Brace of thirties off the top

Catching carp off the surface is one of the most exciting forms of the sport, and one angler who can certainly pay testament to this is Jack Stamp who landed a brace of thirties, including this 37lb 4oz mirror from CEMEX Angling’s Rockford Lake.

Arriving at the low-stock 55-acre Hampshire venue at 5am the Dorest-based roofer soon found a group of carp held up in a weedy bay and started feeding PVA mesh bags filled 11mm CC Moore floating trout pellets which had been soaked in Feedstim XP liquid to give them an added boost at around 40yds range.

The fish were soon feeding confidently on his free offerings but it wasn’t until four hours later that one of the fish took his hookbait.

“The bay was virtually solid with Canadian pondweed from top to bottom and it was a case of accurately casting to the small holes in the weed,” explained the 24-year-old. “If it didn’t land in the right place it would get masked in weed and be almost impossible for the fish to take.”

Shortly after landing a mirror of 32lb he connected with the bigger of the duo. “This fish was definitely one of the biggest in the bay and I had been hoping it would slip up. It gave a good account of itself but despite weeding me up on a couple of occasions after 15 minutes I had it in the net.”

“This is my first season on the lake but I haven’t managed many sessions on there yet and these are the first fish I’ve landed.”

Due to the thick weed, Jack had to use slightly stepped-up tackle and put his faith in a 12lb Daiwa Sensor hooklink and a size 10 hook.

“I used an 11mm floating pellet on the hair and also attached a small piece of cork on to the hook to stop it from dropping down in the water and potentially spooking any fish,” he added.



Patience rewarded with 40lb 12oz common

Waiting for the perfect weather conditions paid off for Leon Bartropp and his patience was duly rewarded with this 40lb 12oz common from Wellington Country Park.

The 44-year-old Essex-based carper had been baiting an area of the lake which hadn’t received any angling pressure for a while and was even being called ‘no carp corner’ by other members because there hadn’t even been any fish spotted in the area for several weeks.

“I’d been trickling a mixture of different sized Mistral i40 boilies into the area and as soon as a northerly wind picked up, blowing straight in to the bay, I made sure I got the rods out over the prebaited area,” said the Fox and Mistral consultant. “I hadn’t seen any fish but I was confident they would be there and then out of blue I received a steady take in the middle of the afternoon. The fish put up a good scrap taking me in and out of several weedbeds but I eventually got the better of it and slipped the net under a chunky common.”

Leon beat his prize with a pop-up hookbait on a hinged-stiff rig tied with a size 5 Fox Arma Point SR hook and a 25lb Rigidity hooklink.


Carp feared dead caught at 42lb 4oz

This stunning linear was feared dead by many anglers because it hadn’t been caught for over two years, but Myles Gibson proved it was still alive and well when he landed it at its best ever weight of 42lb 4oz.

Fishing to a long range spot on the Oxfordshire venue the Cheshire-based rod put his faith in CC Moore N-Gage XP boilies which he fished over a bed of whole and chopped baits and hemp.

He said: “This carp has to be one of the most stunning fish swimming in UK waters at present.”


Scaled down rig bags 44lb mirror

When all others around him were struggling for bites, David Preston made a slight change to his tactics and landed this 44lb 1oz mirror during a short session on the Ashmead Carp Syndicate in Somerset.

After hearing that the notoriously tricky lake had been fishing particularly slow, the owner of Preston Innovations and Avid Carp formulated a plan that he thought could tempt one of the venue’s wily old residents. Rather than fishing with boilies like lots of other anglers, he decided to try something completely different.

Drawing on his match fishing experience he knew that refining his approach and scaling down his tackle could make all the difference while the fish were feeding so cautiously.
He had a quick lead around with a 1.5oz lead and once he’d found a couple of spots that were firm and clear he flicked out two simple rigs that were baited with yellow 10mm Avid High Lites.

To make his hookbaits perform more naturally on the lakebed he trimmed them down and added a small split shot to critically-balance them.

To give his High Lite an added boost, David kept it soaking in some Sonubaits Booster Cloud before the session. “The hookbaits take on the liquid and flavour making them really attractive. Once in the water, they release a cloud of attraction that carp find irresistible,” he said.

With both rods in position he sat back and waited in anticipation. He didn’t have to wait long and at 2am, his right-hand rod screamed into life as the carp made a bid for freedom. After a long, hard fight he slipped the net under the stunning 44lb 1oz mirror known as Moonscale.

“Sometimes, thinking a little bit outside the box and trying something a bit different, can tempt fish when other tactics are failing,” he added.


New signings at Nash

Nash Tackle this week confirmed that they had secured two new additions to their already impressive list of consultants in the shape of top carpers Steve Briggs and Simon Crow.

