me to be quiet. Since
then, I have been going to the BYCAC to help every year, and it is
one of the best weeks, I couldn’t
imagine not being a part of it, it
has definitely been a big influence
on my fishing and on my life.
The next big moment in my fishing life, was catching, playing and
landing a fish on my own. I have
never been fishing without my
dad, and he has always helped
me when I have caught a fish,
even if it is just netting the fish
for me. However, there was one
session, I was around 10 years
old, that we decided to go for a
day session to a local club water, we had been there all day
and only had a couple of fish, as
dusk set in, dad decided to begin packing up and taking things
to the car. The one main rule that
my dad has about packing up is
the rods, the unhooking mat and
the net get packed last as long as
78 - Carp Universe Magazine
there is someone there to stay
with them. So I was left sat on a
bucket, with the rods still out and
my dad being a cart horse taking things to the car, he started
talking to another angler in the
car park. My dad is the type of
person who could speak to anyone for hours, even if they don’t
know him. Then, there was a one
toner on the alarms. I knew what
I had to do, so I lifted the rod and
hit into this fish. I was playing the
fish for about 5 minutes, through
a channel with some thick lilies
when I knew it was time it needed to be netted. While doing this,
I was trying to shout my dad but
he couldn’t hear me. I netted the
fish, got it out of the water and
safely onto the unhooking mat,
then my dad came strolling back
up to our peg whilst I was dealing with the fish and said to me
“Oh, it looks like you have caught
one then.” I carried on dealing
with the fish, while dad was getting the weighing gear together.
Then, the fish that had been well
behaved the whole time kicked,
slapping me smack in the face
with its tail, I can assure you, you
don’t want to be slapped in the
face by a 9lb mirror.
In carp fishing, a lot of people talk
about what their PB is, but no one
79 - Carp Universe Magazine
ever really asks about
people’s most memorable catch, but this
is something that I
feel I should talk about.
My most memorable
catch was during the
Yorkshire Carp Study
Group (YCSG), which
was organised by
Keith Napier, which
I fished. For anyone
that doesn’t know, in
the YCSG, there are
around 25, under 18s
who get paired with
an adult for a week-
80 - Carp Universe Magazine
end. I was paired with
James
Anderson,
who taught me so
much in just a weekend. The weekend
I fished this event,
was the bank holiday
weekend at the end
of May, so it was the
Saturday – Monday
and it worked out
that the Monday was
my 11th Birthday. Over
the weekend I caught
6 fish in total and
learnt more
than I could
have ever
imag-
ined. On the Monday morning, I was
woken up by my dad
who was fishing with
2 lads further down
the bank, he had
brought me a birthday
card and my present,
but I was that worn
out from the weekend that I had fell back
asleep. I then woke
up to James shouting me from outside
my bivvy which
was right next
to the rods.
I got up
a n d
played the fish in,
it was a 22lb 14oz
common, which was
a new PB for me. It
was the best birthday present I could
of wished for. It
was also the nicest
fish that I have ever
caught. I was also introduced to N-Butryc
acid for the first time,
right up my nose.
Another memorable
time, was my best
session.
81 - Carp Universe Magazine
This was on Linear
Fisheries, and myself
and dad had gone
for a quick overnight
session. We arrived in
the morning and set
up, within 20 minutes
of putting the rods
out, I had the first fish.
Between me and dad
that session, we had
25 fish and lost 13
fish, (due to the heavy
weed) in around 19
hours. This was the
session I
caught my PB, I had
a 24lb 12oz mirror,
which was a new PB.
Then, 30 minutes later, I had a 25lb 04oz,
which was again a
new PB. Then 20
minutes later, my Dad
had his PB of 28lb
06oz. There were
smiles all around that
night.
Everyone has weaknesses in their angling and I want to
learn something
new every
time I go,
even if it is something small, I know
that there is so much
more for me to learn.
My biggest weakness however is my
casting. I can cast
comfortably and accurately at 60 yards,
however, much further than that lose
my accuracy. I find it
hard to compress a
rod stronger test
curve than 3lb.
This is the main
thing that I like to
work on when
I am fishing
and every opportunity I get
to practice my
casting I will
do.
I have been really lucky over the
years because of
the people I have gotten to know and have
offered me support.
The main person is
definitely my Dad he is the one person
that has always been
there for me and it is
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very rare that he will
go fishing without me,
it is probably because
he will know that he
will get the
silent
treatment
f ro m
m e
for a
few hours.
We are a
team
and I know he has
still got so much
more to teach
me. Don’t get me
wrong, we have
our fair share of
d i s a g re e m e n t s ,
mainly
whilst
fishing, but if
it
wasn’t
for him I
wouldn’t
be writing this
article and
none
of this
would
h a v e
h a p pened.
