Euro banx 3

EUROBANX

SUMMER IS MEANT FOR ONE THING: A FISHING ROAD TRIP WITH A MATE! THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT ALAN BLAIR AND OLI DAVIES DID IN THE SUMMER OF TWENTYSIXTEEN AND IT TURNED OUT TO BE ONE OF EPIC PROPORTIONS…

BY ALAN BLAIR PHOTOGRAPHS BY OLI DAVIES

FRANCE. ITALY.

luxembourg. belgium.

HOLLAND.

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MAR 2017

CAP TION: With an iconic backdrop, Alan takes to the water

to do battle with an angry park lake carp

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GOING I T WA S

to be tough to follow up our trip through A LWAY S Europe to Lake Bled. It wasn’t just the lake; to have a session like that anywhere with such prolific action was amazing and any real angler knows that those sessions don’t happen every time you go. It was a clichéd ‘red letter’ session and it went off, and being in such an incredible location escalated the atmosphere and buzz. You couldn’t have scripted it so to repeat it was almost, without being negative, setting yourself up for a fall for EB3 and potentially all future ones.

It’s worth pointing out, as I do get people mentioning it all the time, saying you have the best job in the world, going to fish all these places but it isn’t like that. This Eurobanx trip is one of the two weeks holiday for fishing I have each year, so it’s about getting the rods out in really exciting and interesting places and meeting lots of new people. Still, being optimistic, plans were formulated. I am in a very lucky position, as is Oli, that people do get in touch and say you should try here and there, and some offers just stand out so you strike up a relationship and start talking.

Things start to appear on the list of places to visit. Somewhere I really wanted to fish was in Italy with my friend Matteo. I have never even wet a line there, but Matteo and the Italian team are some of the nicest guys I know. It had to be done.

Amsterdam was another. We went there in 2015, albeit for a ridiculously quick overnighter and failed, and so I wanted to go back to Amsterdam to settle the score and catch one. I don’t want to go back to places where I have been successful often. It would be so easy to go back to Bled, but if another person asks me, ‘When are you going back to Bled’… I’m not! Maybe one day with the girls as a proper family holiday and I’ll sneak a couple of rods out but I have kinda done it. Anyway, Amsterdam kicked me in the arse and so I wanted to go back. There was a music festival called Liquicity there and I can’t lie, we timed this whole trip to end in Amsterdam at the festival. I’m getting on a bit now and Oli is definitely old and all our friends are old but we still love a good party. We had to end up there!

We both wanted to visit the Alps. It wasn’t perhaps such a dream destination as Bled because it wasn’t one particular water but I have been besotted by photos of that whole alpine carp fishing scene over the years.

Lads like Nick Helleur regularly go out there and you see these photos and the fish and the settings are jaw-dropping. So I had to go to the Alps.

Paris was another place that neither of us had actually ever been.

We had regularly skirted round the sides of it travelling south but we had never ventured into the city so we just had to go there.

1 . Not a great

start as missing our crossing brings a 5hr delay but at least it gives Alan time to tie some rigs 2. We put our faith in the awesome Cultured hookbaits 3. With the park lake baited we drop on a quiet (relatively) stretch of the Seine in

central Paris for a few hours 4 . It took less than 20 minutes for the single Cultured hookbait to work its magic, bringing Oli this battle-scarred Seine mirror 5. Perseverance paid off after the earlier loss 6 . A last lunge ends the combat

after a dogged battle in, out and through the weed 7. The ultimate buzz 8. Thick rubbery lips and an immaculate mouth 9 . It wouldn’t have been right to miss the opportunity of a shot in front of the Eiffel tower would it?

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Gradually we formulated a plan and did as much research as we could, had discussions and made preparations, and gathered the kit we would need.

We picked the same time of year, July and sooner than expected the day came round. In hindsight, planning our 2017 trip I won’t go in July again. I wouldn’t do another road trip, it’s too much, the heat was too much. It was too hot in the motor, too hot for missioning round lakes with gear, and it’s too hot for the fish to want to feed properly. At Bled we caught our fish during small windows of opportunity very early in the morning and in the evening but the rest of the day was a write off. You weren’t going to catch any fish anyway and I should have learnt my lesson first time round.

I didn’t and as a result the heat made it tough.

Anyway, the van was loaded and off we set and we were buzzing. It’s pretty much the best feeling in the world driving out of those gates knowing what potentially lies ahead and having done so much work and preparation to get to that point. I’m very much a dreamer and in those many months leading up to it I had lived that moment of putting the net under a fish in the middle of Dam many times. What if ?

The first stop, as always, was the Eurotunnel and we were a bit casual with getting there on time. If we had have been 10 minutes earlier we would have made our allocated time slot, but we didn’t, so we stopped for a Burger King, missed our crossing and as a result we were delayed for five and a half hours which is not what you want when you are trying to stick to a pretty rigid plan of arriving at places at specific times. Obviously the longer the delay the more limited your fishing time becomes.

We sat around drinking coffee, tying rigs and putting snag leaders on the reels and Oli collecting all the escaped maggots from the back of the van, taking it upon himself to manage the situation. I have had many a maggot escape but never been as successful at recovering the culprits. Well done Ol! Eventually we made it across but we were well behind schedule and didn’t arrive at our first destination in Paris until gone 11pm. Last year at a show in Montlucon in France I met this character with his own style altogether; he walked onto the stand in a long parka and a big mop of frizzy hair.

