Carpworld May 2013

INCLUDING INTERNATIONAL CARPER FULL OF YOUR WORLDWIDE NEWS

ISSUE 272 / MAY 2013 / MONTHLY £4.50

IN THIS ISSUE

ISSUE 272 MAY 2013

SHAUN HARRISON TERRY DEMPSEY PAUL FORWARD BILL COTTAM TIM PAISLEY IAN STOTT

£2,400 F O WORTH OR F S PRIZE YOU TO WIN!

anglingpublications.co.uk/carpworld

BRITAIN’S BIGGEST CARP ANGLING MAGAZINE

SOUTH AFRICA

DA N N Y G O E S THE DISTANCE Our man from Korda on the logistics of travelling 5,700 miles to catch giant commons like this

www.anglingpublications.co.uk 01_Cover_CW272.indd 1

SHIMANO’S NEW BABY BIG PIT

D AV E LANE

We c h e ck o u t the brand new compact Ultegra reel that punches well above its meagre weight

Why a diar y is the biggest asset you can add to your angling armoury 19/04/2013 16:34

Contents

The Carpworld Contents / Issue 272 /

May 2013

139

Think Tank What do you prefer, braid or mono main lines?

That’s the question Jerry Hammond, Ed Betteridge, Colin Davidson and Roy Russell answer this month.

FEATURES

14

REGULARS

Ne’er Cast A Clout Till May Is Out Dave Lane As Dave has found out, you can’t take the weather for granted, but what does that mean for angling in spring?

6

20

8

28

ON THE COVER – Danny Fairbrass with a cracker of a fish from Donaldson Dam in South Africa.

Turn to page 182 for the full story.

Editor’s Comment Steve Broad Mr Broad’s settling into the hot seat quite nicely thank you, and here’s what he’s been up to during the last month.

Gazette We bring you up to date with all the news and views from around the world of carp angling.

42

Rig World Mike Kavanagh This instalment features part two of his chat with Sean Leverett, and takes a look at new gear from the likes of Ace, Fox and Jag, with a special look at how to ensure your hooks are as sharp as possible.

64

Open Access Waters Simon Crow This is the last Open Access Waters for the time being! It’s been a long, hard road for Crowy, and here’s the story behind his travels.

96

Bait World Featuring Joe Turnbull Seven pages of bait talk for the ardent carper, including a look at Solar’s new Seafood Take-Away, Custom Baits’ Fenspice, and interviews, chat, and product reviews galore.

105

Ask The Experts Ian Chillcott and Scott Callison answer readers’ questions on baiting up and how to fish low-stock venues.

Six Of The Best – Part Two Matt Ridley The title says it all; Matt reveals just how he tempted some of the best carp in the country to try out his baits.

Historic Carp Waters Chris Ball Delafields may not ring too many bells with carp anglers, but this Bedfordshire water is now known as a venue many of you will have heard of – Rackley Hills.

37

A Liquid Edge Leon Bartropp Do carp like a liquid lunch? You bet they do, and Leon reveals his favourite liquids and how to get the very best from them.

50

Dawn Of Grenville Lake – Part One Shaun Harrison Here’s the story of how it all began at Cambridgeshire’s famous Grenville Lake, and how it fits into the modern carp scene.

57

Carping Allegedly Bill Cottam Why do some carp ‘count’ when others don’t? Why is our Mr Broad getting grief, and what’s this about a black panther? Bill will reveal all, with some South Yorkshire wit thrown in for free.

64

75

110

81

126

87

146

F Word Paul Forward Our regular diarist has been out in the cold, cold snow trying to catch a few carp.

Did he manage it? Turn to page 75 to find out.

Basic Fizzics Rick Golder Here’s a tale about just how important it is to spot the fish before you settle in for a session, and seeing bubbles fizzing in the water is just the ticket.

Common Goal Ian Stott What are your goals and dreams? Can you achieve them? In this piece Ian tells an epic tale that ends in success.

Something To Think About James Willsmer James wants us to think outside the box a little more.

There’s advice for bait-makers, plus a little tip for the rig manufacturers among us.

The Baiting Game – Part Two Terry Dempsey This month Terry reveals the strategies behind the approach which led to the capture of some of the country’s outstanding carp.

