Crafty Carper October 2015 - preview

EFOR R E FFISRHINYGREADE ER EV

OVER £1,900 WORTH OF PRIZES FROM AVID, CYGNET & NAVITAS

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No.218 October 2015

October 2015 | Issue 218 | £4.25 PLUS FEATURES FROM

Ed Betteridge

RECO BRE RD The AKE stor y be R fish hind in t

Simon Crow Jake Wildbore Julian Cundiff Dave Lane

Get Crafty... GET CATCHING!

h BYC AC h e bigge istor st y

The science behind why fish love spending time in the green stuff

SPREAD YOUR WINGS

Fed up of fishing busy lakes? Give the river a try

RIG MECHANICS

On sale 23rd September–20th October 2015

WEED EXPLAINED

Why keeping it simple can be the best solution

craftycarper.co

COST-EFFECTIVE CARPING: ARE BOILIES AT £3 A KILO REALLY ANY GOOD? 001_Cover_CC218.indd 1

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Crafty Carper /// Issue 218 /// October 2015 /// www.craftycarper.co

7

Editorial James Turner

On the cover: Ben Hunt with the Big Common from Oxlease, taken during the 2015 BYCAC final.

Editor James looks at what’s

in store for you in this issue of Crafty Carper, as well as giving

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48

look at weed, the types commonly

through the capture of a BYCAC record, at 47lb+, and past

found in lakes, and how you can still

champion and now event marshal Brad Greening looks at

catch from the weediest of venues.

what the competition is all about, and what it has to offer.

Weed Explained David Smith

Fishery manager David takes a close

Crafty Carper Under-21s *BYCAC Special*

his thoughts for the month,

Dan Price describes how he won the 2015 British

and what he’s been up to.

Young Carpers’ Angling Championship, Ben Hunt talks us

9

The Knowledge Dave Lane

This month, Dave has been more of a social butterfly, with the MNDA

EGEFODRER R FFISHINY REA ER EV

charity event at Linear Fisheries.

M AVID, CYGNET & NAVITAS OVER £1,900 WORTH OF PRIZES FRO

He was kept busy, helping others to catch and have a good time angling.

e sid s in tail De

14

Avid Carp Competition We’ve got just short of £800

worth of the new Avid Carp Megabite

No.218 October 2015

Bedchairs to give away to our readers craftyca rper.co

this month, and all you have to do is answer a simple question.

25

It’s A Family Affair Ed Betteridge

When you can combine your favourite

| October 2015 | Issue 218 £4.25

hobby with some quality family

PLUS M FEATURES FRO

time, you’ve surely hit the jackpot.

This is what Ed does, and his kids

RECOR BRE D AKE The story R b ehin fish d

Ed Betteridge Simon Crow Jake Wildbore Julian Cundiff Dave Lane

love spending time on the bank.

31

Don’t Follow The Crowd Jake Anderson

With many waters up and down the

in BY t CAC he bigge histo st ry

country packed to the rafters with

Get Crafty... GET CATCHING !

optimistic anglers on a weekend, we see how Jake Anderson opts to be a little different to reap the rewards.

37

Crafty Catch Column Sponsored by Sticky Baits

This is the place to get your catch pictures published, so send them in to us, and you’re in with the chance of a great prize from those top guys at Sticky Baits.

October 2015

The science behind why fish love spending time in the green stuff

Fed up of fishing busy lakes? Give the river a try

Why keeping it simple can be the best solution

craftycarper.co

IES AT £3 A KILO REALLY ANY COST-EFFECTIVE CARPING: ARE BOIL

61

– Baitology

This month we take a

17

Rivers Jake Wildbore

Jake leaves the busy day ticket

cuisine on the shelves of a tackle shop near you, as well as the Editor’s Choice of the month, and a crafty tip from Joe Turnbull.

Cygnet Competition With the recent release of

GOOD?

the new Cygnet incorporating Muddy

08/09/2015 14:58

Unlocking The

Here you’ll find the latest

and greatest products of carpy

66

001_Cover_CC218.indd 1

Carp Food Special

57

Carp Food

RIG MECHANICS

On sale 23rd September–20th

D WEED EXPLAINE

WINGS SPREAD YOUR

81

A Simple Rig For All Occasions Harry Hales

Young Harry is a cracking angler,

Waters bite indicators, we managed to get hold of 15 sets to offer as prizes for our readers, and they aren’t half tarty!

69

Clear-water Carping Marv Wait

look at the latest boilie

lakes behind him as he heads

and has caught numerous big

to be made available here

off to fish the running water,

fish by keeping his rigs as

water can be challenging at the best

in the UK, with quality

and looks at what it takes

simple as possible. He’s got

of times, but Marv loves nothing more

and affordability being

to get amongst some truly

one for whichever type of

than going up against the fish in this

the main attributes.

stunning nomadic river carp.

lakebed he encounters.

type of environment. Fine-tune your

Pitting your wits against carp in clear

end tackle with his help on page 69.

