Carpworld Decmebr 2015

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ISSUE 303 December 2015

ISSUE 303 / December 2015 / MONTHLY £4.75

carpworldmagazine.com

B R I T A I N ’ S B IGGEST C A R P - A N G L I N G M A G A Z I N E

effort equals Reward How perseverance resulted in the capture of this beauty

PL U S K eith J enkins TONY D A V I E S - PA T R I C K C H R I S BA L L

THIS ISS U E

T I M PA I S L E Y

c ar pwor ld maga z in e. co m

Pecky’s Progress Darrell starts his winter campaign

PA U L F O RWAR D

Bill cottam’s carping allegedly

G a r y BAyes

What’s new in the world of rigs World Championships Team england’s story

Al a n Bl a i r

T H E

M A G A Z I N E

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EURO BANX 2

W O R L D W I D E

A N G L E R

Issue 146 December 2015

FOLLOW THE NASH LADS ON AN AMAZING ROAD TRIP ACROSS EUROPE | P156

also inside: Carp news and features from around the globe ECHOES AROUND THE WORLD

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BRAVING BALATON

TONY DAVIES-PATRICK

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CONTENTS

The Carpworld Contents / Issue 303 / December 2015

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Black & White Gary Bayes As the man behind some of the most famous baits in history, we thought Gary would make a great guest for our quickfire question feature.

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Editor Steve Broad cradling a lovely common from Rainbow during a recent trip. Read about his visit on Page 8.

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Editor’s Comments It’s been another busy month for Steve, which included a trip to Rainbow. Read all about it here, and whatever else he’s been up to this month.

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

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Something Different Steve Cliff It’s been a great year for Steve, and by using tactics which are different from the norm, he’s had some cracking fish from Elstow Pit One, despite only fishing there occasionally.

Rig World featuring Mike Kavanagh Mike looks at hooks from Gamakatsu, some new leads which are ideal for selfhooking rigs, and a PVA Bag Kit from Fox. He also chats with one of angling’s unsung heroes, Essex’s Danny Waller.

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The Frost Carp - A Story For Christmas Keith Jenkins The Frost Carp was caught every Christmas Eve, but literally melted away in front of every angler who caught it. This year, Tyrone was determined that the elusive beast would play a part in his Christmas celebrations.

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Cold-Water Musings Ed Betteridge For many of us, winter is scratching time, when a bite is hard to come by. However, it isn’t all doom and gloom.

As Ed found out, there are still a few carp to be caught if you get the tactics right.

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Pecky’s Progress Darrell Peck Darrell’s been filming in Japan during the last month, and once back home, he started making preparations for his winter campaign on his new syndicate lake, Bayeswater in Essex.

Carping Allegedly Bill Cottam Our resident comedian and bait baron, Bill, sets the record straight about the future of Nutrabaits, and regales us with more of his comedic observations about life on the bank.

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Bait World featuring Joe Turnbull With a look at flavours from Crafty Catcher, Bait-Tech’s new Poloni boilies, Mainline’s excellent pop-ups, and a quickfire chat with Nick Burrage, along with a visit to one of the largest bait-making plants in Europe, there’s plenty to keep you interested this month.

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Spanish Gold Rob Hughes Rob Hughes is manager of the England team, and here he gives us an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at how the team won this year’s Carpfishing World Championship, and what it meant to lift the trophy for our country.

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Fox Competition How do you fancy winning your own Retreat?

We’ve got two Fox Retreat bivvies to give away in this £1,200+ competition.

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Tackle World Our monthly look at all the best gear in carping, with metalware from Cygnet, clothing from Chub and Phat Fish, a great brew kit from JRC, a new sleep system from SONIK, and headlamps from Petzl. That’s not all though, as there’s also a new cook tent from Fox to check out.

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Think Tank Being in the right place at the right time is never more important than in winter. Rob Hughes, Iain Macmillan and Ian Chillcott look at the all-important aspect of swim choice for your winter sessions.

Ask The Experts This month, our experts take a look at how to get the best from your swim on a long session, and how clipping up can make easy work of accurate casting.

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

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The F Word Paul Forward Mr F. has had a bit of a bumper crop this month, with 16 fish on the bank when most anglers were struggling.

