The paths they follow , it's in the blood.

Bloody kids , who'd have them , well most of us do . Kate came along 30 odd years ago , with James quickly after , and their fates were sort of written really . Lots are said about things being in the blood , but Kate's love for horses must stem from Sue's , and it was obvious that James would support Luton Town , and have the love of fishing that his mum and dad have had for 50 years . We truely can't think of anything better for kids , they are off the streets , they have a love for the countryside , they learn to fend for themselves , and it's a passion , like Luton Town that last your whole life . They get to see sights that others miss , fantastic sun rises , awesome sunsets , mist covered meadows , and even traveling aboard carp fishing . 

How it started .

James came with us from as soon as he could , and often came with us all day . We was conscious that we could have just latched him onto a fair few carp , but I felt he should really be float fishing , something he enjoys to this day , with us all dabbling on canals and rivers . We would sit with my carp rods out on some lake or the other but James would have a waggler float out in the swim having little matches , float bobbing under , with a lot of ribbing over missed bites , lots of laughter . I used to look over sometimes when things were quiet to see him nodding off , fantastic times .

This got him into the Carp Society mag as the youngest ever contribution !.

Things changed one fateful day , a day that sort of changed our fishing , both Sue's , mine , and James to be honest . We had a planned 2 day session over Oxford way with the kids staying over night with both Nan's . Kate trotted off on the first drop off , happy to be spoilt by her nan , but things were different at my mums !. As we got to the door James turned to me and Sue and said he wanted to come with us !. I explained that it was going to be cold , wet , dark , and sleeping in a bivvie ! , but he was insistent that he wanted to come , and I would never have forced him . We knew from that very point it was in him , and what great times we had . 

Mum showing James how to stalk barbel !

Winning the local lakes pike match , even though the locals did not like it !.

Hang on fella !

We got to fish some great rivers and lakes , and on one of them I decided to help out the carp society by arranging with the owners to run one of the fish-ins that they ran for junior members ( which James was ) . We managed to get the services of some top carp anglers over that weekend ( see blog about horseshoe lake and Tim Paisly ) , and it was a really nice weekend . But Tim Paisley see a new direction to take these weekends , with a carp school !, and I have to say his vision was spot on , and James went on one of these . He stayed the weekend , fishing with Danny Fairbrass ( Korda) and Andy Murray catching some nice fish to over 20lb , and enjoying the tutorials . It was during the casting class that he showed skills that to this day he has , and can say hand on heart that he is the best caster Iv seen !. The idea during the class was to cast to a marker at over 100 yds , then the expert would give you tips to improve your distance etc . When it come to James turn he gave it the big one out towards the float to get the hang of the rod /reel , the second crashed into it and he wound it in , no need for another cast . When I turned up to collect him Danny & Andy told me get was an awesome caster , but was itchy to move swims !!, ha , he still does !. 

Aged 7 , hitting the island at 60 yds , he ain't lost it .

 

He loved winter fishing !

This little blog was sparked by by Danny Faibrass's Korda , well one of their Thinking Tackles program's , where they fished a swim called henman hill at St Johns lake ,casting right across to the far bank , catching fish right in the edge . It was the scene of a piece of quality angling by a young teenager James way ahead of what Korda got up to many years later . We dropped into the swim along with a friend Howard for an over nighter , with James wanting to bang it over to fish he see in the far margin . But !!, instead of crashing a lead right amongst them , he decided to cast very accurately onto the bank above the swim between two bushes , he then walked round and pulled a bait on the hair rig before gentle lowering the rig in by hand . This was a awesome tatic , and just as we sat drinking coffee in the evening I herd James buzzer scream and getting into his swim he was attached to obviously a good fish ! . Playing the fish back to his net I kept the banter up with the lads around us , who were really struggling for a bite . The fish ended up being a fantastic scaled 20lb+ mirror , pic taken he slipped it back at our feet , then turned to me and said " the cast back over in the fading light will be interesting " . 

