Should Carp have pet names?

[Dick Dastardly]

Peter, RW was one of the first "travellers" He couldn't get to Redmire fast enough when he found out about the 30 that was caught there. Same reason a lot of people go to Wingham.

 

Den

 

Yes and no! Ive never had a problem with travelling for good fishing or to fish a good place (not necessarily the same) A subtle line between travelling and fish chasing but then to a certain degree Im ok with that as well.

 

Im sure that Dick would have loved the inovation in tackle baits and methods.The improvements in fish care etc.But would he have liked the "attitude" of the modern scene? Would he have liked the way angling in general has gone due to carp and carp fishing? theses are in my mind what people are asking.

 

As for Wingham I honestly believe (despite its huge big fish potential) that most of the members of the Course Syndicate fish there more because of the "total package" it offers. Thats certainly the case for the lads I know off here who are members.But I see the point you were making.

[Vagabond]

I still retain that image and would never fish at Redmire even if the opportunity presented itself in case the illusion was shattered.

 

I understand that completely, but I did have a chance to fish Redmire in the 1990s and took it. A trip I shall remember for the rest of my days.

 

I was due to go to Horton (and actually travelled Sussex-Horton-Redmire) just before my trip, and at Horton had a long conversation with Fred J Taylor about Redmire. He told me about the "feast of gudgeons" and other tales, and said he wished he was coming with me.

 

Out of four people who had booked Redmire that week, only two of us turned up, and t'other bloke went home early, so I had the place to myself for a while.

 

Being the compulsive species hunter that I am, I set about catching all three species in Redmire, eel, gudgeon and carp, and succeeded. I thought I would organise my own "feast of gudgeons" and soon caught one by the dam. Alas, it was the only one - couldn't catch another, and as the one I had caught wouldn't make much of a feast, and looked a bit lonely swimming about in my bait bucket he got a reprieve. The eels were easy - two casts with bunches of lobs brought two eels, after which I concentrated on the carp.

 

Climbed a tree or two (I was still a sprightly young man in my sixties then!) and learnt quite a bit about Redmire carp by doing so. They were HARD though. Got close to a few big ones, but they were bait-shy. Did eventually succeed on the very last morning I was there - not very big though - somewhere around three pounds.

 

Fished all the well-known pitches in turn, took a lot of pictures, thought about those who had preceeded me, and absorbed the aura of the place as best I could.

 

Things had changed of course since the days of Dick, Fred, Ken and Chevin, but I felt it was a pilgrimage I had to make once in my lifetime. No illusions were shattered that time, and I will keep it that way by not repeating the experience - for much the same reasons as Tincatinca gives.

[Anderoo]

I think it's great that people who fished with the great and the good, and at places I only dream of, contribute to AN. I love reading these stories

 

Regarding Wingham, I agree with Rich. There are lots of waters within a few miles of my house that contain much bigger tench, carp and even bigger bream than have been caught at Wingham. But Wingham is worth the travelling for me, it has that special 'something'. The fact I can only get there a handful of times each year makes each trip extra special (apart from the last one ).

 

It's really interesting to hear that Dick Walker became disillusioned with the carp scene, I didn't know that. People often say that he'd be the first one these days using bait boats and the like - for those who knew him, what do you think?

[poledark]

I take your points about how things have changed, but it is not all bad. I fish heavily pressured waters, but avoid the weekends, and even with a full lake I can retreat into my own little world. Indeed, with the huge spurt in tree/bush growth this year, most swims are screened off from each other.

 

The Kennet was chock a block with anglers the last couple of years I fished it, but again, once in my swim I became absorbed in my own surroundings. I enjoy a chat, and maybe once a fortnight I "have a social" with Ted or Pat...whoever is in the adjacent swims. A couple of weeks ago 3 of us shared a swim and took turns with a float rod catching Rudd.................two each, then pass the rod over................great fun, and loads of cracking rudd to 14oz.

 

I am, and always have been "part of the circus" chasing reports of big/new fish all over England, and, apart from match anglers, I think every angler I have met, has been on the lookout for better/bigger fish. Do any of you know someone who is happy to fish for tiddlers all the time? Maybe for the first year or so, but anglers are always looking for greener pastures.

 

Re Wingham, surely it is the lure of quality Tench and huge Bream that attracts? It is what I put my name down for

 

Den

[Anderoo]

Do any of you know someone who is happy to fish for tiddlers all the time?

 

No, I don't. I like fishing for small fish if the method is suited to them though. For example, I had a really nice few hours of jungle warfare fishing with Richard last weekend, trotting maggots at a little very overgrown tributary of the Thames. The pleasure came from the whole package - wild water, difficult access, not knowing what the next fish would be, easing a red-tipped avon down the flow, searching out the little river, catching little roach, dace, chub and perch (which fought well above their weight in light tackle!). But other times I'm happier to sit and wait for the big ones. I just need variety, I can't do the same thing for too long.

