KEITH FENDER
TALES FROM A SOUTHERN SYNDICATE
- Paul Forward -
Sets his sights on a snow carp
THE ORIGINAL AND STILL THE BEST
Issue
332 inside
MIKE KAVANAGH MIKE RETURNS WITH RIGWORLD
WI
EX ED
Simon Crow
Decisions made and ambitions achieved - Al White
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE: LEE JACKSON LEWIS READ ROB HUGHES DAVE LEVY DARRELL PECK TIM PAISLEY DAVE LANE JULIAN CUNDIFF IAN CHILLCOTT
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CL FO USI V R FO E T EN U R ’ FO S LA R T IP O R GR KES AB UP S
SANDHOLME POOL - THE ORIGINAL GARDEN POND
£4.75
M AY – 2018
Issue 332 M ay
2 01 8
Contents 64
Jumbo the carp Simon resurrects the story of a monster carp from Yorkshire which set the grapevine alive in 1983 - Simon Crow
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Competition The chance to win a week lake exclusive at Eden’s Lakes’ Simon’s Lake worth over £950 -Eden’s Lakes
Editor Rupert Whiteman e: editor@carpworld.co.uk Editor-in-Chief Tim Paisley Design Alex Southerington e: alex@carpworld.co.uk Subscriptions Emma Goodhand e: subscriptions@carpworld.co.uk t: 01430 440624 - Ext 20
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08 Editoral
72 Ask The Experts
113 Rigworld
Rupert is glad to finally see the back of winter and starts to look forward at the season ahead
Mainline’s resident trouble-shooters take a look at how best to approach fishing in silt, as well as providing some ideas on alternative hookbaits
Mike Kavanagh returns with a new look, quarterly format and this month sees him conduct an interview with Lee Jackson, an old friend from the Darenth Complex
-Team Mainline
-Carpworld
80 Westbourne Revisited
118 Discovering Day Tickets
Keith looks back at his time on a relatively unknown, Sussex stillwater located near Chichester
Follow Loz as he tackles Baden Hall’s Middle Pool for 24 hours in the second instalment of his travels around the country’s more popular day-ticket venues
-Rupert Whiteman
12 From the Bivvy Angling Projects, Johnson Ross, Mainline Baits, Len Gurd, Sticky and Wofte clothing all feature in our monthly newsfeed -Carpworld
-Keith Fender
17 Carp Diary
87
Myles is back with an update on how he’s easing back into his fishing, now the worst of winter has passed and he’s settled into a new home...
- Loz East
128 Baitworld We take a look at a whole host of items from the likes of Dynamite, Mainline, Rod Hutchinson and Spotted Fin
-Myles Gibson
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-Carpworld
135
87 Pecky’s Progress
24 Decisions Made and
Ambitions Achieved Al gets itchy feet and wanders back over the road for another stab at Wraysbury 1 and three of its inhabitants in particular
-Al White
38 Colour Coordinated Need a pair of sunglasses to attach your DayGlo pop-ups? The brighter the better? Chilly’s not sure bait colour makes the slightest difference... -Ian Chillcott
49 A Man for All Seasons -
All things seem possible in May There is something fresh and new about the world in May – the greens are just that little bit greener, the bird song is just that little bit more vibrant. Dave believes May is a great time to be on the bank when opportunities are rarely better for big fish
Sick to the back teeth with attending angling shows Darrell gets a chance to recharge his batteries on a filming trip to France for Korda’s Thinking Tackle and have some serious ‘me’ time. Getting the net under a fish or two made it difficult to think of it as work... but don’t tell the missus -Darrell Peck
95 Think Tank We asked some of the country’s best anglers about their approach to waters at a potentially tricky time of the year -Carpworld
89 The F Word
-Paul Forward
107 ‘38 and out...’ Part I
This month sees us reviewing the latest products from companies such as Banana Rods, Fox and Thinking Anglers -Carpworld
-Julian Cundiff
56 Tackleworld
CARPWORLD
Stuart takes a fond look back at his time on Horton. In amongst the monsters of the Church Lake and Kingsmead 1, there are some truly special fish... - Stuart Higgs
No fish for Mr F though not for the want of trying – despite those Beasts from the East. Nevertheless, our intrepid hero demonstrates that if you choose your mates wisely you can still enjoy yourself on the bank and rely on them in your hour of need... and sometimes they demonstrate that a bag of snow carp doesn’t just have to be an unfulfilled dream
Jules ‘opens up’ about his life in fishing in this two-parter. He begins in the 80s when he first ‘got the bug’ and relates how his increasing carp obsession became completely intertwined with his work, his social life and the essence of his very existence
-Dave Lane
135 Horton Complex Specials
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143 Echoes Steve Briggs brings us his usual round-up of what’s been occurring across the continent over the previous month -Carpworld
154 Still Carping On Tim returns to the abiding issue of predation or, more correctly, the excessive predation of our waterways caused by too many otters, cormorants, goosanders, signal crayfish and mink, which is now causing a very significant and potentially disastrous inbalance on many fisheries, from which recovery may prove virtually impossible -Tim Paisley
