Firstly, congratulations to Jerry Hammond on the capture of this awesome fifty… the first using this method. I was gob-smacked when I saw this footage and the size of the tiny Zig Bug that this monster mouthed fish had chomped down on. I’d always perceived (wrongly it now appears) that big fish like this didn’t waste valuable energy chasing tiny titbits like beetles and bugs, when no doubt at the same time there is a plethora of anglers baits in the water that are a far bigger and a far more nutritious meal that they don’t have to hunt too hard for. Clearly I’ll have to think again about that?

Above story courtesy of Carp-Talk Xtra online carp magazine (edition 243) http://www.carptalkxtra.co.uk/igtd243/

I love to tank test all my rigs before I use them, to see how the end gear (the really important part) will be presented to an investigating carp. Whether it be standard bottom baits, pop-ups, choddies or snowmen, I like to see if they sit how I’d imagined them to.

All these rigs are commonplace these days, and looking at them in a tank environment one can easily understand why a carp will be tempted enough to pick one up. Yet I never quite got my head around zigs, and the mechanics of how they work? Particularly in the case of say a single fluoro pop-up set midwater, or sitting just below the surface in the cooler months when you don’t see so many fish in the upper layers?

Since the advent of zigs I’ve always thought that they must look pretty alien to the fish when encountering them, as they bare no similarity to anything natural that they’d normally feed on. Or do they? Well, we know that’s not the case because a lot of fish are caught on zigs all the time… but why?

If you’ve just watched the above clip it should become pretty obvious as to why this happens. Earlier in the week before I saw the clip I’d read about the Zig Bugs in Carp-Talk Xtra. To be honest it was a bit of a light bulb moment reading the article, as it answered a lot of questions I’d had pondered over for years. I forwarded the article to Disaster Caster, and this was his response:

I can't wait to try some of these babies...

“How can we have been so dim, and after so many years of fishing not given it more thought? Fishing in the mid to upper layers makes so much sense for so many reasons. It may explain so many fishing situations in the past when you know the fish are there, line bites, rolling, head and shouldering, you may see them but a bait on the bottom may not be in their focus at that time?

For me, it may be a solution to the problem of the lake bed so covered in weed, where it is difficult to find any clean bottom to present a bait properly. Most of the time I haven’t got much confidence that the bait isn’t hooked up and entangled in the weed in some way. Fish may eventually find it but a good hook up is probably compromised?”

The proof is in the eating!

I wholeheartedly agree with what DC says, and I could kick myself thinking back to days when I’ve seen patrolling fish near the surface and been too lazy to wind in and swap one of my three bottom baits to a zig… no doubt I would’ve have picked up the odd cruising fish if I had of?

In closing, here’s a thought for you: what if the original pioneers of any virgin water had gone straight to Zig Bugs, before they blattered it with tonnes of boilies? After all the fish had been sustaining themselves on naturals quite happily before we started hurling baits at them! Hmm… I what what the results would’ve been in comparison to a full on baiting approach… which is what most of us have been educated to do???

This extract is used with kind permission from Nash Tackle and is taken from the recent Nash 2012 DVD – check out the full version here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PX-vK8GVhm4

Happy hippo hunting

Niblet

Technorati Tags: Carp-Talk Xtra, Church Pool, Jerry Hammond, Nash Zig Bugs, Zig Bugs

There are gazillions of YouTube clips out there for carpers, with tips and advice on how to catch carp… some are helpful, others not so. Below is a brilliant clip from a series of Angling Lines videos that’ll help you put more carp on the bank! Here we join Dan Phesay at Sapphire as he explains the tactics he uses to concentrate the carp in his swim, plus his stick mix rig, and how he uses back leads.

The ingenious clip makes it effortless to deploy a stick or bag within seconds

I’m a massive fan of sticks and bags, and I rarely cast out without one incorporated in my rig. I attach mine by sliding the hook length through the bag/stick with a long baiting needle, then clip the looped end of the hooklink to a small Hawiian snap on the swivel of the safety clip. It’s a very secure, yet fiddly way to this, particularly in the dark. Unless you’ve got a multitude of bags with hooklinks already set up to just clip on… which is what I have to when not wearing my glasses!

Having seen Dan’s way of doing it I’m definitely going to give it a try on my next trip. Also, I’m sure you could adapt it to suit most set ups, not just on a helicopter rig.

Back leads… well, I’m sure we’ve all had a angling situation where we’ve been forced to use them… or wish you had’ve done. I don’t like the old style ones that detach completely, leaving half a ton of little leads behind in the margin. Which is a practice I hope will in time die out completely in favour of the captive back lead Dan demonstrates in the video… it has to be the way forward?

