Carpworld June 2013 by Angling Publications

W I N A C Y G N E T P O D , A F R E N C H C A R P I N G H O L I DAY A N D N AV I T A S C L O T H I N G

ISSUE 273 / JUNE 2013 / MONTHLY £4.50

ISSUE 273 JUNE 2013

EXCL

USIV

DA FA I R N N Y BRAS S R

MARTIN BOWLER

ead p of th ar t two h e a d e Ko rd a h South oncho’s A adve frican nture

RIVER CARPING There’s never been a better time to tackle Britain’s rivers in search of uncaught carp

BRITAIN’S BIGGEST CARP ANGLING MAGAZINE

TIM PAIS LEY

Hall of Famers and the danger o f We i l ’ s d i s e a s e

carpworldmagazine.com

4 0 PA G E S O F I N TERNATIONAL CA R P I N G I N T H IS ISSUE THE SUPPLEMEN T FOR THE INTE R N AT I O N A L

ANGLER

E WORLD •

ES AROU

PLUS: SHAUN HARRISON CHRIS BALL • JIM WILSON MARK HOLMES • SIMON CROW M A R K WA L S I N G H A M & M O R E

Pe r s o n a l res bests, captu g f ro m fa r- fl u n he corners of t a n ew globe, and – all wo r l d r e c o r d h’s in this mont Echoes!

E WORLD •

Our Kent-based diarist teams up with his old mate Laney to tackle a new water

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ISSUE 116 June 2013 ES HO

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P173 Rob makes his tor y as the fir s t English angler to catch 70lb+ car p from two differen t countr ies SOUTH A

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P180 Danny Fairbra ss P190 Part two of Steve continu es his series Briggs’ on fishing P196 Dan Cleary trip to what just might the famous Donald tackles be the son Dam for the stunnin g specim up next French ‘superw ens ater’ inhabiti ng contine ALSO INSIDE: 188 CRETELA ntal canals KES • 202 EXCLUSI VE ANGLIN G HOLIDAY S • 204 CHANTE COQ • 210 TF GEAR MASTERS 171_ICCover_CW273.indd 1

A L S O I N S I D E : F I N D O U T H OW YO U CA N W I N A W E E K ’ S F I S H I N G AT T H E E X C L U S I V E B I R C H G R OV E

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Contents

The Carpworld Contents / Issue 273 /

June 2013

FEATURES

Season On A Silty Mere – Part 7 Nick Burrage Nick has had a truly wonderful year on The Mangrove, but all good things have to end at some point and he sets off for his final session. What will the lake have in store for him?

ON THE COVER – Tim Paisley has been back to one of his old haunts, The Mangrove, where he caught this lovely fish called Pawprint at 39lb 4oz. He’ll be giving us the full story next month.

REGULARS

Editor’s Comment What have our editorial team been up to over the last month? Well, Broady’s off to France – and Nige is on his way back. Let’s hope they don’t run into each other, eh?

Gazette All the news and views from around the carp world to keep you up to date with what’s going on.

Bait World Featuring Joe Turnbull Eight pages packed with all that’s good and great in the world of bait, including a chat with Terry Dempsey and lots of baiting goodies to look at.

Rig World Mike Kavanagh It’s been a tight squeeze this month because Mike’s got so much gear to report on, including rig bits from Fox, Korum and Enterprise. Plus Carpworld’s Nigel Banks takes an in-depth look at the new Razor hooks from ACE.

Ask The Experts Darrell Peck and Scott Callison answer questions on how often to change baits and when to fish with slack lines.

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Think Tank Our guests this month are Dan Chart, Mark Pitchers, John Walker and James Vincent and they look at rod support. Pod or stick, that’s the question, and what’s best and why.

A Summer’s Tale James Vincent James has the chance to fish one of the carp angler’s most elusive dreams – a lake to which very few anglers have access, with a chance to fish for the unknown.

Go With The Flow Martin Bowler Martin reveals why there’s never been a better time to tackle Britain’s rivers in pursuit of some of the most beautiful and most hardfighting carp you’ll ever see.