Could it be that our carp diarist is just lucky, or is his hard work to search out the fish beginning to pay off ?

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To Stock Or Not To Stock?

Roger Ellis Roger says that when stocking waters, you need to consider all the risks, and have a plan for what you want to achieve. The nod to Shakespeare in the title is intentional, as the dangers in getting it wrong can cost you dearly.

Historic Carp Waters

Chris Ball Chris looks at a small area of Berkshire that was home to several holiday camps and a fireworks factory, all of which had pools containing some very special carp.

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Lake Juvanze Holiday Competition The long, cold nights of winter won’t be so bad if you’ve got a week-long carping holiday at Juvanze to look forward to. This is what’s on offer in this great Christmas holiday competition.

DON’T FORGET

OUR SPECTACULAR STICKY BAITS SUBSCRIPTION ON PAGES 106-107

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Still Carping On Tim Paisley Tim has just returned from Rainbow Lake, his final overseas adventure of the year, and when looking back on his exploits on the bank, he realises how amazed he is by the things anglers put themselves through in the name of carp angling.

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Issue 146 December 2015

EURO BANX 2 FOLLOW THE NASH LADS ON AN AMAZING ROAD TRIP ACROSS EUROPE | P156

ECHOES AROUND THE WORLD

BRAVING BALATON

TONY DAVIES-PATRICK

P135 All the news and catches from around the globe this winter

P143 Hungarian angler Attila Pinke tackles the vast expanse of Lake Balaton

P149 Tony Davies-Patrick unlocks the fantastic potential of French rivers

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19/11/2015 15:02

IN INTERNATIONAL CARPER Our Echoes Around The World is a regular look at the bigfish captures, and this month we reveal that some of the biggest fish of the year have graced the banks in the last month or so. Tony DaviesPatrick starts a new series on fishing the big rivers of France, where he fishes in peace and tranquility in the hunt for river giants. At the opposite end of the spectrum from the peace and quiet of the countryside is Alan Bair’s feature, Euro Banx.

He’s been fishing in the heart of some of Europe’s major cities, and his tale makes for compelling reading. Balaton is the largest freshwater lake in central Europe, and its 146 miles of bank give access to some remarkable angling everyone can enjoy. Attila Pinke is the man to guide us on a tour of this awe-inspiring water.

PICK UP YOUR COPY OF CARPWORLD FROM ALL MAJOR STOCKISTS

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FEATURE

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Steve Cliff has had a great year on Elstow Pit One, fishing it now and again and catching some cracking fish along the way, using a tactic slightly different from how many tackle this famous water.

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lstow is a place very close to my heart. I have fished on there for years, never doing a full season on the place, just going when I fancy it, or if it looks good for a few.

My circumstances changed this year, and for the better. For as long as I can remember, I have fished weekends, but now that my circumstances have changed and I’m practically retired, I was looking forward to fishing during the week.

Pit One has a rota system at the weekend, with the syndicate divided into two and you fishing each alternate week. A weekend-only angler would only be able to fish the place two times in a month, so I tried not to enter many draws and let the weekenders have a fair crack at it. The only time I would fish the weekend is if I wanted to have a social or a catch-up with some friends.

I spent the spring flitting around various places, not managing to settle anywhere in particular. It was then that I decided to go back to Elstow. There were a couple of fish I still wanted to catch, one in particular being the King of Elstow. That is truly one special creature; not massive by modern standards, but at over 35lb it was certainly big enough and pretty enough for me.

In years gone by, the going tactic on the lake was the old hemp, pellet and

A fish known as No Name at over 37lb. Not a bad way to start the year.

