Articles

THROUGH THE EYES OF A NORMAL CARP ANGLER

AN INTRODUCTION BY SCOTT MAYES 

I will be writing a few articles for CATCHER BAITS over the course of a year, These articles will be based upon club lakes, day ticket waters and maybe even a trip to france in the not so distant future.

I have been fishing for as long as i could pick up a rod and carp fishing for half my life, i have been using catcher baits for about 10yrs now, There bait has been responsable for so many personal best for me in carp fishing , i have had lots of big 30 plus carp now up to 38.12lb and what feels like a lifetime of experience on the bank which i would like to share with you.

I do a lot of my fishing with my good friend ricky White, we travel to all sorts of venues and along the way have a good laugh and joke, also i find we bounce ideas off each other regarding bait and rigs(maybe a few other comments along the way) but it helps us put more fish on the bank, which is why we all go fishing at the end of the day.
Hopefully people will see my fishing adventures through my eyes and appreciate what we have when we are all sitting around the lake or river trying to outwit our target fish.
I am going to focus my articles on:-

The waters i fish, ie my personal view of the lake and swims, ammenities on site, parking and maturity of the water, and the cost for me to fish these waters.

The fish in the water and my approach at trying to get them on the bank, the methods i find affective in my persuit, and my choice of swim on each occasion.

The range of bait i am using at the time, how much bait i am using, how i am using the bait, what areas i am fishing, the rigs i am using for specific situations and why i am using them specific rigs.

Thank you for taking the time to read my intro, hopefully i will be writing of new adventures and hard thought captures very soon. 
tight lines 
Scotty.

Hi I'm Ricky and am extremely pleased to be asked to become part of the Catcher Baits consultant’s team.

I have been Carp fishing for ten years and during that time I have caught some stunning Carp. My PBs to date consists of Mirror 31.8lb, Common 29.12lb Cat 34.8lb.

I've been using Catcher baits for over six years now and I feel that Catcher Baits gives me a definite advantage in putting more carp on the bank, my preferred bollie range is Crab n Fruit in 16mm.

Catcher Baits has played an immense part in the capture of my Carp to date, having faith in bait I feel is important and gives you confidence and for me catcher baits does just that.

The approach I like to use when fishing is I normally use a bottom bait rig, knowing that this rig is used extensively I will always try to add that added touch. By drilling out some of the boillie and adding some cork just to make my hook bait lighter than the freebies gives me that added advantage.

I like to fish tight baited areas and normally around the 60 to 80 yard mark. Finding features and islands is a must as I like to apply as much effort as possible. When visiting new lakes I tend to look on Google Earth and see if I can see any features or possible clear patches that might assist in the capture of a nice fish.

I enjoy tying rigs and am always thinking of ways to present my bait so that it fools the carp. Most of my rigs are tied using PB Jelly Wire I find this very easy to tie rigs with which is nice and supple, I find this fast sinking and is stiff which avoids tangles during casting the soft coating is easy to strip. I use Kamasan B775 pattern hook which has never let me down, the hook consists of a nice swept shank and beaked point, for me the combination of the Jelly Wire and Kamasan B775 is the ideal rig material, 

I always add some shrink tubing which encourages the point to flip in the carps mouth resulting in perfect hook hold every time the presentation and simplicity makes this rig very effective.

I will be writing about the Black Crab and Fruit range and my time out on the bank. I will add information on:
 Location and why I chose that particular swim.
 Feature finding.
 Rig presentation and materials used.
 Bait and amount used during sessions.

The lakes that I intend to fish this year are Sittingbourne lakes 3 and 4, and day ticket waters Elphicks, Cackle Hill, Green acres Fisheries and Hawkhurst Fish Farm. I have also booked a week in the Sarthe region of North West France a stunning lake called Rushes.

I will be using the Black Crab and Fruit range intensively also with the added bonus of the matching boilie dip and pop ups.

I hope you enjoy reading about my times on the bank as much as I have enjoyed writing about them.

Ricky White