Carping On Tim Paisley You can’t keep a good man down!

What retirement? Tim’s got plenty to talk about this month, with a whole mixed bag of goodies.

4 C ar p wor l d May 201 3

004-005_Contents_CW272.indd 1

22/04/2013 16:55

F: facebook.com/CarpworldMagazine / T: @CarpworldMag

TACKLE WORLD

159

Tackle World This month, our newlook Tackle World features eight pages of all that’s good and great in the world of tackle, including an in-depth look at Shimano Ultegra reels, and a new specialist pod from Midland Precision Engineering.

UP FOR GRABS

134

Carp In Focus There are prizes to be won if your angling photo is featured in the Carp In Focus competition.

154

Blues Lake Competition How do you fancy a trip with your mates to Belgium’s Blues Lake? That’s the prize that’s on offer in this competition.

Our 40-page International Carper magazine is packed with features from around the world. This month we bring you all the news and catch reports in our regular Echoes From Around The World, plus Danny Fairbrass starts a

34

Solar Competition Here’s your chance to win Solar’s new bait, Seafood TakeAway, to keep you going for ages.

four-part series on fishing in South Africa, Steve Briggs tackles a new big-fish lake called Iktus, and in part two of Big Water Adventures, Max Nollert takes on the task of fishing

116

Nash Competition Zig fishing is all the rage, and the new range of Zig Bugs from Nash can be won in this superb competition.

IN INTERNATIONAL CARPER

some of Europe’s inland seas. Top all this off with a closer look at no fewer than three superb holiday venues, CH ECK OUT OUR SUBS O FFER ON PAGE 152

and there’s an action-packed, bigger and better International Carper.

May 2013 Car pwo r ld 5

004-005_Contents_CW272.indd 2

22/04/2013 16:55

FEATURE

D AV E L A N E

NE’ER CAST A CLOUT

T I L L M AY B E O U T

In plain English, the title means ‘don’t discard your winter clothing until after May’, and it’s true! As Dave has found out, you can’t take the weather for granted, but how does that affect the fishing?

S

o, here we are in May at last, officially the beginning of summer if you believe in the May Day celebrations, or the Irish version known as Bealtaine.

This falls during the first week of the month and celebrates the ‘cross quarter’ day, which is when the sun is halfway between the spring equinox and the summer solstice. Both the equinox and solstice periods have long been associated with improved catch rates, but I think a lot of it still relies on the specific weather around these times.

As we all know though, living in the UK, we can take absolutely nothing weather-related for granted, and the best

forecast is often the one that starts by sticking your head out of the window and seeing which way your ears spin.

Last May we underwent an almost instant transition, from a wet and soggy spring into a scorching heatwave, and it was practically overnight. For those of you who don’t remember this period, on Saturday 19th May it was a modest 11°, but by the Monday lunchtime, most of the country was languishing in temperatures in excess of 30°C – that’s 90° in old money!

ABOVE A storm in May put paid to the hot spell.

It can still get cold in May.

BELOW

I remember it so precisely because I had just started a very rare week-long session at a lake in Northamptonshire.

I only usually manage a two-night stint each week, but due to the wife being away and the kids having all been shipped off on various school trips, I had a full four nights and five days ahead.

Rather than dancing around the maypole with joy like the rest of the country, I was more worried about the adverse effect that the sudden warm spell would have on my fishing; quite often a huge rise in temperatures will be the kiss of death at this time of year, rather than a much-needed trigger as far as feeding fish are concerned.

As it transpired, the fishing did, indeed, suffer, and I spent most of the week just walking and looking, trying to find a group of fish that weren’t just sunbathing

1 4 Ca r p wor l d May 2 01 3

014-017_Clout_CW272.indd 1

17/04/2013 10:51

N e ’ e r Ca s t a Clo u t T ill M a y B e Out Da ve L a ne

at range, or idly milling about on the surface with no real intent or direction.

As is often the way though, when we are treated to an early touch of summer, a good old British thunderstorm was triggered by the oppressive heat and the end of the week was saved. Just as the normal populace was running for the cover of beachside fish and chip stalls with their newspapers folded into amusingly-shaped hats, I was busy landing a couple of big scaly mid-30s from a wind- and rain-lashed lake.