His name was Sebastien and he spoke very good English.

He was working for a charity to get kids interested in fishing and he lived in Paris. We struck up a conversation and I subsequently kept in touch. He would be our first fixer.

Sebastien didn’t disappoint, meeting us at the lake with fresh coffee and homemade banana cake, which was delicious, and we went for a baiting mission. However, prior to him arriving and having followed a Google pin drop to the spot, you don’t really know what to expect before you arrive.

The meeting point was a large roundabout and it was like nothing I had ever seen before. There were prostitutes everywhere, congregated in the streets around this roundabout waiting to be picked up. Also there, but less obvious were their pimps. There were definitely groups of people dealing drugs. And then in amongst all that were normal people.

Elderly couples heading back from the theatre, families, tourists… it was all a bit surreal.

We were reluctant to leave the motor full of expensive camera equipment and fishing tackle but we went for a quick walk round the park lake that sat next to the roundabout. When Sebastien arrived we went for a big walk taking

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in the two adjacent park lakes. The first larger lake had an island with a nightclub on it and ferry taking the partygoers to and fro. That was absolutely going off.

After a quick look round the second lake we realised the time and decided we needed to get our heads down. It was getting on for 1am, but Sebastien had to work in the morning and we needed to get some sleep. It didn’t feel particularly safe here, there were just too many people about so we figured our best option would be go and get some rest elsewhere and return at first light to actually do some fishing.

We hopped back in the vans and went to have a look at the river Seine. Another venue I have seen many photos of over the years from lads living in Paris and catching big fish. It’s an immense river system running right through the centre of Paris and we wanted to have a little crack at it, albeit just for a few hours. We checked out a couple of spots but they were both shady. Youths in cars eyed us suspiciously, probably harmless but we were both uneasy about setting up there when all you want to do is get a bit of shut eye without constantly looking over your shoulder.

We were looking for somewhere quieter, and eventually ended up in quite an affluent part of Paris at a narrow backchannel where the river ran round an island.

It was quiet, tucked away from the road down a set of steps with a few moorings and boats; a manageable section of river. Oli did his typical, getting the rods out double quick, using his same old rigs, clipping on a large lead and mounting a TG Active Cultured hookbait and flicking them out down the edge. I took a bit more time getting things sorted but we were both fishing quickly. Well, actually I wasn’t quite finished setting up when Oli had a bite! The rod was not pegged down and after hearing a series of bleeps and I looked round to see one of his Sawn-offs floating in mid-air. As soon as Oli grabbed the rod there was a big boil on the surface and he made the assumption that it was a very large river Seine catfish, of which there are great numbers. He played it for a while before deciding he had better grab a camera and handed me the rod while he sorted it out. I played back in a little and lo and behold a carp popped up at my feet and I quickly handed Oli back the rod!

We could not have asked for more, as he slid the net under a river Seine carp less than 20 minutes after casting out. It was a gnarly old beast, somewhere in the region of 25lb. A proper result! By the time we got our heads down it was gone three and we didn’t get much sleep…

The morning was quite dull and overcast, and we were up early to do the pictures of Oli’s carp before heading back over to the park lakes where we would spend the rest of the day.

With it being Bastille Day, a major public holiday in France, there were military vehicles everywhere and soldiers with guns on each street corner. Right next to the lake was a building that was being regularly patrolled by men in black type suits with earpieces. It was all a bit surreal!

We started off fishing at the end where I had baited the previous

evening. There were no shows and no liners but I did stumble across some Big Head Carp, some of which were 50, 60, 70lbs, potentially bigger! They feed on plankton so are pretty much impossible to catch but very impressive to watch.

We had no action here so we drove to the other end between the two parks for a wander. I found some bream that were feeding, and then it started raining. It was actually cold and it was July. It certainly wasn’t T-shirt and shorts weather and by that point we had pretty much written it off. By late morning we were back at the van ready to bail. I just had a niggling feeling that I hadn’t looked hard enough so while Oli waited at the van I went for one last look, taking a rod and a landing net.

It wasn’t long before I found some carp, tucked right in the edge under some overhanging bushes. I crept down and managed to get them feeding cautiously on bits of bread.

They were right at my feet, within 10cm of the bank. I missed my first opportunity, pulling the bait straight out of a fish’s mouth. I then lost one, through striking too hard on a short line and snapping the hooklink, which was a gutter.

I hurriedly went back and got Oli as there was clearly a chance of getting one on camera.

The fish were more cautious now, although they kept coming in and out. I tried to get them feeding on pellet but they were not really having it. Leaving Oli with two rods out I went for a wander with a Sawn-Off and all of a sudden the sun came out and it was like a different world, turning it into a warm pleasant day. Down this side of the lake, thick algal weed had formed banks that came up to the surface and stretched from the bank out about 10 metres. I could see carp patrolling the edge of this weed, so I started flicking a piece of bread at them. Second cast, I hooked a decent mirror I estimated at 35lb plus. Embarrassingly I was without a net, so had to scream at the top of my voice for Oli to come to the rescue. Although he heard me, it took a little time to reel in the rods and stash the gear in the bushes and run up with the net, by which time the fish had come off in the thick weed. It hadn’t even gone on a run, just swum into the weed and shed the hook.

