I think it was probably around the mid 80’s when I first started to really fish for carp, I suppose at the time I thought I was a real specimen hunter but looking back I was nothing more than a pleasure angler who used to chuck one out for the carp on a piece of luncheon meat!! We used to really be fishing for the Tench but one fine summers day I connected with something that was far more powerful than a Tench. I was able to gauge this instantly because back in those days I used to fish with the old Mitchell 300’s. We used to fish them with the clutch’s done up tight and the anti reverse off, so in effect the take would result in the reel arm spinning backwards. Most of the Tench I used to catch would hardly have chance to give me a ‘churner’, as we used to call them, as I was always mega alert and constantly watching my rod and reel. But when I had a take from a carp it was a completely different story. The take was so fast that by the time I’d struck, the reel handle had been spinning so fast that too much line had spilled off and wrapped itself around the back of the spool. I was obviously somewhat younger and inexperienced back then and the panic really did set in with all sorts of thoughts going through my mind on how to resolve this ‘slight’ mishap. Should I bite the line and try to hand line the fish in? Should I simply keep walking back to try to land the fish? I was in a real mess, and with the adrenalin pumping it was getting worse!! Something then told me to just put the rod in the grass and try to simply sort the mess out at the back of the spool, after all if the fish tried to run for freedom again what more could I do? It was obvious I wasn’t going to sort it out with any of my other brain waves. Little by little I started to unwrap the line and was amazed at how easily it all came free, eventually I was in full control, well I so I thought at the time. The fish must have been really tired by this point and probably wondered what the hell was going on at the other end of the rod. However, he co-operated fully from then on and went into my waiting net at the first attempt. If I remember correctly the fish weighed around 11lb but when you consider I was using a kind of heavy-duty feeder rod and 8lb line the fish felt like it was much, much bigger.

Anyway, that was it for me; I’d caught a carp. I was completely hooked and couldn’t ever imagine fishing for anything else again. How could any Stillwater fish compare fight or size wise to what I’d just caught? Looking back and knowing what I know now, I couldn’t of visualized how much carp fishing itself would change over the next 20 years, and how much of an impact it would have on my own working and personal life.

At the time of this capture, even back then, carp fishing and tackle was in a kind of transitional period. By this I mean it was becoming more and more fashionable to fish for carp, and the few tackle companies around at the time weren’t going to let this opportunity pass them by. I suppose the main players at the time were Gardner, Terry Eustace, Fox and Nash. Solar were just starting to make a bit of a play in carp fishing and looking back how could we of all known what a huge impact Martin Locke and Solar would and still are having on carp fishing. A lot of my own gear at the time was made up of items I’d ‘borrowed’ from my Father, things I’d saved up to buy and basically anything that would make us look like we were to be taken seriously as carp anglers. I still remember my basic bivvy system, this was a 45’’ wavelock umbrella with a couple of banksticks for support, these were not directly attached to the umbrella, as storm caps hadn’t been invented then. I would then attach via some of my mum’s line pegs some plastic sheeting to the ribs of the umbrella, this would be weighted down with some large bricks, of which there were plenty, and that was my home for a night or two. We used to use the Argos camping beds back then as well, it was so ridiculous at times though as the rule of thumb on our lake was that anyone who’d been fishing for carp for more than 2 years could go out and buy a blue bed, all other lesser mortals had to grin and bear it on one of the flowery types, how bizarre is that?? I’ll mention another crazy rule we had amongst ourselves. Richworth freezer baits were all the rage at the time as were Crafty Catcher, now we called a half hearted meeting for the carp anglers, I think there were around 6 or 7 of us, to discuss who was going to be fishing on what flavor bait for the coming season. This didn’t mean we were going to be rolling our own, far from it, that was still only for the really, really serious carp anglers. What we had to decide was who was allowed to go and buy what boilie. We all drew straws or something like that to decide who got first pick and after a lot of shouting and arguing the straws were in. I ended up with second pick, which I was well pleased with, I think I chose Salmon Supreme from Richworth, I really wanted Tutti Frutti but that went first, ha ha!! That wasn’t the end of it though, we had to swear on something more important than life i.e. your fishing gear, that you couldn’t go out and sneakily buy a bag of someone else’s chosen variety of bait, in fact it was simply un-thinkable to even consider doing it, just not cricket as some might say. I still laugh my head off when I look back and think of some of the crazy, almost childish rules we had, but we didn’t care, we were the new breed of carp anglers on our lake, and we loved every minute of it.

On the tackle side of things the cool lads were all using Heron bite alarms or BJ’s, but I’d acquired a set of the new Optonics, well they were my dad’s, he used them for piking and the occasional noddy carp trip as I called it, so I started to use them for 99% of my fishing. These were at the time revolutionary, they were far more advanced than anything else on the market due to the fact they used a roller wheel to register a bite rather than relying on the line being pulled to move the metal contacts together, much the way the Heron or BJ worked. On the rod front I was using 11 ft 1.5lb tc Normark Glass Rods, again they were well ahead of their time really, but I was soon to move up by acquiring my dad’s custom built Terry Eustace SS6’s, obviously!!

I got my driving license shortly after this period and this was when I really started to spread my wings to much larger pits and reservoirs where I would go on to learn a lot more about approach’s and tactics but I’m going to move on to talk about how the carp scene has changed for me over the last 20 years.

Now I’m heavily involved with the carp fishing trade and it does amaze me how much is available to not just the youngsters coming into carp fishing, but anyone who chooses to take up our beloved sport. When I first started, most carp anglers wouldn’t even talk to each other let alone tell you what bait and rig they were catching on!! Luckily nowadays it’s totally different, I mean there are several monthly carp magazines, there’s the internet sites which seem to be springing up all over the place and there are the annual carp shows both in the U.K and abroad. These shows are the ideal place to pick up helpful hints and tips as all of the people who the readers read about in the magazines are present and will be more than willing to pass on any useful information which may enable the individual to go out the next day and catch a big fish. Everything from tackle displays, rigs, bait, even indoor lakes to show how a rig may look on the bottom. The lakes even have real life carp swimming around in them!!

What has evolved here is a multi million pound industry which is far more commercial than it has ever been before, and looks like it’s still growing. In my opinion it’s a two way street though, by this I mean the general public gain access to some ground breaking technology in carp fishing equipment, and in some cases they can learn more in a couple of years than we did in ten. In a way it’s good that this can happen due to the ever changing range of products available in today’s market and people such as myself can earn a full time wage by working for some of the companies involved in the way the market is structured.

I do consider myself to be extremely fortunate to be able to work in the industry, I mean it isn’t very often we land our dream job now is it?? I love carp fishing and everything about it; there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t pinch myself to see if this is really happening. I’ve met some wonderful people in the trade who are now close friends and on the whole it’s a good industry to be in, as with all fields there is some serious competition out there, but this can only be a good thing from my point of view. It keeps the tackle companies on their toes, but more importantly it gives the general public more and more choice of revolutionary products every year.

It certainly has been a roller coaster ride for me in carp fishing over the last 20 years, I’ve seen a lot of things come and go, some for the better, some for the worst. Even I’ve drifted in and out of carp fishing during my more wilder teenage years, but I’ve always returned know matter what life has thrown at me. As with thousands of others once it’s in your blood you’ll never get rid of it, and as I wrote at the beginning of this piece once you catch your first carp there’s no going back, and I for one wouldn’t have it any other way.

All that remains is to wish you good luck with whatever your quest maybe, it’s all about personal enjoyment and fulfillment. See you soon and be lucky……..