Brolly camps, sun loungers and Carp!

[Al21]

Sorry folks, but I couldn't resist this from the underblanket thread, seemed like too good an opportunity for a bit of nostalgia to miss, but didn't want to derail the underblanket thread completely. :)




Hi Jonny,
Gosh your carp fishing year!!!!.. makes it seem like a long time ago...

I've been doing it for over 30 years... and must admit most has been under an umbrella, in all its permutations...(remember the Send Marketing Brolly Camp???) or more recently a bivvy, (since Hutchy started marketing them).... (Started off by pinching my mum's sun lounger with orange flower on it as a bed chair.)

I'd have been very grateful to have known about a hammock & tarp before, on lakes that needed a good hike to get to the pegs.

It was Shaun Harrison, a good friend of mine, whom you may have heard of, that gave me the idea. Since, everywhere I can find trees I hang a hammock. Then my bivvy and bed chair stay in the motor.

cheers
Gareth


Sorry for digressing here folk..

Your Mums sun lounger lol.. Was it one of those that folded up from the top and the bottom, and went click click click into place..?
I started on the carpies in the Eighties when it became popular. I started out on the floor on a roll mat before spending way too much money on all the identical kit and posh bits of stainless steel and padded beds from all the right brands. Consumerism got me hook line n sinker.
That lake of yours looks nice. You got some monsters in that water eh..

So you started with a roll mat eh Jonny. sounds like luxury to me! :p A mate and I started night fishing with just some polythene sheets to cover ourselves with before getting brollies. Various homemade tarp type set-ups followed before Slug bought a Richard Walker brolly camp. Weighed a ton, but such good kit. His brolly was one of those that you could remove the central pole once erected and we used to support the ends of the ribs with bamboo canes, a rubber end from a walking stick went over the remaining central pole to stop you cutting yourself and the tent pegs were replaced with six inch nail through tap washers. Spent weeks like that during the summer hols in the late seventies.

I think brown and orange flowers on your sun loungers was compulsory wasn't it!

Hmm, Carp and Tench in summer, Pike in winter. Wonderful!

Al

[garethw]

Sorry folks, but I couldn't resist this from the underblanket thread, seemed like too good an opportunity for a bit of nostalgia to miss, but didn't want to derail the underblanket thread completely. :)
So you started with a roll mat eh Jonny. sounds like luxury to me! :p A mate and I started night fishing with just some polythene sheets to cover ourselves with before getting brollies. Various homemade tarp type set-ups followed before Slug bought a Richard Walker brolly camp. Weighed a ton, but such good kit. His brolly was one of those that you could remove the central pole once erected and we used to support the ends of the ribs with bamboo canes, a rubber end from a walking stick went over the remaining central pole to stop you cutting yourself and the tent pegs were replaced with six inch nail through tap washers. Spent weeks like that during the summer hols in the late seventies.

I think brown and orange flowers on your sun loungers was compulsory wasn't it!

Hmm, Carp and Tench in summer, Pike in winter. Wonderful!

Al
Yes it all brings back memories, herons, optonics, and monkey climbers..... People used to think we were nuts.. but 30 more years on and I'm still at it...
Here's a shot circa 1980 from Llandrindod Wells....
http://www.croixblanchelakes.com/gareth80-01.jpg

Note the brolly camp, North Western rod and Mitchell 300...

cheers
Gareth

[JonnyP]

So you started with a roll mat eh Jonny. sounds like luxury to me! :p
When I say roll mat, it were a mat of rolled out newspaper that used to get damn in 't' night and soak us through..
Polythene sheet... Luxury..!

Haha, nice one Al.. You beat Martin into moving the talk to a new thread..

Sounds like there are a few of us from similar era's into fishing..
I grew up fishing the upper stretches of the river Medway in the 70's mostly catching minnows and dace using way too heavy a line and a massive great arsley bomb, but I did catch a 3 1/4 lb perch one winter as a total surprise. I never night fished in those days. It wasn't until I started carp fishing in Sussex that I got into nights and long sessions. I still remember those first nights out, wondering what all the strange woodland noises were and half expecting some nutter attacking me in the night.. Been watching too many horror films I guess..
I remember the umbrellas were you could remove the pole and put it down the back of the brolly. Great idea, but the wind used to try and turn them round sometimes if you didn't have them rigged up well enough.