Adding An Extra Dimension Jim Wilson Just how do you tackle a water that’s 55ft deep? Find out as Jim tackles Bundy’s Pit in search of some of the leviathans that inhabit its dark depths.

The Dawn Of Grenville – Part 2 Shaun Harrison Shaun continues his look at how the fishing on this famous Cambridgeshire venue is progressing, and how the virgin site continues to mature and grow.

Ashmead Diaries Mark Walsingham How’s the year at Ashmead shaping up? Mark keeps us up to date and reveals his thoughts and feelings on, well, just about everything!

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Historical Carp Waters Chris Ball In this special in-depth look at the famous Broadwater Lake, Chris reveals documentation that has only come to light in recent times.

The Great Bait Debate – Part 3 Mark Holmes Mark Holmes rounds off his feature about how he has developed his own bait edges that often conflict with the scientific theories on carp and their behaviour.

Diary Of A Carpaholic Simon Crow Simon starts a new series on what life’s like when angling is both work and play. It’s not all hunky dory you know – there’s still a job to be done.

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

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Still Carping On Tim Paisley Along with a look at Weil’s disease, which can strike any angler, this month Tim’s revealing just how you can get yourself into the Carp Fishing Hall of Fame.

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F Word Paul Forward Paul tries to get to grips with a new water, but even the best laid plans sometimes go wrong and eventually our Mr F decides to swap venues to get amongst the fish. TACKLE WORLD

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Tackle World 11 pages packed with goodies to tempt us all! With in-depth looks at gear from JRC, Cygnet, TF Gear, Nash, Century and Fox, there’s enough to keep even the most fickle tackle tarts interested.

UP FOR GRABS

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Chateau Lake Competition Whether you prefer a drive-and-survive holiday, or a fully-inclusive trip, there’s a choice of either in this competition to win a superb holiday for two at Chateau Lake.

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Cygnet Competition In this competition there are six super Quicklock DL pods, complete with buzzer bars, from the Cygnet range to be won.

EEK’S FISH A W IN

CHECK OUT OUR SUBS OF F ER ON PAGE 124 WHERE YOU CAN A LSO WIN A WEEK’ S F ISHING ON BIRCH GROV E!

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IN INTERNATIONAL CARPER Our bigger and better 40-page magwithin-a-mag, International Carper, features all the big-carp catches from around the world, plus Steve Briggs on his Return to Iktus, and Danny Fairbrass with the second part of a four-part series on fishing in South Africa. That’s not all though, because Christian Finkelde takes on the mighty Chantecoq, whilst Dan Cleary tackles the Belgian canals. To round it all off, three holiday venues come under the spotlight in our Overseas Fishery Focus series. Oh, and you could win £10,000 by going fishing! Check out the TF Gear Masters on Page 210.

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

May 2013 Car pwo r ld 5

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FEATURE

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MARTIN BOWLER

With the river season upon us, Martin reveals why there’s never been a better time to tackle Britain’s waterways, but beware, once you’ve tried it you may never go back to a stillwater.

n unison with the Thames, my rod tip nodded in acknowledgement of the extra pace that recent rainfall had brought to the river, its movement somewhat hypnotic as I kept vigil over it and then, in the blink of an eye, the connection was broken, replaced by a new, stronger force on the carbon, which seemed intent on prising the rod from me as well. I guess excitement and raised adrenalin levels hit me immediately, but until the cork handle was safely in my hands I had no time to think. Then, and only then, would I be able to consider what was responsible. It had to be a barbel, or a carp, but if it was the latter, this provided more questions than answers. A mirror, common, leather, ghost, or even koi, were a possibility

and, unlike their stillwater cousins, a name, or a weight had quite likely never been placed on it. Knowing what you had hooked was impossible – it was the equivalent of putting your hand in a chocolate box wearing a blindfold! Rod safely in hand, the test curve was now taken to its limit and beyond while the reel’s clutch capitulated. I had hooked the fish under the tip, but now a combination of both brute strength and using the flow to maximise its power meant it was now in the middle of the river, and still going away from me. If there were a single chink in my tackle armour it would find it and I prayed the line would hold and the hook wouldn’t straighten. I realised, however, that the fish needed to be stopped, even if the equipment came under more strain, but sometimes in river battles guile not brute strength wins the day, so instead of simply pulling harder, I set about removing my quarry’s assistance – the Thames. By walking downstream with the rod, the flow no longer needed to be factored into the fight, and from below I could then allow the 15lb line to take its toll. Ju n e 2 013 C a r pwor l d 29