T here
83 - Carp Universe Magazine
are many other people who have helped
me and I could write
pages about them
all, but there is some
people who have
helped me more than
others and I feel deserve a mention in
this article because I
know I can count on
them, and they have
gone out of their way
to help me. These
are, Brad Greening,
Marcus Barrowcliffe,
Tom ‘Bovver’ Morrison, Perry Hawkins,
Simon Crow, Adam
Johns, Jake Taylor
and John Earle. There
are so many more
people, but I would be
here all day, but I am
extremely grateful to
everyone that has
helped me over
the years even if
it has only been
w i t h
something small, I
never forget when
someone helps me.
There isn’t many
things in fishing that
by being a girl holds
me back, but the facilities is one. I have to go
somewhere where
there are toilets on
site and they are actually clean enough
for me to use, as I
can’t just whip it out
and go behind a bush
like guys can. There
is also a stigma that
either girls shouldn’t
go fishing, or I am told
the complete opposite such as “Go and
show the boys how it
is done.” Statements
like these have never
really affected me, I
just get on with what
I am doing. I like seeing other people, no
matter who, doing
well when fishing...
even if that means
not catching myself. I
never really feel the
competitive element
to it, and I don’t feel as
if I should “show the
boys how it is done”
because I am there
for the same reason as them, I am just
a girl and everyone
have come across
and gotten to know
whilst fishing, have so
much more knowledge than me about
the sport, I just want
to learn from them.
Another thing that
holds me back is my
age. I am reliant on
lifts (from my dad)
because I can’t drive.
I also have to get the
balance in my life
right, and this is a
major factor that
affects me, I am a
full time student
at college, doing 4
A Levels, and have
a part time job in a
tackle shop, I try to
go fishing as much
as I can still but for
the time it has taken
a back seat in my life,
because my studies
are definitely taking
over my life at the
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moment. There was
a time when there
was nothing else I
wanted to do, I had
had the best summer
fishing
and
wanted to
go constantly,
however I
have had
to be wise
about
m y
priorities. I hope soon
I will have the time to
be able to get back on
the bank more again,
but for now have had
to prioritise and unfortunately
fishing
isn’t the top of my list.
So I hope I havn’t
bored you all too
much with my little insight, and who
knows maybe we
will see you on the
bank
somewhere,
if we do feel free to
come over and say hi,
and you never know
if you’re really lucky
I might just put the
kettle on.
So, I will just keep trying to go fishing when
I can, its like my life is
a big game of Jenga
currently, and if I take
the time to go fishing, everything else
becomes wobbly, but Amy Buchan.
will get there.
85 - Carp Universe Magazine
Julian Cundiff
No Feet Of Clay
Part Two
Although shattered from
the train journey and the
late night I found sleep
hard to come by and on the
spare bed in the box room I
was surrounded by albums
of Andy’s fishing history at
Savay and other historical waters. I really should
have gone straight to sleep
but I confess that for far
too long I continued to look
in awe at the photographs
within. It may sound daft
but imagine if your hero invited you round to stay and
you were in a room of his or
her memorabilia. Be it Terry Hearn,Slash,Ronaldo or
whoever your icon may be
dont tell me you wouldnt be
excited!!
en asleep as just before
7am Andy was knocking on
my door and it was time to
have breakfast and then off
to Willow Park. With his car
loaded off we set and just
before 8am we trundled
through the gates for my
first ever visit. Bert the bailiff greeted us in the hut and
with everything squared up
Eventually I must have fall- Andy carefully guided the car
86 - Carp Universe Magazine
along the Bungalow bank.
Now things have changed
considerably in what is almost thirty years but then
the water was pretty much
unknown as a carp water
and in all honestly the owner Jon Raison wanted it
that way. Unless you were
a close friend (Andy was)
night fishing was banned
and boilies too unless with
permission. Thankfully Andy’s connection gave us
pretty free rein but always
in a subtle way. We’d not
set up camp until almost
dark and boilies were only
fired out when no one was
around or watching.
Driving
as
far down the
Bungalow
bank as possible the car
was stopped
and to our
left the famous Willow
Tree and Culvert swims
were ready
for us. Clearly a gravel pit
the margins were awash
with gravel and sand and
a strong wind was blowing into our face from what
was, at that time, the Field
Bank. According to Andy
it was all close range stuff
and we’d be fishing to a
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gravel bar no more than
forty yards out. Having never seen nevermind fished
a gravel pit before it was
all brand new to me and
mostly I was pretty out of
my depth and unprepared.
I certainly had the rods and
reels to cope but apart from
that i was miles out. Andy
was fishing 8lb mainline to a
2 ounce running lead, a
fine braided hook-length
and a size 10 Drennan
Super Specialist hook.
