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Crafty Carper February 2013 - Don't be afraid! Ellis Brazier's guide to fishing open-water swims with confidence. Underwater uncovered: Is your lead setup costing you bites? Rob Hughes goes sub-surface to investigate bite indication. Living the Dream: Korda's James Armstrong opens his angling journal. Plus... Mark Pitchers, Nick Helleur, Mark Bartlett, Ian Stott, Nigel Sharp, Ian Poole and Kev Hewitt. Fish for FREE! 48 hours' winter carping for the price of 24 hours, at two great venures.

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: Crafty Carper February 2013
Page 2: Crafty Carper February 2013

Underwater RevelationsRob Hughes

38 Crafty Carper

Bite indication – arguably

one of the most important

and yet least understood

areas of our angling. But do you

really know what is giving you the

best indication, and are you using

the right tool for the job? Over

the last few years, particularly in

the UK, there has been a trend to

fish light bobbins with slack and

semi-slack lines in an attempt to

disguise the setup and encourage

the fish to feed. In Europe,

primarily as a result of the size

of the waters and the windier

conditions, there is a preference

for swingers that provide a more

stable setup and don’t register

false bleeps. Opposite ends of

the spectrum when it comes to

indicator choices, but are either of

these setups always the correct

choice for the job in hand?

Past Experience

Through many years of diving, and

in particular, testing both my own

setups and those of some of the best

anglers in the UK, I have seen a pattern

emerging with regard to indication.

Through this feature I’d like to dispel

a few myths and have a look at which

setup gives the best indication, and

also which type of indicator anglers

should use for a particular fishing

style. Most people have one set of

indicators, which they use for the

majority of their fishing, be it under

the tips or out in the pond, but a little

like individual golf clubs, indicators

have been designed for a specific

purpose, and using them in the wrong

way may hinder rather than help your

RIGHT The current trend is for slack lines and light bobbins, but is this efficient for your angling?

BELOW The swinger is still king on the Continent.

chances of registering a bite. It’s the

same with lead choice and Bolt Rigs;

I think those new to carp fishing may

have possibly missed the point of some

setups because they weren’t around

during their inception, and therefore

don’t fully understand why they work.

“A little like

individual golf clubs,

indicators have been

designed for a specific

purpose, and using them in

the wrong way may hinder

rather than help your

chances of registering

a bite”

ABOVE Slack lines can actually be a hindrance and give the fish enough slack to be able to shake the hook.

BELOW With a tight line, hooking is aided and the fish doesn’t have much chance to rid the hook.

037-040_UnderwaterRev_CC186.indd 2 09/01/2013 09:48

Page 3: Crafty Carper February 2013

Underwater RevelationsRob Hughes

Crafty Carper 39

Slack Line versus Tight Line

The fi rst thing I’d like to look at is

the compromise between slack and

tight lines. Many would have you

believe that slack lines are the best for

indication because the indicator shows

bites more easily on a slack line than

a tight line. I disagree, and feel that

this is just fashion! In numerous tests I

have looked at anglers’ indication and

measured how far I can move their

rig before a bite is registered at the

alarm. I do the same test all the time,

picking up the hookbait and moving

directly away from the rod with it.

The majority of the time I am able to

move the hook a distance of around

50-60cm before I feel the resistance

of the angler striking the rod; there

doesn’t seem to be a lot of difference

between slack and semi-slack lines,

but there is a signifi cant difference

with very tight lines, particularly when

using braid. It’s fair to say that the

bobbin can move further on a slack

line than a tight one, but that’s quite

simply because it can travel further

because of the slackness in the line

and it has little impact on indication.

Much of the time anglers use a Bolt

Rig setup rather than using a running

rig and slack line (which is the old-

fashioned style of getting indication

when a fi sh has picked up the bait and

is moving off with it). The Bolt Rig

uses the weight of the lead to hook

the fi sh and cause it to bolt off – hence

its name. The more resistance there

is at this point, the better the hooking

arrangement, because the whole point

of a Bolt Rig is to provide enough

resistance to cause the fi sh to bolt, by

which time the hook should be safely

embedded in the mouth. When fi shing

a slack line, the fi sh bolts from the

weight of the hook but doesn’t feel the

resistance of the line or reel until the

line has tightened completely. Fishing

like this is relying solely on the weight

of the lead to hook the fi sh, and it can

actually be used by the fi sh to throw

the hook should it violently shake its

head. In my humble opinion, a tight

line restricts this chance because the

line is tight and the fi sh has less to

play with. When using a slack line,

we know from experience that it has

approximately 50-60cm of movement

to rid itself of the hook before you get

indication. If the line is already tight,

then the bobbin can’t move because it

is already in the position that a slack

line gets into when it is tightened. A

tight line can aid the actual hooking

of the fi sh, and the very fact that

it’s already tight means that the

resistance from the tight line comes

into play much earlier, giving the fi sh

no slack to use to throw the hook.

