Looking Back Over 2019 Part 1 of 10


Summary

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://richardhandel.com/2021/07/23/looking-back-over-2019-part-1-of-10/

Transcription

Posted in Carp fishing | Leave a comment

Trip 29 Carp Fishing – 2022


After a splendid holiday in Wales at my favorite campsite, Quay Lodge near Carmarthen, with the family and my dad.

My Pitch

We like to cook on a fire pit all week, it makes it quite special, and with luck, I can get the embers going each morning and carry on.

The Jubilee Beacon!

My beacon to celebrate the Queen Platinum Jubilee. It was like this most evenings, we did pop out to the beach for a few hours one day.

Not a soul to see

The beaches around this area are very peaceful and deadly quiet if you walk 100 yards away from the car park.

It had been over two weeks since I had fished and I was very keen to get back on the lake, especially as the weather was pretty perfect from the Wednesday onwards. Very strong South Westly winds, the odd heavy rain shower, the pressure was 1017 and creeping up to 1024 by Sunday, the temperature increasing 18  to 20 degrees, the wind was going to keep blowing over this period quite strong.

I arrived down about 1645 on Thursday afternoon and found no one about. The way the wind was blowing, I was interested in the same area I fished in on my last session. I drove along the track slowly, looking at the wind hacking down into this corner of the lake, and spotted a couple of fish straight away. I did fancy the Daisy Swim but it was far too open with these strong winds, I took a walk down there and I would probably need to set up facing away from the water and looking at the trees. The prospect of spombing 30+ wraps didn’t thrill me, so I headed around to Badger Island and had a look at the first swim and the third swim. There were fish pretty much everywhere, which can be problematic on here, as spombing can push them away, but if you’re careful, you can get away with it and they will drift back into that area again. However, if they’re happy feeding all over the place, they don’t necessarily come back until the next night. I’ve purposely baited heavily on the first night of three and when the weekend anglers arrive on Friday, they will push the carp back this way and will then have to bait up lightly over the coming nights.

Here again

I had no real choice, other than to set up here, as this is where the fish are. This time, I was going to start with a rod closer than normal, as this had paid off in the past for me. I’d managed to get quite a lot of bait out over a period of a few hours and I hadn’t disturbed the carp too much. It was quite hard to work out which was the best range to fish, they were showing from extremely long to quite short. I felt my best option was shorter than normal for me considering the strong winds, hopefully, at some point, I would need to get more bait out there.

Love this swim

Just after 9 pm, the left-hand rod was away and I was into my first take of the trip, the fight was pretty strange forward – once I had convinced the carp not to kite right anymore.

Nice start
15lb 12oz Common

That will do me and a nice start to my session with a few more coming my way. over the next few nights.

It was a tranquil night with the odd fish crashing and still going until noon today. They are showing all over the place at random times, it’s proving quite hard to pin them down to one area at the moment, which I’m hoping will change over the next 24 hours.

I decided that I would leave the rods in place for another 24 hours, there’s nothing wrong with the spots, the baits will be perfectly ok and this tactic has paid off before. If I’m still struggling, I will stick a couple of bags on tomorrow, flick the rods to my left, sit in my waders for the day and see what happens. There’s been a few smaller carp showing out that way, but hopefully tonight will bring a take or two.

The right-hand rod finally rattled off, some 32 hours after casting it out and it produced my second common of the trip.

16lb

Sixteen pounds on the nose! It was worth leaving it out there on that spot. I soon had the rod back out and it was just after 1 am when I sat on my bed to write this and time to get my head down again, in the hope it wouldn’t take that long again to get any more bites.

Before I managed to drop off back to sleep, the same rod was away again and this time the fish was more problematic than the previous one. It spent most of its time trying to get under the right-hand bush constantly until I finally got it in the Nsr50.

19lb 9oz

At first, I didn’t think it was bigger than the previous one, but now looking at the length of the fish you can see where the extra weight is coming from and that tail was making it like a torpedo!

The rod was back on that very same spot and the time was a couple of minutes to 3 am. It really sounded like the carp had started spawning again or the geese had gone crazy over something as they kept kicking off with their honking. It would surprise me if they were spawning for about the six-time, since they started in early May and it’s now very nearly the middle of June, but they are a funny lot on here, so you never can tell.