The positive thing is that the fish hadn’t even considered that it was a dangerous situation eating my hookbait. The bread landed near it and it made a beeline straight for it and nailed it.

We moved the gear up, and soon enough I had another opportunity on the surface. This time, I jumped straight in.

There was no way I would be able to lead the fish through the thick weed, I would have to go and net it on the edge of it. With the Eiffel Tower in the background, I managed to subdue an angry low-twenty common. That was a massive relief to say the least but being greedy I wanted more! The

TOLD YOU… GAME CHANGER!

TRAVEL TOP TIP 0

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MAR 2017

Travelling solo or have passengers who sleep a lot?

You need a Sanef Toll Tag

If you travel across France regularly, get yourself a Sanef Toll Tag, which allows you to drive straight through the tolls in dedicated lanes meaning you don’t have to stop and pay. You just get a direct debit at the end of the month in which you have used it. This is particularly useful if your passenger sleeps a lot or you are flying solo and saves time and messing around. www.nashtackle.co.uk

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lake isn’t full of 25kg fish but I knew that there were some better ones in there and casting bread at cruisers brought another bite just minutes later. This was a better fish and once again I took to the water to try and maintain contact as it charged in and out of the weed. After several minutes of dogged battle with the fish leading me 100yds down the bank, eventually I scooped it into the net, weed and all.

It was a beautiful, thick-lipped chocolate brown mirror. I didn’t weigh it, but it wasn’t far off 40lb I would guess. That was what we had come for, and although I could have spent all day chasing them up and down and I’m sure I would have caught more, so happy were they to nail a piece of bread, it was time to hit the road. We had been in Paris a little more than 12hrs but that was all we had needed to catch a Seine carp, and a decent one from the park.

The next stop was northern Italy, which was a long old slog. Rather than exhaust ourselves and driving it in one hit we decided that we would do as much as we could and stop off somewhere to get some sleep before continuing the journey in the morning.

As usual, the person we always turn to in these situations is Nick Helleur, and so Oli got on the phone to him. Nick as ever was full of info and had a good option for us to drop on to for the night, a large public lake near Grenoble full of hippos and that you could drive around. It sounded perfect!

We found it on Google Earth, dropped a pin, set the SatNav and off we went.

We arrived just on dusk, to find it wasn’t quite how Nick had remembered it to be. There were at least 25 other anglers fishing, you couldn’t drive round and there were pretty much no swims left.

With little other option and no time we had a look round, eventually finding a quiet corner. By this point we had decided we just needed somewhere to kip but we took some rods anyway and it was unexpectedly hectic!

I fished right in the corner behind an island. It was deep, and it took ages for my solid bags to touch bottom. And I lost three, one half decent one within a couple of hours. It was really annoying, I don’t know why they fell off, all right at the net? Eventually I caught a small one and Oli also landed three including a 20lber and a mid-double.

Morning came round and I was awoken by a French gentleman politely demanding some money from me. We had apparently turned up at his commercial fishery and he wanted his day ticket money.

This was 22 Euros each so we were stung for over 40 odd Euros but actually it was well worth it. We got some sleep, and we caught some proper pit-stop carp that weren’t part of the script. It was okay to pay!

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THROUGH W E HEAD ED

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the Mont Blanc tunnel and into Italy SOUTH to meet Matteo; another long day behind the wheel. Having eventually made it to within a few kilometres of our destination at an amazing lake in hills of Bologna we took a wrong turn, due to a new road that wasn’t on the SatNav. Normally it wouldn’t be so bad but it ended up

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a souvenir purchased to mark our visit to the French capital, we hit the road and headed South 11. The sun brought a busy night to an end 12. Alan’s consolation prize after losing not one but two decent

mirrors at the net 1 3. The night brought two upper-double commons for Oli 14. While Oli ate up the miles, Alan tied rigs. A lot of rigs!

1 5 . We made it to the Italian mountain lake on dusk 16. It might not

be the biggest, but with the lake busy and fishing slow it’s a massive result 17. Under the stars for the second night in Italy 1 8 . Catching some rays while we wait 1 9 . Alan’s river rigs are hidden in big solid PVA bags

costing us over an hour, which when you are racing to get somewhere before dusk is really frustrating. So we arrived right on dark. We couldn’t really see much but we took Matteo’s advice, who being a local lad had fished the water a lot and set-up near the dam end. It was an area that had form for doing some of the better fish, and there was the chance of catching a 20kg carp. We set about getting the rods out for the evening, spending a bit of time casting about to find spots in the deep water.

I didn’t see any shows and the night was a blank. The following morning in spite of the beautiful surroundings I soon became restless. I was sat behind bite alarms and I wasn’t happy. I wanted to explore, so Matteo and I jumped in his Maserati and went for a nice drive. I was eager to see the entire lake, and walk round as much of it as I possibly could. You could access most of it apart from the area around the decommissioned nuclear power station, which made an interesting addition to the spectacular scenery.