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WRAYSBURY SESSIONS - PART II
Decisions Made and Ambitions Achieved
Al gets itchy feet and wanders back over the road for another stab at Wraysbury 1 and three of its inhabitants in particular
al White
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Simon Crow
Jumbo The Carp LEFT
Looking out onto part of Brandesburton 3&4 Pond
Simon resurrects the story of a monster carp from Yorkshire which set the grapevine alive in 1983
W
hen you think about carp fishing in the 1980s, most anglers immediately recall Redmire Pool or the legendary gravel pits in and around the Colne Valley. This is the era when Hutchy and Yatesy made their names, and special carp like the Bishop and Basil were the talk of the banks. Big carp over 40lb were something of a rarity, and a look back at the Top Ten carp lists from each year often saw 30-pounders making the grade. Certainly in the early part of the decade, forties were few and far between, before Yateley, Longfield and the infamous Hertfordshire club water moved the bar to another level. Places like Silver End Pit, Fenemere, Snake Pit, and Stanstead Abbotts also made their mark, but one venue which to this day is only mentioned in hushed CARPWORLD
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tones goes by the name of Sandholme Pool. You rarely see any reference to this water in write ups by carping historians, yet in 1983 it produced the second biggest carp in the UK that year, a 40½lb mirror. Unless you were heavily involved with carp fishing in the 1980s, the chances are you will know very little about Sandholme Pool. Any knowledge of it may be distorted, or you may even be wondering why it is never talked about in the same tone as the other waters of the time. As someone who’s worked next door to Sandholme for more than twenty years, I’ve delved into its history on more than one occasion. I’ve walked its banks and I’ve even caught a carp from there. So what can be told about this little known venue? What’s its history, and what about its most famous inhabitant, Jumbo the carp?
I
t was way back in 2010 when I first saw a picture of it. As I sat browsing the internet one evening, scrolling through images of carp captures, I was stopped in my tracks. There, in front of my eyes, was this perfectly formed, old looking, scaly beast, clad in golden, apple-slice scales. I needed to know the whereabouts of this fish! After several weeks of digging and some subtle and not so subtle enquiries I discovered this fish was actually fairly local to me, in fact it resided in a lake called Westbourne House in Chichester. I live in Brighton and this was only 30 miles or so down the A27 – so I contacted the co-owner, Roger, to try and get my name down for a ticket.
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Roger runs some superb fisheries and guards them closely, and it wasn’t until around a year later that I got the call I was praying for and was offered a tour of the lake. This, in turn, quickly became an ‘interview’ from him. Not knowing if I was what Roger was looking for in a syndicate member, once more I had a nervous wait for his call hoping I had not blown my chances. However, to my relief, I was offered a ticket starting on 1st March that year, which was less than two months away. To say I was buzzing was an understatement and all other plans for that year were quickly binned and I set about doing some proper research on the place.
Westbourne Revisited
Keith looks back at his time on a relatively unknown, Sussex stillwater located near Chichester
Keith Fender
The lake itself is a relatively young 30 acre gravel pit, sat alongside the A27. From above it is of a fairly uniform, rectangular shape, with two large bays. My sniffing about had unearthed an approximate stock of around 120 fish, four of which were over 40lb with a handful of 30s, and the rest being made up from younger, fastgrowing stock fish. I’d also learnt that the fish in the original image, Scaly, as she is known, was the undisputed queen of the lake. The plan was to do two nights a week. At the time I usually only did a single night on a Saturday but I felt this could be a long and serious campaign and I needed to put in a bit more time to try and
catch this wonderful creature. I spoke to the missus as I’ve got a young family, and she agreed that I could also cram in an overnighter between work as well. I can’t thank her enough for this as my daughters were very young and we both have full time jobs, so free time was at a premium back then. She is certainly a good girl and I count my blessings that she tolerates my obsession. My first session was to be on a Thursday night which was the opening day of the season. I was as keen as mustard to get down there and wet a line for the first time. I arrived after work and to my surprise and disappointment, the lake was pretty busy with most anglers up around the shallows.
