Trip 36 Carp Fishing – 2025 (Tuesday–Friday, Early November) @RichardHandel
The weather’s been playing havoc with my gardening jobs this week. Monday was a complete washout — I got rained on everywhere I went. Tuesday turned out better though, and as I’d managed to move a job forward, I suddenly had a free afternoon. Perfect timing, because the forecast showed a good blow coming in from the south — rain from noon onwards. These carp love a proper wind pushing down the lake, and it looked ideal for the next few days.
I’d already spent Saturday morning going through my Fish Deeper app on the computer, marking out a handful of potential winter spots. I wanted to familiarise myself with the lake again and explore a few new areas, so I’d dropped several pins on the map as possible targets.
When I arrived, there were only two swims available from the shortlist I’d picked out — one near the top of my list and one right at the bottom. Luckily, the better option was free, so I slipped straight in. First thing I always do is boot up the weather forecast again to get the most up-to-date information. As luck would have it, the rain had been pushed back by a few hours — which turned into about six — giving me plenty of dry time to set up properly and get everything sorted before the heavens opened.
I would like to give a brief snap shot of my life and introduce myself;
My name is Richard Handel and was born in 1965 in Suffolk. I have worked as a UK Operation & Intermodule Manager for a shipping company. I live in Hampshire now and am married with 2 young children, both girls so I am a bit outnumbered even the cat is a girl!
I have been fishing since I was about 7 years old. I started on small local rivers in Suffolk, then moved onto gravel pits and then carp fishing. My personal best is a 39.08 mirror, over recent years I have started river fishing again, on the Hampshire Avon, this is a nice break from the carp lakes.
My life has turned a big corner this year, the company I was working for relocated their Operation centre to Estonia. I was offered a job at the head office in London. This would have meant a 5 day commute and working in Stratford. As a family, we did not fancy this, as I would hardly spend any time with the children (and the Mrs). So after 22.5 years, I was given a nice redundancy package and with my wife is working full time. I became the house husband.
This has meant a complete turn around in my fishing, as I can pick and choose when I go. I have found a splendid new syndicate to fish this year, which includes 5 lakes and some 8 miles of river with only 150 members. It's an amazing change to the way I am able to fish.
I am now trying to start my own tackle business and make a bit of a name for myself in the world of fishing, as I have retired from real work.
Richard
UK Carp & Coarse Fishing 