The first thing my scouting uncovered was that actually the lake was full of anglers. Being a Saturday it was busy with Italians. There was pretty much no other available bank space to move to. It was a case of staying put or going elsewhere; we couldn’t move swims. I didn’t want to waste the whole day either so we went off again with a couple of rods. There was one area near the power station where it bottlenecked to a shallower bay that was devoid of anglers.

I had seen what I believed to be carp feeding around a bund that stretched across the bay. The water was a slightly different colour and there were single bubbles which looked to me like fish feeding rather than the lakebed. It was the only thing we had to go on, so in the heat of the afternoon I flicked out a Multi Rig and a 20mm bottom bait out and scattered a few TG boilies over each.

I soon had a stuttery bite on the Multi Rig that resulted in a confidence boosting crucian-type cyprinid. Soon after the TG bottom bait was away and this time it was a real carp, albeit a small one. At around 5kg it was almost certainly a fish that had spawned in the lake and grown on, and it was unlikely that it had been caught before. From such a massive water, and given that no one else had caught on the lake while we were there meant I was really pleased. I had my first Italian carp under my belt and I was buzzing.

It would appear that the disturbance had caused any other fish to vacate the shallow water, and so we returned to the previous night’s spot. I actually had plenty of time now to really investigate the bottom and spent a good while with the marker float locating bars and drop-offs as I wanted to fish at different depths. Having got my rods positioned perfectly in 21 and 26ft of water, I went to sleep confident.

By the following morning there was still nothing to report. Having fished well in the rain the previous week, the heat had put the fish off the feed it seemed. That’s fishing!

We packed up early ready for a trip to Florence.

It was tough lugging all the gear back up the steep mountainside to the van but eventually we were loaded and ready to go. We followed Matteo into Florence where we

were to meet well-known Italian angler Giambastiani Graziano. He had organised for us to fish on the river Arno under the very famous tourist spot that is the ancient Pont De Vecchio in the heart of Florence. People live on it, with houses and shops built into it, and it was crowded with hordes of tourists from all over the world taking photos. We parked the van, loaded up and hiked the 500-metres to the spot, me instantly regretting not travelling a little bit lighter. It was seriously hot already!

The bit of bank actually belonged to a rowing club, and there was a fancy garden party in full swing as we walked through with rods and buckets of bait, looking a little out of place amongst the designer suits, high heels and canapés!

We slung out the rods for a couple of hours in this amazing location, just hoping that one of the big carp that live in the river would take a shine to my fancy hookbait. It was a big ask, but you have to be in it to win it. The heat just became too intense however, and with only a small channel catfish for Giambastiani and no shade from the relentless burning sun we soon packed up and went for some lunch and a cold drink!

Batteries recharged, we headed upstream where we came across a friend of Giambastiani, Tiziano and his girlfriend Yamuna, who were fishing under one of the bridges spanning the Arno. They insisted that we join them at the spot for the rest of the day as they were going home that night. With plentiful shade, and Tiziano having also caught a small carp earlier we gratefully accepted the offer. They were great company and it was an afternoon filled with laughter.

Eager as ever to find some carp I had a little walk, and not 50yds downstream I came across fizzing, coloured water and the odd twitching stem in amongst the dwarf lilies and potamogeton that lined the banks. There were definitely fish moving along there. I decided I was going to fish my rigs in solid PVA bags and drop them amongst the weed, and very soon I caught a small one on a Cultured Citruz. Not long after I hooked a better one, that I got in for. I safely netted it and it looked to be close to 20lb. As I slipped the hook out in the shallow margin however, the fish performed a perfectly timed flip clearing the net cord and disappearing into the murky water. I wasn’t going to have a photo with that one then!

Luckily we did get the netting on film but it would have been nice to have a picture too. We had a great social with our new Italian friends, with them eventually leaving at gone midnight. The night passed relatively quietly apart from a catfish in the early hours of around 25lb which I was happy about, and at first light it was time to pack up and hit the road once again.

After less than 24hrs in Florence we set off for Rome to meet a couple of Italian friends, David and Michele, who would be our guides for the next 24hrs. On the outskirts of the city we met up for a coffee – proper blow your head off stuff – before following them into the centre of Rome. I wanted to do some park lake fishing so our first port of call was a large urban lake that contained some very large carp. With the temperature soaring to 38-degrees I had a walk round this large expanse of water, having to stop and get a drink halfway round. It was green and visibility wasn’t great but I did find some carp on my travels, a group of small ones with the biggest being 5 or 6lbs. Although

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20. Further up

the Arno there are signs of carp so we set-up for the night 21 . It doesn’t take long for Alan to hook one, and it’s not a bad fish 22. We stay up late drinking coffee and learning Italian 23. It’s time to leave Florence

with a souvenir and head for Rome 24. Even in the heat of the day, Alan wasn’t to be denied!

