Angling Lines blog

I read to a recent Opinion Piece – by Jeff Woodhouse on Making Angling Videos posted on the Fishing Magic website, commenting on the poor quality and low standard of angling videos on the market. As a photographer/cameraman the subject is naturally of interest to me.
Jeff writes:(…..why should we put up with this sort of poorly produced material any longer. For years, anglers have been sold off with videos from every half-famous Joe who fancies making a name for himself in the job of TV presenting. Most don’t suit and many should stick to their day jobs….)

He then goes on to discuss the merits of the various presenters who have made a name for themselves including John Wilson and Matt Hayes. continue reading…

Carp anglers need to be able to tie strong and reliable knots in order to successfully land the fish they hook. Now many people get confused by the vast array of knots that are possible in fishing but I use just four knots for virtually all my fishing.

Knotless Knot:

This has now become the universal knot for tying a hook to the hook link in modern carp fishing. It is strong and works for all types of hooklink material. It has the advantage of aligning the hook on the hooklink thus improving the hooking capabilities of the rig. It is called the knotless knot because you don’t actually tie a knot as such. The line is in fact trapped as you thread the ends through the eye. A recent article on the Fishing Magic website gives a nice tutorial on how to tie this essential knot.

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Filling You Reel with Line:

One thing that we all need to do in angling is fill our reels with line.

Fixed spool reels have an inherent tendency to twist the line, eventually making casting impossible. This twisting is down to the clutches fitted on the reels and is compounded by the technique in carp fishing of letting the fish take line from the clutch when we get a run. Smaller baitrunner type reels are the worst culprits, and when I’ve been getting lots of action the line soon twists pretty badly.

Over they years I have used a number of Methods for spooling up but have never really settled on a single method. I’ve tried using a bankstick through the spool, placing the spool on the floor with a weight on the top… etc, etc.

Now replacing the line is a bit of a chore but I was shown a couple of things that have made it easier.

The first piece of kit I would recommend you invest in is a Berkley Line Stripper. In the past I’ve tried a number of things to enable me to remove the line quickly from three or four spools, but let’s face it, its a pain!!

I’ve tried cutting it off with a blade, pulling it off with my hands, but neither were satisfactory until I was shown the above tool. It will strip your reel in not time. I thoroughly recommend these items of tackle.

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Hideaway Stocking:

Thursday 21^st February saw me on the banks of Hideaway Lake in Normandy for the stocking of a new batch of Carp.

The day started early at Michel Bigot’s Fish Farm where the fish were netted, weighed and loaded into the tanks on the truck. The lake had ordered a batch of some seventy fish ranging from upper doubles to mid thirties and one sturgeon.

Thirty six of these fish were in the 17-21lb bracket. Twenty four fish ranged from 22-26lb. Finally the larger fish included carp, both mirrors and commons, from 27lb to 34lb. In all there were seven thirties from 30-34lb plus seven others from 26-27.5lb. The total was 74 fish.

Finally there was also one sturgeon of 33lb stocked.

These fish added to the existing stocks should ensure that anglers enjoy some excellent sport at the venue this season. As a by-stander and the photographer I can honestly say they were immaculate carp as I think you will be able to see from the photos.

One of the subjects I see come up again and again on the web forums and one I get regular e-mails about is buying a carp lake in France.

Now I can’t criticise anyone for wanting to live this particular dream because I went down this road in 1999 when I purchased my own lakes in northern France. Over the years I think it has got far harder than when I ventured down this road for the simple reason that the market place has become pretty crowded and the number of venues opening every year is nothing short of staggering. I think it stands to reason that there won’t be a place for everyone.

So what are the traps to avoid? Eight things you need to know when you set up a Carp Fishery in France? continue reading…