That wasn’t a bad night’s fishing, I even got some sleep along the way, I think.

I’ve decided to pull the rod from the deep water today and try to pick a few fish off to my left. This will evolve me sitting in my waders all day long, which will be enjoyable. I may need to move into the shade at some point. I was quite surprised how inactive the rod’s where in an area that generally produces daytime takes.

I’m going to leave my rods where they are, but I will be sticking out a few 20mm Classic Corn Boilies around the left rod and do about 8 spombs onto the right spot. Hopefully, tonight may bring a take on both rods.

Last of the sun

The last rays of light are fading and I’m full of anticipation for my last night for a week or two, the wife is traveling for work next week and I’m a full-on househusband. If I’m lucky, I may slip in a day session or an afternoon on the bank. However, the pressure is on the rise and the temperature is certainly on the rise – up to about 26 degrees and not my sort of weather. I may need to sort out the floater kit and push a few of my gardening jobs forward to the beginning of the week.

All is quiet here and I’m starting to wonder if the fish have bugged out. The wind has completely died down, and I’m only hearing the odd fish crashing. To my right, I’m confident that my decision to stay in this area will produce the goods at some point, but tonight is proving hard going. I’ve done everything spot on, let’s hope the conditions don’t let me down.

Just after 21.30, the left-hand rod finally ripped off, after recasting it this morning. The fish had taken the line around the nearest boulder and despite my best efforts of giving line and trying different angles of approach and eventually the line parted. This is really gutting. After making up another rig, I put the rod back out to its original spot at 20 wraps and away from any of those boulders. I knew I was taking a risk, but I was not aware of any snags in that direction and at that distance, hopefully, I will get another chance later on tonight.

Moonlight

It was looking stunning out there.

Just after midnight, the left-hand rod was away again, but this time in its original spot. It was kitting very much to the right and heading for the dead trees. In an instant, a fish is lost if it gets there. In my attempt to get the rod under the other one and be able to get out further, I clipped the rod tip on the higher branches and hooked the line up. I just had to do my best and keep pumping the fish away and at the same time trying to get the line off this branch! The fish was getting closer to me and I could hear it on the surface down the margins. I knew at that point I must get that line free or the angle would allow the carp to get under those branches. I started wading out further, being mindful of the further I got out there, the deeper I was going. I lifted the rod up as high as I could go, whipped it down quickly and it came free. I quickly got that rod tip under the water, to avoid any branches again and then slowly walked under my other rod tip. Now you can understand why my rod tips are so high on the pod, not just to keep the line up and away from those horrible boulders and bars, but to enable me to get under them when playing these crazy carp.

I walked along to my spot where I can happily play the carp, by now it was away from the dredged bush and off out into open water again, it was kitting to the right again but, I was safe in the knowledge that I had it more under control than the previous time and I slowly gain ground. Despite its numerous attempts to go down that margin, at one point it gave up and headed off to my left and then back out into open water. At this point, I was worried again about the newly found boulder where I lost the carp earlier this evening, but it was off to the right again. It didn’t stand a chance really anymore and I slowly played the fish out under the rod tip until it was time to net it.

So much trouble
18lb 6oz Common

So much trouble for a small fish! It’s those tails and the shallow water that turn them into rockets. This is why this place is so amazing to fish. The rod is out again and it was time to get in the bag for some well-needed shut-eye.

Around 3am, the left-hand rod was away yet and to another hard-fighting carp who was also determined to head right up the margins. I did finally gain ground and got the fish under the rod tip for a few moments before it headed for the bush. I had no choice but to hold my ground, but unfortunately, the hook pulled out and it was away running free.

At 5 am the same rod was away, this time I was prepared and gained ground fast, I also waded out further, this time it worked very well and another carp made it to the Nsr50.

Lovely looking
18lb 4oz

This was a lovely-looking carp and I was pretty happy with my results. I did wonder if there’s another possibility of a carp. I’d also taken the opportunity to reel in the other rod and got it out at range alongside the other rod, hopefully, this approach and change of tactics may just work.

Stunning place
Misty start

It was a lovely misty start to the day and the lake was looking stunning as always.

Unfortunately, that was the end of the feeding spell, and they were different starting to spawn again, in fact, they were all over the place by 8am and it was definitely time to head home.

