WIN
a french fishing holiday for two
ISSUE 304 January 2016
ISSUE 304 / January 2016 / MONTHLY £4.75
Improve your
cold-water carping Dave Levy reveals his winning winter tactics
PLUS B ill c ott a m T I M PA I S L E Y
B R I T A I N ’ S B I GGEST C A R P - A N G L I N G M A G A Z I N E
S imo n C r o w I a n Chill c ott M a tt E a to n
carpworldmagazine.com
D a v e M oo r e
International Carper c ar pwor ld maga z in e. co m
T H E
Pecky’s progress
M A G A Z I N E
F O R
T H E
W O R L D W I D E
MY BEST YEAR EVER
what’s new in rig world
A N G L E R
Issue 147 January 2016
THIRTEEN FISH OVER 70LB FROM THREE DIFFERENT VENUES FOR ARJEN UITBEIJERSE | P150
EURO BANX
P136 The Nash lads continue their awesome European adventure
THE NUMBERS GAME
P143 Dave Moore’s amazing haul from the Hungarian super-water, Euro Aqua
UNDER THE BRIDGE
P157 Inner-city madness – Raf Swinnen tackles the River Maas
E C H O E S A R O U N D T H E WO RLD ALL THE NEWS AND C AT C H E S F R O M A R O U N D T HE GLOBE P129
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CONTENTS
The Carpworld Contents / Issue 304 / January 2016
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The Wild Gravel Pits Lee Brooks Experience the highs and lows of fishing wild understocked venues, as Lee tackles a series of gravel pits which he decided were worth visiting after receiving a tip-off about the waters.
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37 ON THE COVER:
Dave Levy with a cracking carp from Cleverley Mere. Read the story behind its capture on P17.
Petit Pretre Competition How do you fancy a week’s fishing at a cracking French holiday venue? That’s what’s on offer in this superb competition, where the winner and a friend will fish on one of the lakes at Little Priest.
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Editor’s Comments The run-up to Christmas and the New Year has been a busy time in the Carpworld office, so time on the bank has been limited for our illustrious editor. Gazette Keep up to date with all the news and views from around the world of carping by reading the Carpworld Gazette.
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Crossword It’s back by popular demand, a one-off New Year special edition of Tim’s famous Cranium-Crushing Crossword. It might take you until the first spring blossoms to finish it!
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Cleverley Campaign Dave Levy Dave looks back on a successful campaign on Cleverley Mere in Essex, which brought him continued success right through the long, cold days and nights of winter.
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Pecky’s Progress Darrell Peck Pecky reveals how making the effort to get out and about on the bank can make all the difference. He looks back on a winter session that will truly inspire you to get the rods out.
Superficial Success Adam Clewer Nobody catches fish every time they go out – fact! So why do we only hear of the good times on social media? Adam says it’s time we addressed these distorted views of carp angling.
Rig World featuring Mike Kavanagh Mike looks at rig bits from Taska, Korda and Fox, which are sure to help you put more fish on the bank. He also answers a reader’s question on how to get the best from fluorocarbon hooklinks.
Diary Of A Carpaholic Simon Crow 2015 was a year when it appeared that Simon could do no wrong! Fish after fish came to his rods, and it looks as though the good times are set to continue.
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Think Tank Bill Cottam, Rob Hughes and Claudia Darga look at bait colour. Can it really make a difference to your angling, and what are the best colours to choose for a winter session?
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On English Soil Tommy De Cleen After reading some of the classic carp-angling books from the past, Tommy decided that he had to make the trip from his home town in Belgium to fish some of the best waters the UK has to offer.
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Ashmead Diaries Mark Walsingham Mark gives us his opinions on the current carp scene, reveals how his plans for the regeneration of Redmire are coming on, and how the syndicate is faring on Ashmead during the winter months.
