Carpworld February 2013

STRUGGLING IN THE COLD? CUNDIFF & SKOYLES ON THE BEST METHODS FOR ‘SCRATCHING TIME’

ISSUE 269 / FEBRUARY 2013 / MONTHLY £4.50

ISSUE 269 FEBRUARY 2013

BIG NAMES

IAIN MACMILLAN DEREK STRITTON JOHN CLARIDGE NICK BURRAGE

After landing forty carp over 40lb, ‘Pecky’ picks out some of his most memorable captures

MARK HOLMES BILL COTTAM TIM PAISLEY

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Our resident diarist looks back at one of his best years ever 14 P AGE S OF T ACK LE & BA IT

ISSUE 112 February

BRIGGSY’S

2013

BEST YET!

P171 Fifte en year s of Chr is tma s tr ips in a sess ion to Cas sien culm w hich prod uced ina te thre e 50s and two 60s

CATCH REP ORTS

CARP ANGLING AROUND THE WORLD OUR 36-PAGE INTERNATIONAL CARPER SECTION INCLUDES: STEVE BRIGGS’ BEST CASSIEN SESSION YET  TONY DAVIES-PATRICK E C H O E S A R O U N D T H E W O R L D  C AT C H I N G A W O R L D R E C O R D C O M M O N

NAL ANGLER

THE WIND C RIES MARY

GLOBETROT

TER

P165 Our mont hly round up of the carp captu res that matte r from aroun d the globe

P181 Mario Winne kes share s the story of his P190 Tony Davie captu re of the s-Pat rick enor mous Ger conti nues the man comm on story of fishin ALSO INSID g a large pit in E THIS ISSUE South er n Franc : 178 OVER e SEAS FISHER Y FOCUS • 164_ICCover_CW26 1 8 8 H O L I D AY 9.indd 1 DIRECTORY 17/01/2013 17:15

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18/01/2013 12:16

DARRELL PECK THE HUNT FOR FORTY 40s

JUST A FEW OF MY F AV O U R I T E S How many people catch a 40 in a lifetime? Not many, so when you know that Darrell’s had 40 of ’em, you’ll realise just what an achievement that is. Picking just a few out of that bunch was hard – but someone’s got to do it.

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ABOVE The Client – I couldn’t even imagine a carp as stunning as this one!

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week-session there during July and, although we never caught, we saw these legendary carp during daily walks around the venue. There was a swim named Trumptons which was a little point that jutted out into the lake, and in front was the biggest bed of Canadian pondweed in the lake, possibly a touch smaller than a tennis court. Fishing this swim was none other than Terry Hearn, and, as you might expect, this is where all the carp were, bobbing and cruising along, backs out on full display.

Over the next few weeks I fished the lake regularly and although I had 3-4 nights a week at my disposal, it didn’t feel nearly enough.

There were a number of genuine full-timers on there that season, and even with my limited experience I could very clearly see what was going on. The fish were drawn to the weed and it seemed plainly obvious that Des’s Swim opposite Trumptons was the only one worth being in, having the best line lay to the fish. All day, every day, the fish patrolled this weed, but during the mornings sheets of bubbles would regularly erupt on the surface as these legendary carp disturbed the sediment along the edges of the weed. Darren Miles was in this swim most weeks and the rest of us were simply there to take his pictures. He was on fire, catching at will.

The Hunt for Forty 40s Darrell Peck

W

hen I look back to my very first 40, in 2003, it is, without doubt, my most memorable. The way it all unfolded before me in slow motion, and how terrified I was by the realisation I was actually connected to one of the legendary Car Park mirrors, is something I’ll never forget.

RMC Yateley Car Park Lake needs little introduction. Some of the country’s most famous fish lived there and had been caught by angling legends such as Ritchie McDonald, Rob Maylin and Terry Hearn. Its history is rich, and it’s notorious for being extremely difficult.

At the time I had moderate confidence in my own angling ability, having caught wherever I had applied myself, but this was different.

Back then I had only fished my local waters; I was a naive 21-year-old and, if I’m honest, the stories in the magazines had not only inspired me, but left me feeling a little inferior.

When I joined, my goal was modest, I simply wanted to experience the atmosphere, possibly witness a capture or, heaven help me, get a bite myself.

I remember the first session vividly, even all these years on. My good friend Ben Connolly and I fished a

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17/01/2013 14:53

Six of the Best – Part One Iain Macmillan

I found fishing them pretty easy after being on the barren, featureless lakes up north for a while. So that would be my new plan of attack for the foreseeable future. At the time there were only three main day ticket lakes at Linear, so I would simply sling my kit in the motor and head down there, and decide where to fish when I got there, depending on angling pressure and conditions.

It became very apparent from the off that Hardwick/Smith’s was easily the quietest of the pits, due to its apparent difficulty with the up and down nature of the lakebed. It was its deserted banks and stunning Oxfordshire scaly carp that fired me up even more.