He was right , the light had gone but he was keen to get it back on the spot . As the cast was diagonally across the wide bay , so clipping up was not that helpful . Then a genius idea !! , he clipped a chemical nightlight to the hook , and with me on the far bank he banged a cast as strait as he could , judging the distance perfect . It was weird seeing the glowing stick flying towards me , but it worked perfect landing 10ft onto the bank at my feet . He popped round pulling a grange boillie on the hair and lowered it into the dark water . Back round at his rods he just tightened up to the bait , and we cracked open the coffee mugs again . I was laying asleep when his buzzer woke us again , I knelt at his side with the net as he played another good fish across the bay , Howard standing swearing behind us I lifted the net around a classic leather carp into low 20lb+ again . Cue the flying light sabre trick , again it was spot on in the pitch black through the gap in the bushes . Repeating the baiting up/ tightening up we hit the sack , with Howard wandering off into the night grumbling !!!. In the early hours for the third time his buzzer woke me , we giggled in the dark as he played a powerfull fish , and the perfect hatrick hit the spreader block , a mid twenty common !!!, although Howard was less than happy to get out of his sleeping bag to have a look !. We left after he lost another good fish in some heavy weed , to be replaced by a couple of lads we knew . His lovely little swim he sneaked two rods in became a machine guns nest with 6 bowstring tight rods crashed into the rapidly disappearing fish , they blanked !.

Winter carping , great coffee maker !.

 

I left him spoding at range for me , got back to find him winding in mid twenties !.

It's through James love of nipping over to France carping that has lit my fire , he has had many trips , good and bad , but I'm sure we will be doing many more . Also had lots of trips with me and Sue barbel fishing , with some right laughs , including trips float fishing on the canal where he showed how to get the float in those tight little spots !. Me Sue and James have spent many hundreds of hour on lakes and rivers , and we would never have it any other way , and look forward to the nice txt and calls we get when he is fishing somewhere and we can't !!!!. It's also nice to know that the path to the water burns in him , always will !!. 

James teaching Sarah how to trot from the boat !.

An inspiring  capture , he borrowed a carp rod off Dazza as he spotted this catfish taking fry from the surface , casting a trimmed down popup he stalked this in front of a lot of doubters !, awesome angling !

From that roach , to this , fantastic times mate . 

Hatter

I must have been mad .

When I was a lot younger I used to get up to some mad fishing , I used to put some real effort into catching , not that I don't , but I used to juggle work , fishing , and real life around trying to fit it all in , but not let it takeover from making a living , and being at home when I should be . I may have pushed the limits a fair bit , and Sue had the patients of a saint , and things really changed for me , Sue , and the way we fished as a family one day when we dropped the kids off as we was spending the night over Oxford carping / barbling . Kate was more than happy do spend the night with one of the Nan's , but when we dropped James off at the other Nan he stopped at the door and turned to us and said " I want to come with you two ! ". That was it as far as we were concerned , never wanting to force him to come , we pointed out the cold bivvie / sleeping bag / weekend , but he was sure and that day two of us changed to a third proper angler . I will tell the story of kids fishing another time , but for now it's silly things I did to get a session in !.

The bike , rack for the tackle , rods were strapped along it !

As an apprentice at Vauxhalls in the early 70's I soon jumped into their excellent fishing club , and with the freedom of a new moped I decided to strap the gear to it , and do some trotting on a bit of the Ouse with quality roach , and chub fishing . It all seemed so easy on paper , but I was not on paper , it was bloody horrendous . The miles up the A5 barely ticked over at a max of around 40 , with the wind resistance of the gear it lowered it to 30 !. I did try really hard , but even lugging the crash helmet around was a pain in the arse . I moved around the stretch catching a few bits before settling on a bend . I ran the float around the swim , anywhere it wanted to go really as I was not really into that way of fishing , and by pure luck it went under and a roach of just short of 2 lb hung itself !!!. I was really happy , and to be honest it was the excuse I needed to pack up and face the journey home . I hated it , and other than a look at a few waters when I got a more powerful bike that was the end of that experiment !.

Marlborough pools scaley caught one handed !