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F: facebook.com/CarpworldMagazine / T: @CarpworldMag
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Bait World featuring Joe Turnbull Joe looks at two companies which are new to us, Spectrum Baits and SSP Baits, plus he reveals just how good worms as bait can be in winter. He also has a chat with Alex Smith, one half of, as he says, ‘the YouTube sensation that is Carl and Alex’.
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Sticky Baits Competition We’ve got an awesome prize from the guys at Sticky Baits, where four readers can each win over £100 worth of the awesome Vor-Tex+ this month.
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An Amazing Year Rob Hughes Every now and again, everyone has a year to remember, and 2015 was certainly a very special year for Rob. From angling politics to time on the bank, everything seemed to click into place.
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Historic Carp Waters Chris Ball Wood Pool is nestled in the heart of a country estate where a small cottage, with access to the reed-fringed pool, was once home to one of carpangling’s forefathers, Denys Watkins-Pitchford, aka BB.
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Ask The Experts This month, our experts, Ian Chillcott, Adam Clewer and Matt Eaton, answer readers’ questions on making cork ball pop-ups. They get back to the basics of making rigs, and whether one bait can really out-fish another.
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The F Word Paul Forward Sometimes, everything just goes to plan, and following a couple of average sessions, the year ended on a great note for Mr F., with some lovely winter fish coming his way.
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Tackle World Tackle World is once again packed with all the best gear for 2016, including JRC’s new Kurve indication system, Powa-Pac’s excellent battery power systems, and gear such as stalking rods from Greys, Edwards Custom Upgrades alarms, Solar’s new Bow-Loc net, and Wychwood’s latest line, plus lots, lots, more.
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Still Carping On Tim Paisley Tim opens a very mixed bag of goodies this month, and reveals how fishing large overseas waters has influenced his angling. He also chats about Chris Haswell’s new book, and how his thoughts on prebaiting has changed over the years. PICK UP YOUR COPY OF CARPWORLD FROM ALL MAJOR STOCKISTS
T H E
M A G A Z I N E
F O R
T H E
W O R L D W I D E
MY BEST YEAR EVER
A N G L E R
Issue 147 January 2016
THIRTEEN FISH OVER 70LB FROM THREE DIFFERENT VENUES FOR ARJEN UITBEIJERSE | P150
EURO BANX
THE NUMBERS GAME
UNDER THE BRIDGE
P136 The Nash lads continue their awesome European adventure
P143 Dave Moore’s amazing haul from the Hungarian super-water, Euro Aqua
P157 Inner-city madness – Raf Swinnen tackles the River Maas
E C H O E S A R O U N D T H E W O R L D A L L T H E N E W S A N D C AT C H E S F R O M A R O U N D T H E G L O B E P 1 2 9 127_InterCover_CW304.indd 1
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IN INTERNATIONAL CARPER Alongside our regular look at all the big-carp captures in Echoes Around the World, we’ve got a cracking line-up for you this month, including Alan Blair fishing the stunning Lake Bled in Slovenia, and a trip to Euro Aqua with Dave Moore, during which he caught 49 fish between 50 and 90lb! Speaking of remarkable angling adventures, 2015 has been an exciting year for Arjen Uitbeijerse, and his tally for the year includes a 90-pounder, three 80s and nine carp of 70lb. Finally, we join Raf Swinnen as he takes urban carping to the extreme, fishing the River Maas under conditions from which most would shy away.
DON’T FORGET
OUR SPECTACULAR STICKY BAITS SUBSCRIPTION ON PAGES 84-85
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FEATURE
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P e c ky ’ s P ro g ress Da rrell Peck
D A R R E L L
P E C K
PECKY’S PROGRESS Here’s a blast from the past, where Pecky looks at an outstanding winter session from a few years ago. If this doesn’t drag you off the settee and out fishing, then nothing will. It’s an inspirational story of a truly great result.