One of the things that does have

an effect is stretch, and for me, a tight

line that is stretching is actually an aid

to hooking, rather than a hindrance. A

stretching line takes longer to show

indication, but unlike a slack line, it

is actually helping to hook the fi sh

during this process. Braid is known to

have much less stretch than mono,

thus giving indication very quickly, but

incredibly, I see some anglers fi shing

braided lines slack. Surely this defeats

the indication benefi t of using braid

in the fi rst place? True, the contact

will be more direct when playing

the fi sh, but when anglers use it for

better indication it is quite simply

of no benefi t if it is fi shed slack.

The best indication I have ever

seen was when testing a bowstring-

tight braided line that was being

fi shed with a heavy lead and a

springer. As soon as the lead moved,

the springer bounced back, and the

fi sh would have been hooked.

The Problem With Tight Lines

Whilst tight lines are generally more

effective at indication than slack, and

also for hooking the fi sh and keeping

it on the hook, there is, of course, a

compromise. If you are fi shing a tight

line, the chances are that it will be

much more visible than a slack one

because it rises up off the bottom

close to where the bait is, whereas

a slack one, especially if fi shing with

leadcore or a heavy leader, will sink

fl at on the bottom. To illustrate this

point I’ve taken pictures of a slack

and a tight line on the bottom of the

lake in 3m of water depth, fi shed

approximately 50m out from the bank.

I used a dark leadcore-type material

so that it can be seen better in the

photographs, because taking pictures

of line underwater is quite tricky. You

will notice that on a tight line it does

rise off the bottom, whereas with a

slack line it lies fl at, therefore is much

less visible. The deeper the water and

the closer in you are fi shing, the more

obvious this is, because it will rise more

steeply off the bottom. A long-range

shallow lake is much more suited to

tight lining than a short-range deep

one, unless it is very steep and the line

is at the same angle as the slope. One

of the ways to combat this particular

problem is with the use of what I call a

‘spook leader’, in this instance a short

length of Illusion fl uorocarbon line,

1-2m in length, which becomes almost

invisible on the bottom of the lake.

When opting for a tight line, a leadcore

leader is not the best choice because

it will be very obvious and defeats the

object of why you are using leadcore in

the fi rst place, i.e. to sink the line near

the lead onto the bottom of the lake,

and you need a slack line to do that!

Sinking the Line and Obstacles

If you prefer to use a slack line and

sink it down, it is important to make

sure that you do it properly. In an ideal

world we would have a long shooting

leader where the end nearest the

lead is heavier than the end nearest

the rod. That way the line will sink

from the lead backwards, which is the

correct way to do it. Many anglers sink

their line by casting out then dipping

their rod tip under the surface and

tightening up before slackening off

again. That will sink the line from the

rod end as well, which means that

the line may well be on the bottom

close to the rod, but off the bottom

further out. This brings me nicely

on to my next point – obstacles.

If there are obstacles,

such as weedbeds, between

FAR LEFT A slack line, with the use of leadcore, is pinned to the bottom…

LEFT & BELOW …whereas a tight line, coupled with leadcore, rises off the bottom, as you can see.

ABOVE Weedbeds can create a hinge effect because the line lies on top of them. You may think you’re fi shing tight, but you’re not.

ABOVE I was caught out recently fi shing a solid bag; when I went in to dive the spot, the lead had moved substantially, as you can see.

BELOW An Illusion leader is perfect for its camoufl age properties.

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Page 4: Crafty Carper February 2013

ANGLER PROFILE

Mark Bartlett...........................Age 27...........................HometownYatton,Somerset...........................OccupationFishery owner...........................UK PB39lb 8oz...........................Favourite venueLinear Fisheries...........................RodsFox Horizon XT...........................ReelsFox 12000s...........................AlarmsFox NTXr

ANGLER PROFILE

Kev Hewitt...........................Age 28...........................HometownSwindon, Wiltshire...........................OccupationCotswold Angling employee...........................UK PB44lb 12oz...........................Favourite venueLinch Hill...........................RodsE-S-P Sniper...........................ReelsDaiwa Tournament...........................AlarmsFox MMXR

This month the boys are in Kent; can they manage to carry on their impressive run of form and catch again whilst on feature for The Session?

This is the fi nal article of the series, so will they go out on a high?

62 Crafty Carper

With hard frosts up and down

the country, this month

is going to be a challenge

for the West Country session boys as

they venture east to Kent, the Garden

of England. Kev and Bart decide to

tackle the impressive Orchard Place

Farm complex, and with eight lakes to

choose from, surely they’ll be able to

get a bite or two – or will the big freeze

scupper their best-laid plans? I join

the boys in session as they attempt

to get the better of the conditions

and put a fi sh on the bank. It’s not

going to be easy, but I have every

confi dence that they will succeed.

