A very busy start to 2011

I’ve been so busy since the beginning of the year that I haven’t got round to updating my blog. So here’s a round-up of what’s been happening. I’ve had shows and open days pretty much every weekend since January! The shows are a great opportunity to meet carp anglers and talk everything carpy and it gives me and the Big Carp Team the opportunity to show our new products and answer your questions. Have a look at the Team’s blogs and see what they have all been up to.

We changed the layout of our catalogue this year and the reaction has been very positive. We’ve also been working hard on the new website and particularly the Club and Big Carp TV sections of the website, which has video clips which we are organising into categories. It’s a work in progress and we will be adding a new clip every week, so that there is always new information coming into the site and it will keep it fresh and lively. The same applies to the News area which will be updated on a regular basis.

The open days started for me this year in Belgium at Hainaut Peche. Team Big Carp Belgium members Arnaud Minsart and Benoit Bruneau were with me on the stand to help. It is always a big show and there were over 6000 visitors over the weekend.

After that I went to a show at Terres et Eaux near Lille, in France. I was joined by Big Carp Team member Jean Philippe Provenzano and his wife Michelle. Again, lots of visitors and a busy and successful weekend.

This year we have taken on a distributor for the Czech Republic, called Carp Servis. I went to Prague for their annual carp show and the Carp Servis stand was very busy. I had a translator with me all the time as the Czech language is like Chinese to me! It went really well and the reaction from the Czech anglers was really positive.

Next was a show at Vendee Peche Chasse on the 11/12 march with team member Jerome Herve. This was my first visit to this region and this shop does a great job selling Big Carp products in that area. Organisation was excellent and the sales team of Danny and Christophe are experienced carp anglers and did a great job over the 2 days.

April fools day turned out to be very memorable! I arrived at the Easyjet check in desk at precisely 06.h53. The Easy Jet rules say check-in latest 40 minutes before take-off. My plane was scheduled for 07.30, so I was 3 minutes late! Yes, you’ve guessed it. No way was I getting on that plane. I couldn’t believe it, and for just 3 minutes!

I called Thierry who was to meet me at Lyon airport. He thought it was an April fool – sorry Thierry, I had missed the plane.

All the other Easyjet flights were full but fortunately I was able to get on a British airways flight in the afternoon. It made it a very expensive trip, as there was no refund for the Easy Jet flight and I had to fork out for an expensive British Airways ticket. It was well worth making the effort though, as Nevers Peche had gone to a lot of effort to advertise and there were plenty of visitors which made the Saturday a very successful day.

Last weekend was the last show of the spring, at Fonisto near Valenciennes in France. Gerald and his team did a fantastic job of organising the show and carp anglers came from all over the north of France and the south of Belgium. We showed them the new products in the range and answered lots of questions on how to get the best from Big Carp products.

It was a very enjoyable weekend but I’m glad it’s over as that was the last show for this spring. I can finally relax, think about getting the rods out and enjoy the sunshine.

I did manage to find a few days for fishing the week before last and I flew down to Montpelier to spend a few days fishing with Thomas Flauger. Thomas is a really well known carp angler and he particularly likes fishing short sessions for carp or catfish from his small inflateable boat – right up my street.

The Rhone was in flood, so we fished another small river near his home. With the boat positioned just upstream of some fallen trees, we dropped in a handful of pellets and boilies and then drifted our float fished paste baits just in front of the fallen branches in about 8’ of water, only a couple of rod lengths from the boat. It wasn’t long before the first bite and a wild 15lb common was pulling really hard to get back in the snags. Several other carp followed during the morning and we caught some lovely fish up to mid 20s. it was great fun and exciting fishing. I’ll tell you all about it in a more detailed article.

Bye for now.

John

An italian 70 to end the year!

Sometimes everyting just turns out right. October last year and a four day session at a new lake in Italy turned out to be one of those sessions.

First take and a new lake record at just over 70lbs!!!
What an amazing fish and that was just the beginning of an amazing session. I'll tell you more about it in a detailed article.

A 70 to end the year!

What a fantastic way to end the year! I flew to Italy in October for a 4 day session to make a DVD with our new distributor Milo, to launch Big Carp products for the Italian market. We fished a public lake I had never fished before, with a good head of good sized carp and a record at just over 60lbs.

A monster 32kg mirror and new lake record - yesssssss!!!!!!!!!

I’ll tell you more about it in a detailed article but let’s just say it turned out to be an incredible session – my first take was a new lake record, a 70lb+ mirror!!! Yes, 70lb. An absolute monster and my biggest ever carp.

Tiger Line website now up and running

The Tiger Line website with PayPal facility is now on-line click here.

Tiger Line, Armure Leader and Mirage XT

Results on our new Tiger line have been fantastic. Don’t take my word for it, have a look at the Cemex carp forum and you’ll find loads of glowing reviews from happy anglers. Tiger line really is a superb fluorocarbon main line.
We have taken the technology used in our Tiger line to produce two other fantastic fluorocarbon products: Armure Leader and Mirage XT.