It was my marker work that started to improve on Hardwick; I mean, some of the spots were in 9ft of water on top of a plateau with 18ft all around it, with nothing else screaming carp in the boundaries of the swim. It was also the time I started to fish tight, with all three rods on one spot to maximise my chances of a multiple hit. The fish weren’t shy either, and they are easily spotted if you look hard enough. I’d gone from sitting it out on a boring park lake to really thinking about my fishing on every level, and I was having to work it out all on my own because it wasn’t until later in the year that I got to know anglers like Jon Finch and Ian Russell, which, again, took my thinking process to the next level.

2

The Hamster Linch Hill

I’d heard about another complex of waters just up the road from Linear.

There were three lakes which were syndicate: the big pit, Stoneacres, and two smaller pits, Christchurch and Willow. They were reasonably stocked with some lovely old fish, but there was also a good scattering of 40-pounders to go at. I popped in for a look because I’d got a couple of mates fishing on Christchurch.

I’d heard all the stories on how riggy these pressured carp were, but I thought that after I’d done well on Hardwick, it was about time to step up a gear or three. I parted with my cash and couldn’t wait to get stuck into Christchurch. I looked at Stoneacres, but I’ll be honest, it looked way out of my league, and I like to concentrate on just the one water and get something going.

It was indeed a whole different ball game on Christchurch. The lake was only about 8 acres or so, but once I’d barrowed my gear down

If I’m honest, Finchy always seemed streets ahead of me.

He’d fished pressured waters before and it was very clear he was comfortable with it all, and in all honesty I was a bit in awe of him, but once I got to know him he taught me no end, especially on the rig and baiting up front. I was brimming with confidence, and the long journey flew by. I also expected to catch every trip, rather than just hoping I would get lucky.

I’d been plumbing a swim on the Conveyor Bank spit, which gave me good access to a chunk of open water with a bay to my left. The big west/ southwesterly winds hacked into the bay, and seeing as the lake wasn’t being

and found around a dozen anglers fishing, I suddenly felt a bit lost. There were only a couple of swims free, and from speaking to a guy in the hot peg, Peg 1, it was apparent that most of the better swims were already booked before the guys currently fishing in them had even left. My goodness it was busy!! Well, this is what I’d joined for, so it was time to get amongst them.

I got forced into Peg 3, which, in fairness, gave access to a good bit of open water; however, it was still relatively early, so the last thing I wanted to do as a newbie was to start

ABOVE Hemp and corn was my main plan of attack on Hardwick/Smith’s.

Big southwesterlies coming in on Hardwick; I always knew they’d be off the Conveyor Spit in those sort of conditions.

BELOW

A stormy day looking out from the Middle Trees. The pump swim is on the far right against the gravel workings – just don’t mention the DIY skills!

BELOW

fished much, as soon as we got favourable conditions, the fish acted like carp were supposed to act and followed the wind. This meant they would navigate over a raised clay area I’d found with the marker, and it was just big enough (the size of a brolly) to get all three rods on – perfect!

Rigs were fairly standard, but it was around the time the stiffer coated braids had hit the scene, which meant tangles became a thing of the past (almost). As for hookbaits, I was doing well on visual baits, such as small yellow pop-ups, or a couple of pieces of yellow plastic, which blended in perfectly with the hemp, corn and pellet mix I was putting out with the spod. My outlook on spodding had improved too, and I now understood how to fish for bites, as opposed to spodding out buckets of mix just for the sake of it. I had done OK over the road on the Manor by concocting a mix of all sorts, including chopped boilie, groundbait, groats – you name it, it was in the mix, but I soon found a much simpler mix that still stands me in good stead to this day.

However, it was the amount I’d put out in order to get the fish feeding, rather than getting them totally preoccupied on all the small bits of feed. I think that the saying I’m after is less is more.

slinging a marker about bang on the morning bite time. Instead, I got everything set up and went back to Peg 1 to punish Dave, who was in there. The gravel company were still extracting from the freshly dug pit behind Christchurch, and in order to get rid of the excess water they’d installed a pump, which, once turned on, fired all the water from the pit behind back into Christchurch. Well, you can guess what happened next – the pipe which launched the water back into the pit was in Peg 1, and once it was turned on it was like the Pied Piper playing his pipe to the carp.

It didn’t matter what the conditions, they would pile in and around the pipe like nothing I’d ever witnessed before.

Dave was a shrewd character, and word on the grapevine was that he soon sussed that by slipping the gravel lads a few quid, they’d happily turn on the pump. Dave wasn’t a very gifted angler, he’d just sussed out what turned on the carp – and that was a load of coloured water coming streaming into his swim via a pipe!

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17/01/2013 11:18

“Dave wasn’t a

This trip was no different, was tiny bits of bait with very gifted angler, and he’d had a load of fish, an even tinier hookbait he’d just sussed out including the queen of over the top. For some what turned on the the lake in the form of reason the fish’s mouths carp – and that was a Petals at 45lb-odd. She were only small, so the load of coloured water was an absolute peach of general thinking was a carp, one that I thought to go down the small coming streaming only existed in my wildest route, because anything into his swim via dreams, but there I was, bigger would be treated a pipe!” about to get in a swim from with suspicion, and probably where she was caught so often, wouldn’t have been able to get and on my first visit to the pit. I left in their mouths in the first place.

