crafty carper may 2016

May 2016 | Issue 225 | £4.25

INSIDE

On sale 20th April –17th May 2016

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tyca

rper

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DARREN BELTON~

DAVE LANE~

IAIN MACMILLAN~

TOM MAKER~

JOE TURNBULL~

DAVE LEVY

HOW TO TIE YOUR OWN UNIQUE ZIG >>

craftycarper.co PLUS — A CARP’S EYE VIEW OF THE UNDERWATER WORLD —

HOW TO

WINA F R E N C H

F I S HI N

G

H O L I D A Y

5 0S

THE RIG - THAT -

HELPED TO CATCH

F I V E

PIECING IT TOGETHER

TO ACHIEVECROWY

SUCCESS

>>

No.2

25

May 2

01

6G

et Crafty... GET

CATCH

ING

!

001_Cover_CC225.indd 1 11/04/2016 15:28

Crafty Carper /// Issue 225 /// May 2016 /// www.craftycarper.co

May 2016 | Issue 225 | £4.25

INSIDE


craf

tyca

rper

.co

DARREN BELTON~

DAVE LANE~

IAIN MACMILLAN~

TOM MAKER~

JOE TURNBULL~

DAVE LEVY



HOW TO

WINA F

R E N C H

F I S HI N

G

HO L I D A Y

5 0S

THE RIG - THAT -

HELPED TO CATCH

F I V E

PIECING IT TOGETHER

TO ACHIEVECROWY

SUCCESS

>>

No.2

25

May 2

01

6G

et Crafty... GET

CATCH

ING

!

001_Cover_CC225.indd 1

11/04/2016 15:28

On the cover: Crafty regular, Simon Crow, with the stunning Floppy Tail.

4 Crafty Carper

39 Putting The Pieces Together – Simon Crow

By getting lots of information about

the two lakes he was going to fish,

Simon pieced it all together to catch

his target fish – Floppy Tail.

— A CARP’S EYE VIEW OF THE UNDERWATER WORLD —

23 Under Pressure – Andrew Gardner Amphibious angler Andrew Gardner

has dived many waters across the UK, and

has seen many things which, for many of

us, would be hard to believe. Have you ever

thought that depth could affect the buoyancy

of your bait? Here, Andrew sheds some light

on what’s really happening in deeper water.

102 Give ’Em Enough Rope – Ian Stott To catch one 50lb+ carp is a

huge achievement, but Ian Stott aced that

when he recently banked his fifth 50 in 5

months, a truly outstanding achievement.

Here is the rig that helped him do it.

14 Brocard Competition This is your chance to win a superb

holiday for two, worth £500, on the 39-

acre Brocard Large Lake, which is nestled

in the heart of the Champagne region of

France, just 4 hours’ drive from Calais.

7 Editorial – Steve Broad After planning more time

on the bank this month, Steve

reveals how it didn’t quite

happen after grabbing just a

couple of short sessions.

10 Getting Ziggy On Wraysbury –

Tom Oliver

Ringing the changes when nothing

is working can often get you that all-

important bite. Here, Tom proves the

point when he swapped to a Zig on

RK Leisure’s historic Wraysbury, and

it really did make all the difference.

18 Building Blocks – Darren Belton

How much bait to feed, and how

often, is an essential skill to learn

to achieve consistent success. Here,

Darren reveals some of the tricks

he uses to help build a swim.

28 The Rig Mechanic – Ellis Brazier

Zig bugs are all the rage at the

moment, and are deadly at this

time of year. Here, Ellis reveals how

to tie his unique pattern which

really does do the business.

32 New Horizons – Tom Morrison

Crafty Carper editorial staff writer,

Tom Morrison, is familiar with

tackling silty and shallow waters,

having caught fish from all over

the country. Here he ventures to

a water new to him, so let’s see

how he dealt with the challenge.

46 Late Spring – Dave Lane This season is definitely

one of two halves, and this month,

Dave looks at the second part

of spring, when the carp behave

differently to how they do in March.