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FEATURE

JIM WILSON

ADDING AN EXTRA DIMENSION Ta ck l i n g t h e ve r y d e e p Bundy’s Pit got Jim thinking outside the box, but just how do you start trying to find the fish in 55ft of water?

n our respective carping lives we have all fished venues which have challenged us in differing ways, maybe due to the low stock of the lake, the size, the areas you can and can’t fish, being some of the most popular issues, I would guess. Well, the deep Bundy’s Pit in Cambridgeshire, of which I’m currently a member, is no different. The lake itself is set in the countryside to the east of Peterborough and covers some 7 or 8 acres, with very few swims. It is a delightful place to be, and holding around 150 or so carp, it sounds well stocked, which it is, but when you add into the equation the depths of the place, then that is where the challenges really started to kick in. Now, I’m no expert on the effects of water pressure on fish, but it must have a bearing, just like pressure does on us – you know, when your ears ‘pop’ on an aeroplane, for example. So, back to the depths of the place. When I tell you that the 7 or 8 acres of surface water seen by anglers is multiplied by a huge amount when plunging the depths, which average in the region of 40ft, with the deepest points being in the region of 55-65ft, then the challenges that come with fishing the depths that the pit offers become quite obvious. I started on the pit a couple of years ago and, in all honestly, have completely fallen in love with the place and the totally contrasting styles of fishing that go hand in hand with trying to achieve regular success at the venue. I first started on a winter ticket, which is the only means of getting a full year ‘summer’ ticket, as it’s affectionately known amongst the members. Even on that first late-December trip, with really heavy frost everywhere, I knew the lake was somewhere that I wanted to spend my time in the future. I only did a couple of trips that first winter, and the depths of the place left me somewhat puzzled as to where I needed to be, and when, and what I needed to do to catch a carp from there. After that short first winter I put the place to the back of my mind because I never expected a summer ticket to be offered for a good few years, but to my utter amazement, it was offered after that first winter, and it is something for which I am eternally grateful. What I quickly learnt was that some of the hard and fast rules of carp

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A ddin g a n E x t r a D ime nsion Jim Wils o n

fishing really didn’t apply, because (a) there are no hard and fast rules, and (b) the depth variances in this place just made me rip up my rulebook formed from a few years’ experience. One thing I did establish fairly quickly was that the resident stock like a bit of grub, and they’re fairly keen on a couple of kilos of good-quality boilies. In fact, between late September and Christmas I wouldn’t venture to the deep pit without around 5kg of boilies a night. I also established that they could be partial to a floater in the afternoon of the trip. Following a blank warmer months, and some of the lake’s TOP Long Scaley – from the depths. first night, I moved swims onto showing A-team, if you like, had, at that point, ABOVE Boilies all fish and caught within a couple of only ever fallen to floating baits – food the way in autumn and winter. hours, with which, on what was my first for thought indeed. I also learnt that in summer trip, I was absolutely delighted. the summer, people fished the shallows, I didn’t return until September that which I’d guessed meant anything less year, and fished through until December. than 18-20ft and in the winter or cooler As I’ve highlighted, it became a boiliemonths they fished deeper and deeper orientated approach throughout those into the depths as the air temperature, months, which I find an extremely then water temperature, dropped. easy way of fishing, yet ultimately That first summer I made just “Effort had highly rewarding too. Effort one trip, and that was in midto be put into had to be put into locating June, just after the traditional locating the carp the carp in the first place, season opening that the in the first place, but the problem on the deep lake used to have. I visited but the problem on pit was exactly that– finding for a 48hr session, and was the deep pit was them. They will happily rewarded with a stunning exactly that – crash out like no other fish I 30lb common on the first