2 5. Wouldn’t it be nice to get a catch picture in front of that…

2 6 . A beautiful Tevere common 2 7. Quivertipping in the fast water

2 8 . Alan gets

in on the urban action 2 9 . The new location is quieter and the view isn’t bad either 30. After a quiet night, Alan lands a plump common at first light 3 1. A last gasp Tevere common before we leave Rome

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A BIG TRIP MEANS BIG NUMBERS

Here’s the data which made up Eurobanx 3…

Miles travelled: 2,880 Countries visited: Five Different venues fished: 18 Hours of DnB listened to: 43 Tanks of fuel: Seven Red Bulls consumed: 24 Alan new rigs tied: 80 Oli new rigs tied: Four Alan van tidy-ups: 18 Maggot spillages: One Grass carp caught: One Catfish: Two Carp: 32 Biggest carp: 45lb 8oz Fastest bite from arrival at venue: 15 minutes Number of showers: Two Number of proper meals: Two Highest temperature day: 39ºC Highest temperature night: 28ºC Total data gathered: 1.5TB Cameras lost: One

they were small they would be my bankers if I could find nothing else.

I carried on round staying as close to the water’s edge as I possibly could, and at the furthest end I found some better fish just underneath the surface. I knew that if I returned with a rod and a Bread Bomb that I really did stand a chance of catching one. Having grabbed some lunch, which we ate in the shade, I went hunting for them. When I returned to the spot I had found the fish were nowhere to be seen. I did see one jump out and there was some fizzing going on and I hoped they had just dropped down a little and just weren’t visible any more.

I pinged out a couple of Choddies and a couple of pouches of 10mm Citruz freebies, but after half an hour I got restless, leaving Oli to mind the rods while I grabbed a Sawn-Off and Bread Bomb.

I walked and walked and stumbled across a massive mirror, easily over 30lb and covered in scales. There were other fish with it, deeper down and I made a cast with slow sinking bread. The big mirror circled the bait three times showing interest, but it didn’t take it. The fish having melted away I carried on a bit further and found more coloured water. I started feeding bread, both on the surface and slow sinking and that got one fish interested. I watched him engulf my hookbait without hesitation. Unfortunately, just seconds before the battery on my GoPro had run out, so I didn’t get the bite and the fight on camera. Nevertheless I was still buzzing to have bagged one from this big chunk of water, and in that heat I decided that was enough.

We did some quick pics and beat a hasty retreat to the welcome airconditioned comfort of the van.

It was a big tick, and we had been really lucky so far, managing to bag carp from every spot we had visited. We hoped that we could continue our run!

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That afternoon we went to look at three spots on the river Tevere that ran through the centre of Rome. They all looked great in terms of fishing, but one spot really stood out to me, largely because of the amazing piece of graffiti. Right in the shadow of the famous San Ciro stadium, and with the words ‘Urban Carpfishing’ it would have been wrong to travel all that way and not flick the rods out there.

While I was struck by the graffiti, Oli had noticed a load of mattresses piled up under the bridge. They hadn’t been flytipped there! David reassured us that the Italian government had recently had a clean up of rough sleepers and that we would have no problem here. There were just the leftovers he said. Oli wasn’t convinced but we decided to give it a go.

The river itself was fast flowing, with this stretch being a little bit deeper than the shallows above it as it flowed under the bridge. We both set up a little way up from the bridge; it was pretty grimy in front of the graffiti.

Oli caught one pretty quickly, a lovely dark river common and we took the trophy shots in front of the awesome graffiti. We both started off fishing more barbel style, but the river was really snaggy and only one in three casts you would get your tackle back. The other two would see you pulling for a break as the rocky riverbed took its toll. It wasn’t impossible; we had enough leads so we decided we could deal with the odd loss. It’s part and parcel of this type of fishing. After losing two fish to snags I got the heavier carp rods out and just on dusk I finally banked one myself, another torpedo of a river common that tore my arm off.

It was then, as the light faded that things started to happen. In the thick bamboo behind us we could here chattering and rustling. The darker it got the more people arrived, emerging in groups. Obviously the Italian government hadn’t been that thorough when they moved the rough sleepers on!

There were clearly still many people sleeping here, and they were returning for the night from wherever they had been in the city. The vibe was not pleasant and we decided that we shouldn’t stay here. With all that expensive tackle and camera equipment it was asking for trouble. It was actually a tough decision, as there were fish jumping and we knew that there were bites to be had. Even losing a few there was going to be a chance of a better fish amongst them and I was confident that my tactics of scalded pellet round the lead and hook bait would continue to bring quick bites.

Luckily, there was another spot in the centre of Rome that looked good and would hopefully be a bit quieter, so by 9pm we were packed and heading there in convoy. Just before we left however, the local anglers that had sprayed the graffiti turned up and it was really nice to meet them. They were really passionate about their urban fishing, proud of what their city had to offer and that we were fishing there and made us feel really welcome. That was really cool.

We drove into the city and ended up on the river right in the centre of Rome to one of the spots that had looked good earlier, on a gentle bend in the river between two bridges. Bizarrely, although right in the city centre we were tucked away here and we didn’t really see another person, and finally for the first time during the trip we could fish out of the van with no hauling the gear up and down steep banks and steps. Again, the river was shallow and quite fast flowing with plenty of streamer weed.

Just downstream on the other bank was a party boat moored up and pumping out RnB, and in the background was the most beautiful bridge.

It was a far more relaxing spot!

