Carpworld April Issue 331

FIND YOUR WAY - PART I

ALISTAIR WHITE - WRAYSBURY SESSIONS

- feeling lucky? -

David Gaskin on his remarkable season

THE ORIGINAL AND STILL THE BEST

Baz Lloyd

Begins his quest on burghfield

inside

N I W

S ON OD -I R BE W X K O X E T 0 DE KO T H R E £ 1 3 5 F H O T RT A SE WO IN EK WIM ON E S A W BLE LE OP U PE LIERS DO O E W AT R T FO ES CH L

Stu lennox

H O R T O N B O AT P O O L

ian chillcott

MASTER BAITER

tim paisley

PERSONAL BIGGEST AND PERSONAL BESTS

Issue

331 ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:

DARRELL PECK DAVE LANE LOZ EAST JULIAN CUNDIFF AND MUCH MORE...

£4.75

APR – 2018

Contents

Issue 331 Apri l

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The hunt for the Burghfield Common Baz spent last season on the famous Burghfield Lake, in Berkshire, where he caught some incredible carp from the 90acre pit whilst targeting the country’s finest common...

-Baz Lloyd

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Competition For a chance of winning a week in a double swim on Armfield Angling’s Les Chateliers in 2019 -Armfield Angling

08 Editoral Our new editor, Rupert Whiteman, introduces himself and explains his goals and aspirations for Carpworld. His door is always open so let him know how you feel about the direction of the magazine, present and future, and any items or authors you believe might make interesting reading.

-Rupert Whiteman

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

12 From the Bivvy

16 Pecky’s Progress

A few snippets that we’ve picked up about the goings-on in carp fishing. We are always happy to hear from readers if they have something that they think would be of interest and would like to share – good or bad, happy or sad -Carpworld

This month sees Darrell have a breather from reviewing his previous month’s antics and take a trip down memory lane instead...

Advertising Director Bev Clifford e: bev@carpworld.co.uk t: 07811 108785

-Darrell Peck

Distribution Seymour Distribution Printed by Acorn Web Offset

Advertising Sales Manager Richard Newman e: richard@carpworld.co.uk

Published by Carpworld Sandholme Grange Newport East Yorkshire HU15 2QG e: info@carpworld.co.uk t: 01430 440624

Accounts Mick Clifford e: mick@carpworld.co.uk t: 01430 440624 - Ext 28

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24 Find your Way

73 Tackleworld

115 Master Baiter

We all need inspiration to fuel our carp fishing dreams – the eternal hope to discover our very own Shangri-La. In this day and age, in this vastly over-populated country, it that still possible? Al White believes...

We take a look at the amazing new flagship rods from Shimano, as well as other products from Fox International, Avid Carp, Wychwood and lots more

This month’s offering turns to bait, and the nonsense that is often written about various aspects of its use. More words of wisdom from our straight-talking Chilly

-Carpworld

-Ian Chillcott

80 Kodex Competition

122 On the right side of luck

We have a set of three Kodex KX-I 3¼lb rods up for grabs this month

David details his remarkable season on Wellington Country Park, that ended up with the capture of several huge carp

-Al White

34 The 70% Gang

- Part 2 Following on from last month, Jules concludes his two-parter with further suggestions on how to get ahead of the pack – those edges and a mindset that allow you to catch consistently when others blank

-Julian Cundiff

48 Rigworld We take a look at the new range of hooklinks and leaders from RidgeMonkey, and also feature Combi Soft and Combi Stiff from Carp Spirit and Gamakatsu G-Carp Hooks -Carpworld

52 Ask the Experts The experts from Mainline answer questions on the uses of shrink tubing and line aligners, preparing nuts and applying bait to pressured waters -Mainline

56 Discovering Day Tickets The follow up to his new Day Ticket series.

This month sees Loz visit Drayton Reservoir, well known throughout the carp fishing world as one of the most prolific day ticket waters in the country -Loz East

64 The first rays of a

properly warm sun Dave thinks about the start of spring-time carping and the importance of watching for those often tiny but crucial signs – slightly coloured water, a few broken bits of weed floating to the surface, and congregations of swallows, swifts and house martins taking advantage of a fly hatch...

- Kodex

- David Gaskin

83 Think Tank What things do you plan to change in your angling this year and if any, what new tactics would you want to learn or improve on?