Dave to it while I nipped down to the This suited my Linear-style perfectly, café for a breakfast, but I couldn’t and if I’m honest, I felt right at home help thinking about all the big fish in on my first night at Christchurch, Christchurch; I was even picturing apart from waking up to motionless myself holding Petals on my first trip! bobbins, that is. This wasn’t on, so Dave, being Dave, had signalled to rather than being a martyr, I grabbed the workmen to knock off the pump, my wallet and kept my eye out for the which to be fair, was the right thing workmen turning up just after 8.00 to do; this would give me chance to a.m. They soon pulled over because a plan my attack while the fish drifted new, unsuspecting fool was hovering off a little. I thought I’d try it my way about with a wallet in his hand. They for the first night, i.e. no pump, so I certainly knew the script, so a crisp baited a couple of spots in the edge brownie was duly handed over, and I and pinged a couple of rigs directly told them not to turn it off until they on top of them. The thing with left at 6.00 p.m. They never left it Christchurch was that the going trend on overnight because the pit behind

Six of the Best – Part One Iain Macmillan

The spot on the spit had now really started to produce for me, and due to the fact that the lake was hardly fished, there wasn’t much danger of anybody going in there. Finchy had got something going on another plateau on the Summer Bay spit and we were both doing well, him slightly better than me – as always!! The morning of the big day saw me have a couple of mint mid20s, and the thought of big 30lb fish was constantly on my mind. As I was fishing such a small spot with all three rods, I didn’t want to risk recasting and spooking anything that may have been lurking beneath the surface after my first two bites, so I was down to one rod.

I gently laid three spods onto the spot with hardly any disturbance, and not long after, a huge great mirror threw itself clear of the spot. I was nervous as hell, so imagine how I felt when the single rod tore off out of the clip. I was shaking like a leaf, but luckily the fight was slow and pretty uneventful and soon my prize was in the folds of the net.

I recognised the fish straightaway, and after a quick call to Roy, he came round to do me a few snaps. She went 35lb 12oz on the scales, which smashed my previous park lake personal best. The sun duly came out for the pictures, and as I smugly sipped on a cold Fosters, the Oxfordshire big-fish bug had well and truly bitten me.

Jordan at 35lb+, still a big fish now, but bear in mind this shot was taken 11 years ago.

It was the icing on the cake.

would run dry, and the motor on the pump would either burn out or run out of diesel, so fair enough.

I reckon it only took around 20 minutes before the margin in front and behind the pipe was black with carp, and a fair few big ones too.

Don’t forget, I’d only recently seen what a mid-30 looked like from Hardwick, and there were fish as big as that there for sure. I did see Petals too, which was miles bigger than anything else in there and was easily spotted. It didn’t do my nerves much good, I can tell you.

Everything was ready, and I’d got a couple of rigs with a small PVA stick on to stop tangles. It wasn’t a case of having to attract them to the stick, the pipe was attracting them, so it was just there for anti-tangle purposes. I cast the bare leads over on the gravel margin, nipped round to clip on the rigs, and then lowered them into what was the ultimate in carp soup. They didn’t even spook off me being there, such was their excitement about the 41

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17/01/2013 11:18

A Season on a Silty Mere Nick Burrage

end up in the same area, I’d be lucky.

With the baiting pattern ending up as a long trail, going from right to left at a range of 50yds, I decided to fish my rods like an arrow head, with the middle rod going another 20 or so yards straight through the middle of the area, well out into the lake.

With my rod tips out of the wind, I settled down for a quiet night. After the session I had in Stoney’s Peg, with the wind lifting my rod tips all night – a bleep every two minutes was really annoying, to say the least – this session felt much calmer, sitting just out of the wind, so any single bleeps could be a bite on the way!!

Being used to proper runs on this old mere, this first night really caught me on the hop. An hour before first light, the alarm let out a single bleep, which woke me from my dream. Looking at the rod, I thought, ‘Liner, must be!’ Just a few seconds later, another bleep. I had visions of a carp eating a few free baits around my rig at this point. Then there was a quiet spell, well all 10 minutes of it anyway. The bobbin did a small lift and two bleeps. The next signal from the rod came, and another tiny movement on the bobbin indicated an upset bream. So, being a little gutted with the thought of a snotty upsetting my swim, I picked up the rod and started to reel in with a slight weight on the end. At about 35yds from the bank I was thinking, ‘This bream is pretty weighty.’ Another 5yds later, the bream had woken up and turned into an angry carp, ripping line from my clutch.

I was standing there with a thousand and one things rushing round my head.

Had I missed out on carp before? Had I

48

been fishing it wrong? Should I change something? Wow! That was a real eyeopener for me that night. OK, the water was cold at 6° but a bite as delicate as that was mad! I have even tripped up carp watching them shake their heads, but nothing at all down to this scale.

A few minutes later I standing with a 22lb 8oz common in the net. Some things really shake up your fishing, yeah, and this was definitely one of them.

I must have always been one of the lucky ones; I had always read or heard of carpers who say a fish swam 30yds with a rig without a bleep – but it had never happened to me before, never mind a carp just sitting, not even shaking its head.

Making my way to a frozen Mangrove.

TOP LEFT

ABOVE The sun warming the water below the ice; check the water temperature for yourself before and after.

