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.