The eye was slightly bent
in to improve the turning
effect and his Peanut Pro
boily was hair rigged with
unwaxed dental floss. All
very delicate and effective. Me id got my big pit
(Tilery) gear with me so
it was 15 lb mainline and
a semi fixed 3 ounce lead
complete with anti-tangle tubing. Twelve inches of Masterbraid Dacron and a size 6 Sprite
hook with the hair being
formed from the continuation of the very inflexible
braid, Hookbait was the
same, thats about all. Out
came Andys Gardner rod
pod whilst i struggled to
get my single sticks into
the hard gravel bankside,
great, just great. Before
I’d even got my rods in
position Andy had both his
baits out there and catapulted three pouch fulls of
freebies over the splash.
I noticed with interest the
catapult was at his feet
and the freebies in his
pocket so that as soon as
the lead touched down
he could pick up and bait
the spot accurately. Very
clever Mr Little,very clever.
As I struggled to get everything ready Andy
had the Brown Coleman
stove fired up and the
first brew was on. He’d
purposely fished his rod
tips low because windsurfers would be on the
lake soon whereas I had
to make do with mine
sky high on single wonky
sticks. I didn’t feel I was
impressing my icon much
at this stage I can tell you!
With my rods out Andy
had the drinks made and
we had that first great
brew of the day. What
did impress me was the
small amount of tackle he
had with him compared
to me. Most of it was in
two Tupperware boxes and he was so so organised. One of the boxes seemed to hold what
he needed bankside such
as stringer needles, PVA,
hookbaits, lighter, hair
stops and so on and the
rest of the gear was in
the larger box inside his
rucksack. Me, I looked like
I was at at a tackle auction
with gear everywhere.
Another thing I noticed
was that no matter what
he was doing he never
took his eyes off the water unless absolutely necessary. Whether pour-
88 - Carp Universe Magazine
ing the kettle, threading a
stringer or talking to me
his head was always facing the water despite the
wind in our faces making
it less than pleasant, different level, different level....First take came just
after ten am to Andy and
I watched in awe how
he led the carp in rather
than playing it in. The rods
were clearly quite soft
rods compared to mine
and he used them as
an extension of his arm
rather than a rod and reel
combo....Different level,different league...I netted the fish for him (that
felt pretty cool I can tell
you) and he slipped the
mid double common back
without a picture I recall.
By four pm I was having a right royal kicking.
He’d had six carp to my
none and was just a step
ahead of me in EVERY
aspect of the game which
when added up made
a huge difference. If he
saw a fish roll he’d wind
a rod in without taking his
eyes off the water,swing
in the hookbait,feel the
hookpoint,clip on a stringer and boosh that hookbait would be bang on the
splash the fish had made.
Whether he was cast-
89 - Carp Universe Magazine
ing thirty yards or eighty
yards the casting was
effortless and accurate
and he managed to mend
the line to avoid bows in
it. Me I just sat and took
it all in. I was being taught
a lesson in carp fishing
from a man at the top of
his game and although
disappointed that I’d not
had a fish in all honesty I
was soaking up the lesson and starting to realise that I was not the hot
shot that I thought I was.
It’s easy to be a ‘local
hero’ but when you fish
with these guys its put
into perspective. Andy
was ultra competitive
and although he clearly
felt for me not catching
there was no “ you have
the next run mate”. I was
going to have to step up
to the plate and earn his
and the carp’s respect.
The light was starting to
fade, time to set up camp
and I was yet to trouble
the scorecard.
Join us next issue when it
gets worse before it gets
better for Jules.....
Wies Ennekens
One, Two and finally Three
Lectori salutem
9090- Carp
Universe
Magazine
- Carp
Universe
Magazine
Let me take you back
to begin 2014. As I
told you before I had
found my little piece
of heaven along a local canal. The search
for a decent spot/
swim came to an
end, but as the saying goes, every end is
a beginning. So in this
particular swim the
quest for canal carp
began.
The following part
of my story handles about how I got
this swim, of which
i assume was very
few or maybe never
fished before, to become alive and kicking. It’s my invitation
to you to wander
along with me in my
thinkingproces.
The story I am about
to tell you is not a lecture in how you should
tackle canals, neither
is it a manual with tips
and tricks. As I am
just an average angler (who isn’t ?), not
an inventor of new
techniques or strat-
egies. I just stumbled into my fishing
step by step, success
and failure made me
the angler I am today. And hopefully i
will forever continue
to evolve, learn and
gain insights into this
beautifull branch of
the fishing scene. As
you will notice it took
me some time to get
a hold on my swim,
to learn to read the
swim and it’s activity/inactivity.
We are 2015 as we
speak, and a first hint
I can give you is to
make a decent logbook. I neglected my
gutt-feeling the past
year and so with
empty hands I can
start all over again.