Sunday 8.00 a.m.

I rock up to Orchard Place Farm and

both Kev and Bart are already here. Kev

hasn’t long since arrived and is chatting

to his mate Kempy, who’s fi shing on

Lake Four, whilst Bart is more eager

and arrived just after dark the previous

evening. As he arrived the lake was

starting to freeze over and he had to

smash a channel through the cat ice in

the margins to enable him to get his

rods out. It seems all is quiet on Lake

Four; nothing has been out for a while

and Bart and Kempy didn’t receive a

carpy indication between them. Despite

Lake Four having a good head of carp,

with a good number of 30lb+ fi sh, the

lake seems very clear, indicating that

the carp are moving around very little.

Sunday 10.00 a.m.

With nothing occurring on Lake Four,

Bart winds in and the lads take a stroll

around the impressive complex. It would

appear that none of the lakes have been

fi shing very well during the past week

and nothing has been out all weekend.

062-065_Session_CC186.indd 1 09/01/2013 09:54

Page 5: Crafty Carper February 2013

Crafty Carper 63

After much deliberation, the boys

decide to move from Lake Four to Lake

Eight because it has a good head of

doubles, a number of 20s and a couple

of 30s. It’s obvious that it’s going to be

a struggle on any of the lakes, but Lake

Eight had been fishing the best up until

a week previous. There was also more

colour in the water, which suggested

to the lads that the fish may well be

more active and stirring up the bottom.

Sunday 3.00 p.m.

The lads have had their rods out in Lake

Eight for a few hours now and haven’t

seen any signs of carp. The temperatures

are near freezing and a brisk biting

wind sends a chill right through me. Out

comes the kettle, right on cue. Kev and

Bart have set up in the middle of the

lake, which gives them lots of options.

With it being so cold, both Kev and Bart

are regularly casting around with small

PVA bags of maggots, 10mm boilies and

pellets, trying to search out a bite and

figure out what the carp want to eat.

Sunday 10.00 p.m.

It’s extremely cold, and it seems like

Kev and Bart are the only people mad

enough to be out in these conditions.

They are the only anglers on the whole

complex! Although it is cold enough to

clear the complex, the boys are very

upbeat and keen to get a bend in their

rods. Their motivation is infectious

and their enthusiasm for catching carp

is second to none. They are regularly

recasting their bags and searching

out different spots. There are plenty

of islands to cast to, so the lads try

fishing tight to the islands, as well as

at the bottom of the island shelves,

but still haven’t received

so much as a liner.

The SessionKev Hewitt and Mark Bartlett

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Page 6: Crafty Carper February 2013

Why Not the Naked Chod?

Since a recent change of lake, I

have gone back to using a rig that

I used maybe 5 years ago. The rig

in question was chosen due to it

outwitting some rarely caught carp.

With the lake change I found myself

in a similar position, where I was

getting done over by some crafty fish.

The first evidence of this was whilst

using the Naked Chod. I received one

single bleep and passed it off as a

liner from one of the many roach and

rudd that inhabit the lake’s margins.

It wasn’t until I received another

single bleep an hour later that I knelt

by the rods and watched the lines

drop from the rod tip; the line lifted

an inch and stayed there. I had heard

Rig Mechanics

Since first using the 360 Rig some

years ago, I have been fortunate

enough to receive the backing of

Taska, and I knew that some of their

rig components would be ideal for

tying up the 360. The rig works

on a variety of movable parts, and

some of the Taska products would

enhance this element even more.

The rig gets its name from the hook

arrangement; the hook isn’t tied to

the hooklink but is threaded through

the eye of a Size 11 big-eyed swivel.

This gives the hook 360 degrees of

movement within the swivel, and no

matter which angle the fish takes

the rig from, the hook always turns

when the fish tries to eject the

baited hook. I always use 5-10mm

of separation from the ring that runs

along the hook to the bait. This can

be achieved by tying either a slightly

longer Hair that the bait is attached

to, or by using a threaded bait

screw incorporating a micro swivel

(soon to be released by Taska). This

was designed by Taska specifically

from other anglers that people had

started counting the times they had

been done rather than the number

of carp they had put on the bank in

a year. I found this unbelievable; I

was using a rig that had caught me

umpteen carp in recent months on a

lake only yards away. This couldn’t

be happening to me, could it? I

lifted the rod and realised that the

suspicious roach liner was, in fact,

a 27lb mirror known as The Parrot.

I had been very lucky to learn a

valuable lesson so early in my quest

to catch the lake’s residents. The

tackle box was pulled from under the

bedchair and a 360 Rig was tied.

