Mark Quinney

Hi all, I am after some advice on holding a bait down in deep (15ft) moving water that is pushing through heavily. The river in question is the St Lawrence, fished there last year but even my 3 ounce leads did not touch the bottom when put out into the current, I am sure there are more fish in the moving water than in the still and want the option of fishing in the current. It is not a big cast only about 30 yards... Any ideas would be more than welcome.... Thanks

I was referring to the other lake, heard that due to fear of people cracking off and carp ending up towing rigs around that you have to row out your baits...i really hope this is un-true...banning casting what a laugh!!!

I have heard a rumour that casting has been banned at the lakes where the record fish originates from, is this true????

Alas the Redmire ghosts managed to avoid my baits, but it was an absolute pleasure to fish where many greats have fished and indeed where many, many superb fish have been caught. The place has an ambience and an atmosphere like no others. I will give it one more try next year if I can get on and then just hold on to the memory.....

Well this time next Friday I will have been sat on Redmire for a few hours, I know its November and the chances of catching are very slim, but I am really looking forward to it, its the only weekend I could get on.........fingers crossed. I am thinking of fishing as natural as I can, big worms and bunches of maggots??? I will try to get some really nice pictures of the place and post them here. I suppose it would be rude not to fall in !!!

I guess it wont be long before we see these on the bank taking up more room and spoiling the view, they wont help you catch any more fish!!!!!

Seriously... buy all the materials you need for rigs and make them yourself, you will save a fortune and it makes you feel really involved when you catch...ready mades are OK, but you dont get much choice, you can fine tune your rigs when you make them yourself....

Just thought I would share a little experience with you all. Went to Warwick Castle on Tuesday, as I crossed the bridge to watch some Jousting what a sight... a massive shoal of chub sat in the middle of the river, mixed in with a big bunch of roach, as I wandered towards the lily pads saw an eel at least three foot long as well as some smaller ones, a big shoal of bream then sauntered past. On the way back over the bridge two more superb sights, a tiny pike no more that eight inches long with a small fish hanging out of its jaws, then out of the corner of my eye a big black shape.... a huge mirror nudging its way through the pads and then out into open water, it was easily over 30..... It was a pleasure to see so many species in one part of a river, topped off by the big lonesome Carp.

Born to fish, Slightly off the topic I know, but I am thinking of doing a trip to South Africa for a bit of carping. Are there any good outfits out there or is it still in its infancy?? Many thanks

Have a look on fisheries.co.uk plenty on there...

thirty five eight...

Get over there, its amazing, and not as expensive as people think. Cheaper than a week in a smelly bivvy in France....and you get a nice bed and quality food, depending on who you go with of course. I have been the last two years and am booked up for a fortnight next year, cant get enough of it....and you will catch a boat load of carp (almost guaranteed).

Cidermonkey, That lump is not a UK fish, but one of the lean very hard fighting commons that are in abundance in Canada... Cidermonkey, That fish is one of the many hard fighting canadian commons mentioned throughout this post...

Well said cidermonkey......At least they are not fishing for Carp with crossbows, which I have had the unfortunate experience of witnessing. But as you said it is "Socially Acceptable" so none of my business....

Peter, Keep at it mate, you will get hooked I am sure, they are fantastic fish and pound for pound I dont think anything else fights as well, especially those long lean Canadian Commons.. I have been lucky enough to have my arm almost pulled out of its sockets by them and the power always amazes me.... All the best, Mark

I doubt that the fish that come out of the St Lawrence have ever seen a bait before even though some spots are fished fairly regular, there has to be tens of thousands of carp around based on the amount that are caught. Just a thought.....

Hmmm, interesting. Why do we fish for carp, because they are beautiful fish, because they are not always easy targets. and because they fight like billy ho...... each to there own, but no need to denegrate peoples chosen target species, key word being.....choice....

any pictures of this beast anywhere??

I think the amount of information available to us now is a great asset, including great forums like this one. If in doubt there is always help available.

I agree its not all about size of weight, but a big fish is always very memorable. I have caught carp to 37lb but not in the UK. One of my best sessions was with a match rod and a waggler where I caught carp of all sizes up to about 10lb all day, must have had over 300lb of fish, it was great fun!!! only only used a few pellets and a tin of sweetcorn!!

Went with carpcanada.com £500 for the week plus flight, thats all inclusive.

I have just landed 650 lb of hard fighting canadian commons with one of these with no problems at all, in fact i was well pleased with it....

Had a pretty good week, river was really pushing through as there had been a lot of rain so conditions were not perfect: 35 fish in total for 651 lb: 2 x 27's (one a mirror), 11 other 20's and the rest were all high teens: Saw fish to well over 40lb up at a dam, but could not fish there!!

I am off to fish the trent river system in canada of Saturday. Will send a report on how I got on when I get back. Its supposed to be stuffed full of carp.

from litter to turds....LoL...