Jim Wilson I N T E R V I E W
B Y
B R I A N
Being a police officer seriously restricts Jim’s fishing time, so it’s important that when he does get out on the bank he makes sure the time spent pays off. How does he catch so many big carp? We sent Brian Skoyles to investigate further.
I
’ve done some carp shows with Jim in the past year or so because, like me, bait-wise he’s part of the Nutrabaits team. He’s also a member of the Wychwood team, so he’s a dab hand with both bait and tackle. So I already had a fair idea about Jim’s general attitude to his fishing, but not specific details. Since he has had a couple of particularly successful seasons, I was interested to find out the details behind some of his fishing. I arranged to meet up with Jim at one of his local waters, called Mesters, near Scunthorpe. I’ve fished Mesters myself in the past and knew that it was a weedy water, with some lovely fish, but it could be tricky, so although I was looking forward to spending the afternoon watching Jim fish, I wasn’t particularly expecting him to catch in the short time I was to be there – but more about that later. I started fishing with my dad when I was about 5, fishing for roach, rudd – basically anything that came along. We fished our local area around Scunthorpe and the River E, a small tributary of the River Trent. There were a couple of small farmers’ ponds that we used to fish for crucians, tench, perch, etc. I was about 9 years old when I caught my first carp. Fishing luncheon meat, my float disappeared at a great rate of knots, my match rod bent double, and I didn’t really have a clue what was happening, to be honest. That would have been 1989. Having caught my first carp by accident, I started fishing for them deliberately, with Hair Rigs and ready-made boilies, etc. A year or so later, Nick Elliot, who had owned Bankside Tackle in Sheffield, started advertising for members for his Lincolnshire fishery, so my dad went along and took me and my younger brother with him. So I got to meet Nick, who was a well-known, successful,
Jim:
46
046-052_MyWay_CW261.indd 1
angler in the Sheffield area, and we started to fish Nick’s water; that’s when my carp fishing really took off. I remember doing my first night on my own. I say ‘on my own’, Nick was down the other end of the lake, and my dad had dropped me off, knowing Nick would keep an eye on me. In a weekend if you didn’t have 15 or so fish, you’d not got it particularly right. It was possible to get up to 30 fish on a good weekend. The original 80 or so fish had spawned successfully and the spawn had survived, so the numbers had increased massively. Fishing Nick’s water taught me a lot about how to make the most of every opportunity. You could watch the fish at close quarters so you learn a lot about rigs and rig placement. You can see how fish feed and the effects of lines in the water. Bait-wise, I used to use a mix of hemp, maples and boilies. My dad used to get our bait from Rod Hutchinson. Every three or four months he’d go through to Rod’s place in Legbourne, and get all the base mix and the flavours, and we’d have a massive baitmaking session. Out would come the plastic rolling tables, boxes and boxes of eggs, and the trusty Burco. None of it came out round, etc., but it didn’t matter, most of our fishing was at close range anyhow, but it was all part of the
First 30 – Arfur – taught me so much about bait and its application.
BELOW
S K O Y L E S
enjoyment. One of our favourites was Yellow Seed Mix with Chocolate Malt; it just caught well all the time. My dad was always really supportive, and having anglers like Nick was a great help. They really instilled in me the values that have served me well in my life so far. School was OK, but not really my priority. I worked hard, but the important things in my life were my fishing and my rugby. That worked well because I could concentrate on my rugby in the winter, and my fishing in the summer. From about 14/15 years old I knew that I wanted to join the police, so I worked hard for my examinations. I wasn’t a swot, but I did enough to get the grades I wanted. When I left school I had a year to fill before I could join the police, so I ended up working in Chapman’s Specialist Tackle in Scunthorpe. As a really keen angler, a dream job for me at the time. I got to meet a lot of the local anglers, and several of them became, and still are, close friends. I eventually applied and got accepted for the police in 2000. I fished Nick’s water for quite some time, but in 1999 I got the chance to fish Thompsons, in East Yorkshire. Now, for someone used to catching 150+ fish a year, Thompsons was going to be a challenge, the opposite extreme. Thompsons was really two lakes joined by a narrow, weedy channel. I remember standing near the hut by the entrance, looking down the expanse of the first half, with the channel and Pond Two in the distance, wondering, ‘Will I ever catch a fish from this water? There are only 50 or so fish in here. Oh my God, what am I going to do?’ I started fishing in the February, and the bitter easterly winds were something else. I was blanking and would get home wondering if I would ever catch a carp again. On reflection, I had just started too early. It was April when I got my breakthrough and caught one of the smaller stock fish. Soon after I saw a fish called Arfur for the first time. It came into the margin I was watching, it was the first time I’d seen a fish in the 30lb range, and I was just in awe, it was something else.
