UK Carp & Coarse Fishing

It Will Soon Be Christmas

Posted on December 7, 2018 by richardhandel

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Deeper Part 8

Posted on December 5, 2018 by richardhandel

Once you have mapped your chosen lake, you have a few options when you arrive for your next trip. I do both depending on the time available to me when I arrive.

Option one

Get the Deeper out and flick it out into your chosen area and double check your spot. This is a very good idea in the summer months when there is plenty of weed growth. It’s also very handy in the winter to find any new areas that the carp have been cleaning, silty spots, if the carp have been digging up the bottom and making any new feature.

Option two

You can use your lake book and check for horizon makers and calculate the number of turns to your chosen spot.

Step 1

Instead of using the whole map of the lake you will need to us the individual recordings.

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Step 2

Once you have selected your swim out of the list of areas you have mapped, open up that one.

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Step 3

Now scroll along the sonar reading until you have found the spot in the swim you want to cast to. This will be marked by the Deeper image on the screen.

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Step 4

I find it best to zoom in on the swim and the press the ruler icon on the right-hand side (just below the satellite icon). This will make it easier to view where you are on the map and calculate the distance from the bank to your spot.

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Step 5

Once you have the distance, you can then zoom out to find a horizon maker. If not then you can always use the night mode on the Deeper and then you will be able to find the right feature on the horizon.

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Step 6

Check

Posted in Carp fishing, deeper, Deeper Pro Plus | Leave a comment

Keeping Warm In Your Bivvy

Posted on December 2, 2018 by richardhandel

I have been fishing winter nights since the mid-80s and I am so glad that the tackle industry started to revolutionize, it was very bleak and cold in those days. My feet still feel the cold a lot and I am sure it down to those days.

I have put together a list of ways to improve your time on the bank in your bivvy. I am still working on keeping warm outside the bivvy! I am sure that’s also down to, to many winter piking days in wellies and inadequate clothing.

1. Always use a ground sheet and even in the summer, damp rises.

2. Use an old piece of carpet or a thermal blanket under you bedchair

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3. With modern bivvy/brolly systems, there is a skirt then you can tuck under the groundsheet.

4. Use items of luggage as an insulation around this area of the Bivvy e.g rod bag, rod sleeves bags etc, this will help keep the draft out and even more insulation on the ground.

5. Also with modern brolly/bivvy use the door letterbox style and don’t open from the bottom up. Tuck the flap under the groundsheet and make sure the zips are full down.

6. Use a bivvy mat or any old door mat.

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This all helps to keep you warm through those hard winter days.

Hope this helps

Richard

Posted in Aqua Fast & Light, Aqua M3 Compact Bivvy, Carp fishing, trakker pioneer, Vision Bivvy, weather, winter, winter fishing | Leave a comment

Do you like experimenting with your baits?

Posted on December 2, 2018 by richardhandel

Posted in Carp fishing, Course Fishing, Spotted Fin, Spotted Fin Match Range | Leave a comment

Things you would like to ask, but can’t

Posted on November 28, 2018 by richardhandel

In the fishing world, there are things you would love to ask but can’t. The first question on your lips when you walk into other anglers swim is, have you caught any fish? It’s all about knowledge and it’s not a bad thing to know. Another question is which spot it came from? I’m sure this would help you build up a picture of where the fish come from in each swim. You would then like to know as well, was it a bottom bait, pop up or wafter? This will help you to bank a carp or two.

These questions are just no-go areas. Some people will be happy to spill the beans and I am one of those. I believe it’s us against the Carp and not each other. Copying someone else’s tactics certainly doesn’t mean you will catch and should not detract you from your achievement. It’s simply about building knowledge about the lake at the particular time of the year.

I must admit, it has certainly got a lot better since I start carp fishing (in the early 80’s). People would ask you to leave their swim when they baited up or even cast to another spot just to throw you off the sent. I must admit, I did catch a lot of bream and tench in those day’s.

Back then, bait was never a question as we all made homemade boilies but times changed and everyone got obsessed about being on the going bait. I think that stage has passed, as there are a few top quality bait companies about these days. Unfortunately, a few rough ones with substandard quality ingredients hang in there.

Being part of a Syndicate of the like-minded angler’s really help these days, everyone is being pushed for time in the modern world we live in. Which is where I am very lucky, the knowledge of which swims are fishing well is passed around quite freely. This can be a real obstacle on some waters.

No one asks about which rig you are on anymore if you stick to the common subscribed rigs you will not go far wrong. There can be an edge to being on the right rig for the lake and that also goes for any of the above. Knowledge is the lifeblood of a successful angler, but never lose sight of the real goal. This is to catch fish, enjoy yourself, relax and forget the stresses of everyday life, don’t let fishing get sucked into that side of your life.

Enjoy and be lucky

Richard