How to use the Multi Rig
Big-carp fanatic Rich Wilby is a bit of an expert when it comes to tying, mastering and fishing carp rigs. He's caught masses of huge carp all over the country, including on his own day-ticket complex, Airfield Lakes.
Wanting to know more about the most popular carp fishing rigs, we met up with Rich at his lovely fishery to pick his brains.
In this video he details the Multi Rig. It's a set-up designed for fishing with a pop-up bait and features a neat flexible 'hinge' that provides full movement of the bait and extremely good hook-ups.
If targeting really big carp is your thing, this rig is one that you really need to learn how to tie - it's almost unbeatable!
To learn more about the Multi Rig, click the video play button below.
How to use the Chod Rig
Big-carp fanatic Rich Wilby is a bit of an expert when it comes to tying, mastering and fishing carp rigs. He's caught masses of huge carp all over the country, including on his own day-ticket complex, Airfield Lakes.
Wanting to know more about the most popular carp fishing rigs, we met up with Rich at his lovely fishery to pick his brains.
In this video he details the now-famous Chod Rig... the one that's perfect for big-carp fishing over silt, debris and weedy bottoms.
This very short rig relies on the use of a very buoyant pop-up bait to ensure it always remains in full view of the fish, above the obstructions on the bottom.
And here Rich reveals a few unknown facts about the Chod Rig that you might not know...
To watch the video, click the image below.
How to use the Claw rig
Big-carp fanatic Rich Wilby is a bit of an expert when it comes to tying, mastering and fishing carp rigs. He's caught masses of huge carp all over the country, including on his own day-ticket complex, Airfield Lakes.
Wanting to know more about the most popular carp fishing rigs, we met up with Rich at his lovely fishery to pick his brains.
In this video he details the Claw Rig - one of Rich's favourite and most reliable rigs for using on any new venue.
It's a very aggressive rig, in terms of the hook flipping over and hitting home - so if you want to almost guarantee that the fish that's taken your bait is landed, this might well be the rig to use!
As you will see after watching the video below, this rig is best fished with a semi-bouyant bait, presented just off the bottom.
To watch the video, click the image below.
How to use zig rigs
Big-carp fanatic Rich Wilby is a bit of an expert when it comes to tying, mastering and fishing carp rigs. He's caught masses of huge carp all over the country, including on his own day-ticket complex, Airfield Lakes.
Wanting to know more about the most popular carp fishing rigs, we met up with Rich at his lovely fishery to pick his brains.
In this video he details the Zig Rig - a superb rig for catching carp throughout the year which are cruising through the middle and upper layers of any lake.
In his own words, it's basically fly-fishing for carp, in a way! Where the bait is popped up well off the bottom where passing carp can easily spot it and intercept it.
So - if you wish to find out how this rather unique rig works, watch the video by clicking on the image below.
How to catch more carp with paste and worms
If you love to catch carp on pole fishing tackle, you'll love these two great bait tips we discovered when we visited anglers pole fishing at Orchill - Britain's most northerly commercial carp fishery.
The best thing about these two simple yet highly effective tips is that anyone can use them... not just highly experienced match anglers!
You'll find out how to get more from worms by avoiding the attentions of smaller nuisance species that tend to attack the worms as they drop through the water.
Also, paste fishing is covered in great detail too, helping you to catch lots more using this soft and extremely deadly carp bait.
To watch this video, click the image below.
How to enhance your Method mix to catch more commercial carp
The Method is one of the best ways to catch lots of commercial and specimen carp, so when Dean Jones contacted us to reveal a brilliant new baiting technique that has caught him loads more carp than ever before, we jumped at the chance!
He's been adding a very special sticky foodstuff to his Method mix to help draw in even more carp than usual, plus his ingenious hook bait - a cork ball smothered in the same sticky additive - has to be seen to be believed!
It's action all the way as Dean tackles a local commercial fishery, fishing the Method feeder only feet from the bank to catch masses of small and hungry commercial carp.
To watch this unique video, click on the image below.
How to pole fish for commercial carp from tight margin swims
Catching carp - and big carp - from the margins of commercial carp fisheries can be a tricky business, especially when the fish surge straight towards nearby snags.
But get it right and you can be in for some fantastic sport, as Matt Pillay knows only too well.
Here, in this exclusive video, he visited Lindholme Lakes to tackle and extremely tough margin swim surrounded by reeds to run through his top margin pole fishing tips and tactics.
To watch the video, click on the image below.
How to stalk carp in the margins - Part 2
A superb, action-packed way to catch carp from the margins is to use your watercraft skills and stalk them, and in this two-part video Jan Porter shows you how...
