Very useful links

This is a very useful  links page that is

definitely worth adding to your favourites.

The site has just undergone a major facelift making it easier than ever to find the website you’re looking for. There are six main categories, UK carp fisheries, French carp fisheries, online tackle shops, carp bait companies, carp tackle manufacturers, forums and online magazines. CarpWebsites.co.uk claim that their site is ‘simply the ultimate one-stop links page to all the best carp related websites on the Internet’. We could not agree more. Check it out at www.carpwebsites.co.uk

Fresh Fishing - The Carp

With Bryan Jarrett and Dave Lane

Britain's anglers may need to re-think their riverbank tactics after an underwater cameraman demonstrated that it's impossible to hide from a carp. Now for the first time, an underwater cameraman has filmed an angler from a carp's point of view - and proved conclusively that you can fish, but you can't hide. This new-style DVD for anglers by award winning TV natural history film-maker Moira Mann features one of the UK's top anglers, Bryan Jarrett. Bryan fishes for carp on a lake in the Cotswolds, while underwater cameraman

John McIntyre filmed him from the carp's point of view. To Bryan's astonishment, the film showed him quite clearly, lying low and back from the bank. "Oh my God!" Bryan is recorded gasping. "You can see practically everything, down to my feet!"

The DVD is available now from www.carptalk-shop.co.uk and costs £19.99 plus £1.50 P&P.

Well I’m not too sure where to start with this blog. I’ve had an interesting couple of weeks although not really for the right reasons! As I mentioned last time I had a bad bout of flu and was unable to fish or even make it in to work for a week. I did take advantage of the situation though and put the time to use by scouring the internet for information on various different venues. I’m trying to decide where I want to spend next season and it really is a difficult choice. Do I stay local and target a specific fish from a low-stock pit or head further afield and spend some time on a water with a much higher stock? You hear abut the North/South divide but I bet many of you don’t really realise just how much difference there is between the two in terms of the average size carp available. In Yorkshire a twenty is still a good fish, a thirty is a rarity and forties, well, they’re very few and far between. Most of the big fish around here are in waters that take years to get on, if you manage to get on at all. There are a couple of very good fish in open access waters, but these waters are day-only and that doesn’t suit my style of fishing or fit in with the time I have available to me at all. I bet you think it must be a dream job to work at Carp-Talk. Well yes it is; the thing is though it’s still a full time job working five days a week and when the weekend comes round I have lots of others things to take up my time as well as my fishing. I need to make a decision on what I want to achieve next year and I’ve never been very good at choosing one water, sticking with it and getting the result I want. I like to flit about too much and fish lots of new venues. I think it’s time to make a change. I still want to catch C Scale from Fairview. That venue is ideal, it’s close enough to work to do overnighters and there is a fish in there I want to catch, but what then? If all goes to plan I will hopefully catch C Scale before spring and then I’ll be looking to move on. The options I’ve got are to head down south somewhere, quite possibly in the Nene Valley area. There’s one particular lake I fancy with a very impressive stock of five forties and around 25 thirties. That’s quite possibly more forties than the whole of Yorkshire! Do I really want to have to travel down there on a Friday night after work in the rush hour traffic, with a three and a half hour drive being a good run, slot in somewhere on a busy lake and take my chances? It’s a lot of expense and effort, but it would all be worth it if a couple of the very special fish the lake holds came my way through the year. I could fish a hush-hush lake up here, a venue with a couple of cracking upper thirties. It’s too far from work for overnighters though so I would be limited to weekend fishing again and only fishing for very few, but specific fish. I’ve fished the lake before and to catch the big mirror from there would mean an awful lot to me, but would my time be better spent on the Nene Valley venue? The rewards in terms of numbers of fish would be greater. I would always be in with a better chance of catching a good fish. I think I need to have a good think about things and work out which option is the most feasible to fit in with everything else I have going on. What would you do?