4

Crafty Carper

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09/09/2015 10:00

Contents /// October 2015

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74

The Question Is This month’s carping

conundrums are answered by our panel

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In Focus – JRC If you’re in the market

for a quality bivvy which is both

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Real Overnighters Julian Cundiff

Our man Jules fits his angling around

of experts. If you get your question

light in weight and very practical,

a very busy work and home life, and

answered, you’ll receive a cracking

then the Stealth X-Lite from JRC

here looks at how you can make

prize delivered straight to your door.

is well worth a closer look.

the most of fishing short overnight

86

Subscribe If you want to get your

favourite carp-fishing magazine

105

sessions in between work.

In Focus – SONIK With the new

SKS range from SONIK taking

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Carp Angling My Way Claudia Darga

Well-known German angler Claudia

through your letter box every month,

2015 by storm, we look at

then this is the place to go. The

their carp safety equipment,

wants to help more ladies take

offer for every subscription this

which is both very good quality

up the pastime of carp angling.

month is some Berkley Whiplash.

and priced conservatively.

She hasn’t looked back since she

Simon Crow

This month, Simon looks at the subject

107

being comfortable on the bank

New Direction

and enjoying your surroundings.

It may be another set of alarms, but

of target selection. You may want the

these are a little different because

biggest or prettiest in the lake, but it’s

the receiver also has a Bluetooth

not always as easy as that. It takes

function to link to a smartphone.

preparation, dedication, and hard work.

Find out more on page 107.

94

The TicketMaster We’ve got four day ticket

fisheries from across the country in

started carping, and it’s all about

In Focus –

109

130

Mega Deals If you’re up for a

bargain then you’ll definitely want to head over to page 130 to check out our Mega Deals for

Navitas

some of the best offers from the

Competition

country’s leading retailers.

With winter just around the corner,

the pages of TicketMaster this month,

we’ve got together with the guys

and free fishing offers for every reader

at Navitas to offer five lucky

to take advantage of. Get on it!

readers the chance to own the

COMPETITION

88

From The Crow’s Nest

awesome NVTS All-Season Suit.

99

Carpers’ Kit We take a look at some of the

best products on the market, and give you the low-down on what’s hot and

111

Fishing The Gravel Rob Burgess

Rob tackled the tricky Kingsmead 1,

what’s not. Plus, the Crafty Team give

and reveals how he succeeded by

you their essential items this month.

targeting gravelly areas rather than

103

In Focus – ECU On page 103 you’ll find

a review of the latest offering from Edwards Custom upgrades. They have now created their own bite alarms

the usual silty and weedy spots which are often fished on the lake.

116

Inbox Keep up to date

with the latest news, and you can

and receivers, hand-built in England,

also get in touch to see what’s

and it’s tarty tackle at its finest.

happening on the carpy grapevine.

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WEED EXPLAINED D

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S

m

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David is a fishery manager who studied under the watchful eye of Simon Scott and Viv Shears at Sparsholt.

Since leaving, he’s put his hard work to good use, working for Mainstream Fisheries, as well as currently running his own syndicate waters. He knows a fair bit about lakes, their inhabitants, and how they tick.

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Weed Explained David Smith

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43 07/09/2015 11:11

MaKinG BYCaC HiSTOrY ANGLER PROFILE.

Ben Hunt Age 16

Hometown

Brigg UK personal best

This month, in our BYCAC special in the Under-21s section of Crafty, we’ve got a young man who recently caught the biggest fish in the history of the British Young Carpers’ Angling Championships.

47lb 15oz

Under-21s

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I

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t was that time again, BYCAC 2015, and after a pretty hairy qualifier,

off the mark in the 2015 BYCAC final.

The fish was netted and weighed,

going through with just one fish, I

and while it was on the mat just about

managed to book myself a place in the

to be held up for pictures, my other rod

final. I came seventh out of the draw

sprung into life. I had a feeling that it

and chose Peg 16; it was a swim that

was a better fish just after its first run;

controlled a lot of water, which was

funnily enough, I had accidently left my

useful if the fish headed into the water

line clips on, and if I didn’t start gaining

to my right. It had no angling pressure

some line straight away, I would never

because it couldn’t be fished by any

have known what I was attached to.

other anglers. After an eventless day

I cranked down on the fish, praying

on the Friday and still nothing through

that my Zig link and Size 8 Mixa hook

the night, I was starting to doubt a

would stay strong until I got some

few things. First of all, I changed my

line back. After the nerve-racking first

spot where I was fishing, as I could

run, a fairly calm fight followed until

see the fish obviously weren’t in the

it was down in my left-hand margin.