We met up with Jan on the banks of a popular and well-established mixed commercial fishery in Worcestershire to see how he gets the most from the absolute minimum of tackle.
Using only a few pellets to attract the carp in to the margins, Jan used his vast watercraft skills to tempt as many carp as possible right from under his feet in water only inches deep.
In this two-part video Jan explains how you can easily get to within a few feet of feeding carp and build-up their confidence enough to catch them from right in front of you.
How to stalk carp in the margins - Part 1
A superb, action-packed way to catch carp from the margins is to use your watercraft skills and stalk them, and in this two-part video Jan Porter shows you how...
We met up with Jan on the banks of a popular and well-established mixed commercial fishery in Worcestershire to see how he gets the most from the absolute minimum of tackle.
Using only a few pellets to attract the carp in to the margins, Jan used his vast watercraft skills to tempt as many carp as possible right from under his feet in water only inches deep.
In this two-part video Jan explains how you can easily get to within a few feet of feeding carp and build-up their confidence enough to catch them from right in front of you.
New 30-Plus V3 Specimen Carp Rod
Making the right choice when buying fishing rods for catching big carp can be a minefield because there simply are just so many available.
This new rod, from 30-Plus, is just one rod that is more than capable of catching, controlling and landing big carp.
Steve Broad, from UK Carp magazine, took delivery of a pair to take them to the bankside and put them through their paces.
He visited a vast, well-established lake just north of Peterborough, used a simple specialist rig coupled with a tiny PVA bag with pellets.
As you'll see by watching the video, Steve found this reasonably priced carp fishing rod more than adequate for the size of fish he caught.
To watch the video, click on the image below.
How to use the new Drennan Method feeder
"The best Method feeders money can buy." That's the verdict of five-times world champion Alan Scotthorne on the new Method feeders from Drennan, which have helped him win a recent White Acres festival and many other open matches.
No-nonsense Yorkshireman Alan doesn't put his name to any old tackle creation and has been so impressed by the new frames and mould system that he now uses it exclusively, especially when faced with island features like those at his local Hayfield and Lindholme Lakes.
We met up with Alan at Hayfield Lakes to find out why he rates this feeder so highly, and also to find out how to get the most from a typical Method feeder fishing session.
To watch the video, click on the image below
How to catch 100lb-plus carp nets fishing tight to undercut margins
An angler who's had triple-figure carp bags in every pleasure session he's been on in the last month has put his overwhelming success down to catch bigger carp tight to undercut margin banks.
London-based angler Peter Bolt is a regular at a number of top southern commercials, including the prolific Hartleylands Farm, and has been outscoring all those around him by targeting fish that are literally sat under his feet!
To find out more about his approach, Angling Times met up with him at the Kent fishery.
With rushes and reedbeds lining virtually every peg on the inside line, it looked like a margin angler's paradise - but these features only created problems for our top-flight angler.
To see how Peter tackles the undercut margins, watch the video below.
How to pole fish at varying depths for huge carp and bream weights
Steve Barraclough has been in unstoppable form at Hallcroft fishery, winning the last seven matches he has fished with catches to a venue record-nudging 249lb 14oz.
The Frenzee and Bait-Tech-sponsored matchman relies on luncheon meat to catch big carp, banking two 20lb-plus fish in consecutive events on Bridge Pool, and often topping his keepnets up with 50lb to 60lb of skimmer bream.
Several different pole rigs set at varying depths allow Steve to cover every inch of the water, catchign fish from inches deep, down to the deck while loosefeeding meat on his pole line. He says that Hallcroft fish are old, wise and notoriously finicky, and a careful technique is needed to fool them.
We met up with Steve on the banks of Hallcroft to see how he fishes his pole rigs at varying depths, and catch such massive weights.
To watch the video, click on the image below.
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How to fish a packed pellet method feeder for carp
Commercial carp fishery ace Andy Findlay has been in red hot form recently, winning eight matches in the past six weeks thanks to a new trick which sees him create super-high Method feeder 'towers' absolutely packed with bait.
This has been responsible for three match wins in a row at Higham Fishery in Leicester, two winning bags to 169lb at Makins Fishery, plus two victories at Coventry's Packington Somers and one at Hawksbury, Bedworth.
Using the new Stiki Pellet powder from Sonubaits, Andy has rewritten the ways of using a Method mould by producing a massive, tall ball of pellets, designed to get fish feeding confidently before the hookbait appears in the midst of it all.