CARP FISHING IN FRANCE WITH ACCOMMODATION at SAPPHIRE

Carp Fishing in France at 35 Lakes
Angling Lines – 01773 590077

Happy hippo hunting

Niblet

Technorati Tags: Angling Lines, Back Leads, Dan Phesay, Sapphire, Stick Mixes

Luke and Chris are filmed here beavering away like mad with their boilie mass production. Hats off to you guys for investing so much time and effort into this project; which as far as I’m aware is completely unique to Australia on this scale. I never though I’d ever see anything like this in this country; it makes my occasional 6 egg mix making look pretty pathetic.

A great YouTube clip which needs no further intoduction. Take it away boys…

Happy hippo hunting

Niblet

Technorati Tags: Luke Dixon, OZCARP

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 thoughts on the subject.

Perhaps you’re remembering all the snow England received last winter and thinking is this guy mad?

But for us out here in France last year when we were watching Britain under snow on television we received just one flurry! In fact my lake, Oakwood fisheries only froze for a total of 9 days last winter. The lake is spring fed but come winter we receive a flow from the neighbouring lake which unless it’s very cold prevents our lake from freezing.

So the combination of the very early starting summers we have been receiving and the very mild Autumn months and winters, I would not be surprised to see the first carp in excess of 100 lbs hit the bank within the next two years. I’ve been carp fishing for 25 years now and it seems unbelievable to me that such monsters exist, as a boy I was marvelling Richard Walkers record common carp “Clarissa” of 44lb now they reach weights of more than double this in some lakes.

One reason has got to be climate change as the main feeding season is lengthened by the warmer water temperatures. The warmer water also provides more natural food for the carp as insect and invertebrate life will be available for longer periods of time.

When I say longer feeding seasons I will give an example, this year the oak trees around my lake didn’t drop theirs leaves until a week before Christmas!

I could also go on about better quality baits being used, and in more abundance as the sport exploded in the early 90’s, generally better water conditions as we understand more about fishery management and selective breeding but this is leading away from the article title so we will leave this for another day.

This brings me to ask the question why more Brits don’t travel to France come the end of October until the start of April the following year?

Foreign waters generally receive no pressure at this time of year unless you’re talking about the likes of Rainbow lake and the fishery owners are basically giving the holidays away in an attempt to see some faces fishing around the lake in the colder months.

I have personally had great catches in the months of November, February and March with some of the biggest fish I have ever caught and on top of that they are generally in great condition and colour at this time of year. They also fight harder due to the added oxygen content in the water.

With all the array of equipment that is available today from thermal suits, boots, bivvys, sleeping bags and tea on tap courtesy of the Coleman stove, it can’t be purely down to lower temperatures can it!

I personally would be interested to know the reason why and I am sure David Keep the owner of Angling lines has been scratching his head in the past to trying to figure this one out!

In short I believe we have never had conditions this good for our winter and autumnal fishing but in general anglers don’t seem to be utilising these months of opportunity.

Dust the rods off early this year, take advantage of the quiet lakeside banks and bag yourself some beautifully coloured hard fighting carp this winter!

CARP FISHING IN FRANCE WITH ACCOMMODATION at OAKWOOD

Carp Fishing in France at 35 Lakes
Angling Lines – 01773 590077

Happy hippo hunting

Niblet

Technorati Tags: Angling Lines, Climate Change, Dan Allen, Oakwood

Does anyone know if this bloke does the voiceover for Kermit the Frog? Sorry mate, I just had to get that one in.

However, he has certainly put together some interesting and entertaining footage, though if it’d been me I probably would’ve edited out some of the cock ups. And I think I would’ve also stepped up my gear a bit to try and reduce the amount of bust off’s and lost fish?

I’ve bait fished from a canoe a few times but not fly fished, or sight fished for carp like this, but I’d love to give it a go some time. Though, that said, I think I’d get frustrated with it pretty quickly and break out the mixers and controller float instead! A method which would be pretty devastating I think if you could sneak up on fish they way this guy manages in the last clip. Kudos to him for his perseverance…

“FISH ON, FISH ON, IT’S A BIG ONE!!!” (in a Kermit voice)

Happy hippo hunting

Niblet

Technorati Tags: Kayak Carp Fishing

Here is the latest baitboats from Frans at: http://www.karper-vrienden.nl/pagina7.html

You won’t lose sight of this fluoro orange baitboat on the other side of the lake… its a cracker, I love it. Its a shame that none of the Oz waters I fish are suitable for a carp barrow, otherwise I’d definitely get one. For two reasons: 1) I am shit at long range casting 2) My latest debacle involving rowing baits out 140 to 300m in an inflatable proved exhaustive, seeing as Sean lost one of the oars on the first outing with it! Fortunately for me it was his boat and he was rowing, I just stood watching trying not to laugh!!!