finding them”

have known, they are some of the best at showing I’ve witnessed bar none, in fact it becomes so persistent sometimes that I can get a little nonchalant about it, taking it as the norm. That autumn wasn’t the most successful of my angling life, but I did catch a few, including a stunning 34lb common, amongst a dozen or so other fish. However, what I did do was learn a lot, and put lots of information in the memory bank for the future. I knew that the following year I wouldn’t be returning to the deep pit until the autumn, because at that point in time it was subject to a traditional close season. Other venues I was tackling meant I would be elsewhere until September time. Well, as always in life, plans change and the deep pit had its traditional close season lifted. I received regular updates from my mates fishing it regarding the number of fish getting caught and multiple hits, but I managed to stay away and stick to the plan I had formed in my head. Eventually, I returned to the deep pit in late September, and it felt really good to be back. The surroundings were still lush and green, just starting to turn in autumnal reds and golds. Ju n e 2 013 C a r pwor l d 47

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T h e G re a t B a it D e b ate Ma r k Ho lm es

LEFT A stunning dark old warrior of over 40 years old at 36lb. In gin-clear conditions, with an abundance of naturals, how can you tip the odds in favour of your hookbait being taken first? BOTTOM Holmesy believes females, like this huge 41lb 12oz carp from last summer, require a different bait approach to their male counterparts.

see behind the bling. This was very much the outcome of my talk at Carpin’ On. Since the talk was put on YouTube, the response has been overwhelming. I am not a Facebook fan, but I have had to be brought ‘kicking and screaming’ into the 21st century. On that site alone I have had hundreds (at last count it was 530) private messages asking about bait and my applications. Those alone got me thinking and made me realise some very stark facts. Having a platform to get your message across to the general public is enormous. The main advantage of social media is that it gives people who wouldn’t normally get ‘air time’, or column inches, the chance to try to get their message across. It grieves me to say this, but I’m afraid that in today’s magazine and media world, the chance of a non-sponsored corporate angler getting column inches is almost nil. When I recently actually learnt that many of the magazines also sell their front covers to the large tackle companies in advance, then I really found my head sinking low. I may be a ‘troublesome’ voice in the distance, but for God’s sake can’t we have magazines and editors who still believe in editorial integrity as opposed to advertising revenue? One thing that I have always believed set Carpworld apart from all the rest, except for a couple of years of nonsense, was that Tim Paisley and his team really worked hard at trying to carry a lone flag of editorial dignity. That’s why I buy it, and that’s why I write for it.

I am not alone in holding that view either because carp anglers who contact me on a daily basis say the same, or they are sick of being treated like robots or clones. So when it comes to printing material that isn’t littered with gratuitous plugs, I pray that voices of difference can still be given exposure, even if they don’t follow a company line. One of the points that I really want to stress about my bait theories is that they are mine. I have concluded them over many years actually spent on the bank watching carp and how they react but, perhaps more importantly, catching them. I always used to say to one or two well-known bait barons that their Achilles heel was that they weren’t out there doing it. Unfortunately for most, they don’t have the time and that is where it is so important to have a team of consultants. It seems that is an oft overused expression but I believe a consultant should consult. I am not going to get into a fight about it, but some bait consultants have trouble pronouncing the name of the bait they’re using, let alone having an input into its design! No, I have always thought clearly about my involvement with tackle and bait companies. Currently I am sponsored by three companies and, barring disasters, I will stay with those for as long as they want me. However, and it is a huge however, I choose very carefully which companies I am associated with because they have to be the right ones. I am a strong believer in guilty by association, and that works two ways for me. Therefore, when I decided to join a bait company a couple of years ago, it had to be the right one, one that would allow me the access to consult and implement my theories. However, during my Carpin’ On talk I never once named them because it wasn’t relevant. When it becomes relevant and people ask me whose bait I use and why, then I will tell them. It is this arrangement that I believe all carp anglers would understand and not have a problem with. All companies have dedicated websites and various media outlets and within those is when you should be overly corporate. Now, with every upside comes a downside and some bait buffs and scientists took exception to some of my

“What I really want to stress about my bait theories is that they are mine. I have concluded them over many years actually spent on the bank...”