Although I know the
swim as good as the
inside of my back
pocket, I do not have
written records of
temperatures, winds,
moonstands,
sun,
rain ,time of catches
and sizes. I don’t care
about size anyway,
9191- Carp
Universe
Magazine
- Carp
Universe
Magazine
so leave that one out.
As most of you allready know, observation is a key element to success. So
that was the beginning of my quest. In
the years prior to my
canal sessions, i allready spent hours
and hours observing
the waters I wanted to fish. But on the
canal, i took it a step
further.
When i started up my
swim it was obvious
this would be step
ONE in my masterplan. I literally spent
hours, even days and
nights on the bank.
Listening,
watching, smelling every
inch of the water.
I saw allmost every weather condition and endured it.
Sunshine, darkness,
wind, clouds, clear
skies, thunderstorm,
lightning-rains.
It
was a wonderfull
time which I enjoyed
as much as I would
have been fishing at
the moment. Without
even casting in a single rod exempt my
SpongeRod for over
three weeks. My
SpongeRod is an old
rod equipped with
only a inline lead and
a sponge tied around
it. I cast it in to
get to
know
the
But I ALLWAYS had
a little bit of bait with
me…
Day after day and
night after night I
gained more and
more information
about the activity
in the water.
I saw a fish
from
me with nerves as
tough as coldforged
titanium otherwise I
would have started
fishing immediately.
After a while pieces
of the puzzle
started to
tumble
to-
gether.
smell
of the
bottom. I
leave it in for an hour
and that way it gets
the time to soak up
de scent.
92 - Carp Universe Magazine
time
to time, but I also
saw NO fish from
time to time. Luckily
my parents inserted
So on
to step
TWO.
The baiting of a
swim is one
of my favourite things to do as
it comes to angling.
Alongside with fishing offcourse !! The
technique i used in
this swim was as
effective as it was
simple. The big companies won’t like to
hear it, but I am not
a big spender when
it comes to my hobbies. The pre-baiting of the swim was
every other day.
Every time i baited,
ing behind it is as
follows. This swim
was not a holding
area, so when they
find food I want the
fish to stay there as
long as possible. By
baiting a larger area
the food was spread
very thin. They can’t
do a faceplant and
suck it all up in a few
seconds. They have
to go searching for it
actively and that way
my swim. The other species make it
for a carp more interesting. The place
where they usually
just swim by is now
crowded with other
fish. It’s like passing a
snackbar with a big
yellow M and seeing
someone biting a big
greasy hamburger
with crispy bacon.
Would you be able to
resist the tempta-
a massive amount
of TWOhundred
grammes sweet
corn and 10 broken
boillies were fed to
the bottom. Knowing that the first
week i spread this
giant amount of food
over a zone 60metres wide from one
side to the other of
the canal. My think-
are forced to stay a
little longer.
By soaking the sweet
corn in the same
liquid as the boillies i
fished with the fish
became familiar with
the taste and smell.
By using sweetcorn
i tried to enforce
what other anglers
try to avoid. To get
other species in
tion and just keep on
walking ? Excactly
my point ;)
One of the first sessions would confirm
my intentions were
correct.
After baiting like
this for TWO weeks
(read 1,2kg sweetcorn & 60 boillies) I
changed my baiting
pattern.
93 - Carp Universe Magazine
The bottom of this
part of the canal
was a soft slope
from the bank
to the middle.
So the placing of my
rigs would
be
rather
easy.
The last week
b e -
94 - Carp Universe Magazine
fore my first session
I imaginairy drew
TWO thick lines over
the canal and only
prebaited those. And
as you can predict,
those two thick lines
would exactly be the
places where I was
NOT going to place
my rigs. The observations learned
me in which direction the fully loaded
boats headed. And a
boat which is loaded
to the brim needs
more thrust than
an empty one. So
the bait was more
likely to be spread in
one direction by the
full boats. It all comes
down to common
sense, which can lead
to banking commons.
Finally we’re fishing, big smile, sunset,
THREE ice-cold beers
and signs of fish here
and there. How
beautifull
can life
be ?
Going
into the first night and
the confidence was
present. But being a
very down to earth
kind of guy, i knew it
could easily be a blank
as well. Nevertheless I was fishing so I
was happy. Very vast
asleep after a while,
a single bleep woke
me up in the darkest
hours of night. Unfortunately all went
quiet again. The absolute silence stroke
me, what a magical
place this was. Try to
imagine complete silence. It’s very hard
in these times. But
there I was, alone,
happy and surrounded with complete serenity. The difference
couldn’t be bigger as
my old thrustworthy
Fox alarm screemed
fire and murder.
Once i got a hold of
my rod, i sensed
there was no stopping this fish. The wild
carp grown by natural food and since
their birth dominat-
95 - Carp Universe Magazine
ed by strong current
are a force never to
be underestimated.