Lightning Tree (Januar y)

After having a cold, but happy, New Year in Stream Mouth, we had a short,

“At about 35yds from the bank I was thinking, ‘This bream is pretty weighty.’ Another 5yds later, the bream had woken up and turned into an angry carp, ripping line from my clutch”

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freeze-over at the lake. I managed one more visit before the really cold weather got the best of the lake. I felt lucky because this session before the big freeze-up, I managed to fish and rebait my spots one last time, just before a thick layer of ice was tightly screwed onto the old mere.

I still felt good in the fact that I was keeping my plan going somewhat; for me it’s all about the big picture from one end of a season to the other!!

On my next visit, and with a cup of tea in hand, I sat watching the water from the top of my zipped-up door in Lightning Tree. I had got used to the odd bleep coming from my alarms, and at 7.00 p.m., the left-hand rod gave a series of bleeps. The bobbin was soon on its way back down to earth though.

‘Liner,’ I thought, and a feel of the line confirmed my suspicions. I turned round and took a step back towards my bivvy, then the middle rod did almost the same thing – a slow up, a couple of bleeps, then down to earth again!

Within seconds, the right-hand rod was no longer feeling left out, letting

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A Season on a Silty Mere Nick Burrage

out a couple of bleeps of its own. With a bright, cold moon looking down on me, it didn’t take me long to work out what had just happened (carp moving through from left to right). A fresh rig in hand and a quick reel-in of the right-hand rod, then a short cast down the right margin, only 15yds from the bank, stopping the light lead in midair to get the lead to splash down as quietly as possible. I was really happy – OK, maybe not as happy as an hour or so later, when I was placing the same rod on the ground next to the mat, while I took the hook from a cold 20lb 15oz January common.

Every winter carp is worth the effort; I suppose you get out of it what you put in sometimes. It was funny how acting on what I was shown got me the only bite of the session.

Sticking to My Plan! (Februar y)

The old mere was frozen over for what seemed like most of January, but at long last the lake had started to thaw.

I just gave the old mere a good couple

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The ducks will be in the first place the ice clears in the thaw. It was well worth the visit to the lake.

TOP RIGHT

First of the three carp at the end of a session.

(20lb 2oz).

BELOW

of days for the ice to melt, then I would my mind. After yet another battle of be once again bobbing around the lake the bivvy in the gale, I finally got set in a boat. I was feeling confident of up for the nights ahead. The wind was some action because over any length of again relentless as it shook the boards time that a lake is covered in ice, under below me! With my doorway facing the the glassy layer the water will warm up right-hand margin, I had a view from slightly; it may sound daft, but with no my warm bed. I’m always watching bitter wind and cold rain, the ice puts the water whilst out fishing – you a protective layer on the lake and any never know what’s going to pop up! sun that shines has the same effect as a I prepped my main spot with half greenhouse, with the sun warming up a kilo or so of Nash Soluballs and a the water inside. To prove my point, handful of boilies. I only placed one before the freeze-up, when there was rod, with a bag of chops, over it for an icy cold wind on the lake, the water that night. The other two rods went temperature got to other productive down to 2.5°. But on “Having the lake to myself spots. OK, one was this session, being summer spot, but again, I could have gone ayou the day after the ice never know anywhere, but I had melted, the lake water really, do you? An was a surprising 6°. hour from last light a plan so, come what How’s that for a little I was standing on may, I was going to see it the board behind my food for thought?

I was itching to bivvy, staying out of through till the end” hit the lake whatever the cold wind, when happened, and once again, I headed a great big common rolled just to my straight for Lightning Tree and my right 30yds out. Wow! I didn’t need well-placed dining room table. Having much persuasion to move a rod, so a the lake to myself again, I could have small stringer was placed right on the gone anywhere, but I had a plan so, money. I was sure it was going to rattle come what may, I was going to see off at some point, but not even a bleep it through till the end. came from that rod all session long.

I rolled into Lightning The wind had been battering me Tree just as a strong for the two nights and now came northwesterly picked the rain on my last morning – and up. ‘Here we did it rain too! I was just thinking go again,’ of getting packed away when, out of ran through nowhere, a run came from the baited area. With the rain hammering down I picked up the rod as line peeled off the spool. I could feel the strong pull of a carp holding its ground out in the lake. After a slightly rushed battle on my part, a 20lb 2oz common carp and

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18/01/2013 15:15

The Great Bait Debate Mark Holmes 146

something is not particularly good for the carp but is still being advocated as being the best thing for them. Before you ask if I have any examples, you bet I do, but in the interests of slander and libel, and in keeping with what I have written about many times in the past, I will not name individuals or companies in a bad light. However, be under no illusion that I can back up these claims from my own findings that have been learnt and formulated over a long, long time – 37 years to be precise! Like many, most of these findings have been based on information from learned friends and people I trust but, more significantly, and in the majority of cases, my own experiences on a journey that so far has been worth all the heartache and failures. These experiences have been mind-blowing, disappointing, frustrating, euphoric, and encouraging, all rolled into one.