One Rig Onlyfeaturing Mark Hogg

with the 360 Rig in mind, but surely

it will be useful for other rigs.

I have found that the best hook to

use with the 360 is the JRC MBT 360; it

works perfectly with the rig that it was

initially designed for. Unfortunately,

this hook has been discontinued, so

a change to some gnarlier patterns

may be needed. The eye of any hook

used with the 360 needs special

attention, because where the eye is

formed there is often a gap, so, in my

opinion, shrink tube needs to be put

over this gap. The reason for this is

that when the fish is in the net the

hook has a tendency to snag; shrink

tubing the gap with a 3mm piece of

tubing stops this from happening

and ensures that it is 100% safe.

The rig works by critically-balancing

the components against the buoyancy

of a pop-up. No shot or weights are

used to hold the pop-up down – the

hook, swivels and tungsten ring

stops should be enough. The only

weights I do add are a couple of small

baseline tungsten sinkers along

the hooklink, but this is purely to

keep the coated braid pinned to the

lakebed and out of harm’s way.

My History with the 360 RigI first started using the 360 Rig

about 5 years ago. I was fishing a

lake that had a stock of carp that

had seen it all; they were old fish

and very educated when it came

to getting away with it. I needed a

rig that gave me

a greater chance

of hooking any

carp that tried

my hookbait

just once. If

the rig didn’t hook the fish on

the first attempt, then the fish

would be away and not come back

because they’d treat the area with

suspicion. I trawled through the

piles of magazines I had hoarded

over the years and found the 360

Rig demonstrated

by Dave Lane. As

soon as I saw it

I was intrigued;

it worked

well and gave

a great degree of movement.

I tied one up and knew that

it had to be a winner.

“I needed a rig that gave me a greater chance of hooking any carp that

tried my hookbait”

BELOW I like my freebies to be identical to the hookbait.

Having the hook through a swivel gives it a full 360 degrees of movement.

ABOVE The MBT 360 hook from JRC was designed specifically for this rig. Bonus!

108 Crafty Carper

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Page 7: Crafty Carper February 2013

ONE RIG ONLY

TIE UP HOGGY’S TRUSTY 360 RIGLike the look of the 360 Rig? Here’s how to tie it...

Take a length of your chosen coated hooklink and tie it to the large ring of the swivel, like so.

Take the hook through the smaller eye of the swivel.

Two tungsten sinkers are then threaded onto the hooklink material.

Finally, take 2-3mm of shrink tubing and steam it over the eye of the hook.

Now attach the bait by simply screwing it onto the bait ring.

Put a rig stop on the shank of the hook, followed by a bait ring and another rig stop, like this.

Hookbait Choice

Bait size is critical with the 360 Rig. I

find that a smaller 12mm bait works

far more efficiently than a 16mm

version; the smaller bait also allows

the balancing to be fine-tuned. The

bait should sit coming off the top

of the hook, and this is done by

positioning the tungsten rig stops

on the hook. The first one should

be positioned in the bend of the

hook and the other further down the

shank, opposite the hookpoint. The

bottom stop is critical. If positioned

too low the hook can sit the wrong

way up, rendering the rig useless.

The hook should sit with just the

eye touching the lakebed. I cannot

stress enough the balance of the

components against the buoyancy

of the pop-up. Take the time to get

it right and the rig is devastating.

Using the Rig to Its Full PotentialThe rig is, in my mind, one of the

best rigs out there and somewhat

underused. The fish has so many

obstacles to overcome when trying

to eject the rig that I would say it’s

near impossible to eject. I also opt

for a running lead setup using a 2oz

Gripper lead, just to try to give the

fish another hurdle to overcome.

My Success Using The 360

I’ll give a few examples of my own

ideas on where to fish the rig by

explaining the water I am currently

targeting. The lake is very dense with

onion weed in places, and the fish

were definitely using these areas

but feeding on cleanly polished spots

within it. The areas were small, and in

my mind too obvious to place a rig. The

outside areas of these spots were ideal,

with a light covering of chod. Casting to

the clean areas and dragging the lead

back ensured that

the lead setup was

in the chod out

of sight. The rig

works best over

clean or lightly

chodded areas; the

reason for this is that there are many

components within the rig, and if these

are masked by weed or heavy chod

it certainly hinders its performance. I

normally foam up all these key areas

with PVA foam nuggets before the

cast. This takes away any doubt that

the rig isn’t presented right, and also

gives you a little time to pull the rig

into position and straighten everything

out. When the PVA detaches from

1

3

5

2

4

6

the rig the coated hooklink pushes

away from the lead setup, and the

nuggets of foam on the surface also

give a sight marker to bait around.