One thing I did notice that week though, and something that I have come across many times on big pits during May and early June, was how quickly the fish split up into two distinct groups. The bigger fish, often the females, will pick an area as soon

TOP A couple of monsters warming up in the snags. The one on the right was 57lb.

A nice common taken the evening before the frosts fell.

BELOW

and have no need of extra nourishment, as the water starts to warm up, while the content to wait until everything is at the males continue to charge around the correct temperature to drop their spawn. lake and act like carp should, feeding on Whether this is true or not, well you new winds and jumping in the waves. would have to ask someone like Simon Obviously, the biological clock is ticking and the fish are fooled by an early Scott who knows a lot more about the mechanics of a carp than I will ever do. burst of unseasonably hot weather into All I need to know is what I have thinking it’s later than it is, or maybe learnt by trial and error over the years, they just need to make the most of and there is definitely a division by size the chance in case it disappears again. at this time of the year, and the bigger A bit like the birds that lay extra eggs ones are always the harder to catch. I saw in a prolonged or early warm spell. this effect at its most pronounced back There was an area at the Northants when I was fishing at Sonning. I suppose lake where shallow gravel bars came to because the lake was 240 acres in size, it within a couple of feet of the surface made it more noticeable, and the at huge range, and this is where larger fish picked an area a the bigger fish spent most full 800 or 900yds away of the early summer, “I could, from the bulk stock right up until the quite literally, of smaller carp. first spawning This segregation took place. It just follow the went on for weeks, seemed almost wind for weeks with the smaller impossible at times and find the same carp out to play at to interest them group of smaller the north end of in anything at all, carp everywhere the lake and the big whilst the males I went” ’uns firmly ensconced were comparatively in a deep secluded bay easy to catch. in the southeast corner.

I could, quite literally, Of course, I fished in the Bay of Pigs, just follow the wind for weeks and where all the big girls could be seen find the same group of smaller carp everywhere I went; I even had recaptures lazing in the sun every day, safe in the protective custody of the overhanging of them as they fed with abandon snags. I did manage to tempt a few over prior to the once-a-year orgy that was the course of May and early June, but to follow. The females, on the other all of these were taken by laying traps hand, would happily just sit there, a for them as they came in and out of few inches away from a bait, and the area during the early morning or ignore it for days on end. evening. Once the carp were in situ, the I am sure there same as with the Northants fish, they is some biological were totally disinterested in feeding. reason for this; I I’m aware that during most seasons, have heard it said there is often a time when the big that they take on water spawn-laden females can indeed when they are full of spawn May 2013 C a r pwor l d 15

014-017_Clout_CW272.indd 2

17/04/2013 10:51

FEATURE

SHAUN HARRISON

of

Tucked away in the Cambridgeshire c o u n t r y s i d e i s a l a k e t h a t s u d d e n l y, out of the blue, began to be noticed. Here’s the story of how it a l l b e g a n , a n d w h e r e i t i s n o w.

5 0 Ca r p wor l d May 2 01 3

050-053_Grenville_CW272.indd 1

12/04/2013 14:17

D a wn o f G re n v ille La ke S ha un Ha rr is o n

I

joined the Grenville syndicate in 2007 and have been absolutely amazed by the progress of this incredible water, which has been cleverly managed by Paul Ward. Never before have I known a fishery come on so quickly, let alone having been in the fortunate position of being able to angle on a quality fishery whilst watching it develop. But this rapid acceleration didn’t just happen by accident. Blood, sweat, and tears were shed over a prolonged period of time to put Grenville where it is today, for so many to be able to enjoy.

Away from Grenville there seem to be quite a few stories related by those who have been told something by someone else, and some of these things are accepted by some as actually being true. Spending my life talking to anglers all day, both during my working and time out hours, I find some of this quite strange, and often feel it’s a case of sour grapes when some of these untruths are told. I have even heard it mentioned on several occasions that the Grenville fish are imports because of the weights they have attained.

Now these remarks, which are so far from the truth, would make me smile and shake my head at any other time, because those saying this have got it so very wrong. But also this has hit a nerve and I find myself defending the truth, rather than walking away. There has been a ridiculous amount of work, and indeed money, injected into Grenville, so for a long time I have felt that the truth should be told and the facts laid bare for all to see, and it’s my duty as a paying member of the syndicate to defend what a special place Grenville is.