We flicked some rods out, employing the same tactics as in the previous spot, relieved to get onto the bedchairs. I say ‘onto’ because it was still 28-degrees at gone midnight! The problem with any river fishing is that it’s not somewhere you should really go if you need to get some sleep. To really fish effectively you have to keep recasting to keep your lines and rigs clear of debris and weed and your swim baited. So we weren’t really fishing effectively once we had gone to sleep. Oli’s Seine fish was a prime example in that it had come very quickly. So it was really our fault that after finally getting a few hours sleep we awoke fishless in the morning.

I got up early refreshed and recast now I could see what I was doing properly. The river is slightly tidal there and the level had risen slightly. As we were packing the van, one of the rods was nearly ripped from the pod by a violent take. The fish fought really hard in the powerful flow and it was hard to judge the size of it. I gratefully netted a plump mid-double common, at the upper end in terms of size of the fish that we had seen jumping.

Of course I couldn’t resist a recast and not 10 minutes later I was in again, landing another common of around the same size. Like buses, Rome had sent me not one but two last minute carp! So we had bagged a couple of fish, and like a lot of these spots should we had stayed on we could have caught more, but it was time to leave Rome and Italy and head back into France. For the next part of the adventure we were meeting up with Bastl and Robin, who were driving up from Austria and the Czech Republic. We were meeting them in the Alps, and we were both buzzing at the chance of catching a monster and fishing with our old friends again.

Before we left the city we had a little tour of the most famous landmarks, stopping in awe at the impressive Colosseum, and eating amazing Tiramasu at a famous cake shop. With time marching on we bid Michele and David goodbye. They had really looked after us, and had been great company.

32. Rome done. Alps here we come 33. A perfect start to Bastl’s trip with his first French carp bagged in

the early hours

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mid-thirty mirror is a great start to the day 35. The temperature soared

and we took to the lake to cool off 36. Oli and Robin set-up on the mysterious pit next door

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MAR 2017

Any fish up to now had WE DROVE been a bonus. We knew that if were going to catch any really big carp then now would be our chance…

It was another hard day’s driving, desperately trying to reach the boys who were already at the lake before dark. We kept in touch all the way, and we did actually make it before dark waiting in the town nearby for them to meet us. At this point neither of them would answer their phones and we waited, and waited, getting more frustrated as darkness fell! Eventually Bastl turned up on a bike sweating and panting and led us, or rather at least tried to remember the way back to the lake. After a couple of wrong turns we eventually arrived at base camp and met up with Robin who was serene as ever. We put the journey behind us and had a catch up and a brew. It was all a bit late to do anything so after a little walk about in the dark we got the bedchairs out next to the vans and got some sleep.

Buzzing, Bastl and I were up before first light, flicking rods out in the edge in the small, deep lake next to which we had spent the night while we got the rest of the gear prepared.

Now Bastl had never caught a French carp before and it didn’t take him long to break his duck, banking a lovely mid-twenty mirror in a matter of minutes on a candied tiger. Apparently there were only a handful of carp in this lake so it was a definite result and a bit of a bonus fish. We were actually planning to fish the larger public lake next-door for the next couple of days. By all accounts it had a good head of big fish up to 30kgs with quite a few fish over 20kgs so that was the target.

On the other side of the small stalking lake was a third lake.

By far the biggest of the three, this one was much newer, up until more recently a working gravel pit. Robin had it on good information that this deep, weedy, gin clear pit also held a handful of carp to 25kgs, so he and Oli planned to spend a couple of days over there while Bastl and I concentrated our

2. CULTURED HOOKBAITS

EUROBANX 3 TOP TEN MUST-HAVES

Planning on doing your own Euro road trip this summer? Here’s what Alan and Oli suggest you pack

NORTH. SO BUZZING

1. SCOPE SAWN-OFF 3LB

This rod is a weapon!

So tiny you can take it anywhere and cast and fish in the tightest spots. It’s a joy but will still land the biggest carp that swim.

When you are only fishing a spot for a matter of hours and need a quick bite there isn’t much to beat the attraction that a Cultured hookbait kicks out, and the hardened core resists the attentions of nuisance fish.

3. SOLAR WORLDWIDE POD

Solid, reliable and adaptable to any bank, there is nowhere you can’t set up the rods.

Standard pods and single sticks both come unstuck at some venues!

4. BREAD BOMB

Carp love bread all over the world, and using one of these allows me to cast the same piece repeatedly. Bread fishing made easy!

efforts on the other lake, spreading our efforts. One thing they all had in common is the spectacular scenery that surrounded these lakes, with mountains and impressive rocky cliff faces towering above and bordered by lush greenery.

While they had a lie in, we were keen to get fishing and went and got the rods out. Bastl was better prepared than me and he had got all his rods out before I had finished getting out the first. By the time I was setting my bobbin, he’d had a take and soon we were dancing and hugging with a lovely chestnut mirror safely in the net. Bastl had broken his French PB pretty quickly, as this fish was well over 30lb.

Could this be lake Bled all over?

Oli and Robin soon joined us and we spread the rods out in expectation. However that was that and it was absolutely dead following that fish. After a few hours of motionless bobbins we decided to head down to the other end of the lake, but not before stopping at the local supermarket for some supplies and a couple of disposable barbecues.

It was a beautiful sunny day, not quite as hot as Italy but comfortably in the 30’s. Perfect weather for it.

