As we approach the months of winter it's important to try and prepare for what lies ahead. Short days, long nights and freezing conditions make big carp fishing challenging. Unless there is a big improvement in temperatures, I rarely bother with the big deep low stock pits and instead concentrate on venues that hold a [...]
I had a walk around my syndicate Wednesday evening in the darkness checking all the general holding areas but saw and heard nothing, it looked very bleak! Amazingly come Friday I set off to work at 7:30am and my van’s temperature gauge read 10 degrees centigrade. I checked my weather App and it looked like [...]
Name: Luke Church Experience: Over 12 years Carp Angling Favourite Lake: St Johns – Linear Fisheries All-Time Best Bait: CC Moore Northern Specials My Number One Rig Is: Zig Rig Weirdest Thing You’ve Seen a Carp Do? Chase a duck in a small bay until the duck decided enough was enough and flew away – [...]
I arrived at Dream Lakes in France with five nights ahead of me. I was joined by three mates and this was our first trip to the venue, so we couldn’t wait to wet a line. We had the option of fishing on Lake 1 or 2 and luckily we had plenty of choice with [...]
For the past eighteen months, I have been concentrating on a very busy club lake, local to me. I have also spent a little bit of time fishing another lake on the complex, which is home to a very small handful of stunning carp and also completely different to the main lake. However, having done [...]
After spending some highly enjoyable fishing throughout September on a relatively small syndicate near my home, it was time to head back to the big pit I have been targeting for the last couple of seasons after the few I still really wanted to catch! I had timed my first trip back to coincide with [...]
I thought I would tell you all about a couple of rigs that have served me well of late. I've not caught any unknown monsters on them however; they have been really consistent for me. One is a pop up rig and the other a bottom bait rig. As I type this piece from the [...]
Having started a new job two months ago, my fishing had been non-existent much to my dismay, however as I was once again moving jobs I found myself with a two week gap before starting my new position. I had been part of a very private local syndicate for a few years and seen it [...]
During 2012 I was asked by a mate called Tristan, if I would I be up for a French trip in the autumn/early winter of 2013. There would be a group of ten of us so I said “yes”. The year flew by as I was concentrating fishing on Vinny. About a month before we [...]
It was Wednesday night and I had finished my latest shift at work, so my thoughts turned to my next session on my syndicate water. I had landed a nice 23lb mirror on my last trip which had ended a run of recent blanks. The conditions were still very similar and the lake had done [...]
Over the last couple of years I have been targeting a large gravel pit, which calls for fishing at extreme range at certain times of the year. I had been happy with my 12lb Pro (Carp) for a lot of the time; but as time progressed and I found that I had to fish more [...]
After the loss of a decent fish during mid summer, I was keen to continue on the lake as much as my time would allow. The big one in the lake had come out in early June, and by now we were into August, and I felt that it could well be out again at [...]
Rig mechanics is a simple subject really! You don’t have to be an astrophysicist or brain surgeon to tie a rig that will catch a carp! After all, through a simple process of experimentation and tinkering it’s easily possible to create rigs that will adequately perform specific tasks in relation to how they sit on [...]
October has been a terrible month for me! Probably my worst ever for fish captures in all the years I’ve been fishing, with only a couple of losses to show for my troubles. With winter just around the corner I decided to change to my cold water venue, with a change came renewed confidence, and [...]
Experience: 28 years as a carp angler fishing a number of difficult venues Favourite lake: Longfield Road Lake All-time best bait…Essential B5 My number one rig is…Hinged stiff rig with 16mm pop up Weirdest thing you’ve seen a carp do? Play head tennis with free baits before deciding they were safe. Is there such a [...]
I started my last session on the southern syndicate in a swim that I had never fished before, having always shied from fishing it as it is such an awkward swim to fish from. Nevertheless, I’d always thought it would be a good spot to angle. Having got down to the lake just before dark [...]
On my second session I continued to get amongst the fish. I’d popped down for a quick overnighter and using the same tactics managed four mid-doubles and two tench. This time Meteor cork dust ‘wafters’ did the business on a rig incorporating 15lb brown Sink Skin and a size 8 Covert Mugga hook. The fish [...]
On Sunday the 27th of October l made a last minute decision to head to my local water for a quick overnight session. I had a good feeling that the biggest fish in the lake, known as Seven Scales was going to come out. She normally makes an appearance at this time of year and [...]
After a gruelling three months of concentrating most of my efforts on a river campaign, I have managed to fit in three short overnighters on my syndicate water. These have been short twelve hour sessions, which have led to some good results using a range of Gardner terminal tackle, CC Moore baits, good old trusty [...]
Last week I had a call from my mate Chris ‘Tinca’ Taylor, asking if I fancied a couple of days piking on Chew Valley Reservoir. Chris has offered me a place several times over the last few years and I have had to turn him down due to work pressure. This time was going to [...]
