I just mashed up a load of bait with one of those Ridgemonkey Crusher things, and then it hit me, things are so much better now when it comes to gadgets like the Crusher.
If I cast my mind back, I can remember pushing my face up against the window of Bait 78 pointing at the Bamford conversations with a friend of mine gleefully telling him that next week I'll have saved up enough money to buy a set with Fat Frank staring back at us both smilling sagely. I'd suffered long enough with my super quiet OG Optonics, and the super crap Herons before them. And that really was about as good as it got back then.
Nowdays, we've got castable sonar's, battery power packs, proper beds, unlike the sunloungers that we made do with - was always funny when one of your buddies ended up on his arse coz one of the legs folded flat - wireless remote sounder boxes, really effective rigs - the OG hair rig as good as it was back then was very touch and go if you cast at any range as the hair had a tendency to snap off if using actual hair or thin mono - banksticks that don't bend like a banana (Gardner with brass fittings), and I could go on...
It really is good to be a carp angler now. With the advancement of time, the type of fishing we do is so much less of a ballache and headache than it once was.
If I cast my mind back, I can remember pushing my face up against the window of Bait 78 pointing at the Bamford conversations with a friend of mine gleefully telling him that next week I'll have saved up enough money to buy a set with Fat Frank staring back at us both smilling sagely. I'd suffered long enough with my super quiet OG Optonics, and the super crap Herons before them. And that really was about as good as it got back then.
Nowdays, we've got castable sonar's, battery power packs, proper beds, unlike the sunloungers that we made do with - was always funny when one of your buddies ended up on his arse coz one of the legs folded flat - wireless remote sounder boxes, really effective rigs - the OG hair rig as good as it was back then was very touch and go if you cast at any range as the hair had a tendency to snap off if using actual hair or thin mono - banksticks that don't bend like a banana (Gardner with brass fittings), and I could go on...
It really is good to be a carp angler now. With the advancement of time, the type of fishing we do is so much less of a ballache and headache than it once was.
In reply to Post #1
Just need quieter lakes
Just need quieter lakes
In reply to Post #1
I remember crushing my baits with small hammer back in the day 😄
I remember crushing my baits with small hammer back in the day 😄
In reply to Post #1
And that's why we now have instant carp anglers.
And that's why we now have instant carp anglers.
In reply to Post #2
They will come again.
They will come again.
In reply to Post #5
That would be nice
That would be nice
In reply to Post #5
You're not going to kill everyone are you?
You're not going to kill everyone are you?
The gear is so much better, and cheaper. But I'd go back to how carp fishing was 35 years ago without a doubt. I wouldn't need to think about it for a second.
In reply to Post #7
😂😂 That is the only way it will happen.
😂😂 That is the only way it will happen.
It almost makes it unfair on the carp......
In reply to Post #10
The gear is nice to use, but don't forget the biggest development by far in modern carp angling.
Grossly overstocked lakes full of hungry fish that have to eat anglers bait. The bigger the money the bigger the stock fish but same principle everywhere.
The gear is nice to use, but don't forget the biggest development by far in modern carp angling.
Grossly overstocked lakes full of hungry fish that have to eat anglers bait. The bigger the money the bigger the stock fish but same principle everywhere.
In reply to Post #11
I suppose it's a double edge sword.
I returned to angling after a 20 year gap, and the choice / scale and availability of products made it much easier to pick back up. But on the flip side it's also made the route into the spot for a complete novice much simpler - not a bad thing but also the reason a lot of day ticket waters are a circus.
I never spent any time in the golden days of carping but I can see the appeal of quiet lakes without 80% of people pissed up and shouting to their mates in the next swim.
I suppose it's a double edge sword.
I returned to angling after a 20 year gap, and the choice / scale and availability of products made it much easier to pick back up. But on the flip side it's also made the route into the spot for a complete novice much simpler - not a bad thing but also the reason a lot of day ticket waters are a circus.
I never spent any time in the golden days of carping but I can see the appeal of quiet lakes without 80% of people pissed up and shouting to their mates in the next swim.
In reply to Post #1
Those ridge monkey crusher things are even better when you throw the handle in the bin and use a drill on it instead 😂
Those ridge monkey crusher things are even better when you throw the handle in the bin and use a drill on it instead 😂
In reply to Post #13
Makita SDS...oosh.
Makita SDS...oosh.
In reply to Post #1
Bait 78...Now that is a blast from the past, I remember using their ingredients..