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FEATURE

theories and again, as has happened in the past, either misunderstood them or lifted a sentence out of context. I can only back up my thoughts with catches that I, and other people who are using my methods, are having. One small area I would like to touch on is salt. God not again, I hear you say! How do you think I feel guys – I have to write this? Let me CLEARLY say to people that I am not advocating using huge amounts of salt in your carp fishing. I do understand the ramifications of osmosis, salinity and self-responsibility, and as a man who runs and owns fisheries himself, I get it. However, when people have asked me over the years, “How come you catch so many carp?” what do I do? I am simply giving my experiences of what I have found. Some of it could be classed as contentious and I’m not scared of that. An example of this is my analogy that carp somehow ingest salt and minerals on their flanks. It was pointed out to me on a forum that only seawater fish do this. Now I have said many times I don’t go to Sparsholt or some aquaculture club, but I have seen carp behaving in such a fashion on so many occasions that I think they do ingest it on their flanks. I believe that more than ever today, although scientific evidence would rubbish that. Similarly, the salts I use attract carp and, again, people have misunderstood this point and twisted it. I don’t believe that the methods I use with salt feed the carp. No. My methods attract them into your swim. The art of angling is how you then keep them there and feed them enough until they take your bait. Or as I advocate, how your hookbait is the first to be taken. That is the skill and when people say, “Oh Holmesy, you’re giving all your edges away” I clearly know I’m not. I am definitely helping them but I am not telling them how I apply my baits and how I fish with these methods. So when people corner me and try to get inside my mind to get me to tell them everything, you know what? I won’t. My experiences of how some will manipulate such findings for corporate gain has led me to be more open. The early experiences of this were ill thought out and ill founded, and that’s why ultimately they failed. So, when we fail in carp fishing, is it always because we don’t know the answers to the questions?

Again, I believe no. It is always that we don’t know what the question is! Give me a question and I will work hard to find the answer. I believe my methods find the answers most of the time and in typical Holmesy-fashion, I will give those of you who really are interested in prespawning carp requirements, my thoughts on why salt attracts them, but before I do, can I also mention to the geeks, bait buffs, and Internet warriors the following: I am ready for you to scientifically rubbish this, so please don’t waste your breath. When rock salt is in the swim, it starts to break down or leak. This starts to create an area that slightly reduces the pH level of the lake in the local vicinity. I believe this is a trigger that carp genetically sense which causes them to investigate. I strongly believe this is why amino acids are so important because this is also what they do. In corporate terms, I believe we could call this ‘food signals’. Again, this is how a carp can roam from one area of the lake to a small bloodworm bed, because I believe hatches, insects, blooms, etc., give off pH signals. That is why it is so important when activating this that you also follow up with some kind of food or sustenance. I have, in the past, spoken about being flexible with bait and trying to create bespoke baits, particularly hookbaits. My thoughts on this are quite simple. A carp reacts differently within its natural surroundings dependent upon the time of year, or water temperature usually associated with it. To try to come up with one bait for all seasons is very difficult. Why, though? Again, when I thought about this, it’s because at certain times of the year they require different things. I have defined this in my carp mind as prespawning and post-spawning. I have written

“I believe this is a trigger that carp genetically sense which causes them to investigate”

BOTTOM Now here is a special male common carp of 34lb. Caught this year, Mark believes it has never been caught before and looking at its appearance we can see why he thinks that. Stunning!

