I first discovered angling when I was 6 years old, ever since then I’ve been hooked, I started out as most of us do with match fishing then the fish got bigger and bigger and so did my ambitions. I cut my teeth in the Lee Valley, being part of task force means [...]
My angling career started well over 30 years and has grown steadily to an being an obsession. I have been involved in rig development over the years, such as the Withy Pool, the Basic Complicated and the Hermit rig. I have had features published in many angling magazines and have been in carp [...]
It's not very often I get to spend more than one night at the lake, however, due to being on half term at college, I decided to use this time to my full advantage. The first few nights down the lake were spent staring at huge carp crashing a million miles away, knowing they [...]
After an intense three month river campaign it was time to return to the pond and get ready for some autumn fishing. With the weather still warm things should have been easier, but unfortunately it wasnt. I was working hard for the odd fish here and there, however the venue had me scratching my [...]
I woke up early and I couldn’t get back to sleep, it was still dark outside and raining heavily. I looked at my weather app and the forecast was rain, rain and more rain, but the temperatures were good. As the family were still fast asleep, I grabbed my rods, gear and bait and [...]
If you are looking at carp-fishing a river for the first time, the very first thing you need to understand is location is EVERYTHING. Unlike your lake, which you will be more accustomed to fishing, the fish you’re targeting could, in reality, could be literally miles away from you at any given point. If [...]
A rare opportunity presented itself where I had a few days off work during the week. With the weather forecast set to be wet and windy (and with my syndicate lakes being closed) I decided I was going to go on a bit of a day ticket mission in search of some 30lb+ fish. [...]
In this article I am writing about one of my most memorable sessions, catching the biggest resident from my local syndicate lake. I was keen to get down a day before the Friday rush as it was a Bank Holiday weekend. As luck would have it I managed to get back into the same [...]
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 [...]
I seemed to be very unlucky with my timings throughout the winter just gone. Every time that I decided to go fishing, virtually every night on the bank I endured many frosty minus three or minus four temperature readings on the thermometer, resulting in two different lakes freezing over on me and arriving at [...]
Imagine we are now leaving the summer behind, the greens will be turning to golds, browns and oranges and the nights will be gradually getting longer. What does this mean for the nation’s barbel anglers? Well we certainly need to start thinking about what bait we are using and more importantly how it’s going to [...]
Being well into December I’m just waiting for my first blank of the season to come and visit me. I’ve been very lucky this year, with multiple catches on most sessions and some stunning fish to boot! However, with the icy cold winds and a few frosts becoming the norm now, I have been watching [...]
At the start of the 2014 season I had a good think about what I wanted to try and achieve. For me I get the most enjoyment and satisfaction targeting big fish, so I decided to concentrate on this and only fish venues that would give the chance of a monster. At the start of [...]
I arrived at an ice cold and windswept lake, it was quite noticeable that the air temperature had dropped by a good few degrees. With the wind-chill factor decreasing temperatures even further, I had a good feeling the carp would be somewhere on the back of the wind. I had a good look around, but [...]
It can take years of personal findings to perfect a rig, but with all the rigs shown in magazines or websites for you to try, I have noticed there’s always something missing… You’re own confidence and understanding! I’m going to take you through my findings from over the years, I will try my best to [...]
After the last trip to my syndicate water, I had a normal week at home catching up with some work, along with the dreaded job of drying my gear out and making ready for my next adventure on the bank. After several late nights and early mornings playing catch up with this and that, I’d [...]
With the cold wind pushing into my previous swim, this wasn't where the carp wanted to be really or me for that matter, but it goes to show what angling pressure will do to a carp's habits on a lake! The Rods went out first with a sneaky approach of stringers and bags, with a [...]
My journey to the World Carp Classic started earlier this year when myself and Graham fished in a Dutch qualifier at the fantastic Resort Du Der run by Hans Sissingh in France. It was a bit of a last minute decision to fish the competition, but as our luck turned out we managed to win [...]
I started the month of with a visit to Longleat for a session to celebrate a mate’s birthday. We had two days to play with and after finding a few fish, I soon got the rods out and was confident of a bite. I soon had one in the net, only a small mirror around [...]
After enjoying a mega trip to Le Queroy last year, I was sure I wouldn’t be able to beat the result. This year I went with a more relaxed approach of enjoying myself and trying to get a few bites throughout the week. After a ferry trip lasting seven hours in one of the most [...]
