This month has been more productive than I expected. For most of it, we’ve been stuck with easterlies carrying that cold edge, though there were a few days where it felt like summer had arrived early.
I split my time between the club water and Airfield Lake, sticking to my usual approach—no point changing what’s working. Jurassic Particle hemp and buckwheat did the business, alongside 15mm EnerGize boilies and Co-De boilie bites. Hookbait-wise, I kept it simple: a white Blank Saver on one rod and a 12mm EnerGize pop-up on the other.
The last couple of weeks in April were tougher, and I genuinely thought a blank was on the cards. In the end, a move made all the difference. Swallowing my stubbornness about breaking my duck in a different swim paid off, and I slipped up my first carp of May—no spoilers on that one.
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 