extensively during this series about prespawning carp, but not so much about post-spawning. Without question, in my experience a carp is harder to catch after it spawns than before. I think there are a number of reasons for this. Quite simply, when carp have spawned, given that it is usually associated with the summer months, there is an abundance of natural food. Given that big carp are still ‘imprinted’ by nature more than man, they take advantage of this. I am not including overstocked, commercial, day ticket-type waters here. In this situation the biomass of carp is tipped so much in favour of the angler that his baits imprint upon the carp. No, most of my theories are based on carp lakes that have a low density, or bigger individual stock. If you throw in the mix the fact that your target stock may have a larger proportion of male carp, then it becomes even more

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COLUMNIST

ventually, after the longest, coldest winter I can remember in recent times, on Monday 15th April, spring arrived. A bit late coming, I know, but very welcome all the same. It was quite apparent that Mother Nature was still a few weeks behind the actual calendar date as Laney and I wandered around the banks of the North Met. It was Dave’s first visit, so a full-blown thorough investigation of every nook and cranny was obviously compulsory. I was feeling a bit under the weather after a few too many beers the previous night, as well as the early start, but even so, I tagged along.

“ T h e b a c k b a y, i n r e a l i t y, w a s n o m o r e than a ditch at its widest, maybe 12yds wide, and to be quite honest, the last place you would expect t o f i n d c a r p . . .”

P A U L

F O R W A R D

Paul sets out with his mate Laney to get to grips with a new water. Of course, Laney bagged the number one spot, and eventually our Mr F decides enough is enough and swaps venues to get amongst the fish.

Three hours later we found ourselves back where we started in the car park; the truth was, collectively we’d seen nothing and I was gagging for a cuppa. Although still cold, the sun was bright, and much to my relief we agreed that the shallower car park end did look the favourite. Whilst chatting with some of the regulars, we learned that over the weekend, fish had been seen in the area. A few had been holed up in a dense area of Norfolk reed opposite where I’d dropped my barrow, and also in a back bay in between the north and south lakes, which was very narrow and full of snags. The back bay, in reality, was no more than a ditch at its widest, maybe 12yds wide, and to be quite honest, the last place you would expect to find carp, and yet there they were. Hidden in a huge snag at the very end of the ditch were at least a dozen carp, a couple of the really big ones too. At this point Laney laid claim to the tiny stalking swim closest to the snag, and he turned into a complete whirling dervish. In no time at all he had two baits in the water and his camp erected, just in case anyone hadn’t realised that the whole area now belonged to Mr D.C. Lane (my old mate gets very territorial at times such as this). Forty minutes passed; in fact I was still patiently awaiting the promised cuppa, when Laney appeared behind me and announced that he’d bagged one. “You sure don’t hang about,” I said, and

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T h e F Word Pa ul Fo rwa rd

then added, “Can we have tea now?” “Oh yeah, tea,” Laney said. “Completely forgot mate. Why don’t you make it while I get this rod back out?” Tea made, it was now time for a few pictures of Dave’s carp, a nice fish too. It was probably a stockie from a couple of years back, and although only 15lb I know how nice a feeling it is to get off the mark on a new water. The swims we’d chosen were on a narrow spit of land almost directly behind each other, but whereas Laney was fishing the channel, I was fishing out into the main body of water into which the warm southerly breeze was blowing. The water out in front of me was shallow too, only about 4ft deep, and both the close and the far margin looked really good for a bite if the fish came through from either direction. My fishing partner, though, knew he had properly got the fish in the snag held captive; there really was no way the fish could come out without passing over his baits. “Just a case now of how big and how many F,” he smugly remarked, and at this point I must admit I agreed with him. Feeling fatigued after the day’s dramas, we both decided on an early night, although I fully expected a call at some point for assistance or camera duty, or both. However, much to the surprise of the pair of us, the night passed uneventfully. Laney looked confused, to say the least, as he pondered how on earth they had got away with it. The carp had definitely vacated the area and had craftily sneaked past both of Laney’s traps without so much as a line bite! Once it was light enough we looked in the snag just to confirm what we already knew, wound

First blood to Laney!

ABOVE LEFT

ABOVE RIGHT This is the part of the Met where the fish were holed up.

My first 30 of the year – and, boy, was it welcome!