It was out of the blue that I received a call from Steve Broad asking how I felt about covering the amazing story of Grenville in a miniseries for Carpworld.

Well, after what I have just said, I was more than pleased to have a crack at this, if only to put the record straight

ABOVE The driving force behind Grenville fishery – Paul Ward.

RIGHT The start of it all – the aggregates being removed.

The thickness of the seam resulted in the great depth of the lake.

BELOW

natural resources. They were obviously and document the true story of this very successful at finding exactly what incredible venue, covering as much as they wanted because the hole they dug I can, from the initial digging to the ended up being 40ft deep in places, present day. So, if you want to come with a large percentage of the excavated along on this journey with me, I will area being over 30ft. A few hard areas tell the story of the birth and growth of were left at roughly 16ft or so, and these the most amazing water I know, a water have since proved to be invaluable as a that has really opened so many eyes as to source of weed, and thus natural food. what is possible within our own shores, On a totally different scale, I know with stock that has been born and bred from when I dug the natural in England. As you will see, some pool in my garden that of these carp are the most every bucket I dug incredible-looking “I will tell out miraculously fish you will find the story of the managed to turn anywhere in the birth and growth itself into 1½ world, thanks of the most amazing bucketfuls to Paul Ward’s water I know, a water when out of sensible choice that has really opened the ground. and mix of so many eyes as to I really can’t the strains of imagine the carp stocked. what is possible volume that was Going back within our own removed from that 26 years, Tarmac shores” Cambridgeshire struck a deal with a field. The track to and Cambridgeshire farmer from the lake must have been and the fascinating story began almost as busy as the A1 which runs to unwind, a story that would amaze close by, with the lorries moving what so many people in the years that had been excavated onto new sites that followed. It showed the carp-angling were in need of it. After eight years world just what it is possible to achieve of excavation and removal, I would in such a relatively short time span imagine the Tarmac team were pleased provided you have the motivation, to see the back of this cavernous 72-acre the vision and the drive, along with a hole, for holes without water are not certain amount of stubbornness and exactly the most attractive places to a strong and committed work ethic view. The dust in the summer months to make your dreams come true. must have been horrendous down there, It was in 1987 that the first of the Tarmac vehicles drove off the main roads, and as for the sticky, glutinous clay that past a farm, onto a huge field surrounded abounds, well, I just can’t imagine what life must have been like on that job. by drainage ditches, and started to The digging finished in 1995, but the dig out their first few bucketloads of water wasn’t allowed to flood into what earth, sand, clay and gravel. That was would later become known as Grenville to be the home for much of the plant until the following year, which gave for the next eight years whilst teams ample time for lots of insect of diggers excavated the hoped-for May 2013 C a r pwor l d 51

050-053_Grenville_CW272.indd 2

12/04/2013 14:18

BAITWORLD

T h i s m o n th : B l a ck Cou nt r y B ait s ’ Ke it h Winwood Black Countr y Baits was first star ted back in 2000, although company owner Keith Winwood has been creating baits for 30+ years. It’s always nice to find someone w ho is deter mined to keep it how it should be, by creating and selling baits as their own creation. I spoke to Keith about how he keeps the quality of his baits up to scratch, and some other exciting things in the pipeline because he likes to keep things s tr ictly old school.

JT: How did it all come about, you setting up to make bait?

KW: Well, Joe, I’ve been fishing most of my life and we used to have three pools locally that we played by as kids. After learning to catch the roach and perch, etc., I got into the tench fishing in a big way, and with the top lake holding the tench record at 10lb 2oz and my PB being 9lb 8oz, I wasn’t far away.

Anyway, this brought the specimen hunters to the pools with their bivvies and Heron alarms, which made me move on to the bottom pool for a bit of quiet tenching. Early one morning, in the summer of 1976, after spending the night, the float slid under and I had a bite. For one brief moment I saw this giant carp before it tore along the pool with my float, taking all my line as well.

So off I went to find all the material I could on carp fishing and baits, and from then on a carp angler was born!