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ABOVE
The Sedges was good to me, although it never produced any of the really big fish
F
For somebody viewed as a full-time angler, my ‘me’ time has been seriously rationed of late. As I sit to type this, it’s the day after the final carp show of the year and as I glance up at the calendar, I can finally see light at the end of the tunnel. I have visited Holland, Italy and France as well as all the UK shows and I don’t mind admitting, I am bored shitless of talking about carp fishing. Right now, I really need to get out there and just do some of it! This winter has dragged, and the mild spells we have come to expect haven’t materialised. By this time last year I was well amongst them over at Bayes’ and this year I have barely even managed to get there due to work commitments. This week, once the temperature had crept into double figures, I knew they would be stirring and that next bite was imminent. Phil The Can actually sent me a text yesterday afternoon asking if I would be about for a night or two this week. My tongue-in-cheek response was to ask if he was missing the shepherd, and did he need me to bring the formula. Obviously, this was all light-hearted banter, but in all honesty I knew I wouldn’t have the time to join him in any substantial assault upon Bayeswater this spring. It’s often funny how a chain of events lead to an eventual outcome. Yesterday I managed to get out of the show at Farnborough around 3pm, avoiding the dreaded pack-down, and I was just approaching the Dartford Crossing when my phone went. It was Phil... and the Coconut Common was laying in the bottom of his net! Having been fishing with Phil for 20 years, I knew his camera most likely wasn’t even charged and he would probably very much appreciate a little assistance. Thirty minutes later and I was pulling through the gate and a lovely moment was shared. Dave Lodge, Jim Chisnall and I all helped weigh the beast, that was last caught by Adam Penning in October at 52lb. This time it weighed a very honest 49lb 14oz. For Phil it certainly never detracted from the capture as a few ounces means nothing when considering a fish of this size. The fish was spotless, completely unblemished or marked, just in perfect condition from winter. Fair play to Phil – he’s had a very good 12 months on Bayes’ and it was nice to see the planets align for him. TOP
Phil and the Coconut Common at 49lb 14oz BOTTOM
When the planets are in perfect alignment
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As for my own fishing, I have had another trip over to Blasford a few weeks ago with a couple of nice 20s caught for the cameras, and also a quick day session to the day ticket lake at Bayeswater, where I had another common of 24lb. Since those trips in February, I have just returned from an 11 day French trip with Danny to film a couple of episodes of Thinking Tackle. These are due to be hitting the internet sometime later this year. To be honest this session was really thrown together at the last minute. Originally we had planned to go to Morocco in February, which was cancelled due to snow, then the next thing, I was being asked if I could go to France a month later on a road trip instead. I had been looking forward to some winter sun for ages, so the Morocco trip falling through was definitely disappointing, but this French job certainly offered a better chance of a really big fish. I suppose somebody had to go and that might as well be me! The thing with planning a session when you don’t really know where you might end up, is packing for every eventuality. We weren’t going to an English-run, French commercial, where the information was going to be easily available, we were heading south to a region rumoured to hold big fish in pursuit of public monsters. A few venues had been discussed, ranging from medium-sized gravel pits, where we could employ our usual English tactics, to huge river systems that would require Dan, crew and I to all be fishing from bivvy boats. Logistically, I could already sense van-carnage as I always try to carry a bare minimum of equipment and I like to spend time in advance, packing, so I can hit the floor running on arrival. The thought of being weighed down with kit that I might not use is my idea of hell. In the end I borrowed Ali’s Transporter and Dan, the crew and I travelled out on the Monday as a convoy. In the three matching vans, it all felt a bit military, like we meant business and I suppose we did. Once we’d crossed the Channel, we drove down to Gigantica to meet James (our chef for the trip) and Chris Kessler (another cameraman) before the second leg of the journey. Now a convoy of five, we continued south, in all it was a full day’s driving before we eventually reached our destination. Handily, we had a couple of gites to sleep in before starting fishing the following day.
We arrived pre-dawn to a gravel pit I guess around 80 acres in size. Information-wise, other than being a no-nights venue, and that it had produced big fish in the past, we really didn’t know much else CARPWORLD
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A Blasford Hills’ mid-20 BOTTOM
Another nice Blasford 20 caught during some winter filming
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Next Month Ian Chillcott Chilly poses a rather sensitive question with a thought provoking look at whether we’re all overgunned for the situation in hand
Tim Paisley Tim covers all manner of subjects close to his heart, with a glance at the recent Carpin’ On show and reflections on times gone by
Andrew Murray Andrew rediscovers his love for carp fishing after hanging up his rods for the best part of a decade
Mark Walsingham Mark makes a welcome return to the magazine and brings us up to speed on events over the past year or so
In the June issue On sale: Friday 18th May 2018 | Subscribe now to have next month’s issue delivered to your door! www.gifts4anglers.co.uk
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