54 Hitting The Bar – Tom Maker

Tom has been successfully tackling

gravel pits for a number of years,

and knows the importance of

understanding the lakebed in front

of him. Here’s how he finds the right

places to position his rigs in order

to consistently catch big carp.

60 The Question IsEllis Brazier, John

Kneebone, Mick Tuck, Mitch Smith,

Simon Crow, and Rich Adams

answer questions sent in by Crafty

readers, ranging from information

on particles, to dumping a lead.

004-005_Contents_CC225.indd 1 11/04/2016 15:32

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110 Crafty Carper Crafty Carper 111

May 2016 | Issue 225 | £4.25

INSIDE


craf

tyca

rper

.co

DARREN BELTON~

DAVE LANE~

IAIN MACMILLAN~

TOM MAKER~

JOE TURNBULL~

DAVE LEVY



HOW TO

WINA F R E N C H

F I S H I N G

H O L I D A Y

5 0S

THE RIG - THAT -

HELPED TO CATCH

F I V E

PIECING IT TOGETHER

TO ACHIEVECROWY

SUCCESS

>>

No.225 May 2016Get Crafty... GET CATCHING!

001_Cover_CC225.indd 1 08/04/2016 17:01

110-111_RGSubOffer_CC224.indd 1-2 11/04/2016 14:35

Contents /// May 2016

Crafty Carper 5

32

67 CC Under-21s Blog – Dan Price

With a bit of time off from sixth

form, Dan decided to make

the most of it by cramming in

as much fishing as possible,

and he was lucky enough to

bag one or two as well.

69 Carp FoodThis month, editor

Steve Broad takes a look RG Baits’

365, what’s new in carp food,

Baitology Breakdown Pellets,

the new Kiana Goo, DNA Baits’

The Switch, and the King Prawn

freezer bait from Crafty Catcher.

77 Changing the Guard – Simon Crow

Crowy looks back over 13

fantastic years of BYCAC,

and looks to the future

of this great event.

83 Carpers’ KitThis month, we take a

look at what’s new in the world

of tackle, including new reels from

Nash, clothing from Phat Fish, and

products from JRC and many more.

91 The Importance Of Applying It

Right – Dave Levy

We headed south (to Essex)

to catch up with the author of

Fallen Kings, Dave Levy, to talk

all things bait application. There

are several forms of bait, and

various ways to get bait out. Dave

reveals exactly what he does to

make sure his bait is applied in the

right way, and at the right time.

97 The Art Of Boilie Fishing – Iain Macmillan

We joined Iain Macmillan at Baden

Hall’s Quarry Lake to give us the ins

and outs of his very successful and

preferred style of angling – boilie

fishing. Are you doing it right?

106 The Great Crafty Carper Debate

We ask our experts: At this time

of year, what is the most common

mistake you see other anglers make,

when a small change could make a

big difference to their catch results?

110 Subscription OfferGet your copy of

Crafty Carper delivered to your

door each month, and save

yourself the hassle of trekking

down to your local newsagents.

113 Catch Column Sponsored

by Sticky Baits

This is the place to get your catch

picture published, so send them in to

us, and you’re in with the chance of a

great prize, courtesy of Sticky Baits.

121 Rig Special – Julian Cundiff

To finish off Julian’s run of all

things riggy, it’s time to put

the final touches to his very

successful setup, which is simple

to use and works great in a whole

range of angling scenarios.

126 The TicketMasterThis month we

feature two venues: the famous

Linear complex, and East

Delph Lakes in Peterborough.

Be sure to take advantage of

the free fishing on offer in

this issue of TicketMaster.

128 InboxKeep up to date

with all the latest news and views

from around the carp-angling

scene, along with JRC’s Every

Picture Tells A Story competition.

130 Mega DealsThere’s always a

bargain to be had in Mega Deals,

from some of the leading retailers

in the industry, so check it out

and pick up some great offers.