21/05/2012 19:11
My Way Jim Wilson interviewed by Brian Skoyles
47
21/05/2012 19:11
046-052_MyWay_CW261.indd 2
My Way Jim Wilson interviewed by Brian Skoyles 48
By this time i had switched to nutrabaits, and was using the Big Fish mix with salmon, Caviar and Black Pepper. i had found this little sandy area; the carp were quite happy to feed on one end of it – why just one end i don’t know, but i was happy to have found a feeding spot. i’d done five days without a fish, packed up and decided to walk round and put my spare bait on the sand strip, because i knew i was back in a couple of days. normally, i’m the sort of angler who spends ages with the Polaroids walking round looking for fish, but this time when i got back i was straight into the swim opposite the sandy strip, called Wigan Pier, and the first rod was cast across right on the money, with the other two rods fished close in to my near margin, so there was only one line going across the water. About midnight, the rod on the spot rattled off and it was Arfur at 30lb 12oz. it really taught me the importance of finding and baiting the feeding spots. i fished for a while on selby 3 lakes and really enjoyed that, then i got posted to the south of lincolnshire, and once i’d got settled, it opened up a whole new group of waters. Culverthorpe; i was lucky to get a ticket on there, and i also got the last year on the famous Baston Fen before it was closed by foot-andmouth. This was the time i first got to know Dave moore and Tony Hamsaw. i wouldn’t say they took me under their wing, so to speak, but at times they certainly pointed me in the right direction an awful lot. i have a very supportive girlfriend, nicola. she thoroughly understands
046-052_MyWay_CW261.indd 3
my need to go fishing. Because of my work i get two weekends in nine off at the most, so i don’t get to fish weekends. i’m currently in the CiD and that can get ridiculously busy, i’m often working at the serious crime side of policing, murders and such like, so finding time for fishing is never easy. i can get set up and the rods out, then the phone goes and i’ve got to get back to work.
A
s we are talking, Jim suddenly leaps up and steps past me. At the same time my ears register the sound of the alarm. Jim’s in. This is a first for the My Way recordings. Jim had produced a take at exactly the moment we were going to have a break – now that’s what I call class angling. Some time later, after a steady bit of pressure and, for once, not too much hassle from the weed, Jim has a decent fish in the net, and turned to me with a big beaming smile. “It’s The Sergeant.” Jim explained that The Sergeant is a much sought after fish with distinctive
Not bad for a casual bit of fishing on a My Way feature.
ABOVE
I have a very supportive girlfriend, Nicola; she’s my best friend and my rock.
BELOW
stripes down both sides, hence its name. We took some pics, made a brew, and got back to My Way. Before we go on to talk tackle and tactics, i have to mention how i caught the big Cambridge linear, because if the capture of any one fish sums up my Way it’s that one. i first heard about the lake in 2001 and put my name down for a ticket. i eventually got in, in 2009. The fishing for new members starts at the beginning of June. The fish came out in the July to Justin Haywood at 54lb. my fishing started seriously soon after that and i caught on my first trip, but after that it bit me a bit, and i didn’t have another chance until october. i was trying to do 48 hours most weeks and although i wasn’t catching, i did a lot of work with the marker rod and was gradually building up a picture. By november it just shut up shop, so i knocked it on the head until the 2010 season. For me, it was a 230-mile round trip because i’d been moved back to scunthorpe by then. What
Jim:
21/05/2012 19:12
My Way Jim Wilson interviewed by Brian Skoyles
with work and everything I was trying to do a 48-hour session about every 10 days. I got my first bite on my third visit, at the end of March, which turned out to be the lake’s resident catfish at 34lb. It came over a bed of hemp and chopped boilies, which really surprised me. I put the rod back out and had my first bite from a carp, a 26-pounder, so I thought perhaps this area could be a bit special. I focused on that area, whilst keeping an eye on the rest of the lake
046-052_MyWay_CW261.indd 4
This is how your fishing should make you feel. You can see Jim is enjoying it.