The fish gave me all he
got, he wasn’t planning to give up soon.
By slowly raising the
resistance of the slip I
got him to slow down.
Turning the fish was
step TWO. By raising
my rod, I succeeded.
My turn…
The drill went according to plan and
very soon I GOT HIM
in the net (D.F. ;)) All
went smoothly, quick,
but unfortunately it all
went automatically… I
did everything except
enjoying the moment.
As the first carp was
a fact, i noticed a drop
off pressure on my
shoulders. My thinking worked, i had carp
on the bank. Was it
a lucky shot ? Would
more carp come
out ? How many fish
are out there ? Do
I need more bait in
the swim ? How do I
keep them feeding ?
Did the reaction of
this carp scare away
the others ?
I love it when my brain
farts questions faster than my common
sense can answer
them. Once the rod
was recasted I settled down, how much
time had passed
since this bite ? While
enjoying my celebration beer I felt content
with the small amount
of sweetcorn I had
spread out. Baiting
more boillies was not
an option as i made
the rooky mistake not
to soak more boillies
in canalwater…
Just as observation is
key, soi s preparation,
but hey, nobody’s
perfect ;) The rest of
the night remained
covered in a beautifull
silence.
Since my approach
was succesfull I continued the same way.
Session after session I caught multiple
fish per night (2 ;)) I
asked around a bit
and compared to
others this seemed a
very decent result.
My techniques and
tactics didn’t lay me
no wind eggs (belgian
expression). The ultimate confirmation
came in the second
OR third session (lack
of logbook
96 - Carp Universe Magazine
remember ;)).
It
was
around
sundawn while reading when a sound on
the water drew my
attention. It sounded
like raindrops on the
surface but not totally. It was not a lo-
cal raincloud, i twas a
GIANT school of fish
passing by. And the
bubbles
appearing
on the surface were
only in my swim. Not
10 metres left nor
right of where my bait
was spread. I couldn’t
believe my eyes, never had i seen
s u c h
spectacle.
I wondered wether it would be
a sign, and later
that night it proved
right. A beautifull take
97 - Carp Universe Magazine
around
midnight and
I immediately sensed what
was going on. The
slow headbanging,
the calm fight. This
was a big momma.
It took me over 20
minutes to get her
in the net. As she
looked up at me I
was shocked. It was
her, the first carp I
laid eyes on in this
swim.
The
moment was
just me and her, no
weightgame, no pictures, just you and
me baby. Just you
and me .
She must have liked
me, as she stayed in
my arms to recover
for over 10minutes.
And as she gracefully
swam away, the last
thing I saw was her
big brown tail.
Lectori salutem
And do not forget to
Enjoy The Banks ! ! !
Ben Gotterson
Winter Raiding!
Pursuit Bait & BMG Tackle
101 - Carp Universe Magazine
It had been a month since I was last
down the lake and again it was a
chance Saturday night. As with most
Saturdays, the lake was busy with all
the popular swims already taken. I
grabbed the bait bucket and baiting
tools out the back of the car and went
for a walk round the lake to see what, if
any, swims were free and for a chat to
see what had been happening.
My favourite swim, the one where I had
the three 20lb+, was taken as well as
all the swims around it. I stopped and
had a chat with the three people fishing
these swims and they told me that
there was a lot of activity around the
‘Point’ swim. I looked over to the ‘Point’,
expecting it to be taken but it was free!
I made a quick get away and headed
towards the ‘Point’.
be awoken sooner rather that later!
At around 3:00am, I was awoken by a
single bleep on the rod cast close to the
rope. As usual I flick on my head-touch
to see what the bobbin was doing, it
was up to the blank! I jumped out of
the bag, picked the rod up and struck.
The next thing I know a lead was heading my way from the left-hand side
of the swim rather than the right! On
closer inspection my the battery in the
Delkim was running low and didn’t have
enough juice to register the bite on the
receiver, lesson learnt and I’ll make sure
that doesn’t happen again. I popped a
new rig on the rod and re-cast it to the
spot, along with another 20 whole MnM
and went back to bed.
The rest of the night was uneventful
and I awoke around 7:15am just as it
I arrived in the ‘Point’ swim and sat on
was getting light. The morning ritual
my bucket to watch the water to see if I started kettle on for the morning tea
could see any signs of carp. No sooner
and porridge pot, as I was finishing
had I sat down I spotted a few bubbles my porridge the left hand rod let out a
hitting the surface twenty yards out,
couple of bleeps and the bobbin lifted
which I knew was where the marginal
and couple of centre metres. As you do
shelf was around thirteen foot of water. I sat on the edge of my bedchair and
The more I looked the more activity I
whispered to the alarm ‘Go On’, as the
saw and it was spread all the way along words left my mouth it was off.
the marginal shelf. Before going back to As I was only fishing a few yards out
the car to get the gear, I spooned some at the bottom of the marginal self the
bait over a couple of the most active
fight was over in a matter of minute. I
areas.
looked into the bottom of the net and
On returning to the ‘Point’ I left the
barrow at the back of the swim and
went about setting the rod up. All three
rods had my pop-up combi rig on and
I attached a 16mm Launch Pop-Up.