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it to get down to the bottom and leave corn trick, with a bit of plastic corn on a carpet of smell and attraction. That’s the end. However, there has been an why soaking it in the boilies and pellets explosion of rudd, and they make it very the night before had to be done. So, the difficult to get bait to the bottom. As a mix was assembled and the hookbaits result of this, and general modern-day were glugged in L-Zero-30-T, another carp fishing, a lot of boilies were going liquid that came highly recommended. in, and the fish were benefitting from We had been trying to scrounge bottles it too. I had used the boilies on and off of the original stuff for months, and the year before, and saw first-hand how when we ran out, we felt lost. However, effective they were becoming, although we have not noticed any differences I have never really been too fussed about or hindrances them; I am quite since using the happy with a sack “ALL WINTER I HAD BEEN new version, of hemp and some THINKING ABOUT HOW I WAS which came as corn. I took some GOING TO GET MY BAIT EVEN a huge relief. of the Krill over MORE ATTRACTIVE” My first session there last year, was in a swim because there was called the Peanut. At Elstow, most of the a fair bit going in and a lot of people swims have a number of features out in were singings its praises. I threw some in front. These are normally bars, mounds front of passing carp, and watched them and humps, and all have their own drop down and smash every last crumb. name. The Peanut has a few spots, and That day I had five bites, and since then I always like to have a little marker on I have wanted to have a go with them. the one I think they have been visiting; All winter I had been thinking about how I was going to get my bait even more if the fish have been using the features, there are always some clean spots out attractive. I had been speaking to Rob there. If the bar is all furred up, there is Gooch about it, and he had been lacing a good chance nothing has been there the boilies and pellets in Krill Liquid for a while – just common sense really. I and had had a superb season last year. did find the hard drop and sharp rattle I wanted to achieve something similar, on the rod tip, even though it was very but incorporate some powders in it too. small. This is one of the reasons why The main purpose of the liquid is for people fish so tight on there – there is normally one bite spot and anglers want to chuck all the rods on it. I have seen some phenomenal angling over the years, and some of the guys have gone on to absolutely destroy other lakes by fishing like this. Anyway, the marker was popped up and I cast all three rigs to the float, each with little Hemp Oil-infused bags pulled down the hooklink. I then put a small green bucket of the spod mix as tight as I could, and gingerly wound the float in so as to not catch my lines.

It was a good few days for me. I had a few stockies and a mirror known as No Name at 37lb 8oz. It was certainly a confidence booster, and with Rob catching too, it felt like we might have been on to something. On the flip side, Elstow can make you think you’ve got it sussed, and then go and do something completely different. I had been experimenting with a new Decem ber 2015 C a r pwor l d 19

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FEATURE

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COLDWA T E R MUSINGS Light evenings, green trees, and carp showing in abundance are now what seems like a distant memory. For many of us this is scratching time, where a bite is hard to come by unless we venture to much easier venues in search of smaller fish. However, it isn’t all doom and gloom. There are still a few carp to be caught, and I, for one, like to make a few changes as the frosts start to take a grip on the nation.

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armoury, I would happily scale down hen considering winter to a Size 12 hook on even the big-fish tactics, the first thing that waters. I have had plenty of large fish on most seem to do is finesmall hooks, and I often find that a fine down, which undoubtedly works, but gauge buries deep into the fish’s mouth one thing that few consider is why it to give a fantastic hold. I believed that works, and why we do it. In cold water, the smaller hook and small foam looked the carp’s metabolism slows, and in turn much more balanced and subtle and it they become more docile and their senses earned me extra bites, but also weight was fade – eyesight, smell, taste and feel. So, an issue. Fifteen years ago there wasn’t considering that, why do we fine-down? purpose-designed foam for Surely they should be easier to Zigging. Improvisation was catch on heavier gear. required, and I heard I come from a matchof anglers getting angling background through several (far too many years “I must admit that pairs of trainers ago than I like I tend to lean more as the soles were to admit), and I towards bigger hooks cut out to form know the merits than I used to.” the bait. I used a of fining-down to block of foam which get bites, but this I bought for rolling normally means finer pop-ups over 25 years lines while float-fishing ago – in fact I still have that and, of course, smaller hooks. block in my tackle box, and it is probably But does this translate to modern carp the oldest bit of kit I have. This was fishing? I believe it does in certain forms, before cork balls were sold and before mainly Zigging. The diameter, or should I saw Poly-Pops (remember those?).