Bait 78...Now that is a blast from the past, I remember using their ingredients..
In reply to Post #1
Far more rewarding yesteryear, every capture was special regardless of size it was a celebration.
Far more rewarding yesteryear, every capture was special regardless of size it was a celebration.
In reply to Post #13
Now why didn't i think of that
Now why didn't i think of that
In reply to Post #2
The main reason it has become so popular and busy. The carp game is now filled with the latest james bond gadgets and with social media at the helm to show off your latest catches its almost like a fashion show. There are massive benefits dont get me wrong I love all the advances in tech and look forward to the next but the downside is busier lakes. Unfortunately new lakes cannot be made as quickly as new anglers come on the scene and its not like the UK has lots of spare land, which the cost of is disproportionate to the rest of the world.
The main reason it has become so popular and busy. The carp game is now filled with the latest james bond gadgets and with social media at the helm to show off your latest catches its almost like a fashion show. There are massive benefits dont get me wrong I love all the advances in tech and look forward to the next but the downside is busier lakes. Unfortunately new lakes cannot be made as quickly as new anglers come on the scene and its not like the UK has lots of spare land, which the cost of is disproportionate to the rest of the world.
In reply to Post #15
Same mate. Sure I remember the guy that used to make paste for us got his ingredients from Bait 78. Circa 1980 iirc
Same mate. Sure I remember the guy that used to make paste for us got his ingredients from Bait 78. Circa 1980 iirc
In reply to Post #15
John Baker started bait 78 I believe in the same year, still makes great bait.
John Baker started bait 78 I believe in the same year, still makes great bait.
In reply to Post #20
Think it was Geoff Kemp. Had all his weird smells like the famed Mown Grass. Was always tempted to grab a bottle when in the shop, never did. Was like a sweet shop with racks of top smells in brown glass bottles.
The only shop I knew of that was 100% dedicated to carp angling way, way back, then, one day, completely out of the blue with no warning, it was gone. The place was used as a spares room for the tyre place nextdoor after 78 shut its doors. Frank tuned up (chain-smoking) in a new shop (A1 Angling) down at South Woodford (Woodford really) had his carp den down in the basement. The staircase to the basement was miniscule, was like threading a very fat bloke through the eye of a needle when a nod wanted some nod tackle upstairs. He was fudded going up them 😂
Think it was Geoff Kemp. Had all his weird smells like the famed Mown Grass. Was always tempted to grab a bottle when in the shop, never did. Was like a sweet shop with racks of top smells in brown glass bottles.
The only shop I knew of that was 100% dedicated to carp angling way, way back, then, one day, completely out of the blue with no warning, it was gone. The place was used as a spares room for the tyre place nextdoor after 78 shut its doors. Frank tuned up (chain-smoking) in a new shop (A1 Angling) down at South Woodford (Woodford really) had his carp den down in the basement. The staircase to the basement was miniscule, was like threading a very fat bloke through the eye of a needle when a nod wanted some nod tackle upstairs. He was fudded going up them 😂
In reply to Post #1
. . .we've moved on since the Ridgemonkey crusher already surely . . ? its called a Food processor . .!
. . .we've moved on since the Ridgemonkey crusher already surely . . ? its called a Food processor . .!
In reply to Post #21
Loving this Terry, it's great to read about the guy behind the scenes back then. Got me thinking about some of Geoff's flavours I used back in the day - Green Zing/Pink zing etc. Didn't he do a Grenadine and Pomegranate flavour?
Loving this Terry, it's great to read about the guy behind the scenes back then. Got me thinking about some of Geoff's flavours I used back in the day - Green Zing/Pink zing etc. Didn't he do a Grenadine and Pomegranate flavour?
In reply to Post #23
I remember Bait 78 and Catchum products in the early days of me moving on from fishing trout pellet paste (link ledgered).
I even have somewhere a note from the great Rod Hutchinson when i ordered some bait ingredients from him and asked him if he had ever tried boilies rolled really small, 'like pea sized', he wrote that that was a really effective size.
A couple of weeks later I went out and tried my pea sized Green Zing flavoured high protein boillies. Cast out at maximum catapult range and catapulted one pouch full EXACTLY on top of my hookbait. Perfect, as I would have hate to have wasted any of those baits as they took so long to roll by hand (no bait rollers back then).
That day session produced a 22lb mirror and another lost, still remember it vividly today and it was nearly 40 years ago.
I've caught plenty of bigger fish since but very few that I remember as clearly as that one.