110

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004-005_Contents_CC225.indd 2 11/04/2016 15:33

Crafty Carper 39

PUTTING THE E SC

S i m o n C r o w

ToGETHEr

P

By getting lots of information about the two lakes he was going to fish,

Simon pieced it all together to catch his target fish – Floppy Tail.

I E

039-043_Crowy_CC225.indd 1 05/04/2016 11:01

40 Crafty Carper

Once spring is on its way, i

always itch to get the rods

out because i’m very much a

weather watcher during the winter. my

fishing time is precious and i want to

make the most of my available time,

so as winter turns to spring, i will have

sorted all my tickets well in advance. i

rarely settle for just one ticket a year.

i usually have my sights set on two

or three different waters, and switch

from one to the other depending on

the state of play. if one of the lakes

is busy or the biggie has been out,

or one isn’t fishing particularly well,

it ensures i have something to fall

back on. This is standard procedure

in my carping approach, and one

of the best examples i can give to

demonstrate this was back in 2013.

i had a great season’s fishing that

year, all based in north Lincolnshire,

which is about 40 minutes from my East

Yorkshire home. The two lakes i chose

to fish were ideal for my overnighters

in between work, and both contained

some terrific fish. my main target was

an old 40lb mirror known as Floppy

Tail from woldview, with the other

being a real brute of a fish called one

Pec from the mesters syndicate.

The year started very differently

from the previous one because spring

was late in arriving. There were heavy

frosts well into April, and neither

water switched on until mid-may.

They were so slow turning on that i

was actually scratching my head at

the start of my campaigns, wondering

if i was doing something wrong.

i’d heard from the regulars on

mesters that the angler numbers

usually dwindled away once the weed

came up in may, so i started the year

on woldview. However, i was soon

switching between the two when

hardly anything came out. i couldn’t

seem to get settled, which did worry me

a little, because target fishing always

involves a certain amount of tunnel

vision if you are to succeed. Eventually,

a pattern began to emerge on mesters,

which i needed to capitalise on. A few

fish started to be caught from a large

bay which was known to be the early

season hot spot. The bay was roughly

a couple of acres in size, and

there were no night-fishing

swims which had access to

it, other than a couple

on the far

bank known as Cabin and

Second out of The woods.

The lake was quite busy into may but

angler pressure began to drop off as we

entered the third week of the month,

and i found myself setting up in Cabin.

Conditions were absolutely spot on for

carp and i spent a lot of time looking

for fish. There were loads on show

and i was brimming with confidence

as i set up the Titan, because none of

the biggies had yet been out. it was

obvious where my three rods needed

to be. Directly opposite the swim was

a thick band of reeds, which led into

the bay where the fish were. There

was an opening in the reeds leading

to the bay, and i dropped all three

rods nice and tight to the reedline.

while having a walk around earlier in

the day, i’d spread 100 or so boilies

right on the edge of the reeds.

Everything felt right for the night

ahead, and i just knew this was the time

when things were going to happen for

me. i was dead right too, as just before

first light i got lucky and netted one of

the A-Team members known as Drop

Tail Linear, at just short of 30lb. That

same week i added several other fish

to my tally, including some nice 20s,

topped by another A-Team fish called

Blind Eye. i was absolutely buzzing.

A week later, i was back again for

an overnighter in between work. The

odd fish had been out since i was last

down, and it was just what i wanted

to see when i arrived because

the Cabin Swim was free.

i was all set up in a

flash to claim my spot,

before setting off on

a walk round to go

carp spotting and

spread a bit of

bait down

Putting The Pieces TogetherSimon Crow

The Beast at 34lb 8oz, caught off the top.

Job done – One Pec at 35lb 2oz.

We did some of the early testing with Key boilies

on Woldview during 2013.

039-043_Crowy_CC225.indd 2 05/04/2016 11:01

Crafty Carper 41


The left-hander was my prime rod, and

i put this in the spot from where i’d

landed Drop Tail Linear the week before.