I
t only feels like yesterday that I sat down to write my last diary piece. The Christmas printing schedule means the monthly deadline has been brought forward, so I’m sitting here needing another 2,000 words for just 2 weeks. Luckily though, my old mate Ginge, aka Broady, has given me licence to relive some previous winter successes. During the autumn of 2012, I was having it away on the old CEMEX venue, Rockford, which was a venue I’d always wanted to fish. Korda were in possession of a company Gold Card, which seemed to be going to waste. The lake had been sold and was going to open to all the following year, so it was one of those situations when it was now or never. After a successful October and November, I pulled off in early December, not because the action had dried up but because of the festive period and a holiday. I caught around 20 carp throughout the autumn, including some really big fish. During my absence though, the weather seriously deteriorated. Winter finally arrived, and I clearly remember that the lake was frozen and thick snow had fallen in the weeks before what I am about to relay. Christmas and the New Year passed in a blur of excessive food and alcohol, and I found myself sitting on the sofa at the back end of January, thinking about going fishing again. I looked out of the window and my van was completely covered by 6ins of snow, and as keen as I was, I wasn’t sure if I really fancied it that much. I picked up my phone to check the weather, and I’m glad I did. Heavy rain was forecast overnight, with temperatures into double figures, and the winds were due, which meant
a consistent 12° for the following 48 hours. As I processed the information, a smile spread across my face; if the lake was frozen, I was pretty sure that no one would be there. At Rockford, I’d caught all my fish from the same peg, so if I could get in there I could take a few luxuries, and sit back and not worry about if I was in the right spot. I arrived the following morning, an hour before first light on Monday 28th January, and my swim of choice was free. The snow had melted overnight because of the heavy rain, and the lake itself didn’t look half as bleak as I thought it might. The swim, however, was saturated; sandwiched between two lakes, the water simply had nowhere to go and there was soupy mud everywhere. Having fished this swim a lot, I knew what I had to do. It was just a case of if the fish were still about, and if they were up for a feed so soon after the thaw. I had recently spooled up with Berkley’s Nanofil, which I’d been told would help me cast further. Two rods were wrapped 44 times around the sticks, and the distance set by putting the line behind the clip, 10 yards further than I’d previously been fishing. Rig-wise, I used Stiff Hinge Rigs, formed using 2ins of curved 20lb Mouth Trap steamed round a rig bin, which helps keep its shape when really chucking. This was tied to a Size 8 Choddy hook, with 9-10ins of Gravel Brown N-Trap for a soft boom; I was slightly concerned that a stiff boom might have ended up sticking up if the lead buried in the silt. These were fished on Hybrid lead clips with 4.5oz distance leads, coupled with 12ins of Dark Matter tungsten tubing. Hookbaits are very important Jan u ary 2 016 C a r pwor l d 25
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FEATURE
D I A R Y O F A CA R PA H O L I C What a year it’s been for our carpaholic friend! With fish after fish coming to his rods, it would appear Simon could do no wrong – and it looks as though there could be more to come! Lake in Essex, weighing a whopping 56lb 12oz. The amazing mirror was backed Without wishing to sound cocky or up with Penny Scale at 48lb 10oz, and a anything like that, I’ve had an amazing host of other fish to 41lb during a 5-day 12 months of carp fishing, certainly session. I thought things couldn’t get any by my own standards. I’m writing this better, but I then went and bagged the in November, almost a year to the day biggest resident from the mighty Rainbow when it all began on a water in France Lake in France, when I netted the former known as Echo Pool. I was fortunate world record common known as Eric’s to break the lake record with a massive at a new personal best 86lb 8oz. This 83lb common known as Colin, the was then followed by the hardest fish to venue’s first 80-pounder. I backed it catch on the Emmotland complex in East up with several other good fish to 67lb Yorkshire, known as the Perfect Common, during what was basically planned as a as well as another biggie known as Humpy 5-day getaway with my girlfriend Lucy. at 34lb. Things then got stupid, when only Upon my return home, I was straight a few weeks later, I caught one of the most back out on my local Yorkshire haunts, sought-after commons in the country, where I managed to catch some terrific the one and only Kitch from Northey winter fish, topped by a 35lb mirror and Park, at a spawned-out 47lb 8oz. my first-ever Yorkshire 30+ It was at this point when common. Past winters “I then got I was contacted by the up here have always lads at Nash about really lucky at been very slow my slot for the 2016 for me, with Naseby Reservoir, DVD. They wanted the odd fish home to 10,000 carp me to do some making an weighing mostly around voice-to-camera appearance, 14lb, when I caught about my recent