I remember Bait 78 and Catchum products in the early days of me moving on from fishing trout pellet paste (link ledgered).
I even have somewhere a note from the great Rod Hutchinson when i ordered some bait ingredients from him and asked him if he had ever tried boilies rolled really small, 'like pea sized', he wrote that that was a really effective size.
A couple of weeks later I went out and tried my pea sized Green Zing flavoured high protein boillies. Cast out at maximum catapult range and catapulted one pouch full EXACTLY on top of my hookbait. Perfect, as I would have hate to have wasted any of those baits as they took so long to roll by hand (no bait rollers back then).
That day session produced a 22lb mirror and another lost, still remember it vividly today and it was nearly 40 years ago.
I've caught plenty of bigger fish since but very few that I remember as clearly as that one.
I'm in my mid-sixties and have grown up with the birth of pop music, colour TV, cars that don't fail to start on a damp morning, you know, all those things we take for granted. Fishing wise, there have been more advances in that period than there were over the previous century. That time frame can boast improved centre pins, the birth of the fixed spool and rods longer than two sticks bound together - not a sonar device to be found other than military use ones which, let's face it, were difficult to cast.
In 35-40 years time, nostalgic anglers will see now as the 'golden years'. What the hell will they consider the norm then?
In 35-40 years time, nostalgic anglers will see now as the 'golden years'. What the hell will they consider the norm then?
In reply to Post #25
What the hell will they consider the norm then?
fish shape submarines placing the rig right in front of the fish
going back to the early 80's making bate by hand, I made a devise to create
the sausage, a piece of perspex about a foot square with a piece of wood
the same thickness as the finished bate screwed to the underside at
each end, get a lump of paste about the size of a large golf ball and roll
roll roll like hell, now, load the gun....pull the trigger, much better.
What the hell will they consider the norm then?
fish shape submarines placing the rig right in front of the fish
going back to the early 80's making bate by hand, I made a devise to create
the sausage, a piece of perspex about a foot square with a piece of wood
the same thickness as the finished bate screwed to the underside at
each end, get a lump of paste about the size of a large golf ball and roll
roll roll like hell, now, load the gun....pull the trigger, much better.
In reply to Post #21
No it was John Baker
John Baker - Angling Profile History
I first took up fishing in the early 1960's, in the Lee valley just north of London. I soon caught the carp-bug however. This was a pioneering time when carp fishing was first really popular and boilies had never been invented. By the age of 15, I was incredibly keen, but I did not realize I was to become so heavily involved in the future of carp bait. In 1978 I went on to start one of the first UK bait companies, called Bait'78. I scoured the world for ingredients and learned by trial and error. I went on to supply some of the leading carp anglers of the day as well as advising many new bait firms. I was an early member of the BCSG (British Carp Study Group) and Regional Organiser of the Carp Angling Association (CAA).
No it was John Baker
John Baker - Angling Profile History
I first took up fishing in the early 1960's, in the Lee valley just north of London. I soon caught the carp-bug however. This was a pioneering time when carp fishing was first really popular and boilies had never been invented. By the age of 15, I was incredibly keen, but I did not realize I was to become so heavily involved in the future of carp bait. In 1978 I went on to start one of the first UK bait companies, called Bait'78. I scoured the world for ingredients and learned by trial and error. I went on to supply some of the leading carp anglers of the day as well as advising many new bait firms. I was an early member of the BCSG (British Carp Study Group) and Regional Organiser of the Carp Angling Association (CAA).
When i first went carp fishing it wasn't as early as some, and I didn't have money to spend on bite alarms, or the latest technology back then ( if you could call it that) and use to use a 2 piece 10 ft swing tip rod, rear drag reel with 8lb line.... a baby nappy changing mat as an unhooking mat ( many at the time never used one at all).... My dad made me some monkey climbers after i described what i saw some one else use and thought they were fantastic.... my dad was a very keen angler but only fished lakes when he couldn't get on the rivers and never really targeted carp...... i have very fond memories of the those early days and shudder to think in 30-40 years time some sayin back in 2020 we only had sonar / remote alarms etc. Cant the technology in carp fishing get any more advanced?? If so will it get to the point where the enjoyment of fishing will be lost for some??
In reply to Post #27
That's cleared that one up 👍
I might well have met him at a CAA meeting. So many faces at those gigs, was a touch overwhelming 😬
That's cleared that one up 👍
I might well have met him at a CAA meeting. So many faces at those gigs, was a touch overwhelming 😬
In reply to Post #29
We may have met, who knows, I went to all of the CAA meetings, John and I got on very well, we had a couple of mutual friends called John Seear and Peter Mohan, John used to describe Peter as "a bit dry lunch" John and I did like a pint though.