I say visibility, of the line can play a huge The foam was buoyant, but it wasn’t as part in whether or not the fish sucks in buoyant as some that you can get now. the small piece of black foam. The size of Every milligram of weight saved was the hook can play a part too, but I must important, and this was especially true admit that I tend to lean more towards when I used pop-ups as a midwater bait. bigger hooks than I used to. When Ten years ago, there weren’t many small Zig Rig fishing first became part of my 5 8 Ca r p wor l d D e c e mber 2 01 5

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pop-ups around that I would be confident of holding a hook up all night, therefore I used a 14mm bait on a Size 12 hook to give me the best chance of keeping it off the deck. Nowadays things are a little different, and there are 8mm baits which will hold up a Size 8 all night if needs be. So, for the reason of buoyancy, I no longer need to use smaller hooks, and with a bit of creative thinking I can use a bigger hook by making it part of the lure; that is essentially what a Zig is, especially if an unflavoured non-food stuff is used. Therefore, with added bits of black foam and silicone tubing, I can convert the hook from being a danger to part of the attraction.

The other form of scaling down that I agree with is bait. I think maggots can be devastating in the colder weather, and if fished correctly on the right water, they can be by far the most dominant bait. When using small food items like maggots, it is important to scale down the hookbait to match, so if the hookbait is smaller, a smaller hook and softer hooklink balances the rig much better. My favourite hookbait tends to be a whittleddown pop-up with a few maggots on the end on the Hair. Some of my best winter results have come on this tactic. One November night in Northamptonshire, I had a colossal battle with probably one of the most powerful fish I have ever hooked. It ran me ragged for 40 minutes, taking me into three different bays, over a shallow plateau, and weeded me up on a good few occasions. All the time I knew I was playing it on a little Size 10 hook, but I eventually slipped the net under a new PB common of 44lb 2oz, known as the Parrot. There had barely been a fish out of the lake in the preceding few weeks, yet I got two bites that session, including another good fish of 34lb, and I was sure this was down to the 2 gallons of maggots that I used. The now heavily publicised Christchurch was another water which responded well to maggots. In fact, during the winters I did on there, I can barely remember a fish coming out on anything other than over maggots or on a Zig! In my opinion, there are a few reasons why maggots are so productive in winter.

The silver fish, bream and tench are less active, so that gives the carp a better chance of finding the bait. They also replicate the carp’s natural food source of bloodworm, snails and other small waterborne life forms, and when these creatures are at their lowest numbers Decem ber 2015 C a r pwor l d 59

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FEATURE

S PA N I S H

GOLD Hot on the heels of England winning this year’s Carpfishing World Championship, we caught up with team manager Rob Hughes when he got back from Spain, to get an exclusive interview on how it happened and what it meant to lift the trophy for our country.

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ngland… World Champions…

That has a nice ring to it.

It must feel awesome.

For sure it does. It was an unbelievable journey and one that I’m sure I, and the rest of the squad, will never forget.

that. There’s no point at all entering a competition like this if you aren’t going to try to win it. However, financially and logistically, it takes a massive amount of time and resources to fish in a world event.

I am quite a competitive person, and my

Standing on the podium, hearing the national anthem play is something that as a sportsman, you hope will happen to you. We all dream of representing our country, and I can tell you there is very little on this planet that comes close to the feeling you get when it’s you up there listening to your own anthem playing.

pals will probably laugh at that because they think I’m an incredibly competitive person, but that’s what you need to succeed. The team have that mentality too, and the attitude of the lads before, during, and after this event has been outstanding.

That was a massive part of our success.

ABOVE The mountain of gear that we had to transport to Spain.

The entire squad gathered together for the first time.

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CW: You seemed to be a very strong CW: Did you believe before you

team unit, and there was a lot of

went over there that you would

preparation before the event. How

have a chance of winning?

did you work out your game plan?

RH: I always knew we would be

RH: The first thing was to build a squad of very successful and capable anglers. In the UK, we are spoilt because we’ve got loads of talented anglers, but it runs a lot deeper than simply putting a few decent anglers on the bank. This is a team event, so we needed guys who could operate as a team.

This meant sharing information, working with each other, helping each other, and having skills which both complemented and were different from each other. We also needed a team with a competitive

competitive, and winning this event is the holy grail, but it isn’t something that is easy. We have a brand new squad, I am a brand new manager, and this is the first time that the majority of us had competed in an event like this. What we needed to do was go over there, compete, understand, learn, and build. There was no way we were just going to turn up, of course. We needed to make a bit of a statement, and I think we achieved 8 2 Ca r p wor l d D e c e mber 2 01 5

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edge, who knew what it was like to win under pressure, and how to dig deep and not give in. The mental aspect is a big part, but, of course, that goes hand in hand with the skills to be able to understand what to do, when to do it, and how to evolve.