 

Re Wingham, surely it is the lure of quality Tench and huge Bream that attracts? It is what I put my name down for

 

That is part of it! But I think the key word there is 'quality' rather than just 'size'. It's the whole package thing again.

[Steve Walker]

I think it's great that people who fished with the great and the good, and at places I only dream of, contribute to AN. I love reading these stories

 

Me too, though I'm also quite envious of them - perhaps it's just rose-tinted glasses, but I'd have loved to have been involved then.

[gozzer]

I am, and always have been "part of the circus" chasing reports of big/new fish all over England, and, apart from match anglers, I think every angler I have met, has been on the lookout for better/bigger fish. Do any of you know someone who is happy to fish for tiddlers all the time? Maybe for the first year or so, but anglers are always looking for greener pastures.

 

Re Wingham, surely it is the lure of quality Tench and huge Bream that attracts? It is what I put my name down for

 

Den

 

It's 'horses for courses' Den.

From our past 'conversations' you know my view on things. I'm just as happy catching a bag of small stuff as I am fishing for the bigger ones.

As for "tiddlers" that's relative to the water/angler. To some a 2lb chub is a waste of a days fishing, to others it's a nice fish.

 

I have said it many times, if an angler chooses to fish for any species with any legal method that's their choice.

But for crying out loud why does it have to lessen the choice of those who prefer a variety of species? This 'carpmania' that's reached almost pandemic propotions, is doing just that. (as I know only too well at the moment).

 

John.

[BoldBear]

I think I am a bit like Anderoo; although I don't like fishing for immature fish, (I don't think that many of us do); I am happy whether I am catching nice Roach, Chub or smallish Barbel from small streams or I am catching better quality fish from slightly larger rivers like the Kennet or upper Ouse, Size is relative to the water that I am fishing. What makes a water special for me? it's the overall impression of a place that I get from fishing or fish spotting in peace and quiet on a quiet stretch of stream or river where there is a chance to stumble on a raft of weed or undercut where a relative monster is picking off bits of food drifting in the current. Or fishing a secluded estate lake for Tench and Carp where you can occasionally be the only angler there.

 

Chasing huge fish that have been reported in the press is not my thing. nor is sitting in wait for a 'named' Carp that has been caught a few times each season. I have friends who do this (currently they are after a leather Carp called 'Toadless' in one of our clubs waters) but I am too easily bored to do this, but whatever floats your boat.

[chevin]

I think it's great that people who fished with the great and the good, and at places I only dream of, contribute to AN. I love reading these stories

 

Regarding Wingham, I agree with Rich. There are lots of waters within a few miles of my house that contain much bigger tench, carp and even bigger bream than have been caught at Wingham. But Wingham is worth the travelling for me, it has that special 'something'. The fact I can only get there a handful of times each year makes each trip extra special (apart from the last one ).

 

It's really interesting to hear that Dick Walker became disillusioned with the carp scene, I didn't know that. People often say that he'd be the first one these days using bait boats and the like - for those who knew him, what do you think?

 

I don't think that Dick would have been one of the first to use a bait boat he really wasn't in to a lot of the newer gadgets when they first came out. Obviously, when something new was about to come onto the market, Dick would be sent a unit for his evaluation on whatever it was. On many occasions he didn't have time or the inclination to test everything himself and he used to pass them onto others and get their opinions on them. I remember him asking me to try out a fish finder in the early '60s and Chuck Nunn and I gave it a try out at Turvey. It was a total heap of junk! Chuck and I spent all day trying to make some sense out of the sound that came through the head phones and try as we might we couldn't hear anything that compared with what we should be hearing according to the instruction manual. There was one thing that Dick threw to me one evening and said, "ere you are my cock, see what you can make of that". I looked at it and burst out laughing. It was a centre pin reel and as you stripped the line off it, you loaded a powerful spring. Once you had cast, you put the rod in rests and set a trigger, (I forget how) and sat back to await a bite. If you got a powerful enough bite to release the trigger, the spring recovered the line so quickly, the theory was that it would set the hook at the same time. I don't know whether it worked or not. If I remember rightly I accidently dropped it into the river at Hemmingford Grey. Did Dick suggest that might happen? err, I can't remember that either. On another evening Dick showed me two carp rods. The first two to have been made from glass fibre. One was a clear tube while the other had buttresses along its length. We put them side by side and checked the curves etc and then Dick told me to take whicher ever one I wanted to see how it performed. I took the one without buttresses and found that it worked very well indeed despite having ferrules rather than the spigot that came along later. I still have that rod and it has accounted for a lot of freshwater fish as well as a lot of sea fish both in the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean.

 

Something new that did interest Dick was carbon fibre. A friend of his invented the stuff and a rod was made. However, they never got things right and the rod was something of a failure and the project was abandoned. As so often happens, the Americans picked up the idea and changed the build of the rod and carbon fibre rods became a huge success. I think that it was something to do with the scrim.

[Anderoo]

Love it, thanks Chevin!

 

What do you think he would have made of the current carp scene? Or indeed, modern fishing in general?