I read a lot about bait and its makeup. Anything from Fred Wilton’s PYM (Phillips Yeast Mixture) to Hutchy’s particles, to the extreme information of Tim Paisley talking about amino acids!

My fishing went from carp fishing to big-carp fishing at Pool Hall, Patshull Park, and Redesmere. At the time I was catching 20+ commons, which were big at the time, but I wanted a 20+ mirror, so Savay was next on the list. The only problem was that I could only fish days on there, but what will be will be, no problem! I would travel down on a Friday after work and sit listening to people such as Clive Diedrich, Malcolm Winkworth, Hutchy and a young Lockey. Basically the who’s who of carp fishing. Bait parties were quite regular, with bigger and bigger quantities

until the noise and smells meant it was time to seriously look at commercial premises, and in 2000, with a little inheritance money in the bank, Black Country Baits was born.

At the beginning, what was your most popular bait, and do you still make it?

Our most popular bait that we still make and sell a lot of to old and new customers is the Red Hot Tuna, which I started putting together in 1999. It’s a really hot red fish mix with the optimum levels of chilli powder, paprika, green lipped mussel, seaweed, betaine, liver powder, kelp, tuna meal and our own tuna flavour, but at low levels.

Regarding ingredients, how do you make sure the quality is up to scratch?

Being a smaller company, I like to make up manageable 100kg batches of mixes, with all the ingredients either coming from quality fishmeal and birdfood suppliers, or direct from the human food chain supplies. These usually get rolled to fill up our freezers weekly, or

Proof of the pudding – Keith’s bait doing the business.

BELOW

if it’s an online/phone order, it gets freshly rolled, then dispatched and delivered without freezing so that the customer gets fresh bait and not half-thawed baits! Semi shelf life baits are also done as fresh to order, with dispatch dates being as soon as possible.

I understand you have a new particle range out. Could you tell us a bit more about that?

They’re not new Joe. We’ve been producing these since 2005, but unlike most other companies, our prepared particles were dispatched in buckets, which led to transportation problems, so I had been looking for a solution for a long time. Then it suddenly dawned on me one day – why not use jerrycans? They’re easier to transport, and if dropped will not

9 8 Ca r p wor l d May 2 01 3

096-103_BaitWorld_CW272.indd 3

22/04/2013 15:05

spoil your planned session. These can also be stored in the boot of your car ready for a quick session. They have a 12-month shelf life, with natural preservatives and a proven range of fish attractors in a can. The range includes Hemp, Chilli Hemp, Parti Mix, Spod Mix, Maize, Tiger Nuts, Jumbo Tiger Nuts, and Chopped Tigers.

What are your thoughts regarding nutrition and amino acids

Well, since carp are cold-blooded animals, digestion and utilisation of high protein levels depend on a few factors, with some control being out of our hands, i.e. the weather. All our baits contain the right dietary and protein levels for the fish. Most amino acids can be destroyed by high heat sources or freezing, and I felt the best way to combat this and enable a

ABOVE Another batch of Black Country Baits, fresh off the press.

balance of aminos within the baits was with the inclusion of both powdered and liquid amino profile additions.

With regards to flavours, how do you source them in such large amounts?

Because we don’t use large amounts of artificial flavourings, it isn’t necessary to source too many because our baits rely on built-in inherent natural attractors within the base mixes. We do not supply a highlevel flavoured bait which will blow quite quickly.

some samples, which were then liquidised in a blender. I added some other bits and pieces to a very fishy mix, and hey presto, the prototype Worm Boilie was created. We then started testing it, with very good results, but the whole process was speeded up when I sourced some dry-freeze worms. The live worm liquid is still created in-house – much to the slight disgust of the breeder – and we use no artificial flavours in these baits either.

Finally, do you have anything else in the pipeline?

I understand you supply a Worm Boilie and a new Nut Boilie. Could you enlighten us a little?

The Worm came about in 2003, when I found that worms have a very high natural amino acid profile that is attractive to most fish. I got in touch with a local worm supplier to send us

Yes Joe, but like most of our baits they get tested and tweaked for a few years before they either get put on hold for a bit longer, or go from the testers to the bait team, and then, hopefully, the public. So don’t hold your breath for instant carp bait because we never like to put out any bait just for the sake of it.