Nightshift at Vauxhalls in the early 80's gave me some options . Starting at 8pm on a Monday night gave me the chance to catch a few before work and not muck up weekend family stuff , sort of a bonus day . I flitted around just doing day sessions , but it all clicked when I decided to get an early start at Marlborough Pool on Mondays , having the lake to myself . I got my favorite point swim each time , and caught regularly , often two or three fish on a winters day . I used to try and get some kip in while I fished to make the night more bearable , but this caused a real problem on a sparkling sharp winters morning as I had dozed off for a while waiting for a friend to pop in for a cuppa in his break . I woke to a buzzer blasting off falling off my low chair I grabbed at the rod , the problem being at some point I delayed on my left arm , and it was completely numb , dead as a dodo !. It was complete slapstick comedy but without an audience thank god , I must have looked like I was having a fit !. I could not feel or turn the handle of the reel and still don't know how I got it in , but it was an upper double scaly carp I had long wanted to catch  , and my mate took the pics for me , thinking I knew what I was doing , instead of the total twat I can be !. 

The freezing L lake , lovely

Shift work at my company has it's benefits , early and late shift gives you time to get out before and after work with a bit of preperation . I had been fishing the well known L shaped lake at Blunham a bit , catching a few just into twenty pounds , but none of the A team as they were called . I liked the lake as you all fished from one bank , it had some nice trees on the far bank to fish under , pads in places down the middle on top of a bar . The lake being 'L' shaped ment nobody encroached on your water , and the lads fishing it were all good boys . I decided to do a whole winter on the lake , fishing with a couple of mates . I hatched a plan to fish it on a Friday when on lates so getting a swim on a Friday morning , then pulling my things to one side so they could keep their eyes on it while I went to work for the afternoon returning to the lake at around 11pm , allowing anyone to get in the swim if they wanted . On the morning session I chose a swim that many left alone , it had a small set of pads with a little gap between them that I'm sure the fish used to travel up and down the lake , so I baited that a little , the other rods went to the far margins . I fished until 1 pm , then left everything with my mate to keep their eye on , and set off for a late shift !. I returned 9 hours late in the pitch dark , all was quiet with only a couple more people pitching up at some point , but in the more popular swims . Quietly I got the rods back into position , all went well and I got into the bag shattered and bloody freezing !. Some point in the early hours the closer rod between the pads ripped off , with the buzzers turned down low how I like them I was into a mental fish that smashed me up for quiet a while . In the dark I slipped a good mirror into the net , and after unhooking her I switched the torch on and punched the air !, it was the Arab !, the best fish in the lake , not quiet the biggest , but the best !. A member of the A team it was a fish I really wanted to catch after seeing it on the bank . Called the Arab due to a crescent shaped scale on one side ,I was  bloody chuffed !.

A poor pic of the Arab , member of the A team , but it was a big effort !

I tried this approach a few more times , I must have been mad , as it drained me through the harsh winter where it froze over while I was fishing on a couple of occations !. It was in the middle of open countryside , the wind cut through you , and the frost were fierce !. After a couple more fish that season I moved on , but the L lake is still there . 

My nickname for a while , Luke O like ( viz mag )

The frozen lake , 3 rigs stuck !. Delkim converted optonics , top of the range stainless and PTFE bobbins !.

Hatter

Garlic Carp

It had to be this fish next !. I can remember lots of fish Iv caught , even over 30 years later , and one of which I'm going to write about was in 1977 !. One thing is for sure this fish made such a impression on my that I think of that moment a lot , the moment I lifted the rod that had the buzzer turned down so I could hear it , only just . But I'm getting ahead of myself a bit here , it started a few years ago when my son introduced us to his new girlfriend Sarah , it was at Sue's 50th birthday party held at a pub , James was very nervous as he waited around for her to turn up . He need not have worried , there was 60 ish people worse for wear , a bit of a baptism , but Sues party was a classic . When they decided to get married it was no suprise when fishing mad James decided a fishing trip to a lake in France he had fished before was what he wanted for a stag do . There ended up 6 of us which was perfect for the lake we were going to , good choice of swims , traveling in pairs helped with the drive down just past Limoges , with Craig and John traveling down the day before it was late one Friday night in May that me , James , Dazza , and Simmo set off in the rain for the Eruro tunnel for the train trip to northern France . After a massive hold up due to a crash on the M25 , we ended up missing our train but catching another a couple of hours later . This put James in a tizz , wanting to get there as early as possible our convoy of two smashed our way down the coast road to Rouen to miss the Paris perifial , although the bridge closure in Rouen tested the satnav a bit . I bloody loved France , loved the stops for a fag and stretch , loved the massive countryside , loved the trouble free motorways and toll roads . It was a very long drive , I took the opertunity of James driving to take it all in , and I bloody loved it !.