My first dabble into the world of carp baits and fish ecology started as a very young lad when all I did was surface-fishing for carp from a local farm pond. I lived in the village of Cheveley near Newmarket for a short period of time as a young lad, and every minute I could wangle was spent trying to catch carp, which, to me, were big fish, but the largest was probably only 8lb. On my way to the pond, I would call in at the local bakers, so when I fished bread crust the warm, fresh bread was far better at catching and often was taken immediately. At the time I was unsure

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why that was so, and it was my mate who made me think, when he said, “Maybe they like the smell of it better.”

This got me thinking and I started to read up about bread-making. Seriously, I kid you not, and it was at this time I first learnt about yeasts and the process of fermentation. Being around at a time when carp-fishing knowledge was never given freely and catches were often published as being caught on ‘specials’, it was difficult to find out anything about baits, more so if, like me at the time, you were just a kid, so you had to try to learn for yourself. However, two defining things happened which helped to push me down this path of bait discovery.

The strangest revelation that I accidentally stumbled upon was when I first saw a man put Tate & Lyle Golden Syrup on his floating crust. I asked him why he was doing this and he told me that it stopped the crust breaking up.

Even as a 13-year-old, I was quite sharp and I immediately realised that perhaps not only did this boost the effectiveness of the well-worn tactic of floating crust, it would also keep it on the hook longer.

I was also aware that perhaps some reactive attraction was going on. Of course, those of you who know anything about bait and ingredients will recognise what was happening here, in that the yeasts within the bread were reacting to the sugars in the Golden Syrup, thereby causing some kind of fermentation.

I hope by now you will see there is a thread here. However, I quickly realised

ABOVE Nearly 30 years ago and at the time this mid-20lb carp was a real biggy from the north of England. A sucker for a particle.

that the consistency of the Golden Syrup straight from the tin, was only smearing a coating over the bread crust. How could I get something that soaked into the crust but still didn’t make it sink?

My experiments were disappointing, to say the least, but I stumbled on the use of sugars and yeast to make a very attractive, bottom bait paste. Of course, if I had only read angling literature from over a hundred years ago I would have found out that honey-flavoured paste was a great carp attractor. Again, you see the thread running here? To make the paste easy to catapult out, my freebies were put out in the sun to dry and harden. In the colder months I would put these dough balls of paste under the grill at home. By accident or not, I had started to stumble upon using hard, round balls of bait on which to catch carp. Does that sound familiar? And this was 1976!

Later that same year, an article by Rod Hutchinson appeared in a magazine called Angling. It was a general fishing magazine, so coarse fishing articles were read several times and carp-fishing articles were actually cut out and stuck in a scrapbook! The article in question told of Rod’s adventures on Redmire Pool but, more importantly, his experience with particles. To say Rod blew the lid off a lot of secrets was an understatement. Indeed, the following month I read the letter from Elliott Symak, headed Cat Out Of The Bag, in which he berated Rod for writing

22/01/2013 15:25

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The Great Bait Debate Mark Holmes

the article. Basically, Elliot said Rod had given away far too many secrets and he shouldn’t have, because anglers would now go for short cuts rather than learning for themselves. Looking back, I’m not sure who was right, but in the secretive, as it was then, world of carping, I understand the arguments of both parties. However, for me, this was the catalyst for trying to understand all about particles and the attractors they made. Unknown to me at the time, the path that I would go down would be very much the same as the warm bread – namely, fermentation.

During the next few years I perfected the art of fishing with particles and used them almost exclusively. The array of different presentations and tactics that could be used with nature’s wonderful pulses was simply phenomenal, as indeed it is today. You could use big particles, such as broad or kidney beans, down to the tiny mass particles such as red dari and hempseed that quite quickly could have carp in a frenzy. Add in there the chickpeas that could take food colour and change their visual appearance, and I thought I would never need another bait again. The maples, black-eyed peas, tick beans, etc., were just another area of discovery. I was simply like a kid in, not so much a sweet shop, but rather a particle shop!

Now all this talk about baits will leave today’s Jerry Maguire Carp Mentality, (show me the carp brigade), quickly bored to tears. However, if I tell you that my catches were not only good, but also consistently very good, I would be underestimating my results. On most of the waters I fished, my catches were better than most, and this is not me ‘bigging’ myself up. This is proving a point here. Often, the catches would be multiple although indiscriminate.

What I mean by this is that the size of carp caught would vary tremendously.

It was actually often the case that a big fish would be caught, and then a small one immediately afterwards. It was like there was no set pattern to it, other than that particles caught lots of carp. However, being the inquisitive sod that I am, I needed to look further into what was happening.

Over the course of a few years in the early-’80s, I realised that the attraction of particles and their success was, in part, due to their liquids. These liquids were always mixed with various external liquids that I made sure, initially, were laden with sugars, some of which were natural, and some saccharins that were artificial sweeteners. Of course through trial and error, I started to experiment with these liquids and I used to hydrate

RIGHT Yeah, it is me, from more years ago than I care to remember, and another one of Lancashire’s finest, Chocolate Drop, falls to my particle approach.

The catches on particles were such that big fish fell as easily to my rods as smaller ones.

This never-beforeseen picture of a 38lb fish, a real giant for the time, 25 years ago, was my best peanut victim.

BELOW

the particles, and here was where I learned the real angling edges, although many times I didn’t realise it until later.