As I get older and more dilapidated I’m seriously thinking of employing a young carp caddy/apprentice to help me drag all my kit down to the waters edge, then maybe a baitboat will become part of my armoury??? We certainly needed one fishing to the opposite margins, under trees and suchlike on my most recent interstate trip, and if your wondering why I’m not blogging about that, well, it’s cos I blanked! Nuff said

Happy hippo hunting

Niblet

I’ve been meaning to write something about fishing Thailand ever since my eldest nephew Stuart, began working over there as a SCUBA diving instructor several years ago. He has managed to rack up an impressive list of local specimens in his spare time when not underwater himself, including: Redtail Catfish, Mekong Catfish to 80kg, and obviously the one on my carping bucket list, the giant of all carp, the Siamese Carp, which he has had to 50kg!

Stuart's Red-tailed Catfish

One of Stuart's Mekong Catfish

Stuart's 50kg Siamese Carp 2009

Although I’ve been there five times as a backpacker, or stopping over en-route to somewhere else, I’ve only managed to wet a line in Thai waters just the once. This was only with a hand-line fished from a dugout canoe with an outrigger, so I can’t really count it. I did catch a few reef fish though, but I’ve no idea what they were; they were edible, as I gave them to the locals who’d been kind enough to let me borrow their trusty, albeit very leaky vessel.

That experience was way back in the 1980′s, and I’ve been hanging out to have a crack at some of the freshwater monsters ever since. Catching a whacker Siamese Carp would be awesome, but I wouldn’t say no to an Arapaima or any of the other catfish species. Fulfilling this long-held dream has become a step closer, since I began corresponding with Michael Budd of Chok-D9 fishing tours. All going well I’m hoping to get over there with the family in the next year or two, to experience some of the freshwater fishing action that Thailand is famous for.

Chok-D9 fishing tours is a young, yet established, jointly owned Anglo-Thai company based in Bangkok Thailand specialising in fishing holidays in Thailand with years of combined experience, armed with local knowledge and a mix of Thai and western fishing methods. Chok-D9 fishing tours can offer tailor-made fishing packages to anglers of all skill levels at various locations throughout Thailand.

Their working knowledge of Thailand’s fishing venues, as well as how to get the best out of a visit to Bangkok and Thailand ensures they can offer the visiting angler an unrivalled holiday experience whether your fishing crazy or not. They can offer you the best chance of hooking and landing some of Thailand’s biggest fish.

Chok-D9 fishing tours is committed to the use of catch and release methods that means flattened or barbless hooks where applicable (predator fishing), the use of large unhooking mats is essential when removing for all fish from the water. Chok-D9 fishing tours does not remove large Arapaima from the water for photos weighing etc, the fish remains in the water for photo the use of 3 people to hold the fish just above the water for photo is needed at this point. The fish is measured to estimate its approximate weight, this is very important as the Arapaima is a notoriously fragile fish, after capture and prone to mortality if not handled correctly, it is therefore important the up most care and respect is shown to the fish by allowing the giant fish time for recovery in a holding pen.

At Chok-D9 fishing tours organizing fishing trips in Thailand they will tailor the fishing package to suit any fishing group whether it be a family, friends or fishing mates your comfort and safety is their priority. So for the best fishing holiday experience and the best chance of catching your biggest ever freshwater fish contact Chok-D9 fishing tours.

Your trip to Thailand will be planned and organised by husband and wife team Michael & Kanchana Budd with a combined effort from the local community to offer a wealth of experience, expertise and invaluable local knowledge to create the ultimate fresh water big game fishing experience in Thailand.

Michael has over 20 years experience fishing for many different types of big fish in four countries: UK, France, Spain and Thailand catching many big carp from the UK carp fishing scene in the 1990′s, then on to catfish and other big fish in France, Spain and Thailand from 2000 to present day.

For futher info on Chok-D9 fishing tours visit Michael’s site at: http://www.chok-d9thailandfishingtours.com/

Happy hippo hunting

Niblet

Technorati Tags: Carp Fishing In Thailand, Chok-D9, Chok-D9 Thailand Fishing Tours, Michael Budd, Siamese Carp