Gardner Tackle’s articles. Written by our team of highly experienced carp and specialist anglers.
As the weather finally started to warm up, I headed to my local lake called Lakeside for a quick twenty four hour session. I set up in a swim called ‘the beach’ and flicked one rod down the margins in front of some rushes. This is a good area and I had heard it had [...]
Carp are a bit like people in a great many senses. You get all types of shapes and sizes, with different characters, appetites and feeding habits. What this means is there isn’t a single magical rig that will trip up every carp, in the same way as there isn’t single wonder bait that every carp [...]
I decided to fish a local water as I had only twenty four hours available and after the torment of fishing the big fish waters up until now, I fancied getting the confidence boost I needed. I pulled into the car park of the Cefyn Mably complex and was greeted by the owner who was [...]
Throughout the year carp spend a lot of time away from the lake bed, either swimming around sunbathing, or searching out mid water sources of natural food. They will happily feast on emerging insects like Caddis and May Fly or filter feed in clouds of daphnia. These invertebrates make up a large proportion of the [...]
March is always a funny month as the daytime can feel like summer with mild temperatures and the sun’s rays beating down, then come nightfall it is as if someone has flicked the switch back to winter! However for those willing to brave the conditions some fantastic fish can be caught and lots of big [...]
Towards the end of 2012 I was doing a lot of fishing, and catching really well. During the start of 2013 I have been a bit “burnt out” and not really had the desire to go fishing, what with the cold weather and the amount of assignments set in college, wetting a line has been [...]
1. Snags and reed beds are always worth checking as carp will be visiting these areas once they wake up so always keep a close eye on these areas of the lake. 2. Temperature plays a huge part at this time of year as the weather can be somewhat inconsistent. Even short spells of high [...]
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 [...]
Moving on from my last article before Christmas I’d left my trips to Glos and Oxford behind me to settle down on a water I’ve been fishing on and off (mostly off!) for a number of years in pursuit of one or two very large commons. It’s a 7-acre estate lake with a substantial stock [...]
On my birthday I went fishing for a twenty four hour session with some friends to FLE Fisheries Top Lake. Late last year I helped net the lakes and knew they contained a lot of nice double figure fish. On arrival I took a walk around the lake, I headed to the climbing trees that [...]
Esox Lucius have always featured high on my list of favourite fish. Right after Mullet and Barbel. Due partly to their size, even a small fish looks impressive, but more down to the fact that they are just mean looking! All that camo, those evil eyes and a set of teeth any dentist would rightfully [...]
Winter and early spring can be a very difficult time to catch consistently, the fish are either lethargic or just beginning to wake up and a big bed of bait is the sure fire way to destroy your chances of catching. I prefer a single bright pop up positioned in the right place that will [...]
Long time friend of Gardner Tackle, ‘Sir’ Pete Springate, has just achieved a truly remarkable feat of carp angling by catching a carp off the top on the 1st February 2013. It’s a remarkable feat in so much as this capture takes his tally of surface caught fish in consecutive months to 48.... Yes! That’s [...]
I suppose like many others I couldn’t wait for the ice age that came in mid January to end and the longer it went on the more desperate I became to get out fishing! That said I must admit to totally changing my attitude to winter angling over the last few seasons, as during the [...]
I’ve been playing around with this variation of a snowman presentation for a few years and along the way have made small adjustments too fine tune it. Although it’s not a new rig, in fact it’s been about for ages – it’s still very much underused, which is surprising really due to its versatility and [...]
Gardner Tackle is extremely pleased to announce the appointment of Leon Bartropp into our sponsored angler team of carp consultants. Not only is Leon a highly respected big fish angler, but he is also a prolific writer within the carp angling press and takes enormous enjoyment in producing his own informative carp fishing videos. Over [...]
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 [...]
/]fter the ‘Roast Beefs’ had reigned victorious at our friendly England v France match earlier in the year we had discussed with David Dauchy and Professor Ludo the possibility of travelling over to Francais and having an informal friendly return match. Any excuse to go angling! The guys had told us about a great venue [...]
It was Monday morning and I woke up to go to work and looked out of the misty window to see a carpet of white, the first snow fall of the year had arrived. I got myself ready and set off for work on this very cold January morning. I am currently doing some voluntary [...]
Between starting renovation work on a stock pond I have recently acquired and mother nature testing my commitment with what seems to have been eternal rain, my time on the bank this winter has been limited to say the least. However, when the snow fell this weekend, I had no hesitation in filling the thermos, [...]