May 2013 C a r pwor l d 99

096-103_BaitWorld_CW272.indd 4

22/04/2013 15:05

COLUMNIST

T I M PA I S L E Y STILL CARPING ON I ’ v e h a n d e d o v e r t h e L e a d e r, o r e d i t o r i a l , t o o u r e s t e e m e d e d i t o r B r o a d y, s o I ’ v e h a d t o c o m e u p w i t h a new title for what may prove to be a less-than-frequent column. Before the editorial became Carp Leader it was c a l l e d C a r p - Ta l k , a t i t l e I g i f t e d t o t h e p e r i o d i c a l o f t h a t name when Kevin Clifford, Chris Ball and I launched the weekly in 1994. After poring over all my thesauruses I’ve dismissed numerous high-flown alternatives and settled for the title which appears above, in the hope that I’m not plagiarising the title of someone else’s ramblings! If I am, I will no doubt soon be told!

T

he aforesaid Carp-Talk recently carried a report of the auction at the Carpin’ On Show conducted by Jim Davidson OBE, at which I bid a ridiculous figure of £650 for the number one copy of the leatherbound A History of Yateley. In fact I have never been concerned about the numbering of leatherbounds, it is the fact that they are limited editions that is the attraction, and the more limited the better. Most publishers know that I like to have number 7 of a leatherbound run, but that requirement is not carved in stone.

The big attraction of the Carpin’ On auction was that the particular copy up for sale was the only one to be signed by all the contributors, which

puts added value on a limited edition publication. The Carp-Talk report failed to mention the ‘fully signed’ aspect, and it occurs to me that they may not have been aware of it. The fact that the proceeds of the auction in their entirety were destined for the funds of Stoney & Friends, of which I’m honoured to be president, heightened my interest in the bidding. In fact, in the later stages there were only two bidders for the book, yours truly and Richard Stangroom (referred to by Jim Davidson during the auction as the ‘serial killer’ because of the sinister beard and moustache that he is now sporting). I had reached the stage that I was pushing Richard along to see how far he would go. My final bid was the one that obtained the book, but by that stage Richard had got the

ABOVE Jim Davidson at Carpin’ On; thanks for your support during a difficult time Jim.

impression that I was going to bid forever and dropped out! Me and my mouth…

It’s probably already been said elsewhere within these pages, but our thanks to Jim for coming to Carpin’ On at a difficult time in his life. He made light of it on stage but the accusations against him must be of great concern to him. Good luck with it all fella, and thanks for the great support you have given us at the last two Carpin’ On shows. Jim is on tour this summer, and a group of us will be going to sunny Scunthorpe to see him perform, no doubt as outrageously as his act always seems to be when he has his professional head on!

B

riggsy has introduced me to the Iktus resort, where we spent a week in mid-March, a session covered by Steve in this and next month’s International Carper section. In advance I wasn’t at all sure what to expect, and arriving in the dark on a very cold March evening didn’t exactly fire us with enthusiasm. In fact, Julie and I thought we would have to fight our way into

1 4 6 C a r p wor l d May 20 13

146-149_CarpingOn_CW272.indd 1

17/04/2013 16:52

S t ill Ca r p in g On T im Pa is ley

the caravan through the clutter of bait and tackle to bed down for the night, but Iktus owner, the charming Jérémy Fournier, really couldn’t have been more helpful. He made a chalet available to us for the night (and as a base throughout the session) and we enjoyed dinner in the on-site restaurant, run by Frédèric.

I wouldn’t dream of eating chips at home but in distant restaurants and on ferries they are always top of the menu, although the trout and chips I enjoyed somehow suggests a clash of cultures!

My reservations about Iktus disappeared as the week went by, and by the end of the session Julie and I loved the place. I managed four fish, biggest 47lb 4oz, while the prolific Steve landed 15, biggest also 47lb 4oz.

The snow came as a surprise, not just to us but to the locals, too. The lake is only about an hour from the Spanish border, and the Pyrenees; we had seen the snow on the distant mountain range as we approached Pau, but we were assured by the locals that the snow we ‘enjoyed’ was their heaviest since

ABOVE An unexpected snow scene at Iktus. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but loved the place, and caught carp in the snow.