BELOW

That’s a big one!! LEFT PAGE

but when work is busy I’m afraid that in, and went off on yet another lap of must come first and I have to rein myself the North Met, searching for clues. in and be content with a local overnighter When three hours of detective work and maybe a night at the weekend; failed to unearth a single clue, Laney Paddlesworth fits the bill perfectly, only decided on a blind move to the little reedy being 30-odd miles from my door. point where a couple of fish had been It was there on the Kent venue that I caught recently, and it sure did look the found myself on the part, with a gentle “The carp Thursday evening, and breeze blowing into had definitely the wind was blowing a the bay on his right. vacated the hoolie from the south. There was still the area and had I figured that the fish odd fish in the dense c r a f t i l y s n e a k e d wouldn’t be far away Norfolk reedbeds past both of from the Windward just up from where Laney’s traps Bank, especially at this I was fishing, so w i t h o u t s o m u c h time of year. As I stood with nothing else to as a line bite!” expecting to see fish go on I stayed put. showing on the Road Both rods were on Bank, the waves were smashing into the pop-ups because of the blanket weed bank so hard that I was literally getting and were fished over just a handful of showered with spray, which I wasn’t too mixed particles. If the fish did move keen on, but I figured it might even be a through I felt confident that I might pick bit too strong for the fish. About a third one up on either of the margin traps. of the way upwind on the East Bank was Yet again the bobbins remained much more comfortable, so after I’d seen stationary, and without even a sign of a a couple of fish show, I set up two rods fish, both Laney and I packed up late on adjustable Zigs and cast them out to morning and departed for home. where the fish had been showing. I knew I knew that because of work the water was around 26ft so I had mine commitments I wouldn’t be set at 18 and 22ft. Even in those conditions back for at least a few weeks. It I felt they would be fishing effectively, goes without saying that I although I know a lot of lads simply don’t still needed to be out like fishing Zigs in windy conditions, but angling at least I’ve actually done very well on similar days. twice a week, Just as I was putting out a third rod on a bottom bait, the wind whipped up yet another notch, and then the skies turned black and a torrential hailstorm clattered down, forcing me to scramble to get my barrow and kit under a hastily-erected brolly. Thankfully, the clouds were moving quickly, and no more than a few minutes later, blue sky was visible in the west, and the wind eased off to reveal one of, if not the, most vibrant rainbow I’ve ever seen. Five minutes later it was as though Ju n e 20 13 C a r pwor l d 141

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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

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P A R T

T W O

In the second part of his four-part miniseries, Danny reveals the tactics he needed to get to grips with the residents of the mighty Donaldson Dam.

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

LEFT Paradise – I think so! ABOVE A wood carving mid-30.

he first 24 hours of our South African trip proved to be an absolute disaster. We followed the fishery owner Gary’s lead, and dropped rigs inches from the reeds that line the far margin and spread the rods out over a wide area. This tactic does produce most of the big fish at Donaldson but, to be honest, both Neil and I were out of our comfort zone. Even though I’d done this before, it took me some time to master control of the canoe in a crosswind, dropping the rig over the side and canoeing back in a sufficiently straight line to avoid a huge bow forming takes skill! This was compounded by the fact I was using brand new sinking braid, which hadn’t taken on water yet, so was not actually sinking. The only chance I had came in the middle of an horrendous thunderstorm, with lightning striking the ground only metres away from my bivvy. It would have been madness to run out and hit the rod, and unfortunately the fish came off. The rod was placed back next to the reeds at about 250yds’ range but unfortunately, a strong crosswind had sprung up and it was impossible to keep a bow out of the line. Braid has zero stretch so it’s very, very easy to move the lead so I spent a long time trying to sink the braid between the rod tip and the rig before putting on the backlead. During the night, the same rod started to drop back and after winding up the slack a couple of times without being able to connect with the lead, I suspected that there was probably a small fish on that had dumped the lead and come towards me slightly, so I wound down and pulled into what I thought was a small carp but after winding and winding, I eventually lifted an empty rig out of the water. On reflection, all that had Ju May n e 20 13 C a r pwor l d 183 181

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