At the other end we flicked rods out. Now anyone who had given us any advice had told us this was the end to fish. There used to be a reserve there and although the out-of-bounds area was removed long ago the fish still felt safe apparently. Well, they may have felt safe but they weren’t hungry obviously, and as the day wore on I grew restless.

There is only so much waiting around I can do. I wanted to get back up to the other narrower end where Bastl had caught his fish earlier.

With Robin and Oli setting up on the big lake, Bastl and I moved. The heat of the day finally subsided, and I banked my first Alpine carp. It was only a small stock fish but I was buzzing to get that first one under my belt. Speaking of buzzing, Oli came to rescue me with some mozzie repellent as they were a proper nightmare. I must have had 200 bites on me by the time he turned up with some spray. They were tiny, but relentless and as soon as they landed they were biting!

That was it for the day and Bastl and I reeled in, respecting the no night fishing rule on the lake, although part of me wished I hadn’t. We returned to base camp for a few hours sleep, ready for another early start in the morning.

We set off at first light back down to the reserve end and it was quiet once again. We moved back up at midday to where we had been steadily trickling in bait since we arrived. The heat had brought the French out in force and the banks were busy with picnickers, sunbathers and swimmers. It was busy but there were few other anglers thankfully.

I was fishing for a bite at a time, but Bastl had decided to fill it in and went about baiting heavily with Key boilies and pellets, spreading the bait with a spoon at the bottom of the shelf just 20yds out and fishing Hinged Stiff Rigs over the top. I wasn’t sure this was the right tactic but blow me down it worked for him! It didn’t even take long to get a take and we both knew immediately that this one was a better fish. It stayed deep throughout the fight and it was only right at the net that we could see it was indeed a big, solid mirror. Bastl’s third French carp was another PB buster, tipping the scales past 46lb. I can’t believe that fish just came and picked up his pop-up from amongst all that bait – they

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0 5. SNAG LEADER

On rivers and lakes alike snag leaders are essential to help prevent those frustrating cut offs that leave you rueing what might have been…

6. FANG TWISTER

I always put my faith in a Twister, or it’s Chod sibling. Size 4 and 6 for Euro fishing. Sharp, strong, reliable… need I say more?

7. CHOD RIGS

Contrary to rumours Chods do work on the continent, and allow you to rock up at any venue, chuck out, and be fishing effectively!

10. TG ACTIVE BOILIES

8. A BOAT, OUTBOARD, & ECHO SOUNDER

Many venues allow the use of boats, and sometimes fishing or access is impossible without one.

9. A FISHING SCOOTER

A scooter that turns into a pod? That’s how we roll!

You want to take a bait that works everywhere, and there isn’t a carp that swims that won’t eat one of these!

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must have been down there feeding. Anyway, that was what we had come for: a 20kg carp and we were all over the moon, none more so than Bastl who had worked hard for his fish.

He wasn’t done yet either, and later that afternoon stalked out a mid-thirty from under a tree, deliberately spooking it so he could place the rig. There was obviously something it liked there as it returned and he caught it pretty quickly.

This was another plump mid-thirty, and as much as I was pleased for Bastl I wanted to catch a better one myself.

I wandered up towards the swimmers, where there was a small peninsula that jutted out a little from the bank. Here the water was a bit shallower, and I could see carp, and decent ones at that. There were as many as 15 with some up to 40lb hanging off the edge of the shallow water. I baited with some pellet and candied tigers and when I went back for a look they were all tails up having it. Waiting for them to drift off I lowered a rod in and they were soon back and dropping down. It didn’t take long for the Siren to go into meltdown as an angry fish steamed off into the deeper water, and after a mega battle I slipped the net under a long, lean golden common.

Somewhere around mid-twenty, it wasn’t a giant but I was made up and it was such an exciting way to catch it. A French family came to see what the fuss was all about and I took great pleasure in introducing a group of interested kids to their first carp.

I did have an hour stalking on the small lake later in the afternoon and managed to get a couple of the jet-black residents feeding on bread. I lost the first bite, cut off in the weed and the second opportunity I fluffed by striking too early and pulling the bait out of the fish’s mouth. That was really exciting fishing, watching these dark carp in the deep blue water.

Back fishing with Bastl I managed one more small carp at dusk, but apart from that the only other bites bites we had to report were from the swarms of voracious mosquitos. With Oli and Robin chancing it for a final night on the wild lake, we returned to base camp for our final night.

We were up early again but after some rain in the night the fish were not having it and we had no further action for the final couple of hours. The boys packed up, also having blanked on the big lake and we met up to load up the vans.

As had been the case throughout the trip, there was a last minute bite to be had and with just the last couple of rods

MAR 2017

HOW THE EUROBANX 3 PANNED OUT

When it comes to having a successful road trip, you can never plan enough…

13/7 PARIS

Arrive 11:30pm, leave 1pm. Spots fished: 2 (Seine, Park lake).

Hours actually fished: 7. Carp caught: 3.

Fish lost: 2.

14/7 GRENOBLE

Arrive 9pm, leave 10am. Spots fished: 1 (Blue lake). Hours actually fished: 9.

Carp caught: 3.