We met up with Andy on the banks to find out exactly how he makes his huge Method 'tower' with the sticky powder in this new and exclusive video.
To watch the video click on the image below.
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How to successfully pole fish a typical snake lake
With more than 400 Angling Times County Championship points now bagged, Mal Bailey is currently the third highest points scorer in the UK, thanks to his mastery of a certain type of commercial fishery design.
The Yorkshireman specialises in snake lakes, the term for a long, canal-style water where the far bank can be reached with a long pole, and an out-and-out pellet approach has seen Mal amass countless top-three frame places at two venues in particular.
Concentrating on Langwith Lakes at York and the Oaks Lakes near Thirsk, has seen winning netsto 135lb on his simple, cheap method of fishing.
To demonstrate this Mal took Angling Times to the scene of his latest victory - peg 19 on Emma's Lake at Langwith.
In this exclusive video Mal shows exactly how he goes about tackling this kind of water.
To watch the video click the image below.
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How casting your Method feeder every 60 seconds can win with carp
Casting every 60 seconds is the secret to winning with carp every week. That's the verdict of an up-and-coming match ace who has taken victory in eight events on the trot and smashed two venue records in the process.
By making hundreds of casts during each five hour competition, Bay Malton AC ace Alex Hulme has made himself unbeatable at the club-controlled Border Fisheries, smashing through the ton barrier in virtually every event - two of which have seen him take his place in the record books after amassing weights of 172lb and 204lb.
A simple Method feeder rig has been the killer tactic, but Alex is convinced a proactive and accurate approach has been the difference between beign a weekly champion and an also-ran.
We met up with Alex on the banks of Border Fisheries to find out exactly how he fishes in this way.
To watch the video click the image below.
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How fishing a Method feeder on the shallow pole line can catch big carp nets
A short chuck of the Method feeder has proved to be the key ingredient for one match anglerwho has been taking apart Coleman's Cottage Fishery, in Essex, by fishign the tactic short on his pole line.
Tony Curd, who qualified for this year's Fish O Mania final using the tactic, has shunned float rigs, instead lobbing his inline feeder to distances of around 13m to 16m to take bags of up to 261lb, often getting his rod tip pulled round in seconds as he catches 60 to 90 carp in each match.
The Guru and Bait-Tech-sponsored angler has such confidence in the Method that he only sets this rod up, even though he could easily reach his bagging zone with a pole.
Anging Times paid him a visit to find out why and how he fishes this devastating technique so short.
To watch the video click the play button on the image below.
How to fish Monk Lakes
A group of anglers have uncovered what they are describing as the best mixed fishery in the country after taking countless triple-figure bags in the last month alone.
Bridges Lake at Kent's Monk Lakes complex has had a solid reputation as a specimen anglers paradise for several years but it has only gained recognition from match and pleasure anglers since the turn of the year after producing 100lb-plus hauls of tench, bream, carp, roach and even F1s.
OPne man who knows the complex better than most is local tackle dealer Richard Taylor. The Medway Tackle and Preston Innovations Delcac ace has built up an immense dossier of information about the water over the years and was one of the first to discover the true potential of Bridges Lake.
We caught up with him on the banks of the venue to find out how he tackles it.
To watch the video click on the image below.
New Middy 3G Micro Muscle Waggler rod
Despite its pencil-thin profile this new two-piece Middy 3G Micro Muscle waggler rod has been designed to handle carp to double figures.
The sleek high modulus carbon blank looks a million dollars in a refined gunmetal grey with silver tipped dark grey whippings.
It boasts a full cork handle with a Loc-tite woven carp reel fitting, nine lightweight single-legged original SiC guides on the top section, and two double-legged guides on the butt.
The looks and build quality are quite unsurpassed, yet this rod can be all yours for a penny under a ton. So what about the performance?
We've accompanied Mark Sawyer to the banks of Hinderclay Lakes in Suffolk to put the rod through its paces, and to watch the video showing how the rod performs, click the image below.
How to fish Woodland Lakes
A top match angler who has pocketed over £3,000 in the last couple of months puts his success down to constantly rotating his carp swims.
Luke Hawksworth is in unstoppable form at North Yorkshire's Woodland Lakes and hasn't missed out on a brown envelope since the end of March.
During his phenomenal run he has taken weights to 203lb and smashed the magic ton mark on virtually every outing - on a venue that attracts up to 80 quality anglers per competition.
Most gamble on the vast carp shoals settling in their favourite swim, but Luke switches between several areas to keep the carp coming to the net all match long.
To see how Luke tackles the venue and to watch his tips click on the image below.