The margins were also used

frequently by the carp, as patrol routes

from the top end of the lake to the

bottom. The bottom of the shelf was

clean and an ideal place to ambush the

carp with a single pop-up hookbait. The

intimacy of fishing the close-in margin

spots was perfect and something the

carp didn’t seem to have come across.

These fish had

been heavily

pressured in

previous years

and were, in my

opinion, very

wary of beds of

bait, so the single hookbait approach

with six or seven identical freebies

fed at 2yd intervals up and down the

marginal shelf was the perfect baiting

pattern for the 360. The carp only

needs to make one mistake with the

360, and that is simply to try the bait.

Tight multiple baiting doesn’t increase

the chances of a fish; the chances

are that a carp would suss the rig

before getting the chance to try it.

anglers were confirming that I was

doing something right. Winter was

approaching fast and work was still

busy, meaning I couldn’t spend as much

time at the lake as I had hoped, but I

know for sure that the ever-faithful rig

will certainly work again when I return

in the spring. I just have to hope that

the lads on the lake don’t read Crafty

Carper first. I’m sure they’ve got their

‘one rig only’ for this situation, which

just goes to prove that everyone has a

different approach to carp fishing. As

I have mentioned, I am not a one-trick

pony, and every lake I visit has its own

characteristics that need addressing

with different approaches, but if

there was a rule stating you were

only allowed to use just one rig,

then it would be the 360. I would

just have to find the areas of

every lake in which to fish

it efficiently. CC

I had John Hallet at Rollin’ Baits

make up some Nutrabaits Plum &

Caproic cork balls in 12mm for me.

These were perfect for the job,

and gave me the confidence that

the rig would maintain its position

for 48 hours, or more if needed.

The first bite I had on the rig a week

later was proof of its hooking qualities,

when I received a one-toner. This was

something of a rarity on the lake due to

the carp’s cute nature that I mentioned

previously. In the following few weeks I

caught another three carp, the biggest

of the bunch being a twice-a-year

fish at 34lb, and the word

around the lake was that

I was doing OK. Good

“The margins were also used frequently by the

carp, as patrol routes from the top end of the

lake to the bottom”

One Rig Onlyfeaturing Mark Hogg

BELOW The Parrot at 27lb, and I thought it was a liner from a roach.

A 12mm cork ball pop-up seems to balance the rig just right.

ABOVE A small gripper-type lead on a Running Rig is my choice.

Crafty Carper 109

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Page 8: Crafty Carper February 2013

Welly Bound

The plan was to get home, have

a quick shower, and pick up

some boilies before making the

100-mile journey down to Wellington

Country Park in Berkshire. It was whilst

driving on the M4 that I got a text

from a friend telling me he had a 44lb

mirror in the sack and that I should

hurry up. I wasn’t that far away, and

some 40 minutes later I pulled into the

syndicate car park. The barrow was

loaded up and I made my way round

to my mate’s swim. On the way round

I left my barrow in the Wides Swim

and carried on round to the Grassy

to do the pictures. My eyes nearly

popped out of my head when I saw

how big it was – very short, deep, and

broad across the shoulders; it was a

cracking-looking carp, that’s for sure.

After the carp was returned the kettle

was fired up and we had a good chat,

and I learned that there had been a

few good carp showing around the

area over the past couple of days.

I made my way back to the Wides

Swim, from where I had caught a few

carp recently. Due to the inclement

weather, the first thing I did was get

the camp set up. On my way to Welly I

had made a detour to pick up another

spool of Gardner Mirage, so I got the

rods out and respooled the line that

had been ruined at Elstow. All the

rigs needed to be changed over, and

I sorted all three rods with a metre of

112 Crafty Carper

ANGLER PROFILE

Ian Stott

Age 48

HometownSt Neots

Occupation Groundworker/landscaper

UK PB 49lb 10oz

Favourite venueElstow complex

Rods Harrison Torrix 13ft 3.5tc

Reels Daiwa Basia

Alarms Delkim Tx-i Plus

IAN STOTTWe left Ian last month just as he’d finished a hugely

successful session on Elstow. He was about to head back home to pick up some boilies and go straight off to Wellington

Country Park, so we’ll let him take up the rest of the story.

BELOW The Peach & Pepper really is the one for me when it comes to attractive pop-ups.

Pt2

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Page 9: Crafty Carper February 2013

leadcore. Two little Hinged Stiff Rigs

were made up with Size 5 Gardner

Covert Chod hooks. The third rod was

set up with a little rig that I have

been playing around with recently.

My hookbait choice was the awesome

Sticky Peach & Pepper-fl avoured

16mm pop-up. One rod was cast at 85

yards towards an island, a spot that

has produced a couple of good carp

for me in the past. The middle rod

was cast slightly further right into a

silty gully. The third rod was tackled

up with a small PVA stocking of 10

boilies attached to the rig before

being cast to a spot at 70 yards.