ABOVE
ABOVE RIGHT
33lb, July 2011 – this one told me the baiting was working. 31lb, July 2009 – a special fish from a special place.
BELOW
but kept making the trips to bait up, watching the water, hoping the big girl would give some clues as to where she might be feeding. From what I’d seen, I completely changed the area I was baiting. I’d started on the southern bank fishing into the area that gave me access to the snaggy section, but I switched my focus to the top southern corner, to a treeline that overhung massively. When I’d been fish-spotting from the trees I’d seen fish, including some of the big ones, so I upped my game, doing 200-mile round trip overnighters, then straight back to work, having to pack up at 5.00 to get back to work for 8.00 a.m. By July I felt it was all coming together, so I wangled a three-day trip. The first night I had two bites, both of which were mid-20s, which sent my and in May I caught the second-biggest confidence sailing through the roof. fish in the lake, a mirror of 41lb. Then, The second morning I had a 33½lb again, the lake kicked me in the teeth, common, followed the following I wasn’t doing anything different but it morning by a 44lb common. I was just just wasn’t happening for me. Then a big blown away. It was a PB common. I case at work got in the way, and from was absolutely elated, and I felt I was July I never got back. getting close to my target fish. I packed The year 2011 was just the opposite; up and baited heavily in the same area. I we were waiting for a different major couldn’t get down to fish for a couple of case to come to weeks, but managed “It did a 50yd straight trial, so my free time to get down to keep became my own. run against a tight clutch, the bait going in. Although we’d had Late August was and this massive tail the horrific winter, the next chance I got spring was very mild, to go with the rods. slapped the surface” so the weed really There was already flourished and the areas I had been someone in the swim, but he only did fishing in previous years were wall-tothe night, so I moved in, and baited the wall weed. I started to look for areas area quite heavily. I was sitting with a where they might feed and started to cup of tea in hand when the middle rod bait areas with hemp, maples, and Big just ripped off. I knew straightaway it Fish Mix. I started making the 200was a big fish, it did a 50yard straight mile round trip just to bait up regularly run against a tight clutch, and this and to try to find where the fish were massive tail slapped the surface. Some feeding. I had a session in mid-April time later, what I consider to be the and had eight chances, so I knew they ultimate UK carp was resting in my were enjoying the bait. With fish getting landing net. I just think it’s the bestready to spawn, I eased off on the fishing looking carp in the country.
49
21/05/2012 19:12
My Way Jim Wilson interviewed by Brian Skoyles
N
ot only had Jim produced one fish for this My Way feature, but also he was in again. Once again, things went to plan and Jim slid the net under fish number two. This time a small common, but I could tell from Jim’s smile that he just loves catching carp, and any fish in the middle of the afternoon is a bonus fish. If it carried on like this we wouldn’t get the My Way finished, so it was back to business. I needed Jim to tell me how he was making it look so easy. i’m a big believer that fish have their favourite areas, areas they rest up in, feel safe, and are comfortable in. so i will spend a lot of time studying the water to try to find these areas. For me, location is the key. i start by paying a lot of attention to south-facing cover, be it reeds, overhanging trees, snags, whatever. Carp are cold-blooded creatures so they will seek out warmth, basically it helps them function. next, i study safe areas. The chances are you won’t be able to fish these areas but you can often watch how the fish feed and react to bait. You can get very clear indicators as to how to present bait from what you see. i don’t bait these areas as a matter of course. Carp aren’t daft, so if you put too much bait in the safe areas why do they need to come out into open water to feed on your bait? These days i’m usually fishing for specific fish, so i’m looking to pick up on traits, habits, to give me an edge, this can take anything from a few weeks to several years. You have to accept that some lakes are easier to read than others. some people seem to be able to do it instinctively, but that’s not me, and i have to work hard at it. once i think i’ve identified the areas, then it’s a case of introducing bait to those areas on a regular basis. i don’t introduce massive quantities, preferring little and often. if we are talking early season,
Jim:
50
046-052_MyWay_CW261.indd 5
Jim’s a huge fan of the Multi-Rig, he uses it uniquely for pop-up fishing. ABOVE LEFT
Organised chaos – happens to us all after a fish. ABOVE
41lb, May 2010 – one of my favourite captures, and it gave me a massive confidence boost. BELOW