but between the venue’s first-ever catches, believing it the start of 30-pounder during a would make a nice December and 24-hour filming slot about what can the middle of session” be achieved with a good March, I went on bait and a working lifestyle to catch more than which sees me in the office 4 days 30x 20s, which was nothing a week. Last year, the lads drove up to short of exceptional fishing. I then got East Yorkshire to do the filming, so this really lucky at Naseby Reservoir, home time they asked me to go down to Essex. to 10,000 carp weighing mostly around The plan was to stick me on Church 14lb, when I caught the venue’s first-ever Lake for 24-48 hours and talk about my 30-pounder during a 24-hour filming session with Adam Penning and Carp TV. season, while slinging some rods out in the process. It wasn’t intended to see I still giggle today about how fortunate a any fish on the bank, and was so relaxed catch that was, especially from 90 acres of water, most of which doesn’t allow fishing. that it ended up being moved by a day at the last minute because of a double A short while later, I went and broke booking in the diary. The lads from Erics my UK personal best with the much Angling Centre were booked on for a sought-after Four-by-Four from Church AUTUMN HARVEST AT CHURCH LAKE
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D ia r y o f a Ca r pa holic S im o n C row
week, and whoever had booked us on had misread when they were leaving. The change of date wasn’t the first time I’d had my plans to fish Church Lake changed at the last minute, and it’s one of the reasons why I always smile when I hear anglers trying to label the venue as a ‘garden pond’. The famous water has been heavily fished for 15 years now, and the carp know all about anglers’ baits. You rarely see a day go by when the lake isn’t fished, so it’s far from a chuck-it-and-chance water. Many a well-known name has suffered at the hands of the moody carp it contains, and believe me when I say it ain’t as easy as the green-eyed monsters try to make out! Cabin Corner, with the reedline to the left of the shot.
TOP RIGHT
LEFT View of the right side of the swim in Pylon Bay.
First fish of the trip, only a couple of hours after arriving.
BELOW
FIRST DAY
I arrived at Nash HQ for 11.00 on the Monday morning, just as the lads from Erics were leaving. Things were beginning to pick up and they’d had some good fish between them, although not many had been out. It sounded like most of the fish were holed up in the thick weedbeds in what is called Pylon Bay,
the same area I’d caught from earlier in the season. Although we didn’t really need fish action on film to complete my segment, it would have been foolish to not try to catch something while I was there; invites to fish the exclusive lake don’t come too often these days. I headed straight to Pylon Bay for a look, also paying attention to the thick band of reeds down the Cabin Bank margin, as no one from Erics had fished in that area. It didn’t take long for me to find some fish. I spooked a couple of nice mirrors from the reeds as I climbed the trees and had a sneak into their safe areas. There was no one else on, so I had the option of spreading the rods out or being mobile. The camera crew were running behind due to the weather – it was absolutely bucketing it down, and all the roads were rammed due to slow traffic. It was, however, perfect carp-fishing conditions, and I was gagging to get the rods out. The air was really muggy, and it was the sort of weather when I was happy to get wet; the rain was dripping down my face as I began to set up. I’d picked the same swim on the top bank as I’d fished in the spring, because I could alternate rods between the reeds and the weedbed in Pylon Bay, or even split them by covering both areas if needed. I pitched the Titan well back from the water’s edge because I knew we were going to be making plenty of noise once the crew arrived. Because it was September, I decided to bait quite lightly, spreading 15-20 freebies around each rod. My piece on the DVD was also going to focus on The Key boilies, which I’d used for most of the year. Besides the freezer bait version, I had some of the new Stabilized Key, which, in layman’s terms, is the shelf life version. I’d never seen it or used it before this day, but it looked and smelt exactly the same as the freezer bait, so out it went. Jan u ary 2016 C a r pwor l d 65
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FEATURE
AN AMAZING YEAR R
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A n A ma z in g Year Ro b Hug hes
2015 was a big year for Carp Team England manager Rob Hughes, and there didn’t seem to be a month go by when he wasn’t hitting the headlines for one reason or another. Whether filming, fishing, representing England at the highest level, or dealing with behindthe-scenes politics, it’s life in the fast lane, that’s for sure. His recent appointment by Sport England as Angling Promotions Officer with the Angling Trust is another massive step forward, and it has to be said, it’s great for angling and for his personal drive to help elevate the sport to new levels. We caught up with Rob to look back at what was surely one his most successful years ever, and to look at what the future holds for Team England, angling promotions, and the man himself.
