Carp Fishing “Ramblings” - Part 1
by Shaun Harrison
After eight months of writing my ‘Bait Quest’ series in Carpworld, I want to talk about the various topics and thoughts which came to mind whilst reading the latest issue of Carpworld. What a brilliant mixed bag it has become.
With sales well on the increase, the recent facelift the magazine has undergone (complete with ‘Tim Paisley’s International Carper’ for free) has definitely been a move in the right direction, and I would like to raise a glass to all at Angling Publications involved in the production of the magazine. There’s an awful lot of competition out there, but the first of the carp fishing monthlies can still hold its head up, and it shines through as Britain’s biggest carp angling magazine.
Long Range
So, what did come to mind whilst reading the last issue? Mark Hutchinson’s ‘The Long-Ranger’ was as informative as ever; tiny little tweaks can make so much difference and could help put another part of the jigsaw in place. If you haven’t seen Mark wind up a rod and let fly with the lead, you really have got a treat in store when you eventually do. His casting is truly a joy to watch and absolute proof that you don’t need to be a massive bloke to achieve massive distances. I have been most fortunate in sharing bank space with Mark and have put yards on my own cast by being observant and copying parts of his rather unique style.
Mark’s latest offering set my mind going. I was reading it quite late at night in my favourite way – comfy chair, lights out, candle burning, and a glass to hand. I find I take in so much more of what is being written when there are no distractions at all. When reading with the television on or out on the bank, I often find I have read a full piece but not really taken a lot of it in; perhaps it’s just me because I’m quite easily distracted.
Anyway, I was reading quite late at night and my eyes were starting to tire. I let the magazine fall back in my lap and I rested my head back to think just how far we have moved forward in terms of tackle and technique in a relatively short space of time. Back in the good old days of fibreglass rods, when men were men and carp anglers were conspicuous by their absence (they were in these parts), I fished a local pool an awful lot. This pool was where I served my carp angling apprenticeship, and it was approximately 100yds wide. In those days my main rods were home-built North Western SS5s, which were 11ft 2lb test curve. One bank of the pool was fishable but very overgrown, making casting a bit of a problem. All you could really do was a sideways lob up the margin, or an underarm swing as far as the tackle would allow. I used to watch carp showing consistently three-quarters of the way over the pool, in the safe zone where I couldn’t reach them. It was only 75yds and I constantly thought, ‘if only I could get a bait to them’. I never saw another angler launch a lead to them, so presumably the few who fished the pool at the time had resigned themselves to the fact that they couldn’t reach them with the tackle that was commonly used.
The Idea
Then, one day, I had the idea of waiting for a westerly and drifting my tackle over on a piece of polystyrene, which would allow me to pull the rig and bait off once it was in position. This was a method that my friends and I had used to great effect when fishing for pike. The day came and the rig went onto my makeshift raft. After a bit of a problem getting the drift started, off it went out into the blue yonder. I was so certain this was going to slay the carp that I was looking around to see where to have the first picture taken, before the rig was anywhere near far enough over. It took ages to complete the drift and my line sinking into the solid carpet of silkweed that covers the pool and the relatively light breeze didn’t exactly speed up things. I was just starting to think that the drift had travelled far enough when a carp rolled over next to the polystyrene. I gently tightened up to the ‘rig raft’ and slid the rig and bait over the side and carefully tightened up before placing the rod on its rests (no buzzer bars then) and sat there thinking what a clever little sod I was, despite the big lump of white litter (which I would need to recover later) bobbing away in the far margin. Only a short time passed before my oil can ring pull slithered off the black and white painted needle and line started to coil away from the open spool; bale arm over and whack, I struck as hard as I could. Nothing – absolutely nothing! I couldn’t believe it. I stood there dejectedly, rod in hand, staring at the spot to which I had carefully guided the raft. Reluctantly I wound in. My hook was still totally covered by the paste. Not only were the rods incapable of casting the distance, they were also incapable of striking the hook through the bait. Ah well, back to the drawing board. How things have changed! We were still a couple of years away from learning about Hair Rigs. Runs still had to be struck and the hook had to be ripped through bait and into the carp. With the advent of Hair Rigs, combined with Bolt Rigs, life suddenly became so much easier.
See you next time
Best fishes
Shaun
Originally published in “Carpworld” - October 2007
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