-Carpworld

89 How not to fish a season on

Horton Boat Pool Stu takes a massive leap from fishing day-ticket waters to spending a season of ‘over-nighters’ on Horton Boat Pool. Mistakes follow mistakes, but perseverance can bring rewards -Stu Lennox

97 A Nostalgic Spring Jason recalls a prolific spring campaign on two venues close to his heart -Jason Hadwin

130 Think Big With a new bait under his belt, and brimming with confidence, Jim experienced some great results -Jim Chisnall

136 Subscription Offer We’ve got a mega subscription offer worth over £120 in this issue from the guys at DT Baits which can be yours for just £65 -DT Baits Developments

139 Echoes All the latest catch reports from around the globe – don’t forget to send us yours via our website – www.carpworldmagazine.com -Carpworld

148 Overseas Fishery Focus -

105 Baitworld This month in Baitworld we take a look at CC Moore’s Cork Ball Pop-up Rollers, the new Tuff Paste from Dynamite Baits and go nuts for the N-Blend range from DT Baits, plus much more -Carpworld

110 Interview with Banana Rods About to celebrate their 10th Anniversary, we sit down with Valentin De Ruffray and discuss the techniques to their success and what the future holds for Banana Rods - Banana Rods

-Dave Lane

Les Lac du Verger This month Carpworld moves to the Champagne region in the north-east of France. Les Lac du Verger is a well-established complex of two mature gravel pits – Orchard Lake and Willow Lake. We asked owner Marcus Wetzl to answer a few questions about his fishing packages

- Les Lac du Verger

151 Still Carping On Does your biggest carp equate to your finest hour? Tim recalls some of his largest fish and explains the reasons why he doesn’t always consider them to be his personal bests -Tim Paisley

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pecky’s progreSs

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s I sit to write this piece it is early February and because of the weather, work commitments, and a new family I haven’t got much to write about in the way of diary stuff. Rather than waffle on for the sake of it and with this very likely to find itself in the March or April issue, I have been asked to reminisce about a special capture from this time of year.

To say Fen Drayton’s location is special would be an understatement. It is just a couple miles from the A14, but far enough removed not to hear it. It lays sandwiched between other waters as part of a chain of gravel pits, run as nature reserves, by the RSPB. Behind the north bank runs the Great Ouse river, behind the south bank are the three very

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LEFT First day – just the two rods BELOW LEFT A new dawn – Fen Drayton. Challenge accepted...

Darrell Peck

One of the Greatest Carp that Ever Swam This month sees Darrell have a breather from reviewing his previous month’s antics and take a trip down memory lane instead... large nature reserves and, beyond the east bank, lays the huge expanse of Ferry Lagoon.

The first thing that struck me on my first walk was the solitude – it was completely silent, save for the sound of noisy crickets in the grass. It was early May 2011 and I was still fishing Monks Pit at the time. As I looked over the vast shimmering expanse, came the instant realisation that this was most definitely a bit of me! No wooden platforms, no AstroTurfed swims, just the odd gap in the lush green reeds to poke a couple of sticks through. After stopping in a couple of these gaps my immediate concern was the lack of water you could see from each position. The water wasn’t particularly high but the swims were set back into trees, meaning that in order to efficiently do the heron impression

you would most certainly need waders! Apart from this I just remember how peaceful and unmolested it looked. It was said to be around 90 acres which was quite large compared to most of the waters I’d fished, but having spoken to a few people that had previously fished it, they suggested that when broken down into smaller sections it feels like a much smaller lake. Fen is a square-ish, rectangular shape, with an island not quite in the middle. The island has four large bars or roads as they’re known, which run from the island, to the middle of each of its four banks. The regulars used these roads to break it down into smaller, quarter sections as mentioned. The topography of the lake is amazing and it contains a truly silly amount of bars all running north to south, or vice

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WRAYSBURY SESSIONS - PART I

FIND YOUR WAY

We all need inspiration to fuel our carp fishing dreams – the eternal hope to discover our very own Shangri-La. In this day and age, in this vastly overpopulated country, is that still possible? Al White believes... al White

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The hunt for the Burghfield Common

Baz Lloyd

Baz spent last season on the famous Burghfield Lake, in Berkshire, where he caught some of the finest carp from the 90-acre pit whilst targeting the country’s finest common...

MAIN IMAGE Courtesy of Paul Codman MAP Courtesy of Nigel Sharp

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veryone is different but, for me, the Burghfield common is the best fish in the country. It’s the ultimate prize and if I was going to set my stall out to catch a big, special carp, why not that one?

It was never going to be easy – what with the lake being shaped like an enormous, watery maze and my target being a fish that isn’t exactly familiar with seeing the bank very often either.

It’s not like other places that I have fished in the past, where the big ’un would make a spring and sometimes an autumn appearance – this particular fish can simply go missing for years between captures. In my eyes, the more you have to put into something, the greater the achievement and reward there will be at the end of it. If I was to catch this fish, it would be the greatest buzz in fishing for me – so it had to be something that I would take on and with dedication too.

I tried to unearth as much information with regards to the other stock and what I would potentially be faced with on the bank, prior to obtaining my ticket. I knew it was a large venue, broken up with a number of islands, huge expanses of untouchable water, out of bounds areas, snags, buoys – the lot. There was also the huge problem of the crayfish. These were going to narrow down the options in terms of how I could fish the Lake.

The speedboats were often out and about and causing carnage too, so there was a lot against you. I had read about it in Nigel and Oz’s books and both had explained the rough and rugged nature of this gravel pit but, equally, they had both experienced the ultimate buzz of holding the great common.