Until next time

Richard

20170506_191655

asso
deeper_black_preview
1-grizzlymanson1-03copy_200x_0ca9daaf-1d8e-4264-8df0-fb24185d9489_200x
wp-15839497464748573160201168129655.jpg

UK Fishing Blogs
20210420_1200363643774521377736036.jpg

Use my code for 10% discount

The discount code applies to the entire order when purchasing the Deeper Sonars PRO, PRO+, PRO+ 2, CHIRP, CHIRP+, CHIRP 2, CHIRP+ 2. The code is valid in all countries.

CODE = DEEPER-H-9OCSF

See the source image
Posted in Carp fishing | Leave a comment

Just One Rig For Me


Just one rig for me is a strange title and it opens myself up for a lot of criticism from other anglers.  But my aim is to be open about my fishing, make things simplistic for the everyday angler, make things less confusing and show you don’t need a tackle box full of made-up rigs for every situation you come across.  My life needs to be as straight forward as most, as those of you who read my blogs will know I’ve written about my depression and I’ve found that over the year, the best way to combat this is by making everything I do straight forward.  Cutting out the complicated things and simplifying my set up is part of that.  I have utter confidence in this rig in all situations and with all types for hook baits.  It has certainly helped me catch a lot of carp over the years.

20200218_161323

You need to break down the rig into its component parts to understand with a few small adjustments, the rig is changeable, capable of being fished in many different situations and with all types of hook baits.

20211216_135908

So, let’s break it down and give you an overview.

1) Hooks, a little unknown fact is that in most people believe that the Jrc 360 hooks was the best patten of hook for this type of rig and it has gone.  However, you may be wrong there, Spotted Fin have the pattern right and still today produce this very same hook.

20211216_135349

2) Hook Beads, I personally like the translustane rubber one that has a very tight fit, but you must be able to move them up and down the hook.  This is to be able to adjust how your hook sits in the water.  Beware if the top one become too loose, it can move up and cover the micro bead on long range casting with big hook baits.

20211216_135410

3) Gap between the beads, I personally like to be able to open and close the gap up and down the shank of the hook.  This is why I use two beads and not one.  It also, in my opinion, makes the rig look nicer.  If I’m using a small pop up you can have the bead at the top of the bend or if you fancy further down, it gives you more of a chod rig look to you rig – instead of the more traditional pop-up look.  You can play around with the beads to adjust your set up to suit the lake and how the carp feed, more than it would be possible with just one hook bead on the hook.

4) Shrink Tubing, I like to use 2mm black and very stiff tubing, as this keeps the whole set up in place.  I’ve found that some brands are too soft.  So, these days I get it via eBay in packs of 10, only use enough to cover the ring swivel and a few milometers up the hook shank.  You need to go a good bit up the shank otherwise when you catch a carp it will come away and make the rig unusable.

20211216_135809

I actually make these up in packs of four in my tackle box, as I don’t carry a rig board.  I prefer to make up the hooking material part of my set up when I’m on the lake, depending on which swim I’m in and the type of hook bait that I’m using each time.  This saves on wastage and costs less in the long run.  I’m sure most people have made up rigs they just don’t use and still have on a rig board, I did for many years.

20211216_135524

5) Hook baits, this rig is well suited for bottom, wafters, pop ups and in conjunction with changing the beads and hook link materials would work as well as any other rig out there.  This is in my opinion before a get loads of messages contradicting my thoughts and findings.

6) Hook Link Materials, there are so many combinations as the market is full of great hook link materials these days.  Firstly, bear in mind that if you use soft material, there is a chance of it tangling and you will need to combat that issue, but really soft materials do certainly work well and not spoken about much.  Going back to the point about different lakes and carp behave differently, if I use a hinge type Ronnie rig set up on the Airfield Lake (that I write about fishing in my weekly blogs on my website), I will bet you any money, I will get a very high amount of hook pulls.  Whereas I only use a stiff boom, which is very infrequently these days, it only took me a few years to work that out, but in the beginning when we were on there the hinged rig and D-rig, it worked perfect ok.

20211216_135902

I’ve even played around with a loop at each end allowing the hook to rotate a lot more.  I’m simply experimenting to get the hook point to prick the carp’s mouth and cause a take rather than a carp shaking its head to eject the hook without any indication.