My own fishing has taken a bit of a back seat at the moment. It took me a while to get over being ill and then this weekend just gone it was my 22nd birthday and I can think of better ways to spend my birthday than sat in a bivvy in the cold and dark for 18 hours a day. It was a really good weekend, lots of laughs and lots of alcohol, just the way it should be! I’m going to get out on the bank this week though, probably arriving at the lake after dark, setting up in the rain and packing away 12 hours later to go back to work...such fun, but I do love it! I’m heading to a new venue in Lincolnshire that I haven’t fished before, but we’re starting a new feature about winter fishing in the main magazine and hopefully we’ll manage to bag a few for the cameras. Keep an eye out for that one, it should appear in the next couple of weeks.

The only carp related thing I’ve done this week was going to a slide show by Bill Cottom of Nutrabaits fame. I’ve been to a lot of these kind of things over the years and Bill’s was one of the best I’ve seen. He certainly knows his stuff with regards to this carp fishing game. The night was in aid of a local charity and loads of money was raised. Well done Bill, top man! You certainly inspired me to get out on the bank.

I’ve just finished sorting through the catch reports for next week’s magazine and there have been some seriously impressive fish caught, a number of new lake records and some awesome multiple captures. It just goes to show that it’s well worth getting out there and having a go. I can’t wait to get back out and try to bag a few.

Adam Snowden

Historic Information Wanted

The author of the book History of Carp Fishing, Kevin Clifford, is teaming up with his friend, Chris Ball, to produced a limited edition updated version of the book. If anyone has any information (letters, photographs, anecdotal stories, etc) about the following famous carp fisheries/anglers they would welcome hearing from you.

Croxby Pond &  Otto Overbeck

Cheshunt Reservoir

Mapperley Reservoir & Albert Buckley

Dagenham Lake & members of the Becontree & DAS (particularly George Draper and John Lenton)

Redmire Pool

Billing Aquadrome

The Peterborough Cut

Woldale

Wadhurst

Stoneham Lakes

Horsham

Westbrook Mere

You can contact Kevin and Chris at carpercfn@btconnect.com or on the phone at 01430 440624. You can also write to Kevin at Carp Fishing News Ltd., Newport, East Yorkshire HU15 2QG.

Linear Fisheries brochure

The new 2008 brochure from Linear Fisheries should be available sometime in January 2008 and you can pre-order your copy now by visiting their website or by clicking here. The brochure will be full of all the usual information regarding all the lakes on site. It will also contain information regarding Linear Fisheries future plans including spending and stocking. There is also an excellent feature by Ian Russell all about Brasenose 1.

Redmire’s original punt found!

Who takes his wife away a few days on their anniversary and makes sure when they are in the district of Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, a visit to Redmire is on the cards? Well Carp-Talk’s Chris Ball did just that when he popped in to see Redmire’s head-honcho Les Bamford last week who took the pair down to the lake for a quick look.

Les mentioned he had some Redmire carp in a holding tank in one of the farm barns and beckoned Chris and his wife Lynne to come and have a gander. Once inside this wonderful old barn, straightaway carp fishing memorabilia man Bally asked: “Is that a punt hidden under that hay? “Oh!” said Les adding: “That’s the old Redmire punt, the one from way back.” “Blimey!” said Chris already tugging with delight at the covering of hay. “I’ve gotta see this.”

Imagine the glee in Chris’s eyes when after a couple of minutes of clearing away there was Redmire’s historic punt! The very same one used by the likes of Walker, Thomas, B.B., Ingham, Price, Hilton, Quinlan, Mintram, Hutchinson, Yates etc. Of course, mad keen carp fishing historian Chris just had to have his picture taken with this faithful old vessel. He’s quite mad you know!

Hardy & Greys establishes new German company

Hardy & Greys is set to accelerate the growth and development of its highly regarded brands within the German market. The Northumbrian fishing tackle company has created a new company (Hardy & Greys GmbH), which took over the exclusive distribution rights in Germany for its very successful carp fishing brand, ‘Chub’, on October 2nd 2007. The new German arm of Hardy & Greys operates from the existing Blanchard’s warehouse and offices, which have undergone major refurbishment including the installation of a new operating and computer system. Blanchard’s Angling has been the exclusive distributor for Chub in Germany for the past nine years and has increased both its sales revenues and customer base within the German market, which Hardy & Greys Ltd can now build upon.