area to my right. I tied up fresh Zigs,

I could see it was a common, and I

cut to the length I thought would

turned round to my mates, Josh and

be the one. I could see that the fish

Austin, and one of the marshals, and

were in the upper layers of water,

said, “It looks a mid-20.” But the look

so I opted for an 11ft and a 10½ft

on their faces as they also got their

Zig fished in 12ft of water, one with

first glance of it was a bit different to

black foam and a yellow aligner, and

mine. I didn’t think much of it though,

the other with black foam and a red

even though they did have a better

aligner. Simon Scott walked around

viewpoint from up on the bank behind

on Saturday morning and asked me

me. The fish then went on a second

how it was going. I replied, “No, it’s

run, this time down the right-hand

not the one, it’s not going too well.”

margin, and stripped another 20 yards

Well, didn’t that turn out to be totally

or so from the spool. It was battling

wrong. I was putting out four Spombs

its hardest to stay away from the net.

of sloppy CC Moore Sweet Nut Cloud

Finally, after gaining the last few yards

along with maggots every 25 minutes,

of line, it was then that I realised it was

and at 10.00 a.m. I received my first

a serious unit of a fish, just by looking

take, a 13lb 10oz mirror. This got me

at the size of its head! I had the fish at

1: Using solid bags didn’t seem to be working for me at the start.

2: A switch over to Zigs was my next option.

3: The Big Common in all her glory.

4: What a moment!

5: The moment of truth – 47lb 15oz.

6: I couldn’t believe it!

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08/09/2015 11:40

BYCAC 2015 Special – Crafty Carper Under-21s Making BYCAC History

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the net cord, but my first and second

net. I was completely speechless.

attempts at landing it didn’t go to plan.

Everywhere I turned I had people

I just couldn’t get the net under the

congratulating me on my capture.

gut of the fish, despite wading out

We hoisted it onto the mats, and

to my knees in the water, because of

up on the scales the needle swung

a shallow weedy margin. It was third

around to a massive 47lb 15oz. Not

time lucky, and I managed to get the

only was this my first UK 40, but

net under the massive common. Get in!

also a new PB, smashing my old one

It was no easy task trying to land an

by over 13lb. I had got my hands

upper-40 on an 11ft Zig, but as

on the prize everyone wants

soon as it was in the net,

when fishing Oxlease

I dropped my rod and

– the Big Common!

firmly took hold of

I lifted her

the landing net

up for all the

arms. I peered

cameras, but

over to look into

I really didn’t

the net, to find

know where to

that my prize

look because

lying there was

there were

one big cheese of a common carp, and the width of it was like nothing I had ever seen before.

Straight away I had a feeling that

so many lenses 5

pointing at me.

After a few minutes for everyone to capture the moment, I got a soaking for my

it could have been the Oxlease Big

capture. I laid her back down and

Common, due to the distinctive marks

headed for the water, got some

on either side of it. Austin was on the

more shots in there, gave her a little

walkie-talkie to the other marshals,

kiss goodbye, and then released her

informing them that the Big Common

to make somebody else’s dreams

was resting in my net. Before I knew

come true. This was soon followed

it, my swim was absolute chaos. Every

by a massive shout and a cheer

marshal was in there, and then all the

from me! What a moment it was.

Sky cameras! It still hadn’t sunk in

Not only had I caught the fish of

that I had the lake’s biggest fish in my

a lifetime, I had also made BYCAC history by landing the biggest

6

fish ever in the competition!

I was still on cloud nine for the last 24hrs, and with a four-fish capture at the close, I finished in sixth place, with an overall weight of just over 94lb. I loved every minute of it, and cannot wait for next year. A massive thank you to everyone who made it possible, and also well done to Dan on winning the event, and all the other competitors for making it such an enjoyable time. What an absolute cheese of a common, and it’s a moment I will not forget for a long time. Bring on next year! CC

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Fishing The Gravel Rob Burgess

Gravel pits are traditionally clear weedy lakes. The way I approach

them should they be feeding there.

Especially at this time of year, the

be clean; they can still have a small

pull the tip ever so slowly. I see a

amount of silkweed on top of them.

lot of people pulling the lead across

these sorts of lakes often depends

water is cooling down, and on warm,

The best way to locate these spots is

the bottom really fast, but the

on the time of year. Now we are

sunny days, the fish love spending

with a bare lead on some braided main

trouble with this is that it lifts the

moving into autumn, the fish have

time on top of the shallower bars and

line. I tend to have a few casts around

lead off the bottom and you don’t

most likely been caught on these

plateaus. The biggest edge in fishing is

with it until I feel what I’m looking for.

get a true indication as to what

features already, and become very

location and ensuring that you are on

If you land on gravel, you will get a

is on the lakebed. The best way

cautious when feeding on them.