I continued to scatter half a kilo of

16mm Sticky Vor-tex boilies over all

three rods, and then went back to the

bivvy to get the kettle fi red up once

more for a much-needed coffee. During

the course of the next few hours I saw

three carp show in the area, which

certainly helped boost my confi dence

levels. It was whilst trying to fi nd my

lighter that I came across the penny

that I had found the previous day over

at Elstow, and it had been joined by a

50 pence piece. I put both coins in

my hand and hurled them into the lake,

making a little wish as I did so. By

11 o’clock I could take no more and had

to get some sleep; I’d only had about

6 hours’ sleep over the last couple of

days, but once my head hit the pillow I

was soon sound asleep. I was awoken

a little while later by a couple of

Egyptian geese that had landed on the

lake – they don’t half make an awful

noise. I checked my phone and it

showed that it was almost 1.00

a.m. I was just drifting back off

when I heard a couple of bleeps; I

opened my eyes and saw that they

had come from my left-hand rod.

A few seconds later the same

rod absolutely tore off. I got my

boots on and ran over to it pretty

quickly. When I picked up the rod I

was shocked at the sheer power of the

carp and could only hold on and watch

as it stripped line from the spool. I tried

to gain line, but every time I applied

pressure the carp would just power off,

taking yet more line from an already

pretty tight clutch. Some 15 minutes

after hooking the fi sh, everything

locked up solid. I tried cranking the

pressure up and really laid into it, but

it just wouldn’t budge. I put the rod

back down in the rests and legged it

round to the hole in the bush where

the boat was tied up. I also gave my

mate a shout and told him I needed

his help. We soon had the life jackets

on and made our way back over to my

swim. Being out on the lake in a boat

in the middle of the night was very

spooky; there was also a strong wind,

which did a good job of blowing us all

over the place. We were soon making

our way out to where

the carp was. I was

gently pulling on

the rod while my

mate slowly got us

closer with the oars.

I couldn’t feel a thing

through the rod and

was unsure if the

carp was even still attached. As we

got above where we thought the carp

was, I increased the pressure on the

rod and at last felt a couple of kicks

from the fi sh as it started to move. We

were getting pulled all over the place,

and I couldn’t do a thing with the carp

as it showed us who was king in his

environment. I had the rod fully hooped

over and a big ball of weed appeared

on the surface, and my partner in

crime reached over and pulled it off

my main line. The carp just didn’t want

to come in, and as we both sat in the

boat doing battle with an unseen

monster, we heard a few bleeps come

from my mate’s swim. What could we

do? I apologised to him and carried on

trying to get the carp to the surface.

It was like trying to pull up a breeze

block that was being used as a plug.

Eventually the carp started to tire

and I felt I was getting the upper hand.

It took another 10 minutes before

a huge carp appeared on the lake’s

surface, and at last I managed to slip

the net under my prize. We made our

way back towards my swim as quickly

as possible because his alarm was still

letting out the odd

bleep now and then.

As soon as we

beached the boat,

my mate was off to

his swim in a fl ash.

I secured the net

over the side of the

boat before getting

everything ready for weighing the fi sh.

As I bit through the line and lifted the

net, I knew I had a very big fi sh and

struggled up the bank with my prize.

It wasn’t until I had the carp on the

unhooking mat that I realised it was

a bloody great big common. The fi sh

was unhooked and put in the weigh

sling and hoisted up onto the scales.

I watched gobsmacked as the needle

steadily settled at 48lb 3oz, my new

personal best for a common. Did I

let out a little whoop?

Damn bloody right I did!!

Most MemorableIan Stott

Crafty Carper 113

ABOVE Some Sticky Vor-tex was scattered over the spots.

LEFT The Gardner Chod hooks in Size 5 are a must for my Hinged Stiff Rigs.

lake – they don’t half make an awful

noise. I checked my phone and it

showed that it was almost 1.00

a.m. I was just drifting back off

when I heard a couple of bleeps; I

opened my eyes and saw that they

had come from my left-hand rod.

rod absolutely tore off. I got my

quickly. When I picked up the rod I

ABOVE scattered over the spots.

LEFT 5 are a must for my Hinged Stiff Rigs.

“The needle steadily settled at 48lb 3oz, my new personal best for a common. Did I let out a little whoop? Damn bloody right I did!!”

The Small Tailed Common at 48lb 3oz. What a way to start the session!

112-115_MostMem_CC186.indd 2 08/01/2013 11:33

Page 10: Crafty Carper February 2013

Diary of an Everyday Carp AnglerJulian Cundiff

124 Crafty Carper

“I have three waters very close to me, but with two still iced up, the third, albeit

not ideal for time, would have to do”

(4)

(6)

Monday 3rd

Despite having the day booked off work

to go fishing, with temperatures down

to -5 and snow in the air I decided to

save the day’s holiday and so I went to

work. Both my local venues were solid,

and with more to come I decided to

reorganise my fishing diary from local

to further afield. The larger southern

waters were less likely to freeze and

more likely to produce the goods, so

it was time to get travelling again.