I had the good fortune to bump into Chris Yates last year at a festival. I had a good chat with him. His book Casting at the Sun was a great read and inspiration for me and it was a pleasure to meet him..

Nice fish Gareth..

[garethw]

One of the things that inspired me to use a hammock was the ridiculous amount of gear we take these days.... And mine is some what less than some I see turn up to my lakes.
I remember my overnighters in the late 70's early 80's where I could get all I needed on my bicycle. There have been times since where I couldn't get it in my car.

In the last year I've honed my gear down to my backpack with hammock & tarp, cookset, food & water. A tackle bag, rod bag, unhooking mat and bait bucket. I've been working on the basis that if an article is not used for three fishing trips, it gets left at home. I used this same principle to lessen the load in my pack.

I've never met Chris Yates, but one of my friends grew up and went to school with him. I used to write to Hutchy when I was a kid too.. and he'd write back. Since I've been involved in the fishing industry I've met many of the well known anglers.

All this seems light years away from those Llandod days.. When uncaught monsters still existed and the record meant something!!!

cheers
Gareth

[Al21]

Very nice fish Gareth, I'm a bit out of practise, but is it about 17/18lb?

I think the non-anglers will wonder what on earth we're talking about with Optonics and monkey climbers. I never got into boilies and hair rigs, had moved onto fast bikes, fast women and more beer than was good for me by then. Favoured baits were classic sweetcorn and sausage meat mixed with toasted breadcrumbs.

Sadly, I've very few pics of fish I caught as I firmly believed a camera brought bad luck and resulted in a blank. I'll see what I can dig out though, it'll be a while as they'll need scanning.


When I say roll mat, it were a mat of rolled out newspaper that used to get damn in 't' night and soak us through..
Polythene sheet... Luxury..!

soggy rolled up newspaper. Thar were lucky! We dreamed of sleeping under...

...kids today don't know they're born. :)



Haha, nice one Al.. You beat Martin into moving the talk to a new thread..

Sounds like there are a few of us from similar era's into fishing..
I grew up fishing the upper stretches of the river Medway in the 70's mostly catching minnows and dace using way too heavy a line and a massive great arsley bomb, but I did catch a 3 1/4 lb perch one winter as a total surprise. I never night fished in those days. It wasn't until I started carp fishing in Sussex that I got into nights and long sessions. I still remember those first nights out, wondering what all the strange woodland noises were and half expecting some nutter attacking me in the night.. Been watching too many horror films I guess..
I remember the umbrellas were you could remove the pole and put it down the back of the brolly. Great idea, but the wind used to try and turn them round sometimes if you didn't have them rigged up well enough.

I had the good fortune to bump into Chris Yates last year at a festival. I had a good chat with him. His book Casting at the Sun was a great read and inspiration for me and it was a pleasure to meet him..

Nice fish Gareth..

Where abouts in Sussex did you fish? Most of my carp and tench fishing was at the Southern Leisure Centre at Chichester.

A 3 1/4lb Perch is a very nice fish, I bet you were chuffed to bits with that!

This is the year I'm going to get my oldest lad out fishing, I said it last year, but life conspired against me. I need to find a local water with a reasonable number of small stuff, perch, rudd and roach etc to get him hooked. I remember my Dad trying to get me fishing, but he took me to Chi harbour to fish for flaties and bass. We never really caught much as fishing wasn't really his thing. I've strong memories of doing battle with ragworm, a creature that looks like something from the imagination of Ridley Scott, they're certainly not keen on you putting a hook in them! I'd have been seven or eight at the time. I really got the bug when I was about eleven or twelve I guess. I used to go fishing after school and avoided homework, but always caught a load of small stuff, just right for a youngster.

Nice one, memories flooding back.

Al

[garethw]

Very nice fish Gareth, I'm a bit out of practise, but is it about 17/18lb?

I think the non-anglers will wonder what on earth we're talking about with Optonics and monkey climbers. I never got into boilies and hair rigs, had moved onto fast bikes, fast women and more beer than was good for me by then. Favoured baits were classic sweetcorn and sausage meat mixed with toasted breadcrumbs.