In a deal that will see the lads contracted to Nash with bait and tackle for the next three years, Kevin Nash revealed:

“To say that I am delighted would be an understatement! I have known Simon since he was a young man. In fact, his first mainstream consultancy was with Nash almost twenty years ago, and he and Rob Hughes won the first World Carp Cup whilst fishing with Nashbait. I will say what I said a year ago to someone watching Simon fish, he is without doubt one of the top three most focused and driven anglers I have ever seen.

“As for Steve, god, it makes me feel old when I think how many years I have known him! I have always had the highest regard and respect for Steve. He has the knack for catching big carp and has an incredible tally of them from all over the world. To be able to announce they have both decided to join Nash not only makes me very proud that they have chosen my company, but also it excites me that we now have their wealth of experience to further enhance our unrivalled innovative position in the industry".

Commenting on the move, Simon & Steve said: “The Nash brand is right at the top of the tree when it comes to carping consultancies. We are extremely excited about this move, and really look forward to working with Kevin and the rest of the lads in the team.”


Dad's 38lb common from son's swim!

A spontaneous few hours of fishing turned into sheer delight for Fox backed Andy Maker as he landed a massive 38lb 10oz common carp from Walthamstow Reservoirs.
Andy who had not visited the venue for 10 years had already banked a couple of small carp from the Lower Maynard when he decided to go see his son Tom, who was already fishing on the Two and Three Reservoir.
“Tom had a mid-twenty in the net when I arrived in his swim, his third of the day, so it would have been rude to decline his offer for me to chuck a couple of rods out for the last few hours of the day,” he told Angling Times.
“An hour later, my right-hand rod, which was fished locked up to a snag, pulled up tight and I was in. After a good 10-minute scrap a large common rolled in front of us and Tom slipped the net under it.”
The lump, which is the second largest common in the lake, took a Mainline Baits Pineapple pop-up soaked in Betalin and mounted on a 360 rig incorporating a Fox Arma Point LSC hook.
“Ten years ago I was obsessed with trying to catch a big common from the Two and Three, and yet within an hour of going back on there I had nicked one right under Tom’s nose…happy days.”


Marmite produces brace of big commons

Marmite – you either love it or hate it. And it proved to be the former for the carp in the Hampshire gravel which Chris Westley was targeting when he landed a brace of commons topped by this 30lb 2oz specimen.

Both fish were taken from a spot tight to an overhanging marginal tree which the Dorset-based 30 Plus-backed rod had waded out to and baited with a mixture of different sized pellets covered in Marmite.

Chris has enjoyed an impressive run of form on the venue and with only one target fish left on his hit list he has put a large part of his success down to the use of Marmite.

“It really seems to pull the fish in and hold them for a length of time,” he said. “The spot I was fishing started off about the size of a dinner plate, but by the end of the session it was as big as a mini.”

His winning presentation consisted of a critically-balanced boilie hookbait on size 6 30 Plus Genomic hook and a fluorocarbon hooklink.


Four personal bests in one session

Lee Duffin had a session to remember when he broke his personal best four times during a session on the Kracking Carp Lake at Anglers Paradise in Devon.

His haul included fish of 37lb 12oz, 36lb  4oz, 34lb, 31lb 4oz and 26lb 12oz, all of which were caught on 18mm Mainline Baits Cell boilies mounted on six inch, 15lb Sufix Kameleon hooklinks and size 6 Korda hooks fished blow-back style.

Lee said: “I had a very special session at a very special place that I don’t think I will ever beat in this country.”


37lb 9oz surface caught pb

Darren Underwood claimed that ‘no carper should go fishing without a bag of dog biscuits,’ when he banked his biggest ever surface-caught specimen – this cracking mirror which topped the scales at 37lb 9oz.

The 33-year-old, from Cambridgeshire was staring a blank session in the face at his local Fenland Fisheries’ Willow Lake when he and many other anglers around him fishing bottom baits struggled for bites.

But just a few hours before he was set to pack up his gear he decided to start feeding Chum Mixers to see if he could encourage the carp to start feeding on the top, and that’s when his fortunes turned around.

He soon had a group of fish mopping up his free offerings and cast out a cut down Dynamite Baits pop-up boilie hair-rigged to a size 10 hook and a 10lb Korda Kruiser Control hooklink. Minutes later, the specimen mirror took the hookbait and shortly afterwards he was holding his new personal best up for the cameras.

“Surface fishing is by far my favourite method and I would never leave for a session without my floater gear,” the mechanic told Angling Times. “Sometimes you’ll only get a small window of opportunity when the fish will be really having it and you need to make sure you’re ready or you can miss your chance.

“I really can’t get my head around the fact that some anglers will see fish feeding on the top and carry on fishing on the bottom without giving it a go because the results can be instant and it’s a method that’s easy to master.

“If there is one tip I’d give anyone that’s fishing on the surface it is to whip your bait onto the shank  with the finest braid possible and tie your mainline to the eye of the hook because this gives a really natural presentation and has resulted in so many more fish on the bank for me.”

