Gardner Tackle’s articles. Written by our team of highly experienced carp and specialist anglers.
A very lucky chuck and another chunk of a carp... I can’t quite believe that I’m sat here tapping away on the old keyboard, starting another piece for the website. As you may have guessed already, inevitably it means that I have enjoyed some success at the Park Lake. I’m no angling hero - [...]
An all too rare family holiday interrupted my overtly relentlessly/excessive angling for a couple of weeks in August - and you know what I thoroughly enjoyed every precious second spent with Sophie and TLSW. It was bloomin’ dreamy. I personally ate about 10 goats worth of Feta and came back [...]
It was time for my annual pilgrimage to France, to try and have a relaxed ‘holiday’ whilst doing a spot of fishing - although the lure of catching a carp or two always seems to over ride my ability to be sociable! The group I was angling with for the week left on the [...]
What you need. Step 1. Mount a size 12 swivel onto a Pop-Up Hook Aligner (large Pop-Up Hook Aligner for size 6 hooks as shown). Step 2. Take 40cm of a supple, sinking skinned hooklink, Ultra Skin is ideal. Step 3. Don’t bother stripping it. Simply attach the hook [...]
On the basis of the last few weeks result I have been defecated on by a bird (isn’t that supposed to be lucky) as I have enjoyed a fairly unprecedented golden spell in my angling. It’s almost impossible to say why my lucks changed, it’s true to say I have done an LOT of [...]
After enjoying a bit of success on the bank over the last few years I’m often asked, be it on the lakeside or through social media, “what rig did you have it on” or “what bait was it on”? I’ve considered the motives of that question numerous times, but one thing I’m very rarely [...]
After spending the last couple of weeks flitting around on different venues, it was time to head back to Church Farm at Yateley. I checked the weather for the week ahead and the pressure was expected to drop and a new South Westerly wind was forecast for the next couple of days, so I [...]
Over the past month I had lost the buzz for my fishing. No matter how hard I tried to get it back I just couldn't quite do it. Even popping to one of my local waters for a quick overnight trip and landing 2 fish to 26lb still didn't seem help. All of [...]
Hook Stops and Swivels. Recommended hooklink. Step 1. Start by cutting a 1cm length of Large Covert Shrink Tube. Step 2. Position the shrink tube onto the hook shank before mounting the size 12 Kwik Lok Flexi-Ring Swivel onto the hook eye**. Step 3. Pull the [...]
The completed Horton Rig underwater. Step 1. Strip off 20cm of 35lb Ultra Skin. Step 2. Double over the hooklink and thread it through the hook eye and then add a Target Rig Swivel. Step 3. Pass the loop carefully over the point of the hook (Multi Rig [...]
After enjoying a bit of success on my last session a couple of weeks ago, my confidence was where it needed to be and I couldn’t wait to be back down the park. I had no idea how the lake had been fishing or what had been out; and to be fair I wasn't [...]
With a 48 hour session ahead of me, I had a good walk round my syndicate lake and with an area known as the Comfy doing a lot of fish in recent weeks being vacant; it seemed a good place to start. I got everything set up and then found a spot straight out [...]
After a bit of a break from fishing, to butter the Mrs up with a holiday and because I had just started a new job, I was pleased just to be starting to get back down the pond regularly.My first few nights in the warmer weather had proved frustratingly difficult! The fishing had [...]
The hugely successful Covert Hook range has been subject to a radical face lift, incorporating a minimalist stripped back protective electroplated finish. This ensures that the hooks all have longer sharper tapered points which remain super sharp, an essential attribute for any effective rig. Finally, we have incorporated a micro barb to fall into line [...]
Blow back rigs essentially utilise a hair that’s held loosely in position with a shank mounted rig ring. Obviously, this arrangement has been used extremely successfully for many years now. There is little doubt that the use of the hair/rig ring combination genuinely enhances the way in which the hook is free to twist aggressively [...]
Step 1. Skinned hooklinks like Ultra Skin are ideal for tying Blow Back Rigs. Step 2. Strip a 10cm portion of the Ultra Skin. Step 3. Tie a small overhand loop knot on the end, this will from the hair. Step 4. Attach a Small Covert Rig Ring. [...]
There's rigs and there are RIGS... Some stand the test of time and work year after year, others are more transient in nature, with tangible benefits being a figment of a twisted mind, but not offering any genuine advantage in terms of catching carp! This one however is very special, and it's a rig that’s [...]
Products to use. Step 1. Start with a simple 'knotless knot'. Step 2. This gives a simple and strong knot. Step 3. Mount a Gardner Size 20 Covert Swivel and a Covert Hook Stop. Step 4. Tie a 'Fig of 8 loop knot', this acts as [...]
When Coarse Angling Today magazine announced it would no longer be running as a publication I made a mental note not to allow the fact I no longer had magazine deadlines to meet to stop me from writing regularly. Prior to this I had been writing articles and blogs almost monthly for the best [...]
Due to work and family commitments, on average I get around 1 night every week to get out fishing, so being organised is a must. When I am at the lake being prepared to move onto fish, staying focused and on the ball is the only way to be consistent. As we all [...]