7) Tangles, so far this rig is 99.99% tangle free.  For me, I don’t believe there is a completely tangle free rig.  You always reel in at one point in your fishing to find a tangle, caused by something, but this can be reduced with this set up – I believe.

8) Bird Life, the other great bonus with this rig and the previous one – the 360 rig, if a bird or even a carp picks up the bait and the drops it, it will automatic reset itself and you can sit there knowing that it’s still perfect and there’s no need to recast, spooking anything out there.

20211119_0958401700701304061290151

9) Confidence, once you have confidence in this rig, your fishing will improve along with your success rate.  Anglers go on about keeping it simple and the less component parts the better.  I look at the Ronnie Rig as two parts really – the hook section and the ring swivel with shrink tube which is really an extension of the hook.  It creates a long shank style hook, like the original pattens which were band many years ago.  Then just add a bead, micro swivel, quite simple really.  I make these all at home and carry in single packets to protect the hook point and the hook link material.

I’m not going to tell you which situation and what type of hook bait to fish with or even where and when, simply because I believe each carp lakes fish completely differently and the carp completely behave in their own way.  This is something you will have to find out for yourself but remember the most important part is to keep adjusting the component part of your rig to get a better understanding of each capture, where the carp has the hook in its mouth, how good the hook hold is (each time) and take a note how you set up the component parts of your Ronnie Rig.

I hope this helps

Richard

20170506_191655

asso
deeper_black_preview
1-grizzlymanson1-03copy_200x_0ca9daaf-1d8e-4264-8df0-fb24185d9489_200x
wp-15839497464748573160201168129655.jpg

UK Fishing Blogs
20210420_1200363643774521377736036.jpg

Use my code for 5% discount

The discount code applies to the entire order when purchasing the Deeper Sonars PRO, PRO+, PRO+ 2, CHIRP, CHIRP+, CHIRP 2, CHIRP+ 2. The code is valid in all countries.CODE DEEPER-H-SNL5Q

Posted in Carp fishing | Leave a comment

My Journey Through The Old Skool Days


My Journey Through The Old Skool Days

I started my Carp fishing in the early ’80s, after leaving school.  I discovered there was more to fishing than small local rivers with only Roach & Dace and the odd Perch in the offing.  At this time, I was living in Ipswich and there where only a couple of tackle shops.  These shops had a very basic, limited range of carp gear which the majority of which was match kit and when I say carp gear, it’s not as you think of it today.  The choice of hook was poor (to say the least), I stuck to size 8 hooks.  They were pretty good and served me well for many years.  Rods on the other hand; were a mixture of all sorts, as I could only afford one at a time.  I started with an SS6 and a bodex, this was an early carbon rod if my memory is correct.  I also had a cork handle rod that my dad got for me.  I then got myself a pair of ss7’s, which were the bees knees, as far as I was concerned, they were secondhand and reels were a mish-mash as well.  I can’t actually remember or even recognize them in the photography.  At the time I lived at home and didn’t get paid that much, I gave my mum & dad a little bit of rent and saved the rest for bait.  This has always been a key factor in my view.  If you have the best kit in the world you will not catch fish, however, with the right bait and a good selection of bait, this is the key to catching carp.

p1.jpg

p2.jpg

Until I could save up money to buy better stuff, I just stuck to what I had and get the odd bits second hand from friends.  At this point in my life, I had not discovered mail order or even fishing magazines!  All of my money went on bait, beer and trying to save up for a pair of rods.  As for buzzers, I had the right mixture of a Heron and a rolon.  This was rubbish, if you got a screamer in the night, you would need to check with a torch first.  You had to check which line was going – if the line was pulled tight, it would set the alarm off.  This was fun until I realized what was going on.  I then managed to get together enough money for a pair of Optonics.  I was planning on doing this first, as sitting up all night listening out for coins to drop off my spool a tin was taking its toll on me.  Trying to do nights in the week and the odd two nigher at the weekend was putting years on me!  I even had my ever faithful fairy bottle top bobbins. I have even done a week trip in the early ’80s like this.