Friday 7th

Another hard week at work, but it was

treat night because I had tickets to

meet another one of my rock heroes,

Steve Vai (Whitesnake/Dave Lee Roth,

etc.) in Manchester. The journey over

in swirling snow was not easy, but

after a stunning show I got to meet

him and chat about guitar playing and

the like. An amazing yet humble guy,

and it was almost midnight before I

left. With the M62 closed due to snow

it took me almost 2½ hours to get

home, so it was a very tired Jules that

climbed into bed in the early hours. At

times it is easy to think, ‘This can be

done another day,’ but mum taught

me to live every day to the last, so

I do. Over and out... zzzzzzzzzzzz.

Saturday 8th

The BCSG rigs chapter was due in

at the end of the month, so the

bulk of it was completed. Normally,

writing is not a problem for me, but

how can I write ‘just a chapter’ on

carp rigs when it once took Kevin

Maddocks and me a whole book to

do it justice!! I did my best because

I was fishing the next day.

Sunday 9th

I was up at 6.00 a.m. and the weather

looked decidedly iffy. With the Jeep

white over I was hardly surprised

when I found my local water frozen,

and the next one too, and the canal

as well. Flipping heck (or words to

that effect)! I hate getting up early

at weekends, especially getting up

early to have to go back to bed. Well,

that’s life, and at times it is not fun.

Monday 10th

Part of my job entails travelling round

North and West Yorkshire, so I was in

York, Northallerton and Harrogate all

in one day! Thank goodness for the

trains, but bearing in mind how many

of you work outside in the cold, I’m not

going to complain about my lot – much.

Tuesday 11th

It was just a half day at court and I

was free, and luckily one of my local

waters was ice-free. I have three

waters very close to me, but with two

still iced up, the third, albeit not ideal

for time, would have to do. I’d recently

stocked up with some of Nashy’s Amber

Strawberry Frozen 10mms and so

trickled some into the lake. Two were

fished on a single Hair, with paste

wrapped round the Hair and hook to

stop tangles and add instant attraction

to the presentation. The water was

gin-clear, and I found some carp in what

looked like a torpid state very close to

some overhanging trees. I threw in a

few pieces of the Strawberry paste, and

they seemed to like it because they

were soon moving and then taking the

bits. The rig was lowered in, and within

5 minutes I had a fish just as darkness

was falling. The commotion must have

spooked them because it was the only

one I had, but a fish is a fish, and with

the temperature hovering between

0 and -1, any bite was a result.

Friday 14th

I tend not to do a lot of interviews,

but I do remember, as a young

keenie, stars like Andy Little, Chris

Ball, Kevin Maddocks and Kevin Nash

being good enough to invite me to

their homes to interview them for

Carp Fisher. So when a young lad

called Matt Clarke asked me if he

could interview me, I knew I should

do my bit. I was back from work by

6.00 p.m. and Matt was with me just

after 7.00. We chatted and I showed

him round my home, and then we did

an interview that looked at my early

years from 1976-’92. Yes, I am that old!

Sunday 16th

With Thin Lizzy deciding to call it a

day, I didn’t want to miss out on the

last shows, and whilst I would love

to see them in Australia with KISS

and Motley Crue, I thought Leeds was

a little kinder on my wallet. We had

passes for the after show meet-and-

greet, so Roz and I made our way to

Leeds. The band was stunning, as

always, with hits like Boys Are Back In

Town, Rosalie, etc. going down a storm.

We got to meet the band afterwards

thanks to Lizzy management, Ace

and Duff Press, and it was almost

2.00 a.m. when I turned the lights off at

home, which was a problem, because…

Monday 17th

… my alarm went off at 4.15 a.m. and

I staggered downstairs to fuel up on

coffee, orange juice, toast and vitamins,

ready for my trip to Drayton. With over

100 miles to go in the pouring rain,

it took all my powers of motivation

to do it, but I did. I arrived just after

(3)

(4) (5)

123-126_Jules_CC186.indd 2 14/01/2013 12:29

Page 11: Crafty Carper February 2013

Diary of an Everyday Carp AnglerJulian Cundiff

Crafty Carper 125

“Luckily they released Roz and she was soon safe at home, so I managed

to sneak in a quick session”

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PLF_CC186.indd 1 08/01/2013 15:26

6.30 a.m. and was first in the queue

before a few others started to arrive

at 6.45 a.m. I’d been told that the

water had been frozen, but some fish

had been caught from the sailing club

Boards Swim, so the Nash barrow was

pushed gingerly over the frozen boards.