Two rods were fished at the bottom
of the marginal self around twenty
foot apart and placed with the baiting spoon, along with twenty Launch
glugged MnM bottom baits. The third
rod was cast a quarter away along the
rope blocking off the Snag Bay and fifty
glugged MnM’s were catapulted over
the rod.
As I was only fishing twenty yards out
I set the brolly up at the back of the
swim and then sat down for a bite to
eat and a cuppa. Night soon fell and I
tucked myself up in the bag hoping to
immediately noticed a bright orange
belly of a small common. I got it on the
mat and could believe how much it
1.
1. 12lb 4oz Golden common
looked like an over sized goldfish, it is
one of the strangest shaped and coloured commons I have ever caught. For the
record the common went 12lb 4oz.
My next session was the following
Friday, my long weekend off work, and
the first weekend of December. I decided not to set up in the dark on the
Thursday but get down at first light on
the Friday morning.
5:30am and the alarm on the phone
was going off, I got straight up, got
dressed and jumped in the car that I’d
loaded the night before. The roads were
clear all the way to the lake and I got to
the gates just before 6:00am, after signing in I pulled on to an empty car park.
I got straight out of the car and headed
for the main part of the lake with my
bucket to watch the water for any signs
of carp.
As I was the only person on the whole
complex I had my choice of swim, so had
to choose wisely. I had an idea of where
they would be, from what I had seen on
my last session. I sat on the bucket scanning the main body of water with my binoculars, paying extra attention to any area
towards the point swim where I had seen
a lot of activity over the past few weeks.
Through the binoculars I could see a few
bubbles and the odd disturbance on the
surface, that was enough for me and I
settled on a swim that gave me the best
line lay to this area.
102 - Carp Universe Magazine
The spot I was aiming for was a hump
are 70 yards out and from where I’d
seen the movement the fish where
grouped around the bottom of it in
around fourteen foot of water. There
was no need for a maker, as the hump
has lilies on it in the summer and you
could still make them out due to the
mild autumn we’d had. So with the
lilies as a marker I set about spreading
fifty 16mm Launch glugged MnM and
Launch baits around the hump with a
throwing stick.
With so much activity around the hump
I placed a rod both side of it, and used
my third rod as a roving rod. All rods
where fished on ‘Hinge’ Combi Rigs
with 16mm Yellow Launch Pops as
hookbaits. Around an hour after the rod
had been but out, the hump area came
back to life, bubbles started appearing
on the surface and a carp rolled close
by. Another hour passed and the activity
was constant but the bobbins stayed
still. As both rods where fished similar
distance of the hump I decided to reel
2.
one in and place it further away from
the hump and on the edge of where I
had baited.
Twenty minutes later it started to rain,
so sat on the bedchair under the brolly
and continued to watch the water. It
was getting near lunchtime so I leaned
over the bedchair to get a packet of
crisps from my rucksack, as I done this
the re-cast rod screamed off. I dropped
the crisp and ran towards the rod and
hit into a solid weight.
The fish then went on a seventy yard
run towards the other side of the lake
and there was no stopping it, I tightened up the clutch to let it ware itself
out in open water. Twenty minutes later
and I started to gain some line, slowly
but surely. The fish was staying deep a
sure sign of a better fish, I was gaining
more and more line then when it came
within twenty yards of the bank it went
for a marginal snag. I tightened the drag
right up and put the rod tip up water
applying plenty of side strain, this made
2. 25lb 10oz, caught 15 minutes after a re-cast
the carp turn round and make a last
ditch attempt for the middle of the lake.
The fish was tired and after the short
run it popped up on the surface and
was swiftly netted.
In the bottom of the net was a decent
size mirror, I knew it would be the right
size of 25lb. I left the mirror in the net to
recover, while I set everything up for the
self takes.
With the retainer wet, the scales zeroed
and the self take ready to go, I got the
fish out of the water and hoisted it up
on the scales. The scales settled at 25lb
10oz, not made for 2 hours fishing. I
decided to stay for the night and just
before dark my middle rod let out a
couple of bleeps and the bobbin rose,
this happened a couple more time and I
new what it was a Bream.
103 - Carp Universe Magazine
As darkness fell so did the temperatures. The night passed and I awoke to
the first proper frost of the winter, and
decided to pack up early.