What I mean by that is the various combinations of inherent attractors, that were dormant within the individual particle, could not only be released to give a pulling power unrivalled by anything else, but it couldn’t be replicated by anything available across the tackle shop counter. Just to digress and make a factual point here, those northerners who have fished the Wyreside complex will know all about old Bob’s Liquid Mix (Bob was the owner) that pulled carp from all over the lake into your swim. Well, the reality is that Bob’s sloppy mix was so good at

“ The knowledge of reactive ingredients in my particle fishing began to be something I really homed in on.

Very quickly I thought I had an edge, which, if applied correctly, could bring instant results”

doing this he could have made a fortune bottling it. However if the bottle top had had an airtight screw fitting, or Bob had put a lid on his vat of liquid and stopped oxygen getting to it, he could have been the first Lancastrian in space!

When I adopted the particles into a real fishing tactical situation, I quickly learnt that fishing at range was difficult.

I tried drying the particles for use with PVA, which was not of the quality we have today, I hasten to add, but the effectiveness of the particles was far less obvious. Indeed, my particle fishing became very much a short- to midrange tactic because the effectiveness was far greater if the liquid and the particles were fished together.

Of course, I had my edges, even back then, and again stumbled onto some from a very young age. I realised that ‘tinkering’ with your hookbait from an attraction point of view not only increased your catch rate but certain things started to follow a pattern. That pattern was, and still is today, the great carp bait secret that so many neither understand nor know how to apply to their fishing situations. Indeed, that is where I like to think I always had an individual edge over so many bait buffs.

As I got more into my particle preparation and bait knowledge, it wasn’t a marketing or commercial slant that forced me on. No, I was, and still am, working from the point of view of a carp angler catching more carp, and preferably big ones at that.

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Overseas Fishery Focus Lac D’Arcy

OV E R S E A S

F I S H E RY

F O C U S

LAC D’ARCY There are literally dozens of carping holiday venues in the Champagne region of France, so Lac D’Arcy needs to be something special to attract anglers. Has it got what you want? Read on…

L

ac D’Arcy has 11 acres of premium carp water situated in a 17-acre, quiet, idyllic setting, just 3.5 hours’ easy drive from the port of Calais and 10 minutes from the bustling town of Vitry-leFrançois. It’s a very popular carping holiday destination, as owner Wayne Everitt told us: “As we head into our sixth season at Lac D’Arcy, we are quietly confident that we are achieving the goals we set ourselves when we started out. Our aim was to be a big-fish water with exceptional facilities, and as a quick look at the stock list

shows, we are well on our way.

In 2011 we banned the use of particles and, although not popular with some anglers, we feel we made the right decision.

This has benefited the fish and the lake alike, and the ban has clearly been vindicated with massive weight gains in 2012. The average fish weight is 40lb+ and we are hoping for our first 70lb fish in 2013. So confident are we that the 70lb barrier will be broken soon, we’re offering the chance of a free week in 2014, with 20 kilos of pellet and 10 kilos of Ace Baits’ boilies thrown in, to the first person who banks it!

At Lac D’Arcy, the facilities we provide are of a very high standard, some have even compared them to their own homes! We have large, well-appointed swims with custom weigh posts, and large unhooking mats and weigh slings in every swim. We have on-site mains electricity, hot and cold running water, and a fully-tiled twin shower and toilet block.

We also have a fabulous, comfortable lodge, complete with wood-burning fire and a dining area for those taking our meal package. There are also fridge and freezer facilities for all anglers, and washing-up facilities for those

who choose the drive-and-survive option. We also supply first-rate boilies by Ace Baits and premium carp pellets by SARB France.

We realise that our guests may not want to fish 24 hours a day and we are only 10 minutes away from the main town, Vitry-leFrançois, which hosts various large supermarkets, Le Clerc, Aldi and SuperU, to name but a few. There are many restaurants and bars (we recommend Chez Maxine – good atmosphere and a good chance of catching the football on TV), pizza, kebabs, you name it Vitry has it – including a McDonalds!

The grounds around the lake are

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18/01/2013 14:26

We Also Have Some Big News!!!

We have acquired two new lakes, one of seven acres, named Lac Donna, and one of 25 acres, called Lac Princess. Both are similar to Lac D’Arcy in their basic make-up, with regard to depths, vegetation and features.

The seven-acre lake will be for exclusive hire only for a maximum of five anglers, with a choice of eight swims to accommodate them. Facilities will include electricity, hot and cold water, a kitchen and dining area, shower and toilet block, and possibly accommodation (we are currently in negotiation with the mayor, so watch this space). Fish stocks are 150 carp between 25-45lb. You arrive at the lake, a guided tour will await you, and then you take the key and she is all yours for the week!

The 25-acre lake will be set up for 14 anglers as a maximum, and with 18-20 swims, there will be plenty of choice. This lake can also be hired on an exclusive basis. On site there will be a 24/7 bailiff, facilities will include electricity, hot and cold water, a kitchen and dining area, shower and toilet block and possibly accommodation (again, we are in negotiations with the mayor about this).

Major fish stocks are 350 carp in

total, all 30-55lb. We are hoping to open both lakes for 2014.