NUMQUAM REDONO
I’m starting this piece with a definition of the Latin quote that you see above. It’s one that the majority of successful people/anglers/businessmen understand, and applies even if they don’t know the literal translation. It means ‘Never give up’, whether that’s in competition,
LEFT I wanted to make sure I caught a 40lb mirror in 2015, and Apples made it a reality on my first trip of the year.
Doing ‘the flag’ was one of the things on my New Year’s to-do list.
BELOW
chasing your target fish, reaching for your goals, or simply existing. It’s good advice, and this year, on more than one occasion, that motto has helped keep me going. Targets and achievements are a personal thing. It’s psychological. What is an immense target for some may seem like a walk in the park for others, but the main thing to do when targeting something is to challenge yourself without making it an impossible task. The target doesn’t have to be an enormous one; it simply has to be something that you want to do, and the existence of a target is great motivation towards success. Every year for the last 10 years, we sit down as a family on New Year’s Eve and write down five things that we would like to achieve individually. We also add five things that are on our bucket list, and five things that we would like to do together as a family. They may be simple things, such as the usual resolutions of keeping fit or losing weight. Sometimes they are bigger things like climbing a big mountain or running an endurance race. Indeed, one of my recent ones was to learn to do ‘the flag’, and one I still want to achieve, much to the amusement of a few of my friends, is to learn how to do the Running Man dance move. I’ll do it for sure, although I’m not convinced it will look any good. The point in me saying all this is that now is the time we usually turn to resolutions and good intentions, and they are soon dropped or forgotten. Once we have written ours down, they are sealed in an envelope, put on the noticeboard in the kitchen, and they stay there until the following year. It makes interesting reading when we open them again
and see what we have done, what was important to us the previous year, and also what we want to achieve this year. 2015 was a massive year for me, but my usual winter campaign took a bit of a back seat. In my role as a consultant for Fox, I spent a lot of time overseas, and the period between January and March was a blur of shows and exhibitions. Poland, Romania, Czech Republic, Russia and, of course, three shows in the UK meant there was very little time to get the rods out. It was a fantastic experience meeting so many like-minded carp anglers from all over the world, but it meant that when I was back home, it was tricky to pack up the car and leave the family again. My fishing was restricted to jumping on the drop shot sheep bandwagon, and I have to say I absolutely loved it to the extent that I’m already back on it again this winter. If you haven’t tried it yet and are time-poor, it’s a great way of getting your fishing fix. WAS IT A TARGET?
My fishing started in March. I’d seen a fish which Martin Dawson and Chris Holmes had previously caught from Holme Fen, and it knocked my socks off. Martin showed me a picture, and when I took Chris up there for a trip, he actually caught it, and it blew me away on the bank. With great big scales and a beautiful colour, it was on my list of carp to catch, for sure. Now I don’t, and never have, targeted one specific carp. I don’t have time to do that, but I might set the target as a 40 mirror or a 40 common and try to put myself in with a chance of success. This fish, known as Apples, for obvious reasons, was a little different, and when it came to the first trip of the
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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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