At first light, i woke to the sound

of the rain tapping on the bivvy. i had

one eye on the lake and another closed

as i dozed in the magical moment. it

felt perfect for a biggie. i drifted in and

out of sleep, waiting for something to

happen. An hour must have passed as i

half-slept and wished for something to

break the silence. i don’t know why, but

for some reason i sat up on the bedchair

and had a good look out over my spots.

As i did so, right on cue, a large fish

head and shouldered to the left of

where my left-hander was positioned.

i sat and watched, with my eyes

fixed on where it showed for what must

have been 10 minutes, contemplating

whether to recast or sit tight. From

the direction the fish surfaced, it was

likely to be heading towards the bay

and over my left-hander, so i laid back

down, patiently hoping something

would break. The next thing i remember

is getting out of the bag and into my

shoes as the left-hander tightened up.

The Siren gave only a couple of bleeps,

because i was fishing locked up to

prevent the fish from making the reeds.

i gently eased it towards me and out

into open water, where it came to life.

it didn’t feel like a biggie until i had it

in the margins, where it ploughed

up and down the deep

and weedless margin

for the next 5

minutes. i could

just make out a

large pale flank

as it turned

and tried to

flick the line

with its tail. it

was then when

i realised i had

a very decent fish

on the end, before i

scooped it up with the net. i

drew it towards me, and there was

no mistaking which one it was. i had

the most sought-after fish in the lake,

one Pec, at a very healthy 35lb 2oz.

The Legendary Floppy Tail

with one Pec in the bag, i turned my

sights back towards woldview, where

i’d heard things were beginning to

kick off. i was really looking forward

to getting my teeth into this water.

it is simply stunning, surrounded by

open countryside set at the foot of

the Lincolnshire wolds, and it also

contains some terrific fish. Floppy Tail

is its most prized resident, a really old

carp steeped in carping history dating

back over 25 years. There are said to

be around 70-odd carp in the water,

including three or four 30s at the right

time of year. Backing up Floppy is a very

angry carp known as The Beast, which

hovers around the mid-30s bracket.

By the time i returned to woldview,

Floppy Tail had already graced the

banks. The carp had clearly come to

life and i was looking at a completely

different lake to the one i had visited

earlier in the year. Everywhere i looked

was lush green, and there were carp

on show up and down the

8 acres of water.

if i’m honest, i

hadn’t really got

to grips with

the water at

the beginning

of spring.

Although

i landed a

few fish, i was

receiving a lot of

aborted takes and lifts,

which i knew were fish

‘doing me’. i’d been using 20mm

boilies and fairly short 10ins rigs, so i

went back with a fresh approach. i was

convinced that i needed to lengthen my

links to 12ins, as well as drop down a

size in bait to 16mm. The other big thing

on my mind was that a lot of the bigger

fish were coming out in the day. with me

being an overnight man, i knew i had to

sort things out to put me in with a good

chance of getting amongst the bigger

fish. i made plans to stay a bit longer

to see if i ended up any better off.

my fresh approach

seemed to do the trick,

“My main target was an old 40lb mirror known as

Floppy Tail from Woldview, with the other being a real

brute of a fish called One Pec from the Mesters syndicate”

Early spring, and all set up for an overnighter.

You won’t find a more mature lake than Mesters in the north.

the reedline. An hour later i’d seen what

i wanted, because there were carp all

over the bay, going in and out of the

area via the opening in the reeds.

i fired my middle rod towards the

middle, with my right-hander going

where the reeds trickled off

and a set of pads started to

emerge. i’d seen a fish poke

its head out in this area,

and was quite confident of

something coming from there.

039-043_Crowy_CC225.indd 3 05/04/2016 11:01


42 Crafty Carper

and within no time i started to put

the pieces of the jigsaw together. i

began with a really good catch from

an area known as Bald Corner, where

i stumbled across the entire stock one

evening. i’d certainly sorted things

out because all my takes were now

full-blooded one-toners. i also had a

few off the top, including the second

biggest in the lake, The Beast, at

a cracking weight of 34lb 8oz.

