Boost your carp skills with technical guides, tips and techniques that focus on improving tackle, baiting and tactics for success on the water.
Are you preparing for a carp fishing trip to France in 2012? Via a series of blog posts & a video diary Paul Cooper will take you through his preparation routine. Jim with a Quality Baits 39lb 2oz fish caught in the throws of winter Bait It is now the beginning of February and I’m […]
For me here at Oakwood good carp care is vitally important. We owe it to our beloved carp to fish responsibly, handle, treat and release them in the safest way possible so they always remain in the best health, ensuring they always live to fight another day. Whether it’s a 10lb carp or a 40lb carp […]
The component parts of Chas’s safe carp rig A disturbing aspect of owning Vaux French carp lake is that I find numbers of my carp each year dragging leaders and leads because the tackle used by some anglers does not allow the leads to drop off the clips. The reasons can be; leaders cannot pass […]
43.01 – who says carp don’t feed in the winter! We arrived at the lake at 7.30am just before it got light. There were three of us fishing, Myself (Mark Lambert) the owner (John Lambert) and our friend Gavin Rose. Just as it became light enough to boat the rods out I put my three […]
Trevor Reece asks: Which bait and size do you think I need for my Laroussi trip in April? Shaun Harrison answers: Definitely take some Rahja Spice with you. It has been a firm favourite at Laroussi for many years, particularly in the smaller sizes too. The Laroussi fish like 10mm’s but it is worth mixing the […]
A winter caught 40 from Villefond January 11th saw myself (Mark Lambert Villefond fishery manager) and a friend get a chance to fish on Villefond for a quick 24hr session. I had been feeding the fish on our brilliant new range of boillies all winter and knew from previous catch reports the fish loved it […]
In preparation for a French trip most anglers will order their bait well in advance which will probably be a generous amount of their favourite boilie and some matching pellet. Boilies are so convenient to use but are they as effective as we think? You might think this is a strange question coming from somebody […]
By Dan Allen, Oakwood carp lake Dan with a fine 37lb Oakwood mirror Now I’m not pretending to be an expert on global warming matters or anything of the like, instead I wanted to raise the question of how the rising climate temperature’s will affect our carp and would welcome your feedback and your own […]
Carp don’t feed in the Winter – do they? Paul Cooper shares some winter carp fishing tips to help you catch a few more Winter carp;
Winter carping at Vaux by Chas Cook Catching carp in winter has a reputation for being difficult but I believe I’ve developed methods at Vaux which turn the odds in my favour. Let me give you an example; On Thursday, 24th November a good helping of mixed giant maize and wheat, cooked and prepared in bulk, […]
Paul Cooper shows you how to make up a PVA bag that will cast 100m+
50.10 Kevin Hosie has just enjoyed (w/c 26th November 2011) a fantastic winter carp session at Old Oaks. He had 24 carp… biggest a 50lb 10oz common plus; * 9 x 40’s * 10 x 30’s * 4 x 20’s Now that’s not bad for December!
Paul Cooper shows you how to make up a PVA parcel that will cast effectively.
No matter how good an angler you are or how poor, if you have no confidence or have lost that confidence in your bait you are bound to fail. On a recent carp fishing trip to Boux, Jim Kelly and I were both armed with our confidence booster, Quality Baits HG42. With each of us […]
Paul Cooper shows you how to construct the Combi Rig using a leader knot;
Paul Cooper shows you how to protect carp baits when Crayfish or Poison Chat are active;
Paul Cooper shows you how to construct the ultimate pop-up rig. Note from Paul; ” I didn’t make it clear on the clip why I use the short tag of 30lb Seaguar. Well, it keeps the shrink tube in place because although appearing stiff, without the Seaguar the shrink tuibe does not maintain its shape. […]
Paul Cooper shows you how to construct this highly effective carp rig;
Another rig masterclass from Paul Cooper;
