Angling Lines blog

I saw an interesting interview with Quest Baits boss Shaun Harrison on the Carpology e-news letter that I’m signed up for, and one question in particular grabbed my attention.

“Where do you see carp fishing in 10 years time?”

“Good question that one. I think we will see more and more commercial type fisheries springing up over here as they have all over France in the last few years. Carp anglers want readily available big fish and don’t necessarily want to put themselves out too much in order to catch them. We are very much in the idle age and I think we will be seeing more and more ready built comfortable holiday type fisheries springing up with toilets, showers, restaurants, the lot. I’m not saying this is how I want to see things moving but it is how I expect them to.”

Shaun’s reply seems to mirror my own thoughts but got me to thinking more closely about the future of carp fishing not only in the UK and here in France. continue reading…

The secret to a good fishing trip to France is preparation and being well equipped. This necessarily means a certain expense, but if you want to enjoy your trip and not have it turn into an unpleasant fiasco: like the boy scouts say “Be Prepared”. Keeping warm, dry and well fed will go a long way to making your trip a success. So what  are the six things that can make your trip awful?

1. Get wet and cold: As we often fish in the winter, spring and autumn, keeping dry and warm is of prime importance if we are to enjoy our fishing and fish effectively. continue reading…

While writing the recent post on carp fishing tackle Icons, I touched on the fact that a battery of parallel rods has become synonymous with carp angling over the years. I got to think about modern carp fishing rod support systems and their pros and cons. A practical, efficient and stable system is essential for good bite indication and thus to catching more fish.
In days gone by as a boy my advanced rod support system was the bank itself. When I got a run I’d have to grab the rod as it shot down the canal tow path and before it ended up in the drink. Things have moved on since then… continue reading…

by Gareth Watkins
Over the years I’ve had a whole range of different vehicles that I’ve used to get myself fishing. In the early days it was my parent’s cars, so whatever they had at the time, and varied from an Audio 80 to a Triumph Dolomite. Not always very practical… Since then I’ve had several different types of car and they all have advantages and disadvantages. Here then, is my choice of Carp fishing vehicles.

continue reading…

Like so many things in life, carp angling follows fashion.

In fact, it is fashionable to go carp fishing at the moment. Hundreds of young anglers are taking up the sport because of the trendy image that it has, the tackle and the fashions.

Trends though always throw up objects that achieve iconic status, and so it is in carp fishing.

Below I have drawn up a list of what for me are the top ten all time icons of carp fishing tackle.

 Other anglers, especially the younger generation, will probably not know or not have used many of the items listed. They were for the most part the items that set the standards for what was to follow. continue reading…