Good God – what’s happened to the weather? The other night, whilst nipping to the 24hr garage to restock on Red Bull and other caffeine-based products, the temperature gauge in my car was reading 13°C – that’s at 11.30p.m. And according to the experts, this spring is meant to be a repeat of last year – i.e. warm, and by the looks of it that T-Shirt (well, not quite) wearing weather has already arrived.
            To be fair, last spring was good to me. A cracking trip to France and a couple of 24hr trips on Waveney Valley’s G Lake resulted in almost 20 fish. However, thanks to the knowledge we’ve all picked up off Jason Hayward and his super-sharp sticky hooks I’m hoping all those single bleeps I got last time round will turn into one-toners this time.
            And whilst some of you might not have been dangling for the last few months and be in much tender need of some inspiration, we’ve got this month’s cover star, Jamie Smith (page 32) to tell you how he does it – fishing just days, on limited time and minimum amounts of bait. It clearly works, as that forty-pounder he’s holding proves.
            Now, far be it for CARPology to come over all ‘expertish’ (we commission our writers to do that), but it dawned on me whilst taking part in this month’s Celebrity Cricket Fishing that germs (maggots) aren’t the be-all-and-end-all of winter/spring fishing. Whilst Milky and I puffed out our chests as we loaded up large bags of maggots convinced we’d rape the place, it was bright hookbaits that won the day – and the match. Read about it all on page 54.
            And talking of spring fishing, we’ve got Li’l Nige and Ben Hamilton (page 48) serving up knowledge, advice and edges by the boatload on the subject – along with a couple of twenties caught for the camera to prove they work.
            Enjoy the issue and don’t forget we’re 50th next month! By George is that going to be one hell of an issue.

Joe Wright, Editor

Words: Keith Moors, Jamie Smith, Jason Hayward, Ali Hamidi, Jed Kent, Leon Bartropp, Nigel Sharp, Keith Sykes, Scott ‘Geezer’ Grant, Simon Scott, and Pete Regan. Pictures: Ali Hamidi, Jed Kent, Leon Bartropp, Jason Hayward, Jamie Smith, Ben Hamilton, Scott ‘Geezer’ Grant, Nigel Sharp, Keith Moors, Keith Sykes, Pete Regan, Hall of Fame entries and various tackle companies. Special thanks this month to: Jamie Smith, The Tackle Box in Kent and Marsh Pratley.