The practical side of things was very interesting. A recce party of Bart, Alexei and Harry went out to Spain to meet up with Paul Booth, and they found out what worked and caught a few fish. It was useful because it gave us a bit of knowledge as to what to take out for main practice. We then had a main full squad session, and it was completely different, so we had to re-evaluate. We had to be incredibly openminded, and we tried and tested loads of different tactics, analysing what got the quickest bites, and how we could increase the effectiveness of our baits. It was incredible, and just the slightest of changes had a big effect. It’s fair to say that the things we found out in practice definitely

TOP The Croatian manager came up to see what was going on.

Hughesy shared a drink and a friendly chat with him.

Hughesy and Harry doing the all important draw.

ABOVE

helped us out no end, and made the difference between catching and winning.

CW: You put in a lot of work beforehand.

We saw the involvement of casting coaches, of local experts, and of team meetings. You seemed to be running the team like a professional sports team, and there was very little left to chance.

RH: That’s exactly what I was doing. I looked at what we needed, where we were strong, where we were weak, which areas needed attention, and who had the strongest qualities in any area. As I said earlier, it is a team event, and every member of the squad, be it the lads on the rods, the support team out there, or the casting coaches and sponsors/suppliers back home, they all paid a massive part in the success of this team. One good or lucky pair can win an individual event or medal. However, to win a team event like this, you need to operate as a team, and the luck element in victory is significantly

lower. I believe that you can lose this event with bad luck, but you can’t win it with good. Admittedly, good luck and the odd lucky break goes a long way to help, but if you look at Croatia, for example, they aren’t lucky – they are good. They win, or at least get on the podium, almost all the time, and that’s through hard work, dedication, good back-room support, and a will to win.

CW: Where do you go from here?

Next year it’s being held in France, and you will be going over as the defending champions, with all the pressure that goes with it.

RH: Absolutely. There will be some pressure but we can handle it. One thing that a victory gives you is the confidence to know you can do it. You see it with all the successful teams, and the ones who haven’t won think they might be able to, and try harder. The ones who have

won it know they can do it, and that’s a very settled mindset. That extra level of confidence is massive. We will be going into the event with the same mindset.

Make no mistake though, 2016 will not be easy. The home nation always has an advantage, and the French will be amazingly strong on their own venue.

They are a great nation anyway, and they fish this venue for their national championships, so they know all about it. They have a massive amount of experience there, and know the venue inside out. They will be difficult to beat, for sure, but as I mentioned earlier, neither me, nor the rest of the team are going along for a jolly.

Rob Toughs, former British champ and World Carp Classic winner, sent us this message: ‘I would rather be completely exhausted from the hard times which breed success, than well rested from achieving nothing,’ He was bang on.

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Lake Balaton is fast becoming the go-to water for adventurous carpers, and with over 146 miles of bank to fish from, there’s plenty of room for everyone. But be warned, it’s so big that it has its own storm-warning system!

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ith its huge water surface, beautiful clear blue water, reedfringed bays and amazing carp, it’s no wonder that people fall in love with Balaton the first time they visit it. I remember going there as a child, for a summer holiday with my parents, and like everyone else, I was spellbound by the lake. Of course, back then I didn’t do any serious fishing; I preferred to tackle the fringes of the lake, just next to the reeds, for small bream. However, the atmosphere was amazing.

Then, after many years as an adult carp angler, I had the opportunity to fish Balaton for a week. There was no question about it; this was the fishing trip of the year for me, the one I was looking forward to the most, and the feeling I had when I stood there looking out over the huge expanse of lake was amazing. I was mesmerised, with pictures of the magnificent carp which live in the lake filling my mind.

Balaton is in the Transdanubian region of Hungary. It is the largest freshwater lake in central Europe, with a surface area of 592km2 (229sq.mi.), and it’s around 77km (48 miles) long.

The south side, which is lined with holiday homes, is shallow, and the north side deeper. It’s strange to see that on the south side, you sometimes have to walk hundreds of metres out into the lake if you want to get over 1-2m in depth. However, it’s the south side that can provide very good fishing in early spring. Because it’s really shallow, the sun heats it up earlier than the north side, so the water life will be more active after the cold

winters. The northern side is usually a couple of metres deeper close to the bank, with average depths of around 2-3m, which tends to work better in the heat of summer or in autumn.

