It surprises me that you see so few carp anglers using plastic storage containers or even seat boxes for transporting their gear around.
Let’s face it these days most of us either drive to a swim or if any walking is involved then most seem to use a barrow. Rucksacks and carryalls only ever came into being really for ease of carrying on the back when compared to the traditional anglers box. Yet most of the rucksacks and carryalls available these days are simply thrown onto a barrow and rarely carried anyway. In fact I ended up removing a lot of the straps from mine as they forever got caught on other items of tackle when loading and un-loading the car.
I guess its a little bit of stigma involved in most carp anglers not using one of the popular matchman type seat boxes for carrying tackle. I guess we all like the carp angler image keeping away from these but why?
For many years I used one as a food/cooking box. I used to use the big blue gas bottle stoves which sat neatly in my Daiwa box and the lid acted as a perfect wind break. Once cooking had been completed I had a bivvy table – perhaps not trendy but incredibly practical. The box held all the cooking gear food and water and kept everything totally dry whilst setting up in the rain.
I was in France last week with the Free Spirit Team shooting the next Free Spirit DVD ‘Autumn Moon’ and a couple of anglers mentioned the boxes I was using for my bait and how much sense it made. At the end of the day the boxes stack perfect in the motor as well as keeping everything dry and just about rodent free. But they really came into their own as we had to transport our tackle by boat and if you have ever used a boat for moving gear it is extremely rare to have one that is totally dry inside. The slightest bit of rain and you have water sloshing around inside.
The picture attached is from last weeks filming session and I managed to leave the front to my Free Spirit Greenhouse bivvy at home. We had every type of weather imaginable thrown at us through the week from frosts, to absolute torrential rain. thank goodness for the boxes, the cameras and other important gear was kept totally dry.
The small box you can see on top of the larger box contains all the bits I need on a regular basis. Different hook baits, PVA, baiting needles, rig pouch, catapults and binoculars, etc. This usually lives under the bed and keeps the ‘clutter’ out of the way but easily accessed when required.
Anyway, just a minor tip but one I thought I would share as I see so few anglers taking advantage of plastic boxes. They stack neatly in the car, are easily wiped down to take indoors, they form a perfect base on the barrow and no matter what the weather is doing they keep things dry.
Best fishes
Shaun Harrison
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