The bay .

We arrived at the lake , fantastic out of the way setting , greeted with a beer by the owner Danny standing on the lawn in front of the lodge where he would feed and water us for the week . We all had a walk around with James , Craig , and John as they had already fished the lake pointing out the spots , but to be fair it all looked good . We had a draw for choices of swims , and got the gear to our ready erected bivvies supplied with bedchairs to save space in you cars !. I had the right hand swim on the dam wall , happy with it , we all spent a mad few hours throwing rigs around !, as I had fish feeding around 90yds out , and chucked baits all over them , with each fish showing I wound in and cast on top of them , thrashing the water !. They obviously did not like this at all , so after a belly full of dinner in the lodge , the long day / drive I hit the sack big style . Dead to the world Dazza fishing next to me woke me somehow in the night with a cold fog around us he had a 48lb mirror on the mat !. The next day James gave me some advice on spots to fish , and I got a bit more accurate around with the marker float , casting and decided that small patches of bait was how I was going to fish until I knew how hard the fish were going to feed . The next night produced a 46lb long mirror in the middle of the night which proved the spot James told me about was a goodun , and I put two rods on it the next day . Most of us had caught , with Craig making hay with the fish in the snagy Pine bay , fish to upper 50 see him ahead in our award of a medal for biggest fish !. We had another meal in the lodge in the evening , the stocks of the little stumpy larger was going down , and despite the rain that both England and France suffered with for good few weeks we were all happy anglers , and we retired for the eve to set our traps .

46lb first fish.

I put both clipped up rods about 10ft apart at the same distance across the bay with a small patch of Cell boilies round each rig , and a third rod off to a tree father into the bay . I turned down the delkims so only I could hear them , just how I like it . I made a cup of strong black coffee sitting in the pitch black , silence apart from the odd comment on the walkie talkies . I sat at the door to the bivvie in my cheap £5 picnic chair late into the night watching hippos sliding out of the water , then to bed . My eyes sprang open with the left hand delkim glowing , I won't lie , I smashed my way through the door !. I picked up the rod and to this day can still remember looking up in the dark to the see the tip of the rod bent over but not moving , just slowly , but unavoidably pulling down as the fish just pulled away from me . The fight was intence , lengthy , not sure how long , all I know is that when it came to within 10 yds of the bank I was bloody knackered . Iv never felt a fish like that before where it uses not only it's power , but it pure bulk , weight . No end of times it looked to be in netting range , only to turn in the deep margin , at one stage ending up way down to my right even with heavy side strain I'm sure it only turned back because it wanted to . If it sound like I'm giving it the big one with the fight it's because I can't describe how powerless I felt at times , but it gave me a chance as in the dark I see her head nodding coming strait at me and I pushed the net right out until the mouth was right up the block . The next thing that struck me was how bloody heavy the net felt as I went to lift it out onto the giant unhooking mat . There in the light of a small torch was a huge bulk of a mirror , quiet obviously a big fish , again I had a good think , I wanted to do this myself , not rouse the lads . I zeroed the giant re tension sling and hoisted her up , a knats cock  over 59lb and an absolute creature . 

Zoo creature , I will never forget that fight and the shear bulk of the big girl , 59lb.

I made sure she was safe , and woke Dazza . I hate retaining fish so I chose to confirm the weight with him as witness , and do a few pics in the dark . Yes daylight pics would have been nice , but you come to catch them , so you need to give them a bit of respect , so with a few hours of darkness to go we did a few pics and I slipped it back , holding her upright in the water Dazza remarked how wide it was , the she waddled off ,  and we shook hands both gobsmacked at what had just happened . When it was light John came opposite us , I asked if Craig had caught anything bigger , when he said no I called across " good , I in with the chance of the biggest fish medal !" , he was quiet , not quiet knowing if I was taking the piss ! , all was reviled at breakfast !. 

The stalking swim , beer bottle tops for bobbins .

