Displaying items by tag: tactics

UK Fisherman is delighted to be able to bring to the angling public a series of superb carp fishing articles written exclusively for UK Fisherman.

Written by Mark Gough, a self-proclaimed carp addict with over 30 years carp fishing experience, this series of articles is sure to appeal to carp anglers and coarse anglers alike.

Below you will find a few details about Marc and below that you will find his carp fishing articles ... believe me they are well worth a read !!

Profile Of A Carp Addict:

Name:	Marc Gough
Date of Birth:	19th January 1968
Home town:	East Grinstead
Marital status:	Seperated
Occupation:	Carpenter / Full time daddy
Interests (outside fishing):	Drinking, DVDs, darts, pool and computers
Best moments:	Birth of Annalise and catching his first 30
Worst moments:	None
Quotes:	"Born to fish, forced to work" "Life is too short, you are a long time dead" "Treat people how you would like to be treated in return" "Look after your fish to preserve our sport"

Feel free to click on the titles below to read the full article and if you would like to comment on any of these articles or you would like to contact Marc, you can do so via the contact page.

Marc's Carp Articles

CARP FISHING WITH MARC - SEASONAL CHANGES (Pt.2)

CARP FISHING WITH MARC - SEASONAL CHANGES (Pt.1)

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UK Fisherman would be delighted to here from you if you would like to comment on any of the fishing articles or if you would like to submit an article of your own.

To do so, please visit the CONTACT page.

'Barbel Rivers and Captures' By The Barbel CatchersClub

Compiled By Mick Wood and Bob Singleton

There have been revolutionary advances in barbel fishing since the publication of Barbel by the Barbel Catchers Club (BBC) published by The Crowood Press in 1988, and the BCC has been at the forefront of these dramatic developments.

This long awaited, and entirely new volume written by BCC members comprehensively covers the modern barbel fishing scene, discusses the size of the fish now caught and illustrates the changes that have taken place in tackle, tactics and baits. There are individual chapters on each major barbel river in England from the smallest streams, such as the Lodden and the Holybrook, to the mighty Midlands rivers, the Trent and the Severn, to the Yorkshire spate rivers and the crystalline waters of the famous Hampshire Avon. Each river chapter is written by an experienced angler with proven success on the river in question and culminates with a fascinating account of the capture of a really special barbel weighing in excess of 10 lb.

This remarkable book provides a wealth of expert information and explores not only traditional fishing methods but also ground-breaking new ideas. Lavishly illustrated with 200 images including photographs, drawings and diagrams, and a colour-plate section, this is an indispensable volume for both the barbel enthusiast and general river angler alike.

Barbel Rivers and Captures is written by the Barbel Catchers Club and provides a vast amount of information about the contemporary barbel-fishing scene. Written by experts, it comprehensively covers all the major barbel rivers in England.

Contents include:

The Barbel Catchers Club (BCC) were established in 1977 with the objective of providing a forum for debating key issues and discussing new ideas. Since its formation, the BCC has been extremely successful and has been at the forefront of virtually every breakthrough in barbel angling.

The club is organised by dedicated barbel anglers for barbel anglers and emphasizes the social aspect of the sport rather than its political and commercial divisions. The BCC is divided into seven regional groups, (Chiltens, Midland/Cotswold, Northwest, Southdown, Southern, Wessex and Yorkshire) and has its own website www.barbelcatchersclub.co.uk and its own Magazine entitled Barbus. All members write at least one article each year for the magazine, which also provides a forum for news and views.

To order your copy of this fantastic book, please visit:
www.barbelcatchersclub.co.uk

The River Bourne is in places little more than a stream but can offer some excellent coarse fishing, particularly during the autumn and winter months when the river is in full flow. The River Bourne rises in the west in the grounds of Windsor Royal Park and flows through Surrey where it meets the Thames at Hamm Court, Weybridge. For most of its length it flows through private land and is therefore unfishable, although easy access is assured around the Chertsey area.

Two readers have recently contacted us to share their view on the River Bourne in Chertsey, particularly the stretch known as The Meads. They certainly cast doubt on the statement that the River Bourne can offer some excellent coarse fishing.

Reader One - Thomas Denny (June 2006)

Having been very interested in fishing The River Bourne near Chertsey Meads, I decided to make a visit and get an up to date view of The Bourne at Chertsey. What a shame. After moving up from the start of the river, I'm met by overgrown stinging nettles - not possible to even get near to the river.

A little further greets me with what appears to be a stangnant pond area. For those thinking of fishing near The Meads its a no no. Great shame. The area needs urgent attention. Ministry of enviroment perhaps spend some of our licence money please in a clean up.


Reader Two - Michael Allen (October 2006)

I spent the day at chertsey today interseted in fishing the meads. It was as read on your site meaning the stingers being a nightmare. However I did manage to get to the bankside but I honestly cant see how anyone has ever caught barbel there. The only way I could envisage that is in winter maybe they might swim from the thames into there for respite.

I've looked at various parts of that river before and can honestly say that I have never seen any signs of  aquatic life anywhere, no swirls no surface movement only water boatmen. I'd be interested to speak to anyone who knows of anyone who has caught there.

Still not all gloom. I parked in car park and after extensive roving of the bourne I decided to hit the thames walking the opposite way from  the bourne. Did quite well picking up a few nice chub and a few nice perch til the weather got the better of me. I would recommend thames at the meads on feeder tactics.