We may have met, who knows, I went to all of the CAA meetings, John and I got on very well, we had a couple of mutual friends called John Seear and Peter Mohan, John used to describe Peter as "a bit dry lunch" John and I did like a pint though.
In reply to Post #28
I had a crappy setup for a while, that was until I splurged all my savings on 2 X 11ft glass fibre North Westerns and 2 X Mitchell 410's.
I wasn't driving then, so I had to load my Chopper up with all my gear as best as was able to; with one of those old ladies shopping basket/ trolly two wheeled tartan numbers lashed to the back of it like a weird trailer. I'd cycle for miles to a well known forest pond, spending all my free time expectedly hoping that I'd catch, but as luck would have it, end up catching absolutely zero - tricky pool that one.
The Nu-Brolly hadn't been out all that long and was just the best thing ever. The thing with the Nu-Brolly was you could set it up ultra low, the lower the better, like you'd have to crawl in to get underneath it, part of the reasoning was that if a bailiff came around - was like when you see a TV documentary and the monkeys in a tropical forest calling to one another that there was a predator on the loose -- "bailiff, bailiff", and everyone fishing would instantly vanish - to pinch ya money, you could hide under it holding it down by the ribs, and after saying "I know you're in there" for the umpteenth time, he'd eventually give up and go find his next victim to extract a pocket of change from.
I had a crappy setup for a while, that was until I splurged all my savings on 2 X 11ft glass fibre North Westerns and 2 X Mitchell 410's.
I wasn't driving then, so I had to load my Chopper up with all my gear as best as was able to; with one of those old ladies shopping basket/ trolly two wheeled tartan numbers lashed to the back of it like a weird trailer. I'd cycle for miles to a well known forest pond, spending all my free time expectedly hoping that I'd catch, but as luck would have it, end up catching absolutely zero - tricky pool that one.
The Nu-Brolly hadn't been out all that long and was just the best thing ever. The thing with the Nu-Brolly was you could set it up ultra low, the lower the better, like you'd have to crawl in to get underneath it, part of the reasoning was that if a bailiff came around - was like when you see a TV documentary and the monkeys in a tropical forest calling to one another that there was a predator on the loose -- "bailiff, bailiff", and everyone fishing would instantly vanish - to pinch ya money, you could hide under it holding it down by the ribs, and after saying "I know you're in there" for the umpteenth time, he'd eventually give up and go find his next victim to extract a pocket of change from.
In reply to Post #31
Nubrolli was a game changer you are right .... to get enough coverage from Nu-Brollie you really did need to almsost crawl or roll out if it ...... makes me laugh people moaning about low doors to modern bivvies
Nubrolli was a game changer you are right .... to get enough coverage from Nu-Brollie you really did need to almsost crawl or roll out if it ...... makes me laugh people moaning about low doors to modern bivvies
In reply to Post #2
Yep, when I first started carp fishing, you were often in the minority on most waters. Everyone else coarse fished and the word Noddy wasn't even out there. Then, quite quickly I would say, all these people started to fish for carp. What ever way you look at it, ready mades and ever growing availability of better gear I think kicked it off and hence the noddy was born. These days, unless you're on a good syndicate or a decent club or day ticket water, a lot of places are frickin infested with noddies - these aren't carp anglers, they're people who go camping but are trying to catch carp. Anti social behaviour is rife on some waters - drug taking being the most common that I see. Why they think it's acceptable to smoke weed all day long I don't know. I've had the Police on waters when I have seen it. They get a warning most times, but grassing up the ****s does have the desired effect...
Such a shame, but the reality is that these tits spend thousands on all the gear, yet if you gave them some floats and a few maggots, they couldn't even catch a bream. I liked it more back in the day - fish may have been smaller, but carp fishing felt special, you felt special - sitting there behind my KM 5's , my Cardinal 55's and Delkim conversions... using my own bait and with rigs I tied... another world from what most people did at the time. But hey, times change, just these days things are so easy that the World and his Wife seem to carp fish. Everything. literally, is on plate for them now and social media has made it even easier. But... I still maintain that 10% of anglers catch 90% of the fish - that has never changed and I'm still in that 10%, despite the (cough) the 'competition' from many so-called carp anglers... I feel better now
Yep, when I first started carp fishing, you were often in the minority on most waters. Everyone else coarse fished and the word Noddy wasn't even out there. Then, quite quickly I would say, all these people started to fish for carp. What ever way you look at it, ready mades and ever growing availability of better gear I think kicked it off and hence the noddy was born. These days, unless you're on a good syndicate or a decent club or day ticket water, a lot of places are frickin infested with noddies - these aren't carp anglers, they're people who go camping but are trying to catch carp. Anti social behaviour is rife on some waters - drug taking being the most common that I see. Why they think it's acceptable to smoke weed all day long I don't know. I've had the Police on waters when I have seen it. They get a warning most times, but grassing up the ****s does have the desired effect...