Hi Al,
No it was a bit smaller than that. About 12lb probably. We were the first anglers to use the hair on many of these waters and caught a hatfull. I still remember the old boy on this lake getting only one or two fish in a weekend on luncheon meat or crust, while we were hauling on hair rigged peanuts... 10 or 15 fish in the weekend.
The fish are somewhat bigger these days.

http://www.croixblanchelakes.com/linear01.jpg

cheers
Gareth

[Al21]

Hi Al,
The fish are somewhat bigger these days.

http://www.croixblanchelakes.com/linear01.jpg

cheers
Gareth

'kin 'ell!

Are you fishing near an outfall of a nuclear power station!

Lovely fish.

Al

[garethw]

'kin 'ell!

Are you fishing near an outfall of a nuclear power station!

Lovely fish.

Al

Caught from a difficult lake of over 100 acres on the outskirts of Paris. Been lucky since december had three fish between 41lb 8oz & 46lb... this one went 44lb.
cheers
Gareth

[Aaron Rushton]

nice fish, i see you've done the old fishermans trick of holding it close to the camera :rolleyes: we all do it! i don't carp fish, i'm a fluff-chucker (fly fisherman) i did once catch a 5lb carp on a tinchy 4wt, 8 foot fly rod. now that was a run around! got me down to the backing in 20 seconds and i spent a lot of time chasing it around the pool so it wouldnt snap my 3lb line!

[garethw]

nice fish, i see you've done the old fishermans trick of holding it close to the camera :rolleyes: we all do it! i don't carp fish, i'm a fluff-chucker (fly fisherman) i did once catch a 5lb carp on a tinchy 4wt, 8 foot fly rod. now that was a run around! got me down to the backing in 20 seconds and i spent a lot of time chasing it around the pool so it wouldnt snap my 3lb line!

Actually not at all...It was really that big.. I never see the point in trying to my a 20lb'er look like 40. This one was 44lb, it was way too heavy to hold out at arms length, it is actually leaning against my pertex top... I had a real job just lifting it to keep steady, especially as it was around 0°C at the time.

The lens was a 35mm so not a huge wide angle either...

cheers
Gareth

[dfxdave]

great thread im into fishing all types fluff bait kayak sea fresh charter beach, ill have a go at all sorts , going to have a dabble in france this year with some serious carpers , im a bit out of touch with the new methods and rigs , they are so complicated, so im looking forward to learning a stack of new methods ,we are going for a week in august 2012 carnt wait ill tell you. me nephew had a 52 lber last year what a fish that was.

[JonnyP]

Where abouts in Sussex did you fish? Most of my carp and tench fishing was at the Southern Leisure Centre at Chichester.

A 3 1/4lb Perch is a very nice fish, I bet you were chuffed to bits with that!


That perch, I thought to be a World record at the time Al, I was so excited. I think it was a junior record for the Tonbridge angling club though..

I used to fish a syndicate water in Sussex called Island pond, between Horsham and Crawley most the time, but I have fished most of the waters South of that area.
There is a tiny stream near the village of Cowfold, which has an amazing amount of fish in it. We used to fight our way through the undergrowth to get to it. We always caught stuff there, inc some good sized trout.

Its nice hearing peoples stories of fishing. I hardly go at all now, and when I do its sea fishing, as I live next to the coast. I do not know much about sea fishing. I tend to just use spinners, plugs n lures etc, hoping to catch me a bass, but I still haven't.
I do not have too much interest now, in waiting (with all the gear) for the big carp to bite, but I would love to spend a sunny day sat by a quiet pond with light line and a float, maggot on the hook and to see what I could catch..

Aaron.. You can have just as much fun catching small carp on light lines..

Thats a huge carp Gareth.. My biggest went 22 1/2 lb. I got loads and loads of photos, but there are all on prints. I will try do do some scans some time..

[Al21]

That perch, I thought to be a World record at the time Al, I was so excited. I think it was a junior record for the Tonbridge angling club though..

Well done you! Do you know if the record is still yours?


I used to fish a syndicate water in Sussex called Island pond, between Horsham and Crawley most the time, but I have fished most of the waters South of that area.
There is a tiny stream near the village of Cowfold, which has an amazing amount of fish in it. We used to fight our way through the undergrowth to get to it. We always caught stuff there, inc some good sized trout.

I've never fished that side of the county, I usually stayed around the gravel pits at Chi.

Not in the same league as Gareth's fish, but here's a rare shot of me with a fish:
http://i594.photobucket.com/albums/tt23/acgirling/fishing/ac-girling.jpg

I was a lot happier than I look. :) A hint of brolly camp too!