That week we all caught big fish with 5 x 50lb + fish and countless 40lb fish , great fishing , lots of banter with James , and at the local bar at his expense . The rain was a right pain , but we got used to it . I had a little stalking spot by a row of trees , and I had a couple of fish from it , also John had a 30 lb mirror when I left him in charge while I photographed a fish for James !. Awesome little spot where the rods had beer bottle tops for indicators , great fun . I will always remember walking round to James in the middle of the night to see him with a 56lb near leather laying on the mat , what a sight in the head torch . 

Me and the stag James with a stalking swim fish , a proper French chunk !.

France was not really on my radar , especially with the stalking me and Sue were doing on the rivers for barbel , but that trip showed I was missing something , it's an awesome place as are hundreds of lakes over there , and Iv got the bug . I might not fish for carp much at home , but I can easily see us traveling over there as much as possible . One day I will go back to meet up with Danny again , with his lovely dog , show Sue the fantastic water , and hopefully James common that will be mid 50,s . France we will be back !.

A trip in pics , boarding trains , James big fish , what a place !.

Best looking fish of the week .

A 53lb stalked close in , perhaps not in his own swim , but close !.

Medal being presented to old dad in good humour !

Local bar , local lads were bloody good company .

Team photo , great times .

Where the bomb was made , historic carp water lost !.

HAREFIELD LAKE.

I'm sure I paid one of the highest day ticket prices in carp fishing history !. How ? , where ?, was it that good ?. Let me explain , after a dabble on Savay with the hard work that it entailed , a few of us in our little band of friends decided to join the Harefield syndicate on the other side of the road . There was a good head of big fish in it , including some big fish from the soon to be shut down Rodney Meadow . I loved the area , being a member of Gerrards Cross for Sues river fishing we also had pit3 up the road as well , add the Horse and Barge pub right on the bank to meet in it seemed a good move . All my mates we very enthusiastic , and to be honest with its reputation I joined it without a walk round , an error on my part . A large amount of money was paid out with plans to fish it after a start on a local water , and with my mate Stu already set up in the famous "someone's coming " swim I arrived early one morning with two other friends Si, and Desperate Dan . We walked up the causeway to chat with Stu , he had blanked for a couple of days but was confident , and we moved on to the also famous point swim . With spaces tight we all set up on this big swim , as I looked across the water I knew it strait away , I did not like it at all . I could not put my finger on it , obviously had a lot of good carp , some historic mirrors , and commons , but I just could not settle , I knew it was not the lake for me !. I always liked moving if I needed to but the lake filled up with almost every swim gone . As I was on the verge of having a look on the bottom bank Kevin Nash walked past with his dog setting up in the only place I was tempted with , and it looked a nice swim . I walked around looking for fish and came across a camera bag obviously belonging to Nashy , and after managing to stop his dog from going for me we sat and had a cuppa chatting for ages . We exchanged ideas , me giving him my popup lead idea ( which I'm using 35 years later ) swapped for some of his braid he had on test . The next day I left the lake knowing it was £300 for a day , now that's a proper day ticket , I never went back .

The fantastic Pit3 , I should have spent more time here .

PIT3

Where to fish then ?. I was a member of a club that we joined for Sues chub fishing that controled the fishing on Pit3 in the colne valley , had a mystery regarding the carp stocks , although we had herd of a few fish . We had a couple of trips in poor very hot conditions in a couple of areas , but on the third visit with Dan as company we ended up at the sailing club end . It was an eventfull session . We had a heavy shower of rain followed by a windy morning , good conditions , and I was on fish as I had seen a fish over my baits that I had blasted out across the lake . Good conditions for sailing as well , and when one of the boats picked up desperate Dans lines they knew he was upset , but unlike Stanborough lakes the boaters came round to apologise and even offered to pay !, we were gobsmacked . At the height of another torrential down pore my rod screamed off , I hung on for what seemed ages to a mental fish getting a good soaking in the process , and was shattered as we slipped a nice 20lb + mirror into the net . I can't find the pics of that amazing fish , but the reason my arms were hanging off became obvious when we weighted it , and found it had another lobe to its tail , like a fantail , turbo propeller !.

The " Beast " , what a fish !.

