Gardner Tackle’s articles. Written by our team of highly experienced carp and specialist anglers.
There can’t be a more exciting way of catching a big carp (or any carp for that matter) than watching it feed close into the bank, planning your approach and then watching the moment the fish is hooked! It is an easy and effective way of fishing, but too many anglers get caught up in the three-rods-on-a-spot-and-sit-back-and-wait…
In the early spring last year Tom Oliver, Andy Loble and I had a brilliant long weekend trip to France, visiting a lake called Lac de Laneuville. We all managed bites, which was a result given the freezing cold conditions, and I managed three thirties topped by a 36lb common. At the end of March 2014 I was lucky enough…
In 2012 I was lucky enough to get a winter trip to the famous Abbey Lakes complex in France with the purpose of doing some filming for the Gardner Tackle website and YouTube channel. We did really well with all three of us catching new PBs and even two fifties between us. We had been keen to get back ever since…
Understandably, I was full of excitement and anticipation as I arrived for my first session on Horton Church Lake. With the carp barrow loaded, I headed off on to the banks. I’d never even seen the Lake before and came to an abrupt stop when I first gazed across the water, almost pulling a muscle in my cheeks with…
Since the start of the year I've been doing one night a week on a local water near me called Winterley Pool in Sandbach. I've been so busy with work that travelling and fishing longer sessions has just not been feasible. It’s a shallow lake, only averaging four feet, so it has good cold-water form. I have enjoyed my time on…
Margin fishing and stalking have always been a big passion of mine, even from the early days in my carping career. I would often use paste baits to outwit my quarry, only being able to fish a few yards from the bank. This was more due to the soft bait really, but this close range carping has always stayed in my blood…
It can take years of personal findings to perfect a rig. Despite all the rigs shown in magazines or websites for you to try, I notice there’s always something missing: you’re own confidence and understanding! As I take you through my findings from over the years, I will try my best to rub off some of my confidence on to you…
With the weather warming up, I really fancied a shot at trying to catch the three remaining fish that have eluded me so far from the Kracking carp day ticket lake at Anglers Paradise in Devon. The plan was to target the venues common's using hemp, mixed with corn and crushed/chopped Mainline Cell. Having [...]
I managed to get out to a couple of day ticket waters in Norfolk and Kent last week to catch up with some friends. Two 48 hour trips were planned and I had been looking forward to wetting a line for weeks! It is always nice to get out for a bit of a [...]
Yes folks it’s blog time again, so rather than being out on the bank like the rest of my angling friends, I am sat here on a Saturday evening jotting down a few words about how my February went. Unfortunately at the time of writing, my 100 pike target for the winter is still [...]
Photography is becoming more and more popular amongst anglers these days. We all want the best possible shots of the fish that we catch and why not?
As you can see from my last blog, I’m not one to shy away from spending time on the bank in the cold. Being there and observing the water, all paints a bigger picture for me...
Perch are a species that are often synonymous with cold winters, yet autumn and the early winter months of September, October and November are a great time to target perch. Often they can be fairly plump at this time of the year as they prepare for the onset of winter and will often feed heavily [...]
Following on from my 2014 overview I thought I would scribble down a few bits and bobs about my start to 2015. Well, I would like to say I set the angling world alight with hundreds of catches of earth shattering fish, but in reality is was a bit of a wash out. I had [...]
Deepest Winter. It can conjure up such romantic images such as walking over crisply frozen grass on a frosty winter’s morn’ with cute little robins and all that. In reality it can be a cold, windswept, frostbitten and somewhat arduous task to get the rods out for a few hours. My serious advice if you [...]
Perch were high on the agenda this month and I soon had the kit loaded in the van and was the long drive. Arriving at dawn I had a good look around to familiarise myself with the venue before settling into a peg with an inviting snaggy margin to my right. I was soon using [...]
This next session turned into a learning curve for me. After nearly 40 years of being out on the bank, there’s always a surprise or two that springs up and a new trick or two to be learnt! Frozen Lakes! I’d been busting a gut to get a couple of nights on the bank (I [...]
It’s been a busy month so far, but I have managed to wet a line on two separate occasions. After my last couple of sessions at my syndicate water, where they really gave me the run around, I was determined to get a step ahead of the carp. Well I couldn’t cope with moving every [...]
I was off shift from work and had decided to do a day session on a small estate lake that I know. The lake it is a small intimate venue of approximately five acres hidden in the beautiful Northants countryside, with a good stocking of fish that range from low doubles to thirties. All in [...]
So my first session on Orchid went with a bit of a bang! The weather was what none anglers would deem ‘horrendous’ - though to be honest for January it was really mild with strong south westerly winds with near constant rain. Lovely! Anyway, we all know that you’ll never catch anything sat at home [...]