It was slippy, icy, and I was wearing

moon boots – not good for stability.

Luckily I didn’t fall in, and I soon had the

rods in position where I’d been told the

carp were holding up. Both rods were

fished at the 60-yard mark towards the

boat with just single hookbaits (one a

Nash White Chocolate and one a Nash

Amber Strawberry) on ‘bomb-on-the-

end-of-the-line’ rigs. Because I wasn’t

going to be fishing at range I had only

taken my middle distance gear with

15lb fluorocarbon as my main line. Duff

joined me at 8.00 a.m. and we soon had

our rods in position and the coffee on.

I expected a bite pretty soon, but with

no action by 10.00 a.m. I tried to induce

action by Spombing out some Nash

White Chocolate Soluballs soaked in

milk. Nothing came of that either. Sadly,

due to the lack of a plan B, I didn’t have

my long-range gear, and with the wind

in my face I was restricted to an arc of

no more than 90 yards in front of me.

The lads on the dam wall had nothing

and the point area was sewn up. Duff

managed one at lunch and then another

mid-afternoon. I tried Zigs, but it wasn’t

until 3.00 p.m. that one made a mistake,

and then another 20 minutes later.

Clearly we weren’t on the fish because

a lad to my right had nothing at all, but

at least I’d gritted my teeth and done

it when it would have been easier to

stay at home; sometimes the hardest

bit about winter carp fishing is doing it.

The new S5 Sirens performed well, and

with the latest HIM album to listen to

on the way home, there are worse ways

to spend your time. Note to self – don’t

put all your tactical eggs in one basket.

Friday 21st

There’d been a week of heavy rain

that flooded most of my local waters,

so I was left with just one choice for

Saturday’s hit-and-run session; a local

one in the village. With the tackle

prepared and plenty of the Nash

Amber Strawberry 10mms ready, I

was really looking forward to it – until

the phone rang and Roz needed

taking to the A&E in Doncaster. She’d

had a bad tummy for a while, and I

had threatened to take her in myself

unless she got better, but it had taken

a turn for the worse and it was out

of her hands. It was time to get a

move on, and eventually she was in

A&E and then in the Royal Infirmary

for at least one night, maybe two.

As it was Christmas I did give in

and spent £6 on the TV hook-up for

her. I know, I know, I’m going soft.

Sunday 23rd

Luckily they released Roz and she

was soon safe at home, so I managed

to sneak in a quick session (as you

do). I managed a nice double into

dark, but flipping heck, it was so cold!

A trimmed-down Amber Strawberry

15mm frozen bait with a mesh bag

of crumb did the trick, and with

cold hands it was time for home.

Monday 24th

A manic day, and with Roz out of

commission I made the 160-mile

round trip to deliver her family

presents to Middlesbrough, then

a dash to Eric’s Angling in Leeds

to get my retiring boss his leaving

present (a Drennan Quiver Tip rod

and reel), and finally back to Selby

for midnight mass at my mum’s old

church, St James, with dad and Alison.

I climbed into bed at 2.00 a.m. after

almost 300 miles of driving. Happy

Christmas! The fat man with the

white beard got a mince pie and

a glass of wine for his troubles!

Tuesday 25th

Happy Christmas it truly was. Roz felt

good enough to eat her meal, so we

had a wonderful family day at dad’s.

Home later that night and time to

watch the Korda Underwater 7 DVD

and relax. All I can say is well done

Ali Hamidi and co., and what a great

adventure it was. Certainly some

of the changes made a difference,

but as always the carp really do

have the upper hand, which, in a

masochistic way, is really quite

nice. It’s not the answer to all our

problems, but it makes you think.

Saturday 29th

With the work week over it was time

to sort out a new freezer for 2013. I’ve

got one at dad’s but I need a freezer

at home too, and eventually settled

on one big enough to accommodate

as much Monster Squid and Amber

Strawberry as I would ever need. With

the freezer sorted and gym session

completed, I got the tackle ready for 24

hours at Chestnut Pool. The Monster

Squid was crumbed and the sweetcorn

liquidised. New rigs were tied up, a

Titan Bivvy, rather than the Titan Brolly,

was packed, and the last Carpworld

winter series piece was completed and

emailed to Brian Skoyles. I was hoping

that the conditions would improve.

The gales had caused havoc locally,

and more rain had once again flooded

the roads. Come on, give us a break.

(3) The amazing Steve Vai, who once trod the boards with Whitesnake and Dave Lee Roth.

(4) It’s Christmas! Time to unwrap my presents.

(5) It was hard going, but action at last.

(6) First blood to Duff, with Mark doing the honours.

(7) The joy of winter fishing – mud, glorious mud.

(8) Not the best start to Christmas – I had to take Roz to hospital.(6)

(7)

(8)

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