Score:


Obviously our two readers were not overly impressed with The Meads. However, as Michael mentions, this is probably a better winter venue when the bankside vegetation has died away making access easier and the river is in full flow.

I had heard on the fishing grapevine that Lizard Fisheries in West Drayton, Middlesex had been fishing well of late, presumably due to the mild late winter weather we have been having. I decided therefore that my first visit of 2007 to Lizard was in order !!

I arranged to meet by buddy Steve there and decided to start on lake 1 and see how the fishing was, before possibly moving on to Lake 2 later on. For those of you who have not fished Lizard Fisheries before, Lake 1 is the "match" lake and holds huge stocks of fish with carp to 10lb+, tench, bream, perch and huge shoals of roach and rudd. Lake 2 is primarily a carp fishing lake, much harder to fish but with carp to 20lb+ being the reward for those who like their fishing a little more challenging.

The conditions were bright and definitely "gusty" to say the least. When I pulled into the carpark after a "leisurely" start to the day, it was clear that the choppy conditions were not going to make fishing especially easy.

Depsite this I adopted my usual tactic at Lizard, waggler fishing, this time slightly overdepth, to try and hold the waggler in place against the stong wind. Unlike my usual summer tactics of using pellets or meat, I thought conditions favoured the good old maggot, so I loaded my size 16 hook with four maggots and loose fed a small handful of maggots every third cast of so.

No sooner had my float hit the water for the first time, it dipped boldy under the surface and I was soon into my first fish of the day, a hard fighting mirror carp around 4-5lb. What a great start !! To be honest I was expecting a tough day and was delighted to catch on my first cast.

The afternoon continued very much in the same vein and I ended the day with 9 carp, the best topping the scales at just under 11lb, plenty of small roach and rudd and a bonus perch late on. As the sun went down behind the trees around 5pm, the weather reminded me that we were still in fact in the winter, and I dediced that having had a great day it was time for home.

Lizard rarely disappoints - fishing is relatively easy on Lake 1 and the fish will take most baits. Bear in mind that it can get very busy at weekends, escpecially in the summer, so get there early. There are quite a few bait bans on Lake 1, so don't take groundbait, boilies (ok on lake 2), oily pellets (such as halibut pellets) or sweetcorn with you. If you are caught using any of these banned baits, expect to be thrown off the fishery. Don't let this put you off however, as Lizard is a great no frills fishery where you are sure to catch.

Lizard Fishery is loacted on Trout Road, Yiewsley, West Drayton, Greater London, England

Til next time, happy fishing!! Paul @ UK Fisherman

An afternoon session at my "local" Lizard Fishery tempted Jim and I on a reasonably mild, early October afternoon.

Lizard wasn't really on it's best form and we both found the fishing hard going, despite some early success for me in the shape of a quality looking common carp just shy of the 10lb mark.

There were few signs of fish being caught by the handful of fisherman at Lizard and when the roach and rudd aren't in feeding mood, you just know things are going to be tough.

 

A couple of skimmers and roach were the only reward over the next couple of hours, followed late on by another good condition common carp which weighed in at 9lb, which is a decent enough fish for lake 1 at Lizard Fisheries.

So, like so many of my fishing adventures, an OK day with a couple of nice fish despite the fishing being generally hard going.

Til next time, happy fishing!! Paul @ UK Fisherman

Phew what a scorcher !! Although the record breaking weather of earlier in the week had given way to slightly more bearable conditions, the thermometer in the car still read 31 deg c as we headed down the M3 to Gold Valley in Aldershot, Hants. We debated the effect that the recent hot weather would have on the fishing and expected that things could be quite tough going.

Three of the lakes were taken up with matches when we arrived so we opted for a swim at the near end on the main lake. I opted for the "spasher wagger" approach as there appeared to be plenty of evidence of carp patrolling the upper levels of the water. Jim plumped for a standard insert waggler approach, again fishing only about 2ft deep, fishing luncheon meat cubes, loose feeding small pellets.

We were soon catching roach, rudd and skimmers to about 8oz, but despite varying depth and hook baits we failed to tempt any of the resident carp which go to well over 20lb. It was at Gold Valley last summer that I caught my PB, a 15lb common. It didn't look at this stage as if there was much chance of that getting beaten. By about 1pm it was so hot and humid that we decided to retire to the bar for a bite to eat and a couple of cool ones!!

Somewhat refreshed we decided to change tactics and we swapped to the feeder approach. The guy next to us was having a great time landing carp after carp using this approach so we resumed with renewed confidence. Still nothing of any note to report until I switched to the method feeder, using half a strawberry pellet boilie cast to the island in front of us.

Bingo, I had found where the fish were and promtly landed about 7 carp to 9lb over the next 90 minutes or so. Jim had by this stage got pissed off and decided to resume his waggler fishing for roach. Things slowed down considerably late in the afternoon and with an hours drive back to London up the M3 we decided to call it a day. To sum up, this is not the best days fishing we've ever had at Gold Valley by any means but I can't really complain. The hot weather was not really ideal for fish or fishermen alike so I was more than happy with the day. I will just have to resume my battle to better my PB another day.

Til next time, happy fishing!! Paul @ UK Fisherman