Carping Allegedly - August 21

In the April edition of CARPology, I wrote about my final few days with Nutrabaits, and I may have inadvertently given the impression that Nutrabaits acted unprofessionally in relation to my departure from the company; this was certainly not my intention!

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, of course, and had I been blessed with such a privilege, I would not have made some of the comments I did. In my defence, though, Nutrabaits was a huge part of my life for the best part of thirty-five years, and my emotions were probably running a little too high at the time of writing.

It has also been suggested that I was possibly being critical of the quality of the ingredients used by Nutrabaits, and of some of their products. The quality and effectiveness of these products cannot be bettered!

It is impossible to write a satirical monthly column such as ‘Carping Allegedly’ without making reference to my time with Nutrabaits on occasions, and I will continue to do so as and when relevant. When all is said and done, although I am no longer a Nutrabaits user, the brand is, and always will be very close to my heart, and I am very happy to see them doing so well through these most difficult of times.

Hanging On The Telephone
As I write, I have just finished watching England ease past Croatia 1–0 at the start of EURO 2020—held in June and July, 2021! Whilst not a brilliant display, it was a good start to a tournament that promises much. The game was made even more enjoyable by the fact that a limited number of spectators were in attendance at Wembley. The reasons for spectators not being allowed into grounds over the last eighteen months are obvious, and their exclusion was necessary, but it undoubtedly took a lot away from the atmosphere. Taped cheering, singing and booing played over tannoy systems just didn’t cut it as far as I was concerned. 

The cameramen at the England game went to great pains to continually remind us that a crowd of sorts, was in attendance, but it amazed me that every time the camera panned to the crowd, so many folk were on their phones. I was aware of a similar phenomenon at the Etihad Stadium a number of years ago. In common with everyone in our block, the missus and I had paid around six million quid for prime seats to see Bruce Springsteen, and the couple who were sitting immediately in front of us spent the best part of three and a half hours on their phones! I just don’t get it; you get yourself the opportunity to see one of the biggest live attractions on the planet up close and personal, and you spend most of your time swiping left or right—or whichever way you are supposed to swipe—on Tinder!

Phones seemingly run our lives these days, and technology has come on leaps and bounds. When I tell my granddaughter that it wasn’t that many years ago that for me to be able to ring home from France, I used to have to prepay credit onto a card and then attempt to find a phone box so that I could get through to an international operator, who would then contact the wife to ask if she would accept a call from overseas, she looks at me like I had just arrived from Mars!

These days, of course, three-year-olds can post live feeds from the bank of any lake in the world on Facebook, without even pausing their game of Candy Crush. I am not entirely sure, though, whether all this modern mobile-phone technology is an aid to catching carp. For sure, they do come in useful if your pal is on the opposite bank of an inland sea and he wants to tell you that fish have shown up in front of him. I am pretty certain too, that the media and news companies love the speed at which they can receive big-fish stories live from the bank, but seeing groups of anglers all sitting in a circle with their heads buried in their latest iPhone, cannot possibly be conducive to efficient fish spotting.

I must confess, I would be lost without my phone during a session. I use it predominantly for ringing the better half, studying the weather forecast and checking how many goals the mighty Sheffield Wednesday have lost by on a Saturday afternoon. Texting, WhatsApping mates and having a quick skeg on Facebook and the like are restricted to the hours of darkness, when my listeners rather than my eyes tend to be the key to accurate fish location. Wasting hour upon hour of daylight attempting to discover just how much weight actors have lost in the last ten years, or looking at Google views of the inside of footballer’s houses aren’t for me… for my money, a view of a carp lake is far more interesting than thirty-six different shots of Gary Neville’s gaff! 

The Best Laid Plans…
It sounds obvious, but the first, and arguably most important decision you will need to make in advance of a trip to France is in regard to your choice of venue, and its suitability to the anglers in your party. It is imperative that the people you are travelling with are all singing from the same hymn sheet. Let’s face it, if some of you are looking to bag up with numbers of fish, and some of you are wanting just the occasional chance from a really big fish, your trip is unlikely to please everybody. So, ensure the guys in your group are all like-minded individuals who fully understand what is likely to lie ahead. 

I would also never dream of travelling abroad with the type of angler whose head is likely to drop if the trip doesn’t particularly go according to plan. It is rare for every angler in the group to do well, and an angler prone to having his or her chin on the floor by Tuesday if they haven’t caught, will only serve to drag everyone else down. Personally, and having learned the hard way, these days I would travel overseas only with anglers I know well and have fished with in the past.

It is also vitally important that you choose your venue carefully. Having decided what type of water you are looking for, do your homework and ensure that the water actually provides what it claims. A number of unscrupulous lake owners in France choose to make outrageous claims about their waters and what they hold. Do your best, therefore, to ensure that you are not fooled by unsubstantiated claims, or rumour. These days, with Google and social media, it shouldn’t take long to find out the basic facts about your planned destination. 

When I first began fishing in France, every lake claimed to have thirties. A few years later they all contained forties and fifties, and now it appears they are all home to sixties, or bigger. I hate to be the bringer of bad news, but although really big fish are obviously more common than they once were, lakes that hold genuine sixty-plusses or bigger, are still very much the exception, rather than the rule.

I have always enjoyed trying to work things out for myself, and personally, I have never been a fan of pestering people I know have fished a particular lake. I will, though, quite happily scour the internet and browse through the magazines for any piece of information—no matter how small—which might help me. A basic knowledge of stocking levels, depths, swim and freezer availability, weed growth, house rules and the climatic conditions you are likely to encounter at the time of year your trip takes place, will all be beneficial.

Having too much information prior to a trip, or picking the brains of the bailiff or regulars on arrival, aren’t for me either. Knowing who caught what the previous week, and knowing where they fished and how much bait they tipped in, does little but mess with your head and affect the way you will begin your approach. Personally, I would rather know nothing, and attempt to work things out for myself.