As summer faded into autumn, i was

stacking up the carp. i had a baiting

campaign going really well in one

particular area, and was catching carp

from there almost every trip, including

quite a few in the hours of darkness. i

kept up the work of baiting and baiting,

hoping that sooner or later i would

bump into the one i most wanted. i

knew i wasn’t far off because i was

beginning to repeat on some of the fish.

Floppy Tail was well overdue, as he’d

hardly been caught during the season.

By mid-September i found myself

in a swim known as willow, doing an

overnighter. The lake was really busy

with anglers and i was full of cold, and

didn’t really want to be out fishing.

Something kept driving

me on though, so

i dropped the

rods onto the

spots i’d been

targeting. i was

baiting the area

with all sorts

of seeds, nuts

and boilies. it

was actually during

this season when

i started using the first

test batches of the now famous

Key boilies from nash Bait. it was

known as Key 6 back in those days.

Something felt good about the

night, and just an hour into dark i had

a 21lb common. when i hit the sack

a short while later, i never heard a

sound until 5.00 a.m., when my left-

hand rod signalled two bleeps. The

line tightened up and the indicator

was touching the butt, and i just

knew i had a good fish on the end.

it was very slowly kiting on a tight

line around to my left, leaving a niggling

little voice in the back of my head that

it could be Floppy. i did my best to lean

into it but it didn’t work,

and the next thing i heard was the

reeds in the margin to my left bending

away. it was almost in the next-door

swim by the sound of it, and i had no

alternative other than to stick my chest

waders on and go for a look. Keeping

the line tight, i stepped into the water

and reeled my way to it. it was only

just into the reeds, so i placed the net

in a safe position, lifted the rod tip

high, and turned on my headtorch to

sort it. i caught a very quick glimpse

of what was most definitely a carp

as i flicked the line off a stem. it

looked clear of the obstruction, and

knowing it was free, i guided the

fish towards the safety of my net.

There was no mistaking which one it

was. Having been uncaught for almost

3 months, and looking down in weight

at 38lb 8oz in June, Floppy Tail had

clearly bulked out since then. it looked

a heck of a lot better, with some great

colour to its flanks. i hoisted it up and

watched the needle go past 40, to settle

on a fantastic weight of 40lb 10oz!

i had a big smile on my face, and i took

in the moment and thought of the great

memories i had from the season just gone.

mesters and woldview had been very kind

to me. it had started off quite tough, but

in the end everything had come together

nicely, making it a season to remember. CC

The Mesters carp were some of the most hard-fighting fish I’ve come across.

“I had a big smile on my face, and I took in the

moment and thought of the great memories I had from

the season just gone”

Putting the pieces together. A gorgeous scaly mirror.

One of eight in a day.

039-043_Crowy_CC225.indd 4 05/04/2016 11:01

28 Crafty Carper

For some, rigs are the be-all

and end-all in their pursuit

of carp, but for me, as I have

expressed many times in the past,

they are just a vehicle that helps

me achieve my aims. In saying this

though, I do try to apply experiences

gained in all the forms of fishing I

have encountered over the years. This

month I am taking a look at Zigs.

I used to write for this publication,

which saw me fish a different public

access water each month, and Zigs

were responsible for the greatest

catch of the entire series. We had over

60 carp in 24hrs, between two of us,

with just one rod each because it was

impossible to fish two. It was the right

method for the right conditions; the

true ingredients for success, no matter

where you fish or what you fish for. It is

this desire to create something in which

I have more confidence while angling

up in the water that has led to the

presentation I am writing about today.

For me, the static piece of foam

fished in isolation has been the hardest

thing about Zigs to get my head around.

Don’t get me wrong, I fish lures for

many different species, so the concept

is nothing new. As more and more Zig

bugs hit the market, I became a little

more interested, but when most were

tried, I soon seemed to lose confidence

in my approach. If I wanted to fish this

method more often, I needed to go back

to basics. I had to start from scratch and

develop an approach I was happy with.