The fish was, undoubtedly, the main draw for the lake, but over the years the back-up fish have been getting increasingly bigger too. There were now loads of the stocked fish over 40lb and some

of the older fish were big too, so it certainly wasn’t a one-fish water. Neverthelss, that special one was always going to be the main target – at least for me. It was also appealing to fish the same lake as my brother. We had always fished together and it would be good to share such a tough journey with him too.

My first session was early April and my time fishing with Scott came to an abrupt end when he managed to catch the common. It was amazing to share the experience with him and, of course, to see such a magnificent creature in the flesh. Although we wouldn’t be fishing together anymore, I was absolutely made up that he had caught it and I was there to gaze on the impressive size and beauty.

That season a new area of the lake, that had previously been out of bounds, was now in play.

The common was caught from this area and to me, it cemented in my mind that if it was going to come out again in the near future, it would likely be from somewhere in close proximity. The swims that controlled this large expanse of water, where I was hoping the fish spent a lot of its time, is where I planned to fish should I get a hunch that it was present. Time spent on the water was going to be kind of weird. Due to my work pattern and with a young family at home, I’d be able to do a one-week session, once a month.

Neverthelss, that special one was always going to be the main target – at least for me

LEFT My first carp from Burghfield was this 42lb 4oz mirror

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Stu Lennox

How not to fish a season on Horton Boat Pool Stu takes a massive leap from fishing dayticket waters to spending a season of ‘overnighters’ on Horton Boat Pool. Mistakes follow mistakes, but perseverance can bring rewards

ABOVE ‘Steepled’ in history...

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The start of the season came and went and, due to work, I was unable to get down at all in April.

By the time I did manage my first session nearly all the large fish had been caught once already

S

ometimes things just don’t go to plan. At the start of the season I had hoped that I would be regaling you with a blow-by-blow account of how well I had done on my first year on RK Leisure’s Horton Boat Pool. However, for a number of reasons, mainly mistakes made by myself, this has been one of my least productive seasons fishing ever. Whilst the carp in this intimate little pool are often moody and can at times be difficult to trip up, they are by no means as difficult to catch as I have made them look! However, this incredible complex needs no introduction and I was excited just to be treading the same banks as all those that had come before me. I am sure that anyone that has started a campaign on these waters can still remember their first session. Pulling up at the famous, wrought iron gates instantly got the hairs on the back of my neck standing up, I had yet to even see the lake and as I bumped down the small hedge-lined track to get to the lake my mind was whirring with what was to come over the next 12 months. As I rounded the final corner the lake opened up before me and it was everything I had hoped it would be. It was small and intimate, surrounded by overhanging trees and I could see a number of little corners and bays that I was sure I’d be creeping around in throughout the year. In front of me was the new Horton lodge with its immaculately maintained lawns and a number of small fish ponds holding the future of the complex, in the form of some stunning, jet black, scaley little carp that have been grown on from spawn from the lakes.

Up until this point all of my fishing over the last decade had been flitting around between a number of day ticket venues, so this was to be my first year fishing a dedicated campaign on a single syndicate venue. I had purposefully not looked into

the stock too much so that there was an element of unknown in front of me. This is difficult to achieve in modern day carp fishing and was a very exciting prospect. I had seen a single photo of a fish and that had compelled me to get the ticket. Now, at the end of the season, the stock is still relatively unknown to me but I think it sits around 60 carp – but there is also a huge head of large bream that would become a problem throughout the season and also a large number of gargantuan catfish, which again would alter the way I would approach the venue.

My extensive list of mistakes began before I had even cast my first line. While not investigating the stock had created an air of excitement, my lack of any other research prior to purchasing the ticket meant that I had potentially settled on a water that may not suit my style of angling and time available. With work and a young family all my fishing for the season would solely be work overnighters. No 24 or 48-hour sessions, just exclusively weekday 8-10 hour overnighters.

I very quickly came to realise that the majority of bites on this lake came during daylight hours – I therefore would not even be present when the lake was doing most of its bites. I had immediately been put on the back foot and a little bit of research prior to purchasing the ticket would have highlighted this to me.

I was hopeful though that opportunities would present themselves in the darkness hours and therefore I set about optimising my tackle for the short sessions I would be doing. By compressing my equipment down as lean as I could would enable me to set up quicker upon arrival, pack away quicker in order to beat the M25 traffic and enable me to move in the night if required. I interrogated everything I was carrying and a huge amount of terminal tackle was removed. My lead pouch was emptied down to just the minimum and even

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Next Month

In the May issue

Stuart Higgs Horton Sentiments - Stuart looks back over his most memorable captures from the Berkshire venue Mike Kavanagh Rigworld - Mike starts off the first of his new-look, quarterly pieces, speaking with Lee Jackson Keith Fender Tales From a Southern Syndicate Keith recounts his time fishing on a Sussex stillwater Alistair White Wraysbury Sessions II - Al continues on his journey during a memorable year on Wraysbury one and two

On sale: Friday 20th April 2018 | Subscribe now to have next month’s issue delivered to your door! www.gifts4anglers.co.uk

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