Featured Articles
This autumn I have been bang into my barbel fishing. After gaining a ticket to a rather special stretch of a Thames Tributary, I decided to dedicate a fair amount of my time trying to track down and catch some of its big, yet nomadic residents. I have fished some hard and low stock section [...]
With the cold wind pushing into my previous swim, this wasn't where the carp wanted to be really or me for that matter, but it goes to show what angling pressure will do to a carp's habits on a lake! The Rods went out first with a sneaky approach of stringers and bags, with a [...]
As we roll into the middle of November I often see the lakes thinning out slightly at this time of the year (greenery and fewer anglers) with a lot less happy go lucky anglers and a few more hardened faces appearing. You know the ones I mean, the anglers that have braved the cold weather [...]
The particular stretch of river which I am going to write about this month, is one I’ve had a love hate relationship with over the last five or so years. I know there are some very big barbel in there, I have seen the photos of them, I’ve seen them in the water, and on [...]
During 2014 I successfully progressed through the knockout stages of the UK Carp Cup competition and secured a spot in the final in my first year of entering the event. The final would take place in October at Oxlease Lake on the Linear complex in Oxford. I made the journey for a practice the week [...]
A lot of my time and effort this year has been focused on my competition angling, practising on different venues as I progressed through to the knock-out stages, leading me up to the UK Carp Cup final where I finished 6th overall. This hasn’t allowed me to spend much time on my local water and [...]
I've been baiting a few areas in the margins this week, with a few scoops of particle, pellet and crumbed boilies. There were a few fish in the area yesterday and they were looking very active when I arrived for a quick overnighter. I dropped the rig, with a spoon full of bait on a [...]
My journey to the World Carp Classic started earlier this year when myself and Graham fished in a Dutch qualifier at the fantastic Resort Du Der run by Hans Sissingh in France. It was a bit of a last minute decision to fish the competition, but as our luck turned out we managed to win [...]
I started the month of with a visit to Longleat for a session to celebrate a mate’s birthday. We had two days to play with and after finding a few fish, I soon got the rods out and was confident of a bite. I soon had one in the net, only a small mirror around [...]
After enjoying a mega trip to Le Queroy last year, I was sure I wouldn’t be able to beat the result. This year I went with a more relaxed approach of enjoying myself and trying to get a few bites throughout the week. After a ferry trip lasting seven hours in one of the most [...]
I haven’t done any carp match fishing since I won a local match 2001, however when I was made aware of a pairs event at Upper Tamar Lake, I quite fancied having another go! Southwest Lakes Trust (SWLT) have been holding some match fishing events in recent years at Upper Tamar. These events are professionally [...]
I count myself extremely fortunate as I have had an absolutely fantastic year this year, having fished on two very different venues that both have syndicates made up of like-minded anglers that get on and enjoy their angling… On a couple of occasions, turning up late at both venues I have been nudged in the [...]
As I arrived at the lake for my latest session, for once the low pressure that had been forecast had moved in. Straight away I saw fish, they were behaving differently to the last few weeks and I knew if I could get in the right zone I had a good chance of a bite. [...]
I chose to try a relatively un-fished venue which is known not for the size of its fish but the beauty of the carp that live there (a bit off a change to my normal angling). In the past I have been previously unsuccessful on this venue and wanted a challenge. This 2 acre, oval [...]
I started the month of August on my syndicate lake, I had been catching consistently all year and with a good head of big scaley fish to target, I saw no reason to change venues. After a good look around I decided to setup in a swim that rarely gets any attention. After getting the [...]
As work had been super busy, I was really looking forward to having two weeks off and getting some bank time in whilst on holiday. I had recently finished a feature for the Angling Times on the Kracking Carp Lake at Anglers Paradise and I found myself with another three deadlines looming. Two of the [...]
My youngest daughter Lucy was itching to do a few nights out on the bank, so I picked her up straight from school and we made the 3 hour drive to my syndicate water. As it was a Friday, it was no surprise when we arrived to be greeted by an almost full lake. With [...]
In my experience there is nothing better than donning the waders, coupled with a prodding stick and venturing into the wet stuff analysing viable spots on the lake bed in which to present a bait on to start priming for later sessions to create a feeding spot. Having a long handle rake is helpful to [...]
With a three day session ahead of me, I made sure to have a good look around the lake before deciding what swim to settle on. As the sun began to make an appearance, the carp started to show at the very top end of the lake. Not wanting to waste any time, I grabbed [...]
The months of July and August can be a funny time of year, many fish are low in weight after spawning and can often look a little drained by the ordeal. I often use this time of the year to catch up with friends in the scene. With this in mind a few friends arranged [...]