Zig bugs are all the rage at the moment and are deadly at this time of year. Here, Ellis reveals how to tie his unique pattern which adds a little movement to a standard version.

TheRigMechanic

ELLIS BRAZIER

028-030_RigMechanic_CC225.indd 1 06/04/2016 12:46

Crafty Carper 29

“For me, the static piece oF Foam Fished in

isolation has been the hardest thing

about Zigs to get my head around”


30 Crafty Carper

the rig mechanicEllis Brazier

To create a cracking multi-coloured effect, which makes it more visual, I use two different types of marabou fibres before gluing them.

I take a Size 4 Aberdeen worm hook which has purpose-designed bait retention barbs on the shank, and clamp it firmly in my fly-tying vice.

After cutting off the bend of the hook to create a spike, it can then be pushed into an Avid Zig Lite to create a perfect Zig bug.

To start with, I whip from the eye to the first barb on the shank of the hook. This acts as the base that the marabou fibres grip to.

Here is a variety of different colour options. All you have to do is part the marabou and tie the Hair to the exposed hookeye.

The first batch of black marabou is carefully whipped in the middle, ready to fold over to give it more body when it is fixed in place.

How To TIE youR own unIQuE ZIG BuG

1

4

2

5

3

6

or real bait. The main advantage with

them though, is that they have given

me the confidence to fish them for

longer and in more situations, which

in turn has given me more chance of

carp which I wouldn’t have caught by

fishing on the bottom. I hope that if

you try them, they work for you. CC

inset: My preferred lead arrangement for Zigs. One of the very first fish I caught on this presentation.

“my conclusion was that i

merely try to pick something that

vaguely suits the situation but gives the representation

oF being alive”

The concept of not flavouring a

Zig is understandable. If a carp has

no way of knowing through scent/

taste that an object is food, then the

only other way to decide is to eat

it. Next came the problem of how

static a piece of foam or rubber fished

suspended in midwater could be. I can

accept that we are trying to mimic

an object which could be food, such

as a snail or water beetle, but I find

a static lump of foam just does not

cut it for me. The many different Zig

bugs available go some way to solving

the problem, but for me, the absence

of a Hair, as most, if not all, are tied

directly to a hook, is a major negative

point. I appreciate that flies, which are

tied in the same way (directly to the

hook), catch fish because I have fly-

fished for most of my life. However,

most flies are moving, either by the

angler, the current or the wind, and I

believe this movement helps with the

illusion of life and with the hooking

properties. The other thing with flies

and lures is that when the bait is

tested by the fish, the angler strikes,

which is a luxury we don’t have with

a static Zig. We have to rely on the

lead’s resistance for a strike, and

over the years this has been

proved to not be 100%

effective, even with

short hooklengths

and complex Hair Rigs.

I feel that given the

fact that the hooklink

could be several feet long,

the best we can do is give the lead

a fighting chance and put a Hair on

the rig. I needed a Hair Rig Zig bug

that had some form of movement.

I again dissected my fly-fishing,

and questioned just what I wanted

to achieve when picking a fly to

match an angling situation. My

conclusion was that I merely try

to pick something that vaguely

suits the situation but gives the

representation of being alive. For

me, there was only one material that

would provide movement and life to

the degree I required underwater,

and this was marabou feather fibres.

The effectiveness of these Zigs,

as compared to just a standard piece

of foam, is hard to quantify, but if

you take the trouble to tie one and

then check it out in a glass of water,

you will see the life-imitating

properties

it exhibits.

For me, they are working just fine so

far, and have produced carp on waters

where Zigs are not rated. I have even

caught other species, such as perch,

which I see as a positive aspect

because I have only caught these

before on moving

flies, lures,


craf

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NEXT MONTH’S ISSUE ON SalE: Wednesday 18th may 2016

NEXT MONTH IN crafTy carpEr

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