Big Carp Magazine

It’s been a hectic start to 2012 what with the deluge of shows springing up every week, and by the time you read this I will have attended five already in this country! I started off with the excellent Aztec show in Norfolk and will end with my local Farnborough show in early March – The Big One, as Vince Davies modestly calls it. And yes, it is without doubt the biggest attendance in the UK with 20,000 expected this year. Once they are over with, I’m off fishing for a while.

“So what have we got in Big Carp this month, Rob?” I hear you ask… Well, it’s a spring edges special edition with not only the Big Carp Rotary Letter contributors giving you their best spring tips, but also some great articles from Rick Golder on bait and Carl Bullock on his top tips to instil confidence in what you are doing. Rick and Carl are both long-term Big Carp contributors, consistent catchers and inventive carp anglers.

Our Rotarians look at winter zigs, cold water flavours, light levels, spring tactics, more on moon phases and its effects on catch rates, etc. In fact it’s a bit of a Rotary rollover as Dave Lane pulls out all the stops, and a couple of Big Carp veterans also give their lunar advice. It’s thought provoking, very, very interesting and without a doubt, it’s going to put some extra fish on the bank for people. Six minds do not always think alike, but one thing’s for certain – when you get six ‘thinking anglers’ discussing their findings on certain aspects of carp fishing, great ideas and solutions come out of the melting pot.

Also this month Ian Stott continues his Elstow campaign, and they are getting bigger and bigger. Also Keith Jenkins gives us a rundown of this year’s big carp captures so far including Chilly Chillcott’s cracking winter forty. We have got a couple of really great competitions this month including your chance to have your favourite fish capture immortalised in watercolour by one of Hampshire’s most talented young artists. All you have to do to enter is email or send in your favourite photo and one lucky winner, drawn from the hat, will get his capture painted for him, free! For those who are not so lucky, there is still the opportunity to purchase a painting at a very reasonable price. Just check out the advert on page 79 or go to the website and check out our “Big Carp Fine Arts’ section for paintings, bronze sculptures and life-size wood or stone copies of your favourite carp.

In fact, there are quite a few new Big Carp products to purchase this month including not only the fine arts selection, but Big Carp mugs, water bottles, log books, thermal mugs, key rings, etc. All are advertised in the mag and should be up on the website www.bigcarpmagazine.co.uk by the time you read this.

It has now been almost a year since Big Carp went electronic with its iTunes and Android apps and it’s been quite remarkable how well this has taken off. It has by no way affected our UK sales of the paper version, but it is the overseas subscriptions that have seen some incredible growth. Big Carp magazine is now read in over 30 countries electronically. With an app costing only a couple of pounds, places as far as Australia have welcomed the electronic version with open arms. Undoubtedly it’s only a matter of time before more people will read it on their iPad, smartphone or laptop than read it in paper form. That’s progress for you, I suppose! Me, I like a proper magazine to read, be it on the bank or on the loo, and one thing that is for certain, you’re never going to be able to wipe your bum on an iPad!