A Wider Perspective - Part Two

3. Carp Fishing Today

Some cynical anglers might think that you have loads of Citrus you want to get rid of, because that’s what you use all the time, or say that the baiting pole’s in every video. Do the products lead the video?
“It’s just marketing. At the beginning of my time at Nash, I had a little more freedom, perhaps, but when you have a large business to run, and a corporate balance sheet to consider, you do have to think about the products that might feature heavily.

“The baiting pole, for instance, is quite a revolutionary product, and so we’re all going to use it. The marketing strategy sometimes leads, yes, but sometimes it follows. Some items sell themselves, but you might have to give others a bit of a push, and you have to tell and remind people how good they are, the pink Citrus pop-up being one of them. As much as any pink pop-up might catch carp, you have to flog your actual item occasionally.”

Did you have a hand in developing the baiting pole?
“A little bit. I was one of the first to get to use it. I didn’t use it in daylight for the first nine months, because I was trying to keep it secret. I’ve become quite a dab hand at using it in the dark, and I don’t need a torch.”

Did you quickly realise what a game-changing product it was going to be?
“Once we’d realised that there wasn’t much limit to its length, it changed the game totally, I think, yes. There’s another baiting pole on the market, but it’s not like the Nash one. I was fishing at 20 wraps last night, with the pole… perfectly placed and silently deployed traps at 20 wraps. It’s an absolute weapon!

“Some anglers seem to gain an unnatural satisfaction from casting, and might believe that it’s the be-all and end-all of fishing. I spent 35 years casting, scaring carp, and I’m well over all that.”

In terms of your own fishing, do you have targets these days, or specific goals? Or do you have just a general ethos you’d like to remain true to?
“It’s a fluid thing. At the moment, I’d like to catch a really big barbel, perhaps a nineteen- to twenty-pounder. Last year I had a little dalliance on the Woolpack. Through the summer, all that was on my mind was catching the big common from 5 and 6.

“Long-term, though, my goal is not to burn out, to carry on enjoying my fishing and to remain super motivated. I just wanted to be excited every time I go, and I think that’s more important than any individual fish, or any venue that might burn me out. I don’t want to become so intense in my desire to achieve any specific goal. I try and keep it real and stay relaxed.”

During, and because of Covid, certain waiting lists jumped from, say, one year to five years, and anglers’ plans may have gone out of the window as a result of their popularity. Do you, as a full-time angler, have to think about your stepping stones and the next ticket you might have to acquire for where you might want to be fishing in five years’ time, perhaps?
“That might be what other anglers do, but last year, the Woolpack sort of fell into my lap. I was invited to fish there, and being in the industry certainly opens a few doors. For anyone who’s ever invited me to fish their water, or who’s offered me fishing, I fully appreciate it. Who knows what opportunities will come my way in the future?

“Horton’s a great base, and as I’ve mentioned, there’s loads of good fishing to be enjoyed at the water. The fishing through the summer months ticks all the boxes. As much as I love the Woolpack, I find the fishing there a little impersonal. I also felt that given the weed, it wasn’t really safe to fish for the very big ones. There also wasn’t much opportunity for stalking, and that’s a very important part of my fishing. I really enjoy watching the fish and I find it exciting, but it didn’t offer me that. Long-term, I’m looking for venues that excite me, rather than stock.”

What about unknown waters? The otter issue may mean that there aren’t many places that haven’t been fished that still contain big carp, but do you keep your ear to the ground for such waters? Or are you resigned to the fact that anglers will have trod the banks of the next lake you fish?
“There aren’t secret waters anymore. You go back to Frank Warwick’s ‘every bit of blue’. Anglers used to scour maps, but with Google Maps now, and social media, not much remains genuinely unknown. Some places remain forgotten, though, perhaps because they’re a little trickier to fish, or because they don’t have one big carp in them they get ignored, and these really excite me.

“I fished one last week that I’d had my eye on. You mentioned otters, and the stock has dwindled from twenty carp in the six or seven years I’ve known about the water down to around ten. I saw one with fresh damage when I was down there, and they’re maybe fifty or sixty years old. I’ve found reference to them in the journal of someone who fished there in the seventies. For me, that’s interesting and exciting fishing.

“The canals and the rivers are exciting, too. With flooding, my local canal has had an influx of carp in recent years, and I think that if you look hard enough, you’ll always find somewhere that’s quiet where you can lose yourself.”

Have you ever missed out on anywhere, and more broadly, do you have any regrets in angling?
“There are certain carp I wish I’d fished for when they were alive, but I feel that everything in life happens for a reason, and so I don’t really have any regrets. I’ve always had choices and I believe you have to live by your choices.”

