Ian Lewis Articles
Angling for me is all about the anticipation, the chase, the buzz of trying to work out the quarry and piecing together a tactical plan. Recently I’ve had a lot on my plate, a lot of things to contend with both myself and my family and to be honest my head really hasn’t been [...]
The Yateley Split lake is located on the West side of the Yateley Complex sandwiched between the Pads, the North and the Car Park lake and is definitely the most mysterious and unchartered water on this side of the road. Nobody seems to know exactly how many or what is resident within the lake. [...]
I recently enjoyed a great trip to the Blue Pool at Burghfield. During the session forty eight hour session I managed to land eight fish, including seven twenties. The jewel in the crown was a lovely mirror which tipped the scales at 40lb 8oz. I was accompanied by young gun and fellow Gardner Tackle [...]
Despite the unbelievable amount of rainfall we experienced early on in the year and the mayhem it caused, plus a disputable parking ticket I received, 2014 has been a phenomenal year. Many amazing things happened for me, like finding out my wife and I are expecting a baby girl in February 2015, buying and finally [...]
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 [...]
The Naked Chod is by no means a new rig and is one that has been well documented for several years now. I have seen the rig used to great effect, yet I have also seen it used incorrectly and in situations where it isn’t really the method I would adopt given the circumstances. The [...]
Near to my home in deepest Berkshire resides a 5-6 acre park lake that has undergone many environmental changes over the few decades. It’s truly an urban gem, sandwiched between a housing development and large business park. Way back in 1972 it was used in a film called 'The Offence' starring Sean Connery. Some years ago [...]
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 [...]
Recently I booked sometime off work, in belief my new syndicate was to open, but this was not to be due to on-going legal reasons with the lease. With this throwing a spanner in the works, I decided to re-join the water I concentrated most of my winter carping last year, where I managed seven [...]
Over a decade ago I fished a 250 year old private estate lake off the beaten track, and during the summer it would be covered in stunning lilies and contained two small islands. Granted my angling ability and knowledge has far surpassed my former self some decade or so ago, but I did manage a [...]
A Group of friends and I decided to have a trip to France as part of my Stag do this year, and having been to Brittany Mills twice before I knew it was a lovely venue. With two lakes to choose from I opted for Mill Lake, as it offers more of a challenge with [...]
Bit and particle fishing is a successful summer method and whether incorporating it as a short session stalking method or part of session fishing, it’s a tactic that should never be ignored. My favourite ‘bit fishing’ rig is one that was shown to me by edge fishing supremo ‘Little Jon’ Coxhead and it is a [...]
I first came about this little number a couple of years ago whilst reading an article featuring Gardner Tackle’s Lewis Read. After sitting down with the relevant components and taking the time to complete a few practice trials I soon mastered tying it. From that day it has proven to be a deadly rig as [...]
After joining my new syndicate around September 2012, I started at a really busy period, regularly just making up the numbers on a Friday. Four nights in and I’d had two bites, one that managed to reach the sanctuary of an island snag and the other I landed which came in the form of an [...]
Many of us have fished on a venue that has been the catalyst for a huge jump in our understanding of how carp behave and feed; and also in our own ability to catch them. For Gardner Tackle sponsored angler Ian Lewis this occurred whilst sat on the banks of a local club lake, and [...]
It was Saturday the 1st of September 2012 and I was to be met by more than 20 excited anglers (including my fishing pal Ricky Green), in the Church Farm car park awaiting our inaugural Society Match. There was a good vibe all round especially as our more junior members received an excellent goody bag [...]
With 48 hours of angling ahead, my chosen venue was to be CEMEX angling’s South Lake on the Yateley complex. This is an extremely attractive, mature 12 acre gravel pit that is packed full of features and contains a head of 300 or more carp that top 30lb. Furthermore, angling on the lake is available [...]
After my capture of Kiss Scale I was once again away on other waters for a while making videos and writing articles, so upon my arrival at the Match Lake some weeks later I was shocked to discover the lake was literally sewn up with weed. At this point I thought it was time for a [...]
On my next 48 hours session down the Match Lake, when I arrived I decided on a swim called The Beach as I saw a few fish grouped up in between the two islands in front of the swim. At this stage the weed was starting to really take a hold. I stuck to my [...]
On return the following weekend I managed to get back into the bay again, as I thought this would be a good starting point as I had observed that there were a few fish drifting around in the upper layers close by. I placed the rods on the same spots with the same tactics, only [...]