We have yet to finalise prices for both these lakes but rest assured, they will be competitive and worth every penny. Both lakes will mirror Lac D’Arcy in the way they are run. The quality of the lakes, fish stocks and facilities will be on a par with Lac D’Arcy – we run a great setup and will continue to do so at each venue; it’s how we ourselves would like a lake to be should we be a guest, so it’s only right we put in 110%.

Check out our website www. lacdarcy.com for prices, bookings, and everything you need to know. If there is anything we haven’t covered, then please do contact us at info@lacdary. com We are on hand at any time for all your questions.

It has always been a dream of mine to run my own fishery.

Now we are up and running, I am very excited about expanding.

I want you to enjoy your time at any of our venues as much as I would expect to if I were out

there fishing. I am very particular, some say fussy! This isn’t such a bad thing; it just means I expect the best, so that’s the service I provide; in the same vein, my fish stocks are what I deem to be pristine, and you yourself shouldn’t expect anything less. I take great care and pride of our stocks and expect you to do the same. Yes, we have rules, they are there to ensure everyone is happy, firstly the fish – then the rest of us!

Our first lake was named after our daughter; if you are wondering how we came about the name of the small lake, I wasn’t going to hear the last of it so it is named after my wife – you know what they say, ‘a happy wife, a happy life’! The big lake is named Lac Princess after my bit on the side…!!!”

Lac D’Arcy, where we aim to please and continually strive for improvement. Look us up, you won’t regret it.

We look forward to seeing you soon.”

Wayne Everitt

Overseas Fishery Focus Lac D’Arcy

kept immaculate all year round, as is the lake itself. The perimeter is totally fenced and secure, so all the anglers need concern themselves with is catching ’n’ chilling.

We have a new bailiff for 2013, Robin, who will be on site 24/7; we have every confidence he will be as good as our previous one, Mark. On that note a big thank you to Mark Wilkins for a job well done over the last five years and we wish him every success as he moves on to explore other avenues back in the UK. Back to the present day, Robin has been fishing since he was young, and we aren’t sure, but we believe he may be part carp! He is totally committed, laid-back, and there to help with any questions you might have.

FISHERY FACT FILE LOCATION: Approx. 3.5 hrs from Calais in the Champagne region of France. Nearest town is Vitry le Francois.

LAKE: Around 11 acres with gravel

bottom with silt patches and small island. 10 swims, all gravel-lined, maximum 8 anglers, or 10 if booked exclusively. Depths 1.5 to 2.5m.

STOCKS: Around 220 fish, with an average size of 40lb. No nuisance species, poisson chat or crayfish.

Several 50s, plus fish to 67lb.

BAILIFF: On site 24 hours.

BOATS: Bait boats are allowed.

ACCOMMODATION:

None available.

FACILITIES: Two sets of showers/toilets, log cabin with log burner. Restaurant area.

Freezer and power available.

RULES: Three-rod limit. Minimum 15lb main line. Micro-barbed hooks only.

No leadcore, braided lines or leaders of any sort. No sacking of fish. Only boilies and carp pellet to be used.

BAIT: Available on site and to pre-order.

PRICES: £265.00 per angler.

£2,050.00 for exclusive hire.

Non-angling guests £35.00.

Meal packages 150 euro.

EMAIL: info@lacdarcy.com WEB: www.lacdarcy.com TEL: 07753 254 679

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18/01/2013 14:26

The Wind Cries Mary Mario Winnekes

“ Wi l l t h e w i n d e v e r r e m e m b e r, T h e n a m e s i t ha s b l o w n

F

or the last five years I have spent almost all my fishing time at an extremely hard 10-acre gravel pit in the Rhine Valley. Jimi Hendrix goes along with me on the last miles to the lake, and I’ll tell you why.

Jimi Hendrix, the rock guitar genius, who sadly died in 1970, revolutionised rock music more than anyone before or after, in my opinion. When I started fishing this lake seriously in February 2008, I listened to one of Jimi’s greatest hits, Hey Joe, every time I drove to the lake. It inspired and motivated me, putting me in the right mood.

On April 19th 2008 I caught a lovely fish named Joe for the first time, and from this point on my target became Mary, the huge common. I switched over to one of Jimi’s most beautiful songs to inspire me. From that day on The Wind Cries Mary was played countless times on the CD player of my car whenever I arrived at the lake.

At 11.00 a.m. on Saturday 24th November 2012 I turned into the potholed, rocky road that led to the pool that held Mary and Joe. My wife had made it clear that this would be my last fishing night for 2012. At the car park, I saw a friend, Marius, whose car was parked at the very same swim that I had baited and fished for the last few weeks.

“The fish are very active, they’re rolling and jumping,” he updated me.

He had caught two during the previous night and had to leave about midday. Great news because it meant I could fish my favoured swim as planned.

The Wind Whispers Mary

182

While I waited for Marius to load his gear into his car boot, we had a brief discussion about the lake, its inhabitants, and my way of tackling it. The lake is a very rich gravel pit with an average depth of about 15ft, shelving to 40ft at the deepest end.

Some of the 15 swims were temporarily unfishable due to massive weedgrowth, or due to adjacent anglers. The water is managed by a club, the rules are strictly no guests, no swimming, no boats, no bait boats and two rods only!