p3.jpg

The lake I was fishing was a club water,  at this time consisted of 4 lakes over a massive area.  They were full of bars and gully back bays which were full of pads.  There were only a handful of carp anglers, I think there were about 6 fully kitted out carp anglers.  They had clearly been fishing for some years and had a greater understanding of the lake.  In though’s days, they clearly were never going to help you.  They were still a friendly bunch of lads and we all enjoyed pike fishing over the Winter months.  It was perceived that carp didn’t feed over these months, the social pike trip helped us bond with the lads and finally started getting the odd snippet of information handed down.  I started to catch the odd fish, at that time 1 or 2 fish a season was good going.  My best year was 7 carp, I was amazed and totally hooked on carp fishing.  One year, I had a take on the opening day and lost the fish around the corner of a point.  This was the only carp take for that year, it was very hard going, to say the least.

p4.jpg

I could never afford a bivvy, so I started off with bits of plastic sheeting tucked up around the spokes of a brolly, this helped until the wind blew (as there were no pegging points).  I slept in a large sail bag my dad had given me.  This was when I started seeing what other anglers were using as I was being allowed to look inside their bivvy’s.  You had to be invited in and not just peer in – it was just not done.  You can imagine my face when I finally spotted the old Argos sun-loungers, that bit of kit jumped to the top of my list.  They were a death trap though, we had watched people collapse in them and finding it very hard to get out.

The best way around the lack of bivvy problem was to go halves with a friend and then double up on a swim together.  If they couldn’t fish that weekend, you got it to yourself, then you both just needed to save up again to get another one.  This worked well and slowly we started to look a bit more like carp angler’s or as we called ourselves Specimen Hunters.

p5.jpg

Those first few years on Barham pits (near Claydon), is where the carp bug really kicked in and is still well and truly with me.  We had some laughs in though’s days.  There was no barrow other than a wheelbarrow, which I hadn’t seen anyone use yet.  We used an old pram base was perfect until we got bored and started to race them up and down, you can guess the rest!  Let’s just say the wheels all buckled up and that was the end of that!  We did muck about somewhat back then, I will come to that later on.

p6.jpg

This was the time also when I discovered PVA Bags, at this time they were made by Duncan Kay.  Wow!  How they changed my fishing.  After playing around with them, I realized that if you left the air in them and got the wind in the correct direction you could drift a bag under overhanging trees and pick up fish that way.  Inevitably, it would be a tench or bream.  This was a bit frustrating and costly but occasionally worth it if you spotted a fish in these swims.

By 1984, I had sorted out my kit (well sort of), I had better rods but they were still not a pair.  Other kit had become more important, we then moved on to Weybread pits on the Suffolk Norfolk border.  There was a small pit in the middle of the complex, where we settled on for a few years.  This enabled me to hone the art of carp fishing and was more of a runs water.  This was a very valuable period of time in my carp fishing life.  I had learned so much from other anglers and the group of friends I was with.  This was where a couple of lads could empty the lake most weekends.  We learned the art of floater fishing, we went through a stage of trying to capture a carp floater fish on all the rods we owned one by one.  This sounds crazy and it did at the time, but it gave you a greater understanding of how to play fish.  The minimum and maximum pressure you could put on them without getting a hook pull and margin fishing is the key to a lot of fish captures.

p7.jpg

To this day, this is still my favorite style of fishing.  It is the most rewarding and possibly the most intense you can get from carp fishing.  We had discovered that black-eyed peas were an amazing bait.  They were very cheap to buy, easy to prepare and you could easily color/flavor them and they stayed on the hook.  Also at this time, we had started to play around with boilies.  I did have a go around 1980 but without much success.  It was hard to find any information regarding ingredients at first, so I just stuck to stuff out of my mum’s kitchen!  Things then started to kick off in ’84 – I purchased the odd book, which for the life of me I can’t remember the names.  Unfortunately, over the years I moved around a lot and I so wish I hadn’t binned so much stuff.  I used to keep everything there was to do with carp fishing; I read so much, just sat and made up bait recipes.  So many in fact, that I never ever used them all!  Somewhere very successful for me, others not so much but it just was a fantastic time to be in the carp fishing world – a voyage of discovery.  I do miss bait making these days but with work, kids and family stuff I just don’t have the time.  Also the ready-made frozen bait market so advanced today, why bother?  Use your time to go fishing!  I do like to play around with hook baits, stick mixes and ground bait, in the past two years they have got me very excited again, there is just so much choice, back to the ’80s.

p8.jpg

Transport in those days was also great fun.  We use to share lifts for a couple of years and I still can’t believe we would get all that tackle for two people in my Mini Clubman estate.  It was bigger than my mates one but he still got two people’s kit in.  They were stuffed to the gunnels but we got it all in and it worked well.  I would like to see you get today’s kits in an original mini, now that would be fun!  I ended up with an Escort estate, much to the dismay of my girlfriend, as everyone else had flash Escort, she just didn’t understand carp fishing!