My next session of the winter was two
weeks later and coincided with a big
weather front coming in from the South,
bring in unseasonable mild weather
and strong warm winds. I knew exactly where I was heading, as the wind
would be pushing into the point where
I had seen the fish show the session
before.
With the forecast I made the effort to
get down Thursday night and set up in
the dark. The car was loaded the night
before and as soon as I got home from
work, I jumped in the car and made
my way to the lake arriving just after
6:30pm. As I drove round to the top car
park, two cars where unloading and
heading towards the swim I fished on
the last session. I stop and had a quick
chat just to see where they would be
fishing and carried on round to the
point.
I unloaded the car onto the barrow and
made my way round to the Point. It was
pitch black as I stood in the swim but
the wind was very warm for the time of
the year. Having fished the swim a few
sessions ago, I knew the spots about
getting the rods sorted. Two rods where
fished at the bottom of the marginal self around twenty foot apart and
placed with the baiting spoon.
3.
The right hand rod was cast a quarter
away along the rope blocking off the
Snag Bay. All rods where fished with
16mm Launch Pop Ups on my popup combi rig, with each rod having 50
Launch glugged MnM baits spread over
the rigs.
With the rods out and fishing I got the
brolly up and sorted myself out, it was
that warm this was done in my t-shirt
in December! I sat up listening to the
football and watching the water until
just after 10pm and turned in for the
night, I fell asleep with a very warm
wind blowing straight into my face,
confidence was high!
It was no surprise when my right hand
rod bust into life just before 4am. I was
on it in a flash and kept the rod tip low
to guide it away from the snag in the
bay. After a short battle a small mirror
was pulled over the cord. While the fish
was in the net I got the rod back onto
the spot. A fresh rig and pop was cast
out, along with around 25 more MnM.
With the right hand rod fishing again
the small mirror was weighted, 13lb 2oz,
and popped into the retainer until first
light.
I got back in the bag and set the alarm
for 5:30am to take a few snaps of the
mirror. Before I knew it the phone alarm
was going off, as it was still a bit to
dark for photos I stuck the kettle on and
made a cuppa. As I lay in the bag watch
the water and sunrise the middle rod
went for it, letting out a one toner. As
the rod was only a few yards out the
fight was short and sweet, after a couple of minutes a common was wallowing on the surface weighting for the net.
Again before weighing it a fresh rig and
hookbait was flicked back out, along
with 25 more MnM.
With the fish in the net I got the camera
set up with the self take system and
zeroed the scales to my spare retainer.
The common pulled the scales round
to 15lb 14oz, a few photos were taken
of each side for the alarm and it was
slipped back. As the camera was set
up the photos of the small mirror were
done soon after.
The day was un-eventful, at midday I
reeled in and went for walk round the
lake to see if I could spot anything and
grab a few bits for tea from the car. As it
was a nice day I done a couple of laps
of the lake and didn’t even see a Roach
fart!
After a spot of lunch I got the rods back
out and catapulted 25 MnM out over
each spot to top them up. As usual a
sat on the bedchair watching the water
and listening to the radio. As it got
dark I got the tea on the go, meat pie,
boiled potatoes, peas and gravy, this
was dually polished off along with a
cherry bakewell for desert! I laid on the
bedchair to let the feast settle in my
stomach and dropped off for half an
hour until I was rudely awoken by the
righthand rod again.
Again I lifted into the fish to make sure
the hook was set, as I always do, the
dropped the tip below the water to
guide the carp away from the snag in
the bay. The carp soon decided it didn’t
want to go for the snag and turned
round and ploughed into open water.
From the fight I knew it would be one
of the hard fighting mid double commons and 5 minutes later a common
appeared in the beam of light from my
headtouch.
3. Set up on the Point!
104 - Carp Universe Magazine
With the common in the net I went
through the motions, cast the rod
back out, re-baited, set the camera up,
checked the scales and unhooked the
fish. The chunky common went 15lb
8oz, not the biggest but they are all
welcome in December!
By the time I sorted everything out it
was almost 9:30pm, I cleaned my teeth
and turned in for the night. I was regularly woken by single bleeps on all the
rods and while awake I could hear fish
topping to the right of me, close to my
baited area.
At 2:30am the right hand rod was away
again. A similar fight to the common
took place and 10 minutes later a dark
back mirror was sulking in the bottom
of the net. The whole process was repeated as before, rod back out, re-baited, scales zeroed and carp unhooked.
The mirror was weighted in at 16lb 2oz
and left in the retainer till first light.
The phone alarm went off a 5:45am
and after a cuppa I was out doing the
photos of the dark mirror. The rest of the
morning was uneventful and I left the
lake just after 10am. As it was now the
20th December this would be my last
session of the year and with the show
season fast approaching my time would
be limited in the next few months.