then i keep quantities small. There can be a problem with too many anglers putting too much bait in early season, which can overload what are still sluggish digestive systems and lead to some very slow spring fishing. Early season i prefer digestible, quality food bait, plus hemp and maples, because it is basically carbohydrate. The fish enjoy eating them, and it’s helping to get their system going, plus if you get in early enough, it can also help to keep areas clean
of weed. i’m not one for being mr Accurate, i prefer to scatter my bait. if i’m not hitting my marker, i’m not crying about it. Take this trip. spread over the three rods i’ve used about 200 x 18mm Big Fish mix boilies, and about 10 spods of a mix of chopped boilies, hemp and maples mixed. Get them moving about an area and they become much easier to hook. i’ve shot myself in the foot in the past by trying to fish too many lakes. Dave moore once said to me, “Concentrate on two lakes,” and it’s good advice. i like to have two lakes i’m working on,
21/05/2012 19:12
My Way Jim Wilson interviewed by Brian Skoyles
and ideally i want them to be in the same area. That way you can keep in touch with both, keep the bait going in, then if one is off colour you switch your attention to the other one. i fish into winter, but if my main water doesn’t have a good winter track record i’m happy to switch to easier waters or other species. so basically, i’m a campaign carper for the traditional carp-fishing months, and a somewhat more casual carper for the rest. on an average session mid-season, i would normally start the session baiting up as i’ve described, then i would top up, depending on the action i get. sometimes the clues are obvious, such as fish being caught that are passing bait, but at other times it has to be best guess. Generally, i don’t believe that your hookbait is always one of the last to be taken, but it is important to keep food in the swim, so normally i would top up regularly. i’m a big fan of nutrabaits, and my campaign bait of choice is Big Fish mix with added Green lipped mussel Extract, liver Powder, G Force liquid (you smell it in the factory and it just screams carp), multimino, Black Pepper oil and sweet Cajouser. i have it rolled
046-052_MyWay_CW261.indd 6
Jim makes his own pop-ups, most of which are nicked by his mates.
ABOVE
The best lead clips Jim has used – in weed he wants rid of the lead on the bite.
ABOVE RIGHT
BELOW LEFT Jim’s Specials in his favourite colours.
Jim mixes sizes and shapes to keep the fish guessing.
BELOW RIGHT
of my favourites is Banana nutrafruit with Toffee Cream Elite. i need to get some more made for my mates; they can’t get enough of it. if i’m looking for a high-attract option, i do use PVA bags of pellets. i like either the Trigga ice Pellet or the 3D Pellet. i like to wash them with a flavoured bait soak. it’s by Rollin’ in a mix of 14mm, 18mm easy – just put a kilo of pellets in a bait and barrels, which gives me plenty bucket, add 20mls or so of bait soak of variation in my feeding options. i and give it a good shake round. i don’t think it helps create confusion, the want them to be dripping in it, just a hookbait will always act differently, light glaze. i also like using sticks, my but with using different sizes and favourite being Hinders Flamin’ squidz shapes, it just makes it harder for the multi mix, with nutrabaits Hemp fish to work out what is going on. oil and flaked tuna in brine. sounds a i’m a huge fan of weird combination, “I’m convinced that if I but it works. the multi-Rig, i use it uniquely for my popi like to use cork keep giving them a highup fishing. i love the balls in my hookbaits, quality food bait regularly not to make them fact that you can set the height so easily. they will keep eating it” pop-ups, but because i’ve used it for a good it gives me the chance few years now and the hookholds you to use a bigger hook, and i want the get are just superb. i use an out-turned added security of the larger hook. i’m eyed hook, the Korda Choddy hook, as happy to go down that route because my pop-up hook. i love the way it sits. i’m convinced that if i keep giving i use the n-Trap hooklength material. them a high-quality food bait regularly i break it a little bit below the loop they will keep eating it and they will knot, twist a bit of lead wire around make mistakes. i think it was Hutchy it, then mould putty over that. if you who said, “They haven’t got hands”. overweight the pop-up it can fall next i’ve been using nutrabaits since to your lead, so i add a couple of sinkers 1998, and i got invited to join along the hooklength, usually two, with the fieldtesting team in 2007. it’s the larger being nearer to the lead, to been brilliant, and in the last two make sure it falls away properly, just or three years things have really like match men do with their shot. taken off for me, doing talks, going my pop-ups are home-made, one to the shows, and i love it.