In the photo you can see my first proper bivvy and a pair of rods, you may have spotted the third.  We hoped the bailiff never did, if he did, he mostly turned a blind eye, which was a help.  I had an old groundsheet as a sleeping bag cover, landing net in though’s day’s where very heavy and hard to move about, unlike the modern slimline ones.  We were good at cooking on the bank, that was one thing that wasn’t too bad.  There were plenty of options for cooking as camping equipment was very common.  Most of the summer months, I would kip out under the stars, this was just an amazing time to be fishing, I did have a brolly pole just in case the weatherman was wrong!  I sorted out the issues with the Argos sun-lounger by cutting a V at each end of a piece of wood, this stopped the bed collapsing but in the end, I found the best way was to dig a groove in the ground for the legs and use pegs to peg it hard into the ground.  This worked well and worth the effort – no more trapped in a bed with a rod trying to play a fish and get out.

p9.jpg

Weybread Middle Pit was where I honed my skills and I certainly had plenty of carp in the first year there.  I remember turning up the day before June 16th and we were all set up by 8 am, we just sat feeding the carp bread in the margins most of the day.  They were just everywhere.  The following morning was a different matter, we had carp but not in the numbers we were seeing the day before.  The carp had learned about pressure even then.

p10.jpg

It was hard to find a lake with twenty’s in, let alone a 30+ and then you needed people to tell you about them and the location.  This all took time, part of the complex we fished had 1 and I’m not sure to this day, why we started on middle pit but there were 2 or 3 twenty’s.  I think we must have thought it was a better option.  I had over 53 carp that year.  I learned so much, watercraft was a key factor, understanding the topography of the lake and the feeding patterns.  I was up there every weekend from Friday to Sunday, even if I worked Saturday morning, I would go straight after work and set up.  The more you are there, the more you learn and that is certainly true today.

p11.jpg

Fish care was in the long grass in though’s days.  We did all had a sack to retain the carp in and tried to do our best.  There has always been an urge for me to look after the fish and return it safely for the next person to catch.

p12.jpg

They may not have all been the biggest fish in the world but back then, we certainly thought they were and took photographs of them all.

There was another thing that I remember about the ’80s, that has all but been forgotten –  playing tricks on each other (and scoring points for the idea of the trick and the reaction of the person).  Some of the best ones I can remember was turning the bivvy around, giving them a run and watch them try and find their way out in a sleepy daze or removing the elastic bands from under the bed chair a putting string to just hold the material in place, then watching them lay on the bed and fall onto a nice hard floor.  Other ones I can remember, putting food coloring into beans, blue and green were the best, switching the rod’s over and leaving the line in its original buzzer was a fun one.  Never leave your keys about as someone would put something in your car which would generally be horrible.

There was a group of five of us that fished together back in the early ’80’s; Mike, Carl, Paul, Andy, and I.  It was probably one of the best periods of my carp fishing career.  For the company and laughs, the innervation and discovering so much between us all.  Without a doubt, without this group of people, I think the start of my fishing career, wouldn’t have been that much fun.  Unfortunately. I had to move down South and time changes with family and stuff – we lost contact with each other.

I have fond memories of the ’80s and the old skool kit.  I wished I’d kept more of it but this wasn’t to be.  However, I love the modern day carp kit and the advances which have happened over the years.  As I get ever closer to 55, I am glad of my Aqua bivvy and 5 season sleeping bag.  How well would we be at sleeping on the Argos sun-loungers?  I bet we would all be doubled up with back pain and walking with a stick.  I could go on about all the other inventions and improvements.  The key one for me has to be bait.  As the ’90s began, fishing tackle started to take a leap forwards with proper bivvy, Kjc Rod pods, Wavelock brolly.  Winter fishing became a thing of the future for all carp anglers.

p13.jpg

Not sure if you class the early ’90’s as old skool.  However, looking back at the amount of money I could send on carp fishing.  It was certainly a turning point for me.  The tackle I could buy and the lakes I discovered, the industry was starting the beginning of great things to come.