It was the beginning of May 2015 when I started my session. I prefer the north side of the lake, so I chose to fish there. When I arrived, the weather was windy and the storm warning system was at its second level. I should mention this system; it’s very important to take note of it if you are fishing the lake. Firstly, Balaton can be very dangerous in stormy weather. Unfortunately, several people die each year, just because they didn’t take the weather into account when they ventured out on to the lake. When the first level warning is on, the lights around the lake flash 45 times each minute. Under this warning level you can go out on the water by boat, but only to a maximum of 500m from the bank. However, when the second level is activated, the lights flash at a rate of 90 times each minute. You must not go on the water at all because it’s very dangerous.

You must also wear a life jacket at all times and you must have an anchor, a rope, and a powerful lamp. These are mandatory in case you get in trouble.

When I arrived at the lake, the second warning level was in force, so I couldn’t go out on the water to put down my markers and start to feed. I set up my tackle and waited, as the forecast was for the weather to improve. By dawn the next day the storm warning system was lowered to the first level, so I grabbed my baits and my markers, and set off in the

The rules changed in 2015 and anglers can now place their baits from a boat.

boat to find areas to fish. The lakebed on much of the area I had chosen was flat with no really discernible features. Some parts were covered in weed, others in silt. It’s always wise to check the depth of the silt, because if you make your rigs too short, they can simply disappear. In years gone by, you couldn’t take rigs out by boat, but in early 2015, the rules changed, so you can now boat rigs out to a maximum of 350m from the bank.

This gives anglers many more options, as opposed to just casting. To be honest with you, this was the reason I chose to fish the lake at this time; I just love being able to place my baits by boat. I trust the method much more than casting and, of course, you can fish a lot further out this way.

Utilising my GPS, which is very useful on a big water like this, I found a great place about 300m from the

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bank. I also looked for a spot I could cast to which was around 100m out, so I could use this close-in spot when the weather was calm and there was no danger of storms. However, at Balaton, the storms can come in very quickly, and for this reason, it’s always advisable to feed a spot further out, where the disturbance from the storm is limited.

On the first day, I fed around 20kg of corn alongside some big 20mm halibut pellets. The idea was to attract the small fish, which, in turn, would bring in the larger fish. I also fed a spot around 40m from my marker with a mixture of just boilies and pellets. The reason for this is that the smaller fish gorge themselves on the large amount of corn, but the bigger, older fish stay at a distance, checking out what’s going on. As I was setting out my stall to catch larger fish, I placed some of my rigs some distance from the marker. Being such a huge lake, the fish tend to shoal up and travel round the lake, so sometimes you can be fishing a spot where there are no fish at all, and it sometimes takes them 2-3 days to find your baited spots.

Using larger baits will sort out the bigger fish, and I’m talking about using three 24mm baits on the Hair, around 2-3cm away from a large hook. In my case, I use Size 2 Fang Twisters, which may sound extreme, but trust me, you can really be selective when using this method. Before I travelled, I asked many anglers about Balaton, and they told me there were many small carp between 1 and 3kg, and no really big ones – which is certainly not true. I have to say, though, that the smallest carp I’ve caught was around 7kg, with an average of 11kg. I guess I had a lot less action using larger baits, but I didn’t mind. I did not go to the lake to travel 300m out in a boat every hour or so after catching tiddlers! I know of anglers who bait their hooks with three 30mm boilies and they catch!

You could say I was lucky that the first carp I caught was the smallest for the session, and on the first day as well. I was surprised because I didn’t expect any carp to find the bait for a couple of days, so it was a good sign that I’d dropped in where some fish were already feeding. I kept on feeding the spots because I was trying to keep the fish in the area.