Orchid Lakes winter offer

Top day ticket water Orchid Lakes will be

offering visitors who fish for 24 hours a

further 24 hours free. The offer starts on

the 3rd December and will run until the beginning of March. The price is currently £24 for 24 hours fishing so visitors will get 48 hours for the price of £24. For further information contact Marsh on 01865 341810 or visit: www.orchid-lakes.com

An Evening With Maylin and Chilly

A last minute reminder that on Thursday 22nd November, the original bounty hunter Rob Maylin and Ian ‘Chilly’ Chillcott will be doing a double bill slide show. The talk will be held at Somerdale, Keynsham, Bristol. The night will see stands from various companies, including up and coming bait company Baitworks, particle specialists Bristol Bait Supplies and of course a stand with quality discounted tackle from Crazy Carp Tackle Shop. Another big attraction will be the raffle on the evening. With many superb prizes up for grabs including trips to France and Mainline bait bundles. Top anglers such as Mike Willmott, Chilly and Angling Intelligence have also donated prizes to the raffle. Tickets are available from the Crazy Carp Tackle Shop on 0117 9359135 and some tickets will be available on the door. This is a charity event and all funds raised from the sale of tickets and the raffle will be going to a good cause not the speakers, organisers or tackle shop. To have two anglers of this calibre at this event is a real treat not to be missed and it’s all for a good cause!

Great Gifts at the Carp Society Show  

This coming weekend the Carp Society Show at

Sandown promises to be a great event. Here at

Carp-Talk, we are gearing up for a busy weekend

and our stand (right next to the bar!) will be packed

to the gunnels with stacks of great gifts for anglers.

We have the largest selection of fishing DVD’s and books at the show and it is a great time to pick up a Christmas gift for the angler in your life. Carp-Talk’s Chris Ball, Bev Clifford, Ben Wales and Adam Snowden will be in attendance so come and say hello.

Carp-Talk Xtra News

Over the coming weeks Carp-talk Xtra

will be expanding. There will be lots of

new material - including regular features

from the likes of Simon Crow, Ken Townley and Ian Poole. There will also be an interview each week, asking some of the best anglers from  around the country what keeps them  ahead of the game. Keep your eye on forthcoming issues of Carp-Talk Xtra for these and other exciting updates.

I was reading a letter in the October 30th issue of Angler’s Mail. It was given the Letter of the Week award and the writer won himself a reel for his effort. It was about why many fishery owners won’t check rod licences. The gist of the letter was that fishery owners used to check licences until they asked the Environment Agency for help and didn’t get it. The writer made the point: “...indeed some fisheries receive no support at all, especially privately-owned lakes” and “Some fishery owners just don’t trust the EA anymore.”

Well, I ask myself the question why should my rod licence money be given to private, commercial enterprises. They are, by their very nature, profit-motivated businesses. No one surely would expect Sainsbury’s to get a new floor installed or their windows cleaned out of public funds, so why should a commercial fishery get money from rod licence funds? The EA Fisheries budget is made up of rod licence sales and Grant in Aid from the Government. The Government’s portion has been progressively cut with the aim of removing it altogether. This has obviously reduced what fishery staff have been able to achieve outside their internal duties – such as survey work. Where, in the past, actually fishery work may have been carried out for clubs and associations (and even private owners) by the Agency using their labour and equipment, nowadays, in many instances, assistance is restricted to simply giving advice.

It is all too easy to knock the Environment Agency fishery staff, but in my view the vast majority of those guys do a sterling job within the increasing constraints imposed upon them by central government. Anyone can use the EA as an Aunt Sally and blame it for many of the problems in angling, but we shouldn’t forget that the fisheries staff are essentially our ‘friends’ – mainly having the same goals and being generally supportive of our causes. An ill-informed individual is one thing but an angling publication should really know better. I sincerely hope the Angler’s Mail Letter of the Week award wasn’t a deliberately cheap shot, pandering to what is perceived to be the general readership’s view of the EA. In the long-term I think the angling industry as a whole needs to strengthen its relationship with the EA and not alienate it.

Kevin Clifford