51
21/05/2012 19:13
My Way Jim Wilson interviewed by Brian Skoyles 52
That’s how i got involved with Wychwood, because there is collaboration between nutrabaits and Wychwood. i’m really excited about being involved in product development, and it’s brilliant to have an input into gear design. i’ve also been very fortunate to get a Korda sponsorship. The last couple of years have been a bit of a blur really and i have to be very careful how i balance things. At the end of the day, fishing is still a hobby to me, but i’m very aware i have to balance my time, between my fishing and doing justice to those people who are putting their faith in me and supporting me in various ways. my rods are Wychwood 13ft mlT 3½lb solaces, and the reels Daiwa Basias. This year my fishing will be dominated by big weedy waters, so i need a combo that has the potential to cast 15lb-20lb line 110yds+. The extra foot in the rod also helps me get the fish up in the water that bit more quickly, and keep it moving. i was using Delkim TXi for a long time, but at the moment i’m trying the new Wychwood Epic alarms. For a roller buzzer, i’m well impressed, and in combination with the Korda stows, i’m more than happy with the setup. The solace 60ins brolly is also a nice bit of kit, it ticks all my boxes. With having fibreglass poles it’s nice and light, and very stable. my line of choice is always a mono, rather than a fluorocarbon. At the moment i’m using 15lb subline in brown. it sinks really well, is tough as old boots, a bit stretchy, but i actually think that is a benefit. it casts really well, without any issues, so i’m very happy with it. With the sort of fishing i do, i have to be totally confident in all my tackle. i nearly always use a lead clip system and vary lead sizes to suit the angling situations; i carry from 1½oz up to 4oz. i like to use the larger sizes near to snags, so i can fish a tighter line. it’s all about control. most of my fishing is in weedy waters so i fish tight, or semi-
046-052_MyWay_CW261.indd 7
The new Wychwood alarms and Korda Stows, Jim’s indication/ alarm system. ABOVE LEFT
Brian took a few shots just before leaving as Jim was getting the rods out for the night. He wished he’d had his rods with him.
ABOVE
To Jim this is what it is all about.
BELOW
if it is allowed, but more and more i’m switching back to tungsten tubing, such as the new Korda Dark matter. i love to target individual fish, and find out its history and its habits. i like to travel light. my target fish doesn’t always have to be the biggest, but once it gets under my skin that’s it. i’m starting to become interested in fishing further afield and have a trip to Etang Bourdeau, a stunning new fishery in the limoges area, booked for september, which i’m really looking forward to. i love floater fishing but i’m shocking at it and i’ve played about a bit with Zigs. i need to get better at using both of them. on somewhere like Bundy’s, which averages 45ft deep, that’s an awful lot of water not being exploited properly if you only fish the bottom. i love close-quarter fishing, watching them feed, whether it is on the top or the bottom. my fishing revolves around targeting certain waters and getting a food source going. The future? i’d love a surfacecaught PB; one of the waters i fish has the potential for a 40 off the top, so that’s a possibility, and i’m going on Hutchy’s Woldview this year, so catching Alice would be rather special. other than that, to just keep on improving and enjoying my fishing.
tight lines combined with a tight reel drag, so the lead comes off and the fish comes up in the water. i understand the thinking behind slack lines, but i rarely use them. i am a fan of backleads. i have messed around with drop-off in-lines t was time for me to head but for overall neatness and efficiency home. I left Jim getting i usually come back to lead clips. organised for the night. The my hooklengths are normally a bit evening is a great time to be longer than the average, usually between a carp angler, that 10-12ins long. i do like a good “I’d love a surface-caught time when you set your traps and settle separation between PB; one of the waters in to wait for them to the top of the bait be sprung. Watching and the bottom I fish has the potential Jim going through of the hook, so an for a 40 off the top” an all-too familiar 18mm bait will routine, I wished I’d have at least a ½ins arranged things differently and was (12mm) separation. For my bottom set up in the next peg doing baits, snowmen setups, etc., i work the same things, but never on a simple formula where the mind, as I drove home, separation is approximately the like every other carp same as the diameter of the angler, I was already bait. i will use leadcore planning my next trip. CW
I
21/05/2012 19:13