Carp Team England boss on a 'species hunt'

Carp Team England manager Rob Hughes has paused his quest for huge carp and set his sights on smaller coarse fish. 

“Pre-Christmas and pre-lockdown I decided to spend time over the holidays with my 14-year-old son, trying to catch different species on short sessions,” he says.

A big dace, just one of the different species Rob has caught

“We set a few targets, and even fishing just short sessions in the afternoon have been great fun. Trotting maggots on the stick float, maggots and worms on the waggler, drop shotting and jigging, wobbled lures, fly fishing for pike, plus boilies and bread feeders were just some of the tactics we used.

“Once the box was ticked there was no repeating it. It was on to the next challenge.”

Lures did the trick for the perch

Rob enjoyed a phenomenal roach session recently, taking 48 redfins in an afternoon, the majority of which weighed over 1lb.

Just part of Rob’s phenomenal roach haul

“But the highlight of the winter for me has to be a gudgeon a smidgeon shy of 7ins!” says Rob.

This huge gudgeon has been Rob’s highlight so far