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The mecca of carp fishing


Anderoo

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Budgie's comment in the Redmire thread got me thinking:

 

'Obviously to anglers of mine and Peters era it was the Mecca of carp fishing.'

 

Even though it still holds a lot of magic for carp anglers (because of its past), Redmire is now a pretty ordinary place. If you 'discovered' it now, it wouldn't go down in history. So now that its crown has slipped, what would you say is now the mecca of carp fishing? Is there one? Or do you think Redmire is still number 1?

And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music

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Difficult to answer. On a personnal note I have no desire to "join" the "circuit", there is just something about the named carpers and the big syndicate carp waters that i'm just not comfortable with and have no wish to be associated with even though I love carp angling.

 

Perhaps somewhere like Richworth Linear Fisheries where anyone can go and fish, how they wish, with a chance of a biggy is the modern day Redmire.

Edited by *Ant*

 

 

Eat right, stay fit, die anyway.

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Purely on fish being produced/potential/in fishery the "Mecca" would have changed over the years from decade to decade! Savay and the Colne Valley waters would have had their turn as would Wrasbury and I suppose for many now Collingbrook.

 

Trouble with Collingbrook (I dont think Im saying this just because of my familiararity with the place?) is despite the fish it just doesnt have any "soul" or "romance".Its a pretty barren place,always with lots of ambient light from the factories and that constant smell.No it purely holds big carp.At least Wrasbury,Savay etc had some of the old charm.

 

Redmire comanded its position really down to its beuty and charm.It had a long history and was very mysterious.Sadly not quite the the same place as it was.A lot of the famous swims have gone and a lot of the trees removed but for most carp anglers (strangely from several generations) it remains the Mecca.I suppose just being there and drinking in the atmosphere whilst remembering all youve read/been told, all the famous stories and veiws (real or imagined) are what keep it so. A bit of the old world of mysterious carping that has now long gone.Childhood fantasies.

And thats my "non indicative opinion"!

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Purely on fish being produced/potential/in fishery the "Mecca" would have changed over the years from decade to decade! Savay and the Colne Valley waters would have had their turn as would Wrasbury and I suppose for many now Collingbrook.

 

Trouble with Collingbrook (I dont think Im saying this just because of my familiararity with the place?) is despite the fish it just doesnt have any "soul" or "romance".Its a pretty barren place,always with lots of ambient light from the factories and that constant smell.No it purely holds big carp.At least Wrasbury,Savay etc had some of the old charm.

 

Redmire comanded its position really down to its beuty and charm.It had a long history and was very mysterious.Sadly not quite the the same place as it was.A lot of the famous swims have gone and a lot of the trees removed but for most carp anglers (strangely from several generations) it remains the Mecca.I suppose just being there and drinking in the atmosphere whilst remembering all youve read/been told, all the famous stories and veiws (real or imagined) are what keep it so. A bit of the old world of mysterious carping that has now long gone.Childhood fantasies.

 

I suppose it will always remain as the "spiritual" home of carp fishing.

And thats my "non indicative opinion"!

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Redmire will always hold a special place in my heart even though I have never been there, although that may change soon.

 

Linear is a fantastic place I have basically grown up there moving around the day tickets as they have opened and closed then eventually onto the syndicate.

 

But and its a big but, the most special place for me was a small 1 acre lake near home which I used to cycle to as a kid with my mates, sunloungers on backs, bags of Kevin ________s cream RM30's in the pocket, rods strapped to the frame of the bike, wibbling and a wobbling the half mile there heart beating fast all the way with excersion and unbounded exitement. Setting up the monkey climbers and little box alarms with a dodgy orange vane device that would go off at the strength of an ants belch. Getting a fire going and getting the brolly and velcro storm sides up and hunkering down for a night waiting for a wildy to bite. Wooooooosssh middle of the night, the alarm has failed to work again and I'm on my jacksey boots full of water reaching for the rod butt which is travelling at speed towards the water. Oh my god I'm in. Will the rod hold out, is the line going to part, watch the shopping trolly hurled in by early 80's chavs (what did we call them back tthen or did they not exist, OR PERHAPS I WAS ONE AND DIDN'T KNOW). Struggling to get the pan net down the bank with a maglite sticking out of the beak. Unfolding the mesh of the net theres a long lean almost silver carp of about three pounds and Am I chuffed, really chuffed, no one can beleive it, its a wild carp and mitchells got one. Well I was the dogs dirty bits for the next week at school and rode on the enthusiasm and for months, that was until Nick (good at sport, school and always got the best birds, remember him) caught a seven pound mirror, bloody massive and one of the only mirrors known in the country at the time !!!??? (well for us anyway). Anyway back to the sunlounger for a kip...... ratchets gone so I'm on the floor once again, knackers.

 

Its very rare, no, its not happened since that a water has wound me up and gave me as much pleasure as that little one all those years ago. I guess you grow up !!!!!!

 

Where did you lot start, would love to hear of your first experiences the tackle you started with what gave you the buzz and how strong was it.

 

What were those alarms called:- blakc box with a V shaped rod rest and an orange plastic vane, they even had a sensitivity control that tensioned the spring that was attached the the vane, and made a bloody stupid noise hen the battery was low.

 

Stu

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What were those alarms called:- blakc box with a V shaped rod rest and an orange plastic vane, they even had a sensitivity control that tensioned the spring that was attached the the vane, and made a bloody stupid noise hen the battery was low.

 

Stu

 

Herons ?

 

Rob.

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Interesting question. Like Budgie, Conningbrooke did/does nothing for me. I have chased big fish all my fishing life (58 years) and when the chance for a shot at "the Brook" came up, I went for it.

 

Silly not to, with it only being 20 mins away.

 

Didn't quite gell for me, and only fished it 3 times :) no wish to go back either.

 

Just for the record, it is not an exclusive expensive place, cost me just under £250.00, but £200 was for the rest of the lakes, and I would have paid that anyway.

 

Redmire was magic, I fished it a few times in the late 1960's with just one mate and my dog for company. Still pretty much as it was when the CCC left it (rumoured that all the fish had died in the '63 freeze ) I wouldn't go back there to fish now though, part of the magic (a BIG part :) ) was the thought of monsters lurking in the depths :) and one or two reports I have read have destroyed any magic that may have lingered for me.

I suppose that "the brook" must still be the mecca, at least until somewhere else produces a new record fish.

 

Den

Edited by poledark

"When through the woods and forest glades I wanderAnd hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees;When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur,And hear the brook, and feel the breeze;and see the waves crash on the shore,Then sings my soul..................

for all you Spodders. https://youtu.be/XYxsY-FbSic

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To me a mecca has nothing to do with it's ability to produce big fish. I'm thinking more of waters steeped in history, tales of old angling heros fishing there etc. The new carp angling 'stars' are almost all no-body's. Some can fish OK and some can write articles quite well, but most can't do both. 99% of the top anglers, most people will have never heard of.

 

So back to mecca's, look at those fished by the likes of Hutchinson, Albert Romp, Maddox etc in the '80s .

 

Rob.

Edited by RobStubbs
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