*To find out more about Fenland Fisheries visit: www.fenlandfisheriesltd.co.uk or call: 01487 841858


Angler lands two carp for over 100lb

Brian Humphries achieved a feat which very few anglers can lay claim to – catching two carp for a combined weight of over 100lb – with fish of 59lb 14oz and 40lb 8oz.

The two specimens were taken by the Cheltenham-based rod from a Berkshire stillwater after he made the decision to get away from the crowds and fish an unpopular peg in a quiet area of the lake.

He located a clear channel in the weed at 100yds range and baited the spot with Hinders Snailz boilies, Salt and Pepper hemp and chopped tiger nuts before casting a pop-up hookbait over the top.

“It was the opening week of the season on the venue so it was very busy and all of the so called ‘hot’ swims were already taken,” Brian told Angling Times. “I took a bit of a gamble and decided to fish one of the unfancied pegs but thankfully it proved to be an excellent choice.”



Margin caught 40lb common

Robert Kinge proved you don’t need to fish at range to catch big carp when he landed this personal best 40lb common carp from the margins of Kevin Nash’s Church Pool in Essex.

The 24-year-old manager of Hampshire Tackle found a small clear area close in which he baited with a light scattering of whole and chopped boilies and hemp.

Over the top of this he offered a snowman presentation consisting of a 15mm Nash Monster Squid bottom bait tipped with a 10mm black pop-up.

“All the fish I’d seen show had been in front of the anglers on the opposite side of the lake,” he told Angling Times. “Then out of the blue I received a take and after a slow, plodding fight I netted a huge common which smashed my old pb of 33lb.”

Rob also landed a 26lb 10oz common using a size 7 Nash Fang X barbless hook tied KD style to an ESP Camo Sink hooklink and a 2oz inline drop-off lead.


New website for Nash Tackle

Nash Tackle will be launching their brand new website on August 17th and the company’s media team have focused their efforts on creating the best angling online experience possible.

The new website will include a mobile phone friendly version as well as other new features including:

•         Exciting new desktop design
•         Smartphone app
•         Enriched user experience
•         NashTV videos
•         Regular e-newsletters
•         E-zine editions
•         Nash Baits kitchen
•         Weekly competitions and promotions
•         Online retail directory with focussed product detail
•         Available in European languages
•         Facebook and Twitter interaction

And much, much more!

Simon McCabe, Nash’s Creative Director commented, “This is a giant leap for us in terms of user experience. Our goal has always been to deliver new innovative tackle and news from the carp angling world in the best possible way, showcasing to the hungry Nash audience. The new website is totally awesome, AND there’s more!! Phase 2 sees a whole new interactive experience from the Nash camp. Super excited about the online future… but that’s all I’m gonna say, for now. Watch this space.”

Visit the website at: www.nashtackle.co.uk



PB smashed with stalked 43lb 12oz mirror

Marc Wheatley proved you don’t need to spend days camped out on the bank to catch big carp when he stalked this 43lb 12oz mirror from Startops on the Tring Reservoirs complex in Hertfordshire.

After locating a group of carp in a small bay on the 26-acre water, the local rod baited a spot with a mixture of pellets, boilies and corn. He then returned the next day, put in another kilo of mix and fished a couple of solid PVA bag presentations over the top.

The fish moved back in to the bay in the evening and 20 minutes later line began to be stripped off his reel. “I had never experienced such an aggressive run,” he told AT.

“After 30 minutes I saw a huge tail break the surface and a few moments later she was in the net. It smashed my pb of 24lb 8oz and is a catch I don’t think I will ever better.”


New website for Solar Tackle

Nine months after taking their old site off-line, Solar Tackle have launched their brand new website.

Along with huge carp on film, instructional videos and a whole host of story-based and technical articles, browsers will find regular diary pieces from some of Europe’s top, big-fish anglers, including Nick Helleur and Wesley Lagaert, the latest carp fishing news, catch reports and get ‘heads up’ on all of the new products before they hit the tackle shop shelves.

On top of all this, there’s a section for locating your nearest Solar Tackle dealer, no matter which country you’re based in, an online shop where you can purchase Solar merchandise and a whole host of other stuff for you to enjoy too.

You can visit the site at: www.solartackle.co.uk


Three year quest ends with 60lb 2oz common

A three year campaign came to a triumphant conclusion for Robby Malfliet when he banked this 60lb 2oz common from a Belgian syndicate water.

The 36-year-old Antwerp-based carper targeted an overhanging tree at 90yds range and also landed fish of 32lb and 36lb 12oz during the successful session.

All of his fish were taken on Baitworks King Fish boosted hookbaits tipped with pink fruity dumbbell pop-ups. These were mounted on 8ins, 15lb PB Products Jellywire hooklinks and size 6 ESP Curve Shanx hooks.