Serious fishing was a little delayed this year because I was travelling back and forward to Nottingham to complete an angling coaching qualification. There was lots of written work involved in between the days that I had to be there, but I eventually came through it even though my hand did feel like it was [...]
Specimen maestro Tony King and new recruit to Gardner Tackle, has just sent through some details of an awesome tench haul he made over the weekend. During his first tench session of the year, Tony had a mega hit of 31 fish, consisting of 9 fish weighing over 7lbs and two eights at 8lb [...]
This month, I was again swamped by college work and exams and only had time for a couple of quick overnighters and my UK Carp Cup Qualifier. I therefore decided to try and make the most of my time and practice for the match. It was being held at Coking Farm fishery, on the heavily [...]
I was drenched and made my way to the van to get a change of clothes, leaving the wet ones draped over the inside of the van with the engine running and the heater on full blast in an effort to dry them. Less than an hour later and the left hand rod busted off [...]
As a Ground worker/ Landscaper all my work is outside. I have been lucky over the past few weeks with the jobs I have been doing and I have managed to keep working and earn a wage, even with the inclement weather. Last week though I had to admit defeat and call it a day, [...]
After around 2 weeks of blanking on my syndicate water I have finally managed to get amongst some fish. My first productive session produced a lovely little mirror of 16lb, unfortunately this was to be the only fish of a short 24hr session. A week later I decided to return to the water, feeling sure [...]
To read part 1 click here: Part one With the spots now properly ‘rocking’ as the carp boys say, it was fill your boots time. My total so far has included 8 double figure bream to 13lb 8oz with a few backup 12’s and 11’s to boot. The rest of the fish were made up [...]
Fishing for carp isn’t just about and having barrow loads of kit, the latest high tech equipment and camping out day after day in pursuit of your quarry. In fact two anglers, Richard Gardner and Chris Maltby, have been doing exactly the opposite, fishing short sessions and using a very different, yet a very successful [...]
“Please be gentle with me – this is my first time....” On my first tutorial session I took out a young angler by the name of Thomas, he was eager to get out on the bank and catch what he thought was the hard to tempt ‘elusive carp’. As I was supplying the tackle for [...]
Well, where should I start? What a month April has been weather wise. It seems that since the announcement of a hosepipe ban across many parts of the country the weather has lived up to it’s April showers reputation and a whole lot more! According to the news last night there has only been one [...]
Spring time for the angler is a time to dust off the cobwebs formed over winter and a time to formulate plans for the season ahead. However, if you are like me and relentlessly pursue fish whatever the species, then the next campaign is not only round the corner, but looms up all too quickly! [...]
With the close season is well and truly upon us and it was now time to start thinking about a spring stillwater campaign. I have spent the last four springs targeting big bream on a low stock Berkshire pit. The water contains around a dozen fish which can mean things can be a little slow [...]
For most of March and April I’ve been getting right into my perch fishing and for the moment I’ve not been doing much carping. After my last session perch fishing, when I caught the 3lb 8oz, I was eager to get back to the same lake and try for some more big perch. I planned [...]
Thanks to French angler, Jerome Sebille, friend of Gardner Tackle and member of the French Carp Connection Team, for his account in first locating and then banking this stunning carp weighing 30lb 8oz. A good challenge in Carp fishing is targeting one fish in particular. Two years ago, I saw a nice fish with beautiful [...]
This month I have been swamped by assignments from college, but I put the hard work in, and hopefully should get some good grades! The first bit of fishing related stuff this month was that I managed to pass my level 2 angling coaching qualification! This means that I can help the club that I [...]
With the end of the season looming and a lovely mild spell of weather I just had to have a concentrated effort on my local River Loddon in search of monster chub. Tactfully I had saved some holiday especially for the occasion and I hoped that this would pay off in spectacular style. A big [...]
My ticket was just about to come to an end and I was keen to get to the lake for my last session for a while on there, so as you can imagine I was quite excited about getting the rods out and hopefully bagging myself a lump or two. I rolled into the carp [...]
After having some success fishing in one of the snaggy corners of the lake, I felt as the days warmed up that there may be a chance to be had from the middle of lake which still held a significant amount of weed. In parts it was new fresh growth, which I knew was really [...]
With spring approaching more quickly than expected I thought I would share a few things that I feel help me put a few carp on the bank during this period. The first thing on my list is tackle maintenance. Whether you are a seasoned all weather angler who still goes in search of carp during [...]
My fishing this month started back on the syndicate, hoping for 1 last fish before the close season! I managed to get off uni early on the Monday, meaning I was going to be able to do 2 nights instead of my normal 1. After having a quick wander round, I dropped a bucket in [...]