The original carp population consisted of seven commons, with four going above 50lb. Since the death of Joe, the huge 80lb+ mirror, in September 2011, only two original mirrors are left, Halfmoon at 51lb and Zeus, close to 60lb. And there is,

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of course, Mary, one of the biggest commons in the world. Added to these were about 35 stockies, all mirrors, which were stocked in late 2007. Their weights back then were around 5lb; some of them had now reached 45lb – now that’s what you call growth!

I am a family man with a full-time job, so most of my fishing takes place from Friday afternoon to Sunday morning, with the odd break caused by family commitments, so there is no way to compete against all the unemployed, single, or earlyretired full-time anglers.

During spring and summer 2012, my fishing was slow. From May to the end of August I did 25 nights and only caught three stockie mirrors of 26lb, 33lb and 42lb, with the last one

TOP Dusk over the home of Mary.

Joe in September 2011 at just over 80lb. He died later in the year.

ABOVE

causing a serious attack of lumbago. No signs of Mary...

Mid-September I changed my tactics. Until the death of Joe, massive amounts of bait were dumped into the lake by other anglers – one of them claimed to have put in more than 500kg! Besides Joe, seven other carp died in that period, so I didn’t join this baiting frenzy, not only in order to protect the fish, but I also reckoned that Mary was more a hunter-gatherertype of fish and avoided heavily-baited spots. After all, none of the excessivebaiting brigade had caught her!

I either didn’t bait up at all, or I spread only 1kg of boilies in an area of 50 x 50 metres and added one or two spoonfuls of tiger nuts around my rigs. My ‘new’ approach worked well; I regularly caught carp. On the first session after my bad back session I landed a stockie of 33lb and one of the originals, a 45lb common, within two hours of casting my rods. On the first October weekend, a very beautiful

18/01/2013 15:23

The Wind Cries Mary Mario Winnekes

i n t h e p a s t … A n d t h e w i n d c r i e s M a r y” J i m i H e n d r i x

stockie followed, a half-linear of 46lb.

I will never forget the very next weekend. A personal best common, a koi, and two stockies within 24 hours at what I consider to be the hardest lake in Germany, possibly in the world, or even the universe! I’d done everything right... well, almost everything.

I arrived at the lake on Friday in pleasant sunshine. The rods were cast out and my shelter was set up just in time, before black clouds darkened the sky. A heavy shower forced me into my shelter, but half an hour later the rain stopped and the sun broke through the remaining clouds. I was on my way to the car when a few bleeps stopped me beside my rods. Directly above my spot cruised lots of coots and tufties and they furtively peered in my direction. ‘OK,’ I thought, ‘beaked-beast on the hook,’ but the hanger didn’t drop to the floor as expected. The line pulled up tight and the spool started to click away. Within a tenth of a second, the rod was fully curved and by now I was sure that it wasn’t a beaky-beast but a scaly-beast!

A slow, unspectacular fight followed, suggesting one of the big ’uns and, 10 minutes later, a big common glided into my net. It wasn’t the big common,

181-186_Mary_CW269.indd 3

If o nl y I ha d clo se d the zipp e rs o f the weig h sl ing c o mp le tel y, if o n l y I ha d f i xe d the t wo p o le s o f the sl ing to o ne a no the r, if o nl y i t h a d n’t ra ine d j us t b e fo re , if o n l y I ha d n’t s uffe re d a l umb a go a t t a ck pre v io usl y, if o nl y a no the r a ng le r ha d b e e n pre se nt; if o nl y... if o nl y... if o nl y...

One of the koi I caught during my time at the lake.

TOP RIGHT

ABOVE RIGHT Braunfels at 45lb. Caught at the end of November 2012 and named after a carp show that was on that weekend.

but I was dead certain it was one of the A-Team, that might be a 55lb+.

But how to take care of the fish?

There was no one to assist me, the light was fading, and because eight carp had died recently, I didn’t want to sack the fish, so I chose to weigh it in the water and take pictures with the timer. After securing the net with a bankstick, I got the scales, a weigh sling, set up the camera, put on my waders and started the timer. The exhausted carp was transferred to the sling without any hassle. The scales confirmed my hopes and displayed 60lb 10oz. Yessss, not even a full hour at the

lake and a new PB common! Finally I’d done everything right, there was nothing left to go wrong... I assumed!

I would have done everything right, if only I had closed the zippers of the weigh sling completely, if only I had fixed the two poles of the sling to one another, if only it hadn’t rained just before, if only I hadn’t suffered a lumbago attack previously, if only another angler had been present; if only... if only... if only...

After the weighing was done, I had to carry the fish to the mat. The physiotherapist taught me not to lift a heavy weight in front of my body with straight arms. Either my spinal disc would dislocate, or if I hauled the sling tight to my body, the fish could bounce against my feet or against the steep, ascending bank. ‘No problem, I’m moving backwards,’ I thought, so I could bring the fish to the mat with a straight backbone, not risking my, or the fish’s, health. No sooner thought than done. Step by step I cautiously paced backwards towards the bank, dragging 60lb of pristine common through the knee-deep water. When my heel hit the marginal shelf, I straightened my back and carefully lifted the sling from

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