Fish lost: 2.

15/7 BOLOGNA

Arrive 9pm, leave 8am. Spots fished: 2 (Powerstation lake).

Hours actually fished: 24. Carp caught: 1.

Fish lost: 0.

4 6. And so

we finished the trip at the legendary Liquicity festival 47. #EB3

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MAR 2017

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19/7 ALPS 18/7 ROME 17/7 FLORENCE

Arrive 11am, leave 8am. Spots fished: 2 (River Arno). Hours actually fished: 14.

Carp caught: 2.

Fish lost: 1.

Arrive 11am, leave 11am. Spots fished: 3 (Park lake, River Tevere). Hours actually fished: 13.

Carp caught: 5.

Fish lost: 5.

Arrive 8pm, leave 10am. Spots fished: more than 10 (Public lake, stalking lake, Big lake). Hours actually fished: 40.

Carp caught: 14.

Fish lost: 4.

22/7 AMSTERDAM

Arrive 9pm, leave 9am. Spots fished: 5 (Canal, park lake, Public lake). Hours actually fished: 26.

Carp caught: 4.

Fish lost: 2.

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37. He set a

trap made up of a double candied tiger 3 8. 21kg of mountain carp 3 9 . Alan found some fish feeding close to the bank 40. As always, Alan involves the locals!

41. One last fish and we bid farewell to the Alps 42. We purchased a

souvenir and set the SatNav for Holland 43. No head torch needed!

44 . On a massive lake in Amsterdam, we gathered for a big social and barbecue with our Dutch, Belgian, Czech, Austrian and English friends 45. A memorable end to an amazing trip

still out I banked a final small carp. We had a quick group shot, and set the SatNav for the final big leg of our trip, driving across France and up into Holland to Amsterdam. We bid the lake farewell. It hadn’t been kind to us, but it hadn’t been unkind either. We had had to work hard for our bites and if conditions had been different you could no doubt have a mega haul. It’s hard to know if you have been lucky or unlucky sometimes – the lake had been quiet in terms of other anglers and we had nicked a few bites, but the size of the fish was below average. Having said that, Bastl had bagged a 20kg fish which is what we had gone for so we left with a buzz. I had fallen in love with the area and I made a vow to return. There was no rubbish and no swims, and although the lake has been well fished over the years it had felt like we were the first ones there. I loved all the families picnicking and swimming in the lake and I could just imagine myself doing the

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MAR 2017

same thing in a few years with my family, with a couple of rods out of course!

For now though the fishing was starting to become secondary in our minds as we dusted off our dancing shoes. A few of the lads that work at Nash were flying out for the party in Amsterdam, but we had also arranged to meet a few local lads plus Bastl and Nick were coming with us and Jamie Clossick was finishing his own road trip there. The plan was to all convene on this large water in Amsterdam for a social and barbeque, but prior to that Oli, Robin, Bastl and I had a night on the canal in the centre of Amsterdam to try and get a carp or two.

We drove all day, arriving in a sweltering Amsterdam just before dark and meeting up with Nash consultant Timon van der Put who lives and fishes in Amsterdam. Timon was already set-up at the junction of five different canals, a spot where the odd nomadic carp had been caught, and earlier that year a mirror of over 20kg had even made an appearance. It was a proper ambush point and looked seriously carpy and what’s more we were fishing out of the van. After a quick trip into town to get some food, we got the rods out.

It was carnage. The spot was stuffed with bream and they were relentless. Timon had 10, I had five, Bastl had some and the wise man Robin had none, sensibly opting to fish double 20mm boilie from the start. Eventually I had to do the same and finally got some peace. We didn’t end up going to sleep until the early hours and alas, we all awoke carpless.

Bastl and Robin headed off to get some barbeque food and meet the others at the big lake. Timon, Oli and I decided to visit one of Amsterdam’s park lakes for a little go. I have fished a couple of park lakes in Amsterdam now and they just keep kicking me.

It was tricky, but we found a few in the maze of waterways. In the baking heat I just couldn’t get them to feed on the bottom or on floating bread, and after a frustrating few hours and a couple more bream we gave up and went to join the rest of the gang.

They had claimed the perfect social spot: a point on this massive lake where we could all fish for our final night. Out on the water it was thronging with boaters, paddle boarders, people having picnics and the odd angler too. It had a really relaxed feel to it; everyone was enjoying the heat in their own way. We got the rods out, fired up the barbeque, turned up the tunes and kicked back. Sometimes it is about more than just the fishing and we had an epic social with our friends filled with laughter.

Morning came round and there were some thick, groggy heads. It had been a late night, but not an unproductive one.

I had caught myself a nice common in the early hours, as had Dave Marre, and Bastl had carried on his spectacular run of form and bagged himself his first Dutch carp also.

While everyone slowly came to, I couldn’t resist and went off stalking for one final time, quickly bagging myself a nice grass carp on floating bread from the maze of back channels behind the point on which we were set up. And then it was time for a final group shot, and that really was the end of the fishing for this trip. We checked into a hotel, had a shower, a nice meal, and finished the trip in style at the Liquicity Festival, dancing in the summer sun with our friends. It was the perfect end to an exhausting, but truly epic road trip…

ALAN BLAIR