ARLESEY LAKE 

I had fished Arlesey lake, made famous by Dick Walker's design of weights still used buy us all , when it was a club water , and jumped at the chance of joining the new syndicate . Known for it floater fish due to the very deep water , and the dark Leaney mirrors shown in Rob Maylins book Tiger Bay . One mirror was always the best in my eyes " The Beast " , shown in the early pages of Robs book , it was the one I really wanted to catch , but to be honest there were lots of really nice good lookers, including a nice common and a couple of nice fully scaled twentys. For long periods floaters were the only way of catching the fish as the spent long periods in the upper layers over 30ft of water . This lead to anglers specialising on surface fishing , with methods developed there ahead of the times . It was on a hot morning that I found myself stareing at a small group of fish at the  " hole in the hedge swim" taking the odd mixer I was catapulting into a breeze into my face . After taking a mid double mirror another syndicate member sat with me pointing out there were fish taking my mixers that had drifted into the next swim . But the fish in front looked a goodun , and so it proved as it sipped the hook bait , and the float shot across the surface !. The fight in those gin clear waters was extended due to the lighter hooklength / small hook , with the fish spinning , turning somersaults , before a big cheer went up from a little crowd that had gathered . It was the " Beast " , what a fish , I was really chuffed , proper old fish .

The mid twenty " big fully scaled ", three in a day !

Bottom fishing on Arlesey lake was always difficult due to the depths , so close in stuff was the way they made mistakes , which suited me . The swim I liked most was called "the Spinney ", which was a small spit of land about 15 yds out in the lake that ment you could fish parallel on the shelf with good line lay . Just a few feet more out in the lake would see your bait dropping into 15 -20ft of water so keeping it close to the margin reeds was the key . One other thing was for sure , they loved tiger nuts , and I never looked at any other bait . One stunning autumn morning I got into the swim as early as possible as there was no night fishing , flicked the tigers along the edge , a handful over both rods , then spent some time useing the landing net scaring the ducks from diving on my rigs . A short time later a 20lb mirror disturbed my tea making , stuff everywhere !, with my kettle rolling in the lake !. The fish scrapped hard as they all do in there, and the lad next door popped up to net it and take a few pics . Rods out again , tea finally made the lad was still in my swim drinking a cup I had made for him when I was away again . On the mat it was the smaller of the fully scaled fish at low twenty , really happy now , a fish I really wanted . Pics done I was left alone to tidy the swim as it looked like a bomb had gone off !. A short time time later the rods blasted off , and I really hung on , matey next door pushed the net through the reeds shouting back " it's the big fully scaled !" . Bloody hell , 3 twentys , and both fully scaled in a day , it don't get any better !.

Developed by Dick Walker at this lost lake .

All this was around 30 years ago , as are many of my carping stories . Carp fishing has more history than any other branch of our pastime , and this historic water that breed great floater fishermen ( not me though ) , awesome looking fish , and lent it's name to a fishing lead that every angler in Britain has used at some time was filled in !. The owners decided to make it a shallow puddly puddle that hippos would have enjoyed . Bloody criminal - fact , and there should have been a way of stopping it . When a massive dumper truck pulled up one afternoon dumping absolute crap into the fantastic middle snag swims I gave up , never went back . 

Savay , where is it now ?

After the blog of my Savay times a few people commented on having no trophy shot of a very special fish . In fact I have been buying Carpology mag because of the series featuring Savay , and also of a friend that is fishing there , doing very well as it happens . It truly is a special lake , really carping history was being made there , with many of the tactics , products and bait we are still using today honed on the banks . Experiments with bent hooks were being used , I know because I made a jig up for doing them accurately ( now done with shrink tube to some extent ) , critically balanced baits , and lots of baits were being tried out on there . I know the fishing can be rock hard , a ball buster , poss getting even harder as the numbers of carp decrease , but people still suffer the mud and the lack of action to be on its banks . 

Awesome creature . Tiny swim on the canal bank , a piece of heaven .

Here is a pic of the chestnut leathery carp going back . I would love to know what's happened to that fish after all these years , blind in one eye means it should be recognisable , so I will make some enquiries . I also ended up on the other side of the canal , pit3 , over the other side of the road , Harefield , thats for my next blog !.

Hatter