Like you Jonny, I rarely get the chance to fish now. I've had a York Amalgamation Ticket for the last four years, but have only been three times. I did manage a tiddler bashing sesh last year though. Twenty three little Perch, in an afternoon which made me feel like a kid again.

I bought a lightweight travel fly rod some year a go with the intention of catching things I can eat. It never really came to anything, but I plan to try this again. As I have boats, I also want to get on the sea to catch Mackerel on feathers etc. I used to enjoy this on trips out from LA, (that's Littlehampton, for those not from sussex. :) ) once I'd learnt how to control my bodies desire to help with the groundbaiting! :( Fresh caught Mackerel cooked on the beach is glorious, and something everyone who likes the outdoors should try.

You know, this time of year with the cold weather reminds me of the trips I'd make to fish the Rother a Easebourne for Dace and Grayling. Bronze maggots over whites with a quiver tip would get Dace to a pound and Grayling a little bigger if I was lucky. Cold dark early mornings on a TS100 with my kit strapped over me and lashed to the bike. Good stuff!

Al

[JonnyP]

Looks like a wildie Al..
I just been looking online to see if I could find the Tonbridge records, but they don't seem to list them.
Mackerel fishing is good fun. We normally go out from Looe a few times every year and nearly always catch. I don't eat fish but am happy to help out gutting them on the way back in, feeding the gang of seagulls that gather..

You mention Grayling.. That, along with barbel, are fish I have never caught. I always wanted a barbel. Even a small one would of done, and I would of liked to seen that amazing looking dorsal fin on the grayling too.. I did catch me a weird looking thing called a Ruffe once.. A cross between a perch and a gudgeon, or something like that.

I was once after pike (took me many years to catch one of them) along the river Medway, we used to fish this big wide bit which was known as the Bomb Hole, and it was meant to be good for pike, but I could not lure one. But I did catch this lovely 3 1/2 lb Chub which amazed me.. I had this big three piece plug on and all 3 trebles were hooked up in the chubs mouth. I had to get help from some older anglers up river. After that I caught many more chub on plugs (smaller ones with less hooks). I never even knew they could be caught like that..

[Al21]

I had no idea that Chub would take plugs, but then I've never caught one. Not had Barbel either, though I'd like to try my luck with both!

I love Grayling, truly lovely fish that taste really nice too!

You know, I left Scouts to spend more time fishing, and reckon I learnt more about camping on lake and river banks than I did during the few years I was a Scout. I see thing on the web these days and wish the troop I was with had had leaders with similar ideas and motivation. Ho hum, still, I've caught lots of fish! :)

Al

[garethw]

That's a great old photo Al...reminds me so much of my early days too.

Its not unusual for chub to be predatory. We even had them on live baited gudgeon on the Thames.
Only ever had one barbel from the Seine, took two huge boilies, (put out to avoid the chub), was a double figure fish too.

We used to catch loads of ruffe as kids from the grand union canal.

Never really fished waters with grayling, but must be nice to catch them on a fly.

I have gone back to my first love: Tench. One of my small lakes is ramo with them all decent size too. so it's been out with my old Bruce & Walker float rod and a tin of corn. Excellent sport.

cheers
Gareth

[raycea123]

looks like your living the dream out in france thats an amazing brace of fish buddy. i havent ventured across the chanel for carp yet because i dont want to turn up at a fisherie that has every swim taken up with 3 rods 52 weeks a year . do u no of any "wildish" places there to fish that dont see constant pressure all throu the year ? (guess i must b slightly anti social but i like the silence )

[garethw]

looks like your living the dream out in france thats an amazing brace of fish buddy. i havent ventured across the chanel for carp yet because i dont want to turn up at a fisherie that has every swim taken up with 3 rods 52 weeks a year . do u no of any "wildish" places there to fish that dont see constant pressure all throu the year ? (guess i must b slightly anti social but i like the silence )

Although its always been a dream to have a lake of my own, it all happened by accident. I was in France for over 15 years working as a photojournalist in Paris, before the opportunity to buy the lake came up...

We get a fair amount of pressure, but then so do the popular venues in the UK... I only allow a max of 5 anglers per lake, which are just over 6 & just under 8 acres... with 15 swims in all. Everyone has their own water and that I don't get excessive pressure, nothing like that which you mention. you should give it a try... the vino is good too!!!!
cheers
Gareth