the fish. Even if they are tricky to catch,

heavy thud on the rod tip. If it lands in

to do it is to drag the lead across

Regardless of the fact that the fish

as long as you can get on them, that’s

weed, you won’t feel much at all, and it

the bottom really slowly. If it pulls

are wary of them, these spots will

the main thing. On gravel pits there will

lands with a much softer drop. I don’t

across the bottom easily, you know

still be visited regularly. The main

most likely be plenty of weed about,

use a marker float, as I can feel roughly

it is a very clean bottom. If it’s small,

thing is to put something down

and quite often the only remotely

for how long the lead is falling through

sharp taps then it will be very fine

which will tempt them to feed,

clean areas are gravel. This doesn’t

the water and just how deep it is.

gravel. If it doesn’t tap as much and

and use a rig that won’t spook

always necessarily mean that they will

I favour an in-line lead setup when fishing on really clean spots.

The key to finding clear spots is to

still feels clean, but the tip takes

Solid bags allow me to use a short hooklink, and protect the hook from burring on the gravel.

Once the spot is located, wrap the line around some marker sticks to get all the rods clipped up to it.

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Fishing The Gravel

Rob Burgess

By leading around with just a bare lead on some braid, you will be able to locate any gravel areas.

Most gravel pits are full of weed, and it’s worth trying to find a clear spot close to the larger beds.

Blending the leader and hooklink to the lakebed can really help in clear water, and so can putty for pinning everything down.

a little while to recover, you may

area. This ensures the bait won’t all fall

the rest of the freebies. With this mix

hooklinks hard to deal with, and

have a light covering of weed there.

down in one hole. Some will still land

I can use a single 12 or 16mm bottom

the very nature of the way they

Once I have found the piece of

on my rigs, but I want the main bulk

bait, a wafter tipped with corn, or

feed on such spots lends itself to

of the bait in the middle of the spot.

a wafter on its own, none of which

them. The fish don’t move too far

With regards to the bait itself, I use

will stand out as being dangerous.

between each bait, so often sit

fan of fishing in the centre of the

a mixture of different things. I usually

If the spot is very clean gravel, I

spot, much preferring to go towards

opt for a mix of hemp, some bloodworm

prefer an in-line lead arrangement. The

something that they can feel as

the edge of it. From my past

pellets, sweetcorn, and 12mm and

nice clean bottom lends itself to this

soon as they pick up the rig. A

experience, whether it’s the front,

16mm Vor-Tex boilies. I also like to

lead arrangement, which I believe to be

longer hooklink has a chance of

back or side, I think it is a lot easier

break up a few boilies, just to make

the most effective lead arrangement

sitting in the carp’s mouth for a

to get a bite from these spots. In

sure there are lots of different shapes,

in regards to hooking fish. I can also

while before it feels the lead. I want

this case, I like to bait as accurately

sizes and smells in the swim. I don’t

get away with using a very short

to use the lead arrangement to my

as I can. I almost want to put all my

like using something whereby the fish

hooklink tucked inside a solid bag.

advantage, and hook them as

bait in the middle of the gravelly

can easily pick out the hookbait from

I’ve found that fish seem to find short

soon as they pick up the rig.

gravel, I then look at where to fish on that particular spot. I’m not a

quite tight to the bottom. I want

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113 08/09/2015 14:46

COMING SOON A BOOK ABOUT CARP FISHING

BY ALI HAMIDI

THE CARPERS’ HIGH

Softback 448 pages, £20.00 + P&P

Carp fishing has never seen anything like this before

Is it a biography? Is it a technical book? Is it anecdotal and story-based? Quite simply, it’s all these things rolled into one.

With a diverse geographical chapter base, from as far away as Japan, to Paris, Ockendon, and even Turkey, this book brings variety by the spodful as it charts how Ali achieved many of his finest moments and angling highs.

This is a book which was written to inspire the working anglers, something to make you laugh, while also giving a rare glimpse behind the scenes of Ali Hamidi’s working and fishing life. More importantly, it is a book littered with angling edges and technical advice, to help anyone reading it put more fish on the bank. It is built around Ali Hamidi’s angling adventures since 2005, a period which saw him join tackle giants Korda, an era when he helped bring Thinking Tackle, Underwater 7 and 8, The Big Fish-Off, and numerous other highprofile angling projects to your TV screens.

It has been over a decade of pressure cookercarping which has drawn tactical guile, effort and innovation from the author; vital lessons and stories that he wants to pass on.

This book is dedicated to and focused on working anglers. A richly illustrated 400+ pages which will not only help you catch more under time constraints, but will also have you laughing, sighing, and relating to much of what you read. Frank, honest, detailed, technical, and varied just about begins to describe the nature of The Carpers’ High.

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