4.
4. Keeping warm!
5.
6.
7.
8.
5. 13lb 2oz
6. 15lb 14oz
7. 15lb 8oz
8. 16lb 2oz
105 - Carp Universe Magazine
Terry Howlings
Watercraft
106 - Carp Universe Magazine
So after a recent poll I carried out on social media to
ask you the carp angler given the choice what topic
would you like to see write
up done on one topic kept
popping up......Watercraft. A
lot of anglers in this day and
age when turning up to the
lake seem to pick the swim
that ‘looks’ the best or is
the most comfortable to
be fishing in given the possible weather conditions
you could be faced with
that day such as searching
for shade from the sun or
shelter from the wind. Now
sometimes you can be lucky
and be on the fish once in a
while when you do this but
why not try to be on the
fish as much as you possibly can? The first thing you
need to do when turning up
to your venue is be patient.
I know aswell as the rest
of us as soon as we pull up
to that lake we want to get
the gear out the car and get
round to a swim and get the
rods out ASAP to maximise
our chances right?!?! Not
necessarily......... There’s a
saying I go by that i feel puts
More fish on the bank for
me and could do for you and
that’s ‘10 mins in the right
107 - Carp Universe Magazine
place is better than
10 hours in the wrong
place’ First thing you
want to do when
you arrive at the
lake is have a good
look around the lake
weather that means
walking the venue or
finding a swim that
covers the whole lake
and making a brew
whilst scanning the
water
(Preferred
option). Weather this
be for a day session or evening/night
session you will have
both the best times
of day (Dawn/Dusk)
to find them. Now I’m
not saying you should
sit there all day and
wait until you spot a
fish as this may never happen but the
amount of times I’ve
seen anglers turn up
to a venue and start
setting there bivvy/
tackle up with there
backs to the water
and not even realised
the fish are topping
like mad up the other end of the venue
108 - Carp Universe Magazine
is crazy. So after doing you visual checks
for showing fish,bubblers and discoloured
water you come up
empty handed it’s
now time to move
onto the next phase
. It’s now prediction
time...... There are a
couple different ways
of predicting were
the fish can be and
the main one people
tend to go on is the
wind. The wind can
tend to have opposite
effects
depending
on the type of venue
and what direction of
wind you are faced
with. For instance on
a shallow lake 4ft or
less southerly wind
will have less effect
as say a northerly
as the temperature
variation will more
than like be different based on where
the wind is coming
from. However in the
summer on a boiling
hot day a northerly
could be more beneficial as a nice cool
wind could push the
carp into a feeding
mood. Based on your
venue and the carps
behaviours it will be
your call on the day
to decide weather or
not to fish into or on
the back of the wind.
Sometimes it may
not be the most comfortable days fishing
being in the face of
the wind but if it generates that one bite
you have been after
it will all be worth it.
No if you are now in
the situation where
you are faced with no
shows,no signs and
a lake like a mill pool
with no wind then
comes the next plan
of attack! Line bites.......
One of the best ways
of detecting that you
are on the fish or
have them present
in front of you other
that an actual bite is a
line bite. Some people
get these more than
others when fishing
depending on how
you fish your lines I.e
slack,back leaded or
tight. Now my method is I like to start off in
the most likely area and
cast all three rods out
at varied distances and
angles in the swim and
fish with nice tight lines.
I then set my timer on
the phone to go off every hour.If I have not
had any line bites within the hour it’s then time
to relocate the rods ei-
keeping you active and
warm rather than sitting all day freezing and
not feeling comfortable.
I keep on doing this process until I have either
run out of time or start
getting them line bites
I’ve been after. If I were
to be doing a night and
received no indication
as to were the fish are
I would at some point
through out the day had
ing that extra effort to
locate the fish can give
you that bite that you
may not have got if you
would have stayed put.
One show is all it took
for me to up sticks and
move halfway sound the
lake with only an hour
or so of my session left
I stuck 3 high attract Naturesbaits wafters on
where I saw the fish
top and half hour later
ther in the swim your in
or up sticks and move
along to the next swim.
This may sound like hard
work but you have to
remember I’m already
fishing fairly light anyway and only unloading
the rods,pod and fish
safety equipment just
incase. Also at this time
of year whilst it can still
be a little nippy it will be
an area in mind that on
were ‘ongut instinct’ the
fish could possibly be. I’m
not saying this will work
every single time for
you but when i do this
on a session i go away
feeling like I have done
all I can to try and locate
the fish and you will also
learn a lot more about
your fishery.Here is an
example of how mak-
I had the bite I desired
and ended up with this
stunning low twenty linear......
109 - Carp Universe Magazine
Effort really does equal
reward.
110 - Carp Universe Magazine
111 - Carp Universe Magazine