Such a shame, but the reality is that these tits spend thousands on all the gear, yet if you gave them some floats and a few maggots, they couldn't even catch a bream. I liked it more back in the day - fish may have been smaller, but carp fishing felt special, you felt special - sitting there behind my KM 5's , my Cardinal 55's and Delkim conversions... using my own bait and with rigs I tied... another world from what most people did at the time. But hey, times change, just these days things are so easy that the World and his Wife seem to carp fish. Everything. literally, is on plate for them now and social media has made it even easier. But... I still maintain that 10% of anglers catch 90% of the fish - that has never changed and I'm still in that 10%, despite the (cough) the 'competition' from many so-called carp anglers... I feel better now
In reply to Post #32
Crawling out from your brolly was ok back in the day but can you do it now, I can't
Crawling out from your brolly was ok back in the day but can you do it now, I can't
In reply to Post #33
Everyone loves a grass
You could call the police on the 10% who still catch all the fish, they're odds on to be smoking or sniffing something = even less ‘competition'
Everyone loves a grass
You could call the police on the 10% who still catch all the fish, they're odds on to be smoking or sniffing something = even less ‘competition'
In reply to Post #35
Sniffing something? Really? While fishing? Does this really happen?
Sniffing something? Really? While fishing? Does this really happen?
In reply to Post #36
Of course it does. The second crate of Stella goes down easier with an 1/8th of shovel
Of course it does. The second crate of Stella goes down easier with an 1/8th of shovel
Countless guys masquerade on the weekend as carp anglers as it provides the perfect cover for indulging in what they can no longer or ever partake in at home where all week the hard working family man image must remain intact and unblemished by activities usually left behind when a youth matures into the real world. The bivvy provides sanctuary free from the mundane shackles of reality that for many it seems self certifies a acceptable excuse to kill two birds with one session so to speak. To each their own I say as today's carp angling is something different and more complicated in its practice dependant upon the individual than the simplest purpose yesteryear provided.
In reply to Post #33
The word “noddy” was certainly there when I started carp fishing in the mid-80s ... I used to hear it every time the Tip Lake anglers walked behind my 45” Nash Bivvy, Sundridge Rods, and Ryobi reels on Darenth Big Lake
The word “noddy” was certainly there when I started carp fishing in the mid-80s ... I used to hear it every time the Tip Lake anglers walked behind my 45” Nash Bivvy, Sundridge Rods, and Ryobi reels on Darenth Big Lake
In reply to Post #39
I was prolly one of them behind you on a lake tour
I was prolly one of them behind you on a lake tour
In reply to Post #40
Fair enough! As kids we were noddies and punished people mercilessly. Learned a hell of a lot in return, even though it was always our turn to go to the shop or pick up fish and chips though!
Fair enough! As kids we were noddies and punished people mercilessly. Learned a hell of a lot in return, even though it was always our turn to go to the shop or pick up fish and chips though!
In reply to Post #41
I'm just teasing mate...although I do know who it was
I'm just teasing mate...although I do know who it was
In reply to Post #42
It was Steve, (Steve Wade, or Webb I think?)
Great days!
Funnily enough, I bumped into Melvin Streeter fishing my local water In Surrey a couple of years back whilst I was out for a run. I recognised him immediately. Unsurprisingly he didn't remember me from 35 years ago but shouted to his nephew two swims down, “see, wherever I go people know me, I'm a f**kin' legend”. He hadn't changed a bit!
It was Steve, (Steve Wade, or Webb I think?)
Great days!
Funnily enough, I bumped into Melvin Streeter fishing my local water In Surrey a couple of years back whilst I was out for a run. I recognised him immediately. Unsurprisingly he didn't remember me from 35 years ago but shouted to his nephew two swims down, “see, wherever I go people know me, I'm a f**kin' legend”. He hadn't changed a bit!
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