Gardner Tackle’s articles. Written by our team of highly experienced carp and specialist anglers.
With the August school holidays now in full flow and the demands of the family to be met, my time was suddenly cut to a bare minimum. Trips to the zoo or cinema where thrust upon me as well as a multitude of chores and responsibilities at home. I needed to make the most of [...]
Going long.... It was probably around fifteen years ago when I first got the feeling that my catch rates would dramatically increase if I could only cast into an area of my local lake where fish would never usually see bait. I would sit and watch the fish cruising up and down along the far [...]
Once again our man in Staffordshire, Tim Childs, has been out on the bank and continuing his superb run of great results from the tricky Syndicate water he has been concentrating on recently. This time he has successfully snared one of the two remaining target fish he has set his sights on, with this cracking [...]
For Life Experiences is all about getting people into Angling and Outdoor Pursuit and working with organisations doing good work in the community. When we heard about a charity carp fishing match being held at Watermarks massive Bradley’s Fishery in the Cotswold Waterpark which helps raise funds and awareness for Cancer research we just had [...]
Some Mondays are great! Especially when we come into the Gardner office and get an excited phone call from one of the team to say they have been successful! This week it was the amiable Tim Child’s turn to give us some more good new, having continued his successful run of the big fish by [...]
After my successful start at Horton I was dead keen to get back as soon as possible, so booked a Friday off work. After arriving late on the Thursday evening after work I found the place rammed with 17 anglers on in total! After a walk round I found out that the swim that I [...]
Mid June saw myself along with young Richworth consultant Harry Charrington meeting up on the banks of linear fisheries. We were there to do our bit in the upcoming video section on the website and Media manager Pete Wilson was on hand to catch Harry and I in action. I arrived late on the Sunday [...]
With a three night session planned in what seemed favourable conditions with low pressure, showers, and mild nights my confidence for the upcoming visit was already pretty high. That, coupled with the fact that upon arrival a member on the lake next door had kindly informed me he had heard the fish ‘boshing’ the previous [...]
We were invited out to fish this year’s inaugural Media Carp Masters at the new Resort Du Der in the Champagne Region of France. The complex consists of three newly dug lakes that are each stocked with more than 200 carp to well over 50lb. The event was scheduled to start on the Friday morning, [...]
I run 'For Life Experiences' which is a full time Angling and Outdoor Pursuit organisation. We offer tuition and educational programs to people of all ages and backgrounds. I have also been coaching full time for 4 years. FLE has recently taken on the running of our own Fishery at Greenridge Farm, Ampfield. I had [...]
I placed it back into the recovery sling and went and woke Josey for a couple of pictures. Photos done I put her back, re-baited the rod, repositioned and got back to bed. I wasn’t asleep for long when the rod I had just recast was away again. I picked the rod up, felt a [...]
Nearly 4 years ago I first set foot on one of the large gravel pits controlled by my local club. The lake is roughly 23 acres in size, much bigger than anything I had fished at the time! I spent the day catching some roach and the odd bream from short range, but big crashes [...]
Caring for your catch is a vitally important aspect in the sport of carp fishing. It is the responsibility of all anglers to ensure their catch is treated with the utmost respect, and returned to the water without harm i.e. in the same pristine condition as it left the water. Having studied at Sparsholt College, [...]
I made up a big mix for the first hit of bait, with 10 kilos of boilies and mixed particles in a large bucket and rowed out to the marker. I put a lot of the bait on the marker and scattered some boilies around the back and side of it as well. I wanted [...]
For some reason I had never really wanted to fish in France! Misguidedly I thought it would be a waste of time, easy fishing and big horrible ugly fish. In hind sight I must admit I was wrong. My angling friends have been travelling to France every year for as long as I can remember, [...]
Having booked a week off work to go fishing in France with four friends, the first week in April saw our group travelling overnight on the Saturday night ferry from Portsmouth to the port of La Harve. Then a 2½-hour drive to Normandy to our destination. We arrived about 10.15am on Sunday morning, and even [...]
Hi Guys, Just thought I'd update you on my recent escapades at my Surrey syndicate lake. The weed has really got hold of the place, much like last summer, with very few clear spots available. The fish have been slow waking up as bites have been a bit on the shy side so far but, [...]
Despite its apparent popularity in the angling press these days fishing zigs or zig rigs still seems a pretty underused method on some of the waters I fish. I would hazard a guess that perhaps only 10-20% of anglers give them a serious go and I’m still shocked to speak to people who have never [...]
I have been fishing a stretch of the Kennet since October last year and have had a few fish to around 8lb, and was determined to beat my PB of 9Ib 14oz, something I thought would be easier than it appeared. Over the years I have had plenty of Barbel from numerous rivers but never [...]
After another long and cold winter of sitting at home wishing I was out fishing, we were into the middle of February and with spring fast approaching I planned to get out for a much needed session. I was only able to fish for 24 hours so when deciding on which venue to fish I [...]