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O L I D AV I E S & A L A N B L A I R

Part 1

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lthough it had been a great success, our first trip to Europe had been a bit of a rush. These things have a habit of creeping up on you, and as a result we found ourselves unprepared for some of the varied fishing that we encountered. This wasn’t a mistake that Alan and I were keen to repeat, and as a consequence, the van was jammed full of tackle and equipment to cover every conceivable situation. We left Essex at 6.00 a.m. and headed to the Tunnel, later than planned, as always, but buzzing with excitement and anticipation. There were new places to explore, people to meet, and carp to be caught! This time we were heading away for over a week, and just like our first venture, we certainly weren’t going to be sitting in one spot. It was going to be an epic road trip, taking us through seven countries and covering thousands of miles, so this time it was meticulously planned and organised.

We got off to a bad start when we just missed the Eurotunnel check-in, but that didn’t really matter. In any case, there were delays of over an hour, which gave us time to grab a coffee from the crowded terminal, and have a chat with Carpworld editor Steve Broad, who we had bumped into in the Starbucks queue on his way down to Rainbow.

We eventually found ourselves on French soil, nearly 2 hours late, but we

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an amazing Blair, set off on n a Al nd a es vi untries , and Oli Da ss than seven co le The Nash boys, no in ng ki ta tions . Read s Europe, of different loca ty road trip acros rie va e id w tale. fishing in a ent of this epic lm a st in lots of unusual st fir e th adventures in all a bout their were on our way. Destination: Austria.

Our first stop was the Carpcentre Fishery Roadshow near Gratz, and getting there was the biggest leg of our journey, at nearly a thousand miles. At lunchtime, and despite coffee and Red Bull, Alan was flagging, so I took over behind the wheel.

Within minutes he was catching flies, which left me to get the miles rolling. I settled into long-haul mode, tunes rolling.

Belgium came and went and it was on to the autobahns of Germany, where I ground out the miles while Alan slept. Six hours later, and fresh as a daisy after the Blair equivalent of 2 nights’ sleep, he was back in the game, and I had some company again. The traffic and roadworks through Germany really slowed things down, and it was late when we got to the Austrian border. Before we crossed, we stopped to pick up our motorway vignette, a kind of permit that you need to use on the fast roads. It isn’t expensive, but the fine for not having one is, so we weren’t taking any chances. After handing the wheel back to Alan for a couple of hours, we finally rolled up at the lake at a little before 2.00 a.m., some 20 hours after leaving Essex.

Still in the holiday spirit, we celebrated our arrival and downed a shot of Jager before getting the rods out. I dropped two rods in the edge in the only empty swim I could find, and unfolded the bed, more interested in sleeping than fishing.

BELOW LEFT An H-block marker attached to the van key ensured we couldn’t lose it.

Driving on Austrian and Slovenian motorways requires a permit, or vignette.

BELOW

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E u ro B a n x 2 P a r t 1 O l i D a vies & A la n Bla ir

Alan disappeared off into the darkness, armed with Riser Pellets and some Soft Hookable floaters, telling me he would be back in 10 minutes. He reappeared with a cheery, “Got one.” He’d caught a mid-20 off the top, using free-lined mixers in the weed, in the dark, just holding the rod tip high, feeling the line, and waiting for a tug. Only Alan Blair!

I managed to get a couple of hours’ sleep while Alan helped himself to another pair of fish off the top at first light. We were treated to breakfast and coffee from our hosts, Claudia and David, and caught up with Tom and Loz from the Nash team, who were also out there at the show, along with some of our other European consultants. As people started to arrive, and I set about trying to catch my first Austrian carp, Alan sneaked off to fish – of all places – the mayor’s koi pond, a deal he had made in exchange for some Key boilies! Using free-lined bread and maggots, he helped himself to three interesting ornamentals, including a gorgeous linear koi. In the meantime, I managed my first Austrian carp, followed shortly by a second, both using free-lined mixers. I then set my sights on a large orange koi which was feeding with a big group of carp in some pads. I ignored all the other big sets of lips, and managed to single him out and hook him, only for the hook to pull after a few seconds.

The fish soon returned and I caught a consolation common to ease the pain, but as much as it was great fun and hard to drag ourselves away

RIGHT In exchange for a bag of Key boilies, Alan got permission to fish the mayor’s koi pond.

Within 10 minutes of arriving in Austria, Alan had bagged an upper-20 off the top!

BELOW

from feeding fish, we had places to be.

At lunchtime we said our goodbyes, programmed the satnav, and once again hit the road. Destination: Prague. It was a fair slap; another 5+ hours, and once again, Alan was soon catching flies.