Armure Leader
The Ultimate Fluorocarbon Shock leader.
Armure Leader is a 100% fluorocarbon with outstanding abrasion resistance in weed, snags and over gravel, stones and zebra mussels. Like our Tiger Line, it sinks quickly and completely and is virtually invisible on the bottom. Armure Leader is available on 50m spools in 4 different diameters/breaking strains, so you can choose the perfect leader for the conditions.
The 0.37mm and 0.43mm are perfect as shock leaders for long range fishing.
The 0.47mm and 0.60mm are incredibly strong and abrasion resistant and are perfect for fishing over the worst gravel bars and sharp snags.
All 50m spools Armure Leader
Armure Leader 50m spool 0.37mm & 0.43mm　: £12.90
Armure Leader 50m spool 0.47mm & 0.60mm　: £15.90
　
Mirage XT
The Perfect Fluorocarbon Hook Link
Mirage XT is virtually invisible in water, has exceptional knot strength and abrasion resistance and you won’t find a better fluorocarbon hook link material.
Available on 15m spools in 4 different diameters/breaking strains: 0.28mm(10lb); 0.31mm(12lb); 0.33mm(16lb); 0.37mm(20lb); 0.43mm(25lb); 0.47mm(35lb).
All Mirage XT 15m spools　: £5.90

Tiger Line

I've finally decided on a name for our fluorocarbon line and we are going to call it Tiger Line: perfectly camouflaged and very difficult to see; extremely strong; stealth; stalks its prey.....
Big Carp Tiger Line is available on 300m and 1000m spools in 10lb, 12lb, 16lb and 20lb.
I have had lots of very positive endorsements from anglers who have been using our line and feed back on the forums as been excellent.
I will post more info' about Tiger Line on my blog but in the meantime contact me by email at info@bigcarp.com, or tel' John at 01189 342123.

Big carp and cat fish

Many years ago, when I was at school, I used to regularly go fishing with three mates, Graham, his brother Steve and Mark. We’ve kept in touch over the years but we hadn’t been fishing together for a very long time, nearly 35 years in fact. I met Mark last year for a few days lure fishing and we talked about organising a week fishing with all four of us. Steve lives in America, Mark lives in Basle on the Swiss border and Graham and I live in England, so it required a lot of organisation.

We decided to fish for catfish on the river Saone for the first two days and nights and then fish for carp for three days.


Me, Graham, Mark and Steve with two monster catfish

I organised the cat fishing with two young guides, Tony and Jerome of Sensation. This was a new experience for us and it was with lots of excitement and anticipation that we met on the banks of the river Saone near Macon. Tony and Jerome organised everything and it was a fantastic two days fishing. We had a guide and boat for two anglers and we started with vertical fishing using lob worms and squid. It was fascinating to watch the reaction of the cats to the sound of the Klonk and we could clearly see the fish coming up off the bottom towards the bait.

Me wih one of our guides Jerome with a nice fish caught vertical fishing with lobworms, a very exciting method

We caught plenty of cats to 40lbs on the first day and the, in the evening we returned to the camp and set up rods with big live baits – 4lb live baits! These were attached to a big buoy anchored out in the main river, using a short length of 15lb line which would break on the take. The line was really tightened to the buoy, the rod placed upright in a beach caster type of rod rest and a simple bell clipped to the rod tip. Tony explained that when a cat fish took the bait, the 15lb linewould snap and the rod would spring back registering the take.

Once all 6 rods had been baited and set up, Tony and Jerome prepared a tasty dinner and we opened a bottle of lovely red wine.
Later that evening one of the rods pulled down hard and graham was in. After a spirited fight, Graham landed a lovely cat fish of over 40lbs. Shortly after, another rod went and Mark was attached to a much bigger fish. This was a much harder fight and when we first saw the fish in the torch light we realised why, it was massive. This one measured 2.02m and Tony estimated it at 70kgs, a massive fish.

Just before light another rod went and Steve found himself attached to a very angry cat fish that was ripping line off a very tight clutch. This was clearly another very big fish and Tony, Steve and I got in the boat as the fish continued to take line. It was a fantastic fight. Even with the powerful rod and strong braided main line the fish just towed the boat around for 25 minutes. It was a real battle and we saw the fish several times before Tony was able to grab it with his gloved hands. Back on the bank, the huge cat fish was measured and was exactly the same length as the other big one at 2.02m. A brace of 70kg + cats, what a result.

A brace of 150lb+ catfish

The following day we fished again from the boats catching several more cats with the biggest at 30kgs. It was a fantastic two days fishing and we caught 21 cats in total, ranging from the smallest at about 2lbs to the two biggest at well over 150lbs. Tony and Jerome were fantastic guides and I would recommend them to anyone interested in fishing the Saone. They are also experienced carp anglers and it is possible to organise a trip with them combining cats and carp. Have a look at their website http://www.sensationpeche.com/ or contact me by email and I’ll give you some more information.

We then went to a lake I know in the mountains not far from Lyon. The lake is only open for day fishing, so we booked into a local campsite. The fishing was fabulous and between us we caught over 30 carp with plenty of 30s and the biggest a lovely 41lb common for Mark.

It was a fantastic weeks fishing and it’s definitely something we will be organising again next year.