I hope this has been an incite to old skool fishing and my time through the ages.

Until Next Time

Richard

UK Fishing Blogs

Please subscribe to my Video Diary

Carp Fishing Tackle on Ebay

30674118493_d6b851635030674118493_d6b8516350

20170506_191655

asso

fishspy

IMG_20150807_135551

FB           INSTA TWITTER GOOGLEyOUTUBE

deeper_black_preview

Posted in Carp fishing | Leave a comment

Why Compare Yourself To Others?


I never understand why anglers compare themself to others when they are catching carp and you are not.  There are many factors to take into consideration.

wp-15870359639135909657364482305783.jpg

Firstly, the amount of time the other angler has had to walk around the lake – even a quick 30 minutes every other night can give a person a lot of information about the water.  If they can time it with the morning or evening show-time when the carp give themselves away.  This knowledge gained can be used for that one night a week trip they do and gets captures every time.  Don’t get me wrong and no disrespect to them.  My point is, if you’re only able to fish one night a week and don’t have the luxury or means to take a walk like the other person can, you’re clearly more likely to blank than the other person.  Therefore, comparing yourself with them is pointless.  Knowledge is a big factor in catching carp, but if you can only get eyes on the lake when you do you 1 night a week or fortnight etc, it’s going to be hard work and you will blank more than the person that takes those walks around.

You have to also consider when you arrive compared to others.  If you’re the first and get the opportunity to walk about at the right time every trip the fish are more likely to give themselves away.  The anglers who arrive at last light and half the swims are taken, you will struggle, don’t compare or worry that others are catching more.  You can learn from this and pick the area that’s never fished, find that perfect spot and start to bait that area and I can say that if it’s a quiet swim, the fish will go there, you never know, they may be there already!

Hot swims – are only hot because there is always someone in it.  The likely hood of them catching is increased by the hours the swim is fished and the constant supply of bait.  You need to create one of your own, keep it under your hat, and reap the rewards.  There’s a good chance that even if people spot fish in your area, 80% of anglers will still go to the hot swim regardless, simply because it’s free and there’s a chance to fish there.

20200302_1329015961678987400616991.jpg

It’s quite simple the anglers who live on the lake will gain more knowledge and more of an understanding than the once a month angler.  Unfortunately, we can only go when we can and that shouldn’t affect the way we view these people or their abilities.  Fishing can be compared to any sport, effort equals reward.  Just like say golf, the more you go – the better you become.  There will always be the exception to the rule and you have to expect that as well.

The point of my rumbling is… fish for yourself and only you, never compare, it’s just pointless and will demotivate you.  Enjoy fishing for what it is and remember why you started on this journey and relax enjoy the freedom, wildlife, nature, etc.

20200125_083206

I only fish syndicates these days or if I fish a club lake it’s only in Winter times.  I just want to be free and at the moment with all that’s going on in the world, it helps my mind and keeps mental health on the straight and narrow.  Fishing is supposed to be relaxing and enjoyable if it’s not then you are taking it way to seriously.  Effort does equal reward, but enjoy it, it shouldn’t be a burden on your life.  I used to think it was all about catching and to some respect it is, but it isn’t; enjoy your surroundings.  We should not forget how lucky we are, as a hobby (obsession) this takes us out onto the countryside and we see things that many don’t.  My best example is, how many people say to me that they have never seen a kingfisher or a shooting star, the list goes on.

I hope some people read this and understand it.  Your fishing may improve, but it’s good to remember it’s not about them, it’s about you.

Until my next rumblings!

Richard

Search eBay

ebay-comic-sans-logo11

UK Fishing Blogs

Please subscribe to my Video Diary

Consultant For

20170506_191655

30674118493_d6b8516350

Fishangler

Sponsored By

asso

deeper_black_preview

About Us

Follow me @richardhandel

INSTA

TWITTER

wp-15839497464748573160201168129655.jpg

yOUTUBE

FB

Carp Fishing Tackle on Ebay

IMG_20150807_135551

screenshot_20181010-121430_facebook

Please follow my Facebook Pages

Hampshire Avon Days

Hampshire Carp Fishing

Hampshire Pike Fishing

Richard Handel Fishing

talking-carp-black

Fishing TV

Posted in Carp fishing | Leave a comment