Not that surprising because he had been up all night!

The landscape gradually morphed from the mountains of Austria to the rolling hills of the Czech Republic, and at around 6.00 p.m. we arrived in the city of Prague and checked(!)

in to our hotel. With the van parked in the underground garage, or Batcave as we nicknamed it, it was time for a legendary Alan Blair sort-out, while I went and had a much-needed shower. Refreshed, and with the stalking kit ready, we met our Czech fixer Jakub, who was going to show us a couple of spots in Prague itself. He spoke excellent English and was full of smiles, obviously as excited at the prospect of fishing the city as we were.

The light was fading fast, so we hurried to a stretch of river by a sewage works. Jakub explained that the outflow was a great spot, and there was a chance of catching carp, and even big barbel, off the surface.

Sure enough, as we watched in the fading light, the river was alive with fish rolling, and some of them were definitely carp.

We agreed to prime the spot with a bit of bait, go and get some sleep, and head back in the morning.

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A N G L I N G

P U B L I C A T I O N S

P R O U D L Y

P R E S E N T S

CARP A N

E V E N I N G

O F

N O R TH

F R I D A Y T H E

H O L I D A Y

1 5 T H

I N N ,

H I G H

J A N U A R Y

R O A D ,

D O N C A S T E R

9 U X

HO L ME S

H A MIDI

• Cost of entry is £5.00 per person, payable on the door • There will be a raffle in conjunction with the PAG, with some great prizes to be won • Licensed bar on site • Doors open at 6.30 p.m.

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M A RK

ALI

An Evening of Carp once again returns to the Holiday Inn Doncaster.

Our guest speakers for the evening are the one and only Ali Hamidi, author of The Carpers’ High, who has a stunning talk lined up about his adventures travelling the globe to film the new series of The Big Fish Off. Prolific big-carp-catcher Mark Holmes will also be on hand to reveal some of his recent outstanding captures, in his straight-talking and fascinating slide show.

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• Doors close at 11.00 p.m. (approximately) • There will be trade stands from Angling Publications, the Predation Action Group and RG Baits, plus others

S U P P O RT I N G T H E

An Evening of Carp (Doncaster) is being held on the evening of Friday 15th January 2016 at The Holiday Inn Doncaster A1(M) Jct 36. High Road, Warmsworth, Doncaster DN4 9UX. Accommodation is available for anyone wanting to stay over and can be arranged directly with the hotel.

The event organisers are Angling Publications Limited, and any questions (excluding accommodation) should be directed to pip@anglingpublications.co.uk

During the evening, Ali will be on hand to not only sign his book new book The Carpsers’ High but have pictures taken.

The event is being held at the Doncaster Holiday Inn (A1 (M) Jct 36) • Pay on the door • £5.00 per head • Doors open 6.30 p.m.

Rooms are available for anyone wishing to stay over at the rate of £70.00 B&B based on a twin or double room.

For reservations call the Holiday Inn, Doncaster on 01302 799988.

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Doncaster Holiday Inn (A1 (M) Jct 36) Warmsworth, Doncaster, South Yorkshire, DN4 9UX Tel: 01302 799988 Fax: 01302 310197 ROAD: A1 (M) Junction 36 to A630 (T) Rotherham RAIL: Doncaster Station 3 miles AIR: Doncaster Airport 12 miles DIRECTIONS TO DONCASTER HOLIDAY INN From the A1 (M) Southbound/northbound leave at Junction 36. Take the A630 in the direction of Rotherham. The hotel entrance is 100 yards on the left-hand side.

From the M1 M1 Junction 32 to M18. M18 Junction 2 A1 (M) northbound. Take Junction 36 for Rotherham/Doncaster (A630). Turn left at the roundabout (signposted Rotherham).

The hotel entrance is 100 yards on the left-hand side.

From the M62 M62 Junction 33 to A1 southbound. Leave at Junction 36. Take the A630 in the direction of Rotherham. The hotel entrance is 100 yards on the left-hand side.

From Doncaster Town Centre Take A630 to Rotherham until you reach the A1 roundabout, go straight over the roundabout and the entrance to the hotel is 100 yards on the left-hand side.

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