Hardcore session anglers Steve and Joan during a difficult session we shared at Gigantica some years back.

TOP RIGHT

1985! The story of my life in France, I’m afraid; I’m becoming notorious for either taking awful conditions to lakes with me, or causing them to switch off when I’m fishing there. That sounds like an alibi for failure, but it’s a fact. But while the snow was a bit of a dampener on the fishing at the time, the fact that it resulted in two trophy shots in the snow was something of a bonus.

At 85 acres, the gravel pit is big enough to make location a gamble, and heavily featured to the point that bait positioning requires some understanding of the spots most likely to be frequented by the carp at any given time of year.

Local wisdom suggested 28ft was likely to be favourite, but Steve’s experience of Cassien – which I was more than happy to go to school on – meant that he knew the fish would prefer shallower areas than that until the water warmed

up. In fact most of our fish came at depths from 8-12ft. I had fish showing repeatedly over a deeper area but couldn’t get a pickup there.

I’ve fished with Steve (and Joan) a fair amount over the years, both in matches and on sessions, and he has a couple of things going for him that may not be apparent from his somewhat laid-back writing.

In sessions, his mindset in moving whenever he feels it necessary amazes me, particularly when he and Joan are fishing as a pair, which, on sessions, is frequently. At Iktus they started off in a swim which they thought would produce, but a day and a half in Steve decided it wasn’t going to, and they moved 200yds up the bank. Quickly said, but less easily achieved when they had all the trappings for a week’s camping with them! When I congratulated Steve on the remarkable Cassien session he and Joan enjoyed this last winter, he commented, “It was great, but it took me two weeks to catch and we had to move twice to get on the fish!”

The other great thing he has going for him is his understated understanding of carp. In terms of location and approach he just does it, and it works. His results have been remarkable wherever he has fished, and I think the only credit I can take in terms of approach for our two World Cup wins is that he had never used PVA bags until I suggested it might be a good idea during our trial run at the Euro Championships at Fishabil prior to the 2000 World Cup. On the St Lawrence I was torn between maize and boilies, but

“While the snow was a bit of a dampener on the fishing at the time, the fact that it resulted in two trophy shots in the snow was something of a bonus”

May 20 13 C a r pwor l d 147

146-149_CarpingOn_CW272.indd 2

17/04/2013 16:52

D A N N Y

F A I R B R A S S

S O U T H A F R I C A T H E

F O R G O T T E N

P A R A D I S E

–

P A R T

O N E

In the first instalment of a four-part miniseries, Danny takes at look at the logistics of fishing over 5,700 miles from home.

1 8 2 C a r p wor l d May 20 13

182-188_DannyF_CW272.indd 1

19/04/2013 14:04

S o u t h A f r ic a D a nny Fa irb ra s s

May 20 13 C a r pwor l d 183

182-188_DannyF_CW272.indd 2

19/04/2013 14:05

FATHER’S DAYgreat- JUNE 16TH gifts from the carpstore Korda Carp Bubbles T-Shirt

Carp Up Close

£18.99 + £1.95 P&P

£14.99 + £1.95 P&P BLU-RAY £19.99 + £1.95 P&P DVD

Bivvy Tramps Book

£11.99 + £1.95 P&P

Bank Tramps Beanie Hats

£8.50 + £1.95 P&P Keep Calm Go Fishing Mug

£4.99 + £1.95 P&P

Keep Calm Go Fishing Keyring

£1.95 + £1.95 P&P

Korda Thinking Tackle 7 DVD

£19.99

+ £1.95 P&P

ArmoLife Cutlery Set

£7.99

+ £1.95 P&P

Korda Carp Distressed T-Shirt

£16.99 + £1.95 P&P

TheCarpStore

n o w a v a i l a b l e a t : W W W. T H E C A R P S T O R E . C O F O R M E R LY T H E A N G L I N G P U B L I C AT I O N S S H O P

available from A N G L I N G

ad template.indd 1 AP_GiftAd_CC188.indd 1

P U B L I C AT I O N S ’

brand new online shop...

TheCarpStore F O R M E R LY T H E A N G L I N G P U B L I C AT I O N S S H O P

22/04/2013 14:35 16:11 08/03/2013