I got down the lake to find out that there were no swims free on my local club lake, so after a little talk with a friend of mine, Oscar Thornton, he allowed me to double up with him in a swim called 'the steps'. I was only on for a quick night, and [...]
Short sessions to some anglers may be something like 30 odd hours on the bank. That sort of time for me these days would be heavenly! At present I manage a very quick night three times a month, literally heading for the lake at 8pm and finding my way home by 10:30am the following [...]
My fishing has taken a back seat of late as we had the sad news that my Gran was loosing her battle with cancer and there was nothing more they could do. My family and I were all devastated and understandably fishing was the last thing on my mind. On the couple of occasions [...]
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 [...]
BOOM SECTION Boom 1 . For the neatest possible loops Gardner recommends anglers learn how to tie the ‘Non Slip Loop Knot’ (or use a fig. 8 Loop Knot). Boom 2. Start with a simple Overhand Knot, thread on a Covert Mini Rig Swivel and pass the tag back through the [...]
Step 1. The Clone can be tied with all sorts of monofilamants, but our current favourite is our excellent Trick-Link material - made for the job... Step 2. There are two patterns of hooks in the Gardner range suited to use in the Clone rig - the Covert Incizor or the Chod [...]
Yes, the title’s most definitely a bit of a tongue in cheek, initiated by the fact that the prevalent opinion is that Welly is easy! Standard “Forty a chuck” or “Welly Fish don’t count” banter and the usual murmurings are based on a lack of understanding. In fact, make those statements to the competent [...]
Much of the time carp angling is focused on so called target fish in the lakes and rivers we fish. They consume all thoughts of the chasing angler in his or her quest to bank usually the largest carp in the venue! Of course when fishing for a particular carp it would naturally consume [...]
Wellington Country Park went through a massive change during the summer of 2014 as a consequence of a massive algae bloom that in turn killed all of the weed off. There was still the odd patch of short weed around certain parts of the lake afterwards but with the onset of winter it all [...]
With my school exams over I could now dedicate my spare time to fishing on the Hartley Witney club waters at Church Farm in Yateley. I decided to fish the Back Lake which holds a good head of carp; not the biggest maybe, but it certainly holds some surprises and beautiful fish. I was [...]
I have not been able to go fishing for the past two months due to my Father being poorly, but now he is on the road to recovery and I was keen to get back out fishing. I planned a short session and arrived at my syndicate water before first light and took numerous [...]
I always look forward to trips on my local Southern Syndicate Lake. After arriving I completed my standard few laps of the lake and after seeing a few fish I decided to start off in one of the main swims called Armchair. It was a cloudy day and there was a lovely South Westerly [...]
Overnighters to a lot of anglers, may seem like a lot of hard work - having to set up and pack down again in the morning to go to work, but if you put the effort in you certainly can be rewarded. Now I know as anglers when we get the fishing bug, we [...]
The combination of a sharp hook and soft supple braided hooklink has accounted for thousands upon thousands of carp captures and will continue to do so where ever it is used.
I really don’t know where this year has gone, but as I write this it seems the summer is nearly over and we are into autumn. As far as my fishing has gone, I haven’t done that much and until recently it’s all been a bit of a struggle. I started off in March [...]
It had been a while since I had managed to get the rods out, it’s been a really busy time starting up my own IT support and Consultancy company and spending time with the family. I was itching to get the rods out and I managed to take the Friday afternoon off work and [...]
BOOM SECTION Use a soft skinned hooklink like Ukltra Skin to allow the Boom Section to settle down flush to the lake bed. Step 1. Start off tying a size 12 Covert Flexi-ring swivel to Ultra Skin boom using a 4 turn Grinner. Step 2. Tie a figure of [...]
Why walk your rods out over using marker sticks? Is there really any significant difference? All you’re doing with either method is measuring out the range to a clip in a controlled way so that you can repeat it and gain metronomic consistency with your casting range… Hit the clip – down she goes [...]
I don’t know about you but this year seems to be disappearing before it’s started, non more so than my fishing season! I always knew this year was going to be difficult in terms of having available time, with trying to move house and having committed to a heavier workload in the office, I [...]
Over the past three or four years the use of zig rigs have really taken off and with more anglers being confident using them (and other anglers showing there worth) which only encourages people to use them on a more regular basis than ever before. For me fishing with zig rigs has always been [...]