Are there things you might have said, or things you’ve done, or not done that you regret in fishing, if that makes sense?
“Of course, yes. We all change, and I’m not the same person I was twenty years ago. I don’t have the same beliefs, and maybe I’m less of an angry young man than I was.”

It’s been said that you quite enjoy a tussle on social media, and that you like the little grammar battles. Are these things you now pull back from?
“Absolutely. We were all child-like with social media at first, and we’ve all grown up a little bit, I think… I had to grow up. Lots of people—me included—can get into a heated discussion as they try and prove a point, but it doesn’t really matter, as there’s nothing really to prove. I can’t remember the exact quote, but it read something along the lines of, ‘If you argue with an idiot on the internet, it’s just like two idiots arguing.’ You might think you’re trying to stand up and do the right thing, but really, you just look like a keyboard warrior, and it doesn’t often matter whether you’re right or wrong. These days, I tend to post less, rant less, and I like seeing it less, because I want social media to be a positive experience. I don’t want it to be politicised… I want to see your cats, or your kids in their school uniform, pictures from your holidays, or when you go out; that’s what social media should be about. I don’t want to argue with strangers I don’t really care about, if that makes any sense.” [laughing]

4. Del Smith, Horton and Talented Anglers

More broadly, what does carp fishing mean to you at the moment, and is it a healthy community? Is there even a community anymore, or has it grown too big? Is carp fishing in a good place?
“I don’t know. The older generation might say that it’s not what it was and that social media has ruined carp fishing. I actually think, though, that the sport has never been a better place in terms of availability and numbers of big carp. There are so many big carp around nowadays; we’ve never had it so good.

“The only thing that worries me slightly, is the angling demographic, and perhaps Horton is a good example. There aren’t that many youngsters coming through, and they’re really important for the survival of carp fishing, and fishing in general. It’s vitally important that we recruit youngsters, and it’s something we do a lot of at Nash, especially in the local community. We try and inspire the younger generation by our attitude and the way we fish, by making it a bit cooler and not such an old man’s hobby. We try to be that bit more progressive and more inclusive.

“Maybe there are certain values that we stand for, but I also think that we might be guilty of becoming stuck in a particular era when we need to move on, as we shouldn’t allow the whole development of angling to be held up. Nothing stays the same; we have to accept and embrace change.”

You mentioned Del Smith, who had an impact at Horton, and on you, personally. You must have made the acquaintance of so many different anglers, so what sort of characters have you met, and what impact have others, perhaps, had on you?
“Fishing includes the full spectrum of society. You can meet everyone in the sport, from a solicitor to a gardener, to a butcher. From whatever trade or profession you choose to name, someone, somewhere will be a carp angler. It’s certainly an interesting pastime in terms of all the different people you meet.

“Being involved in the industry, you get to meet the good and the great. Some are confirmed as the legends you’d hope they’d be, some not so much. I’m quite lucky to have good friends in fishing, and I’ve made good friends in the sport—do you want me to slag off anyone in particular? [laughing]

“As far as characters go, and in a nice way, there’s Nick Helleur. I’ve fished with Nick a lot over the years, and whilst he’s not everyone’s cup of tea, he’s massively entertaining and he’s influenced my angling as he’s such a natural talent. I don’t consider myself as being a naturally good angler, I’m just experienced. I’ve spent a lot of time around anglers like Nick.

“Even Alan will say that he’s not naturally gifted, but his work-rate is second-to-none. Alfie Russell’s another angler who’s naturally gifted. At the age of thirteen you could hold a carpy conversation with him, and his photo album would put most anglers to shame, me included. Alfie’s caught some amazing carp.”

What does so-called natural talent look like?
“What does it look like? It’s instinctive, and it’s not being encumbered by the trappings of carp fishing. Most talented anglers will be found wandering around looking scruffy, with just one rod. You don’t really pay that much attention to them, but they’re the ones who, with very little time and effort, catch the most fish. Those anglers who sit behind their shiny rods, having spent ages setting their bivvy up nice and straight with their tent pegs in properly, aren’t usually the ones who catch the most carp, in my experience… or any other type of fish. As much as we like nice kit, most of it doesn’t have much to do with you catching more carp.

And on the flip side, have you met angler’s who’ve disappointed you? Or have you had run-ins with anglers?
“I’m pretty chilled out and I get on with everyone, really. If I don’t like someone, we tend to just go our separate ways. They do say that you shouldn’t meet your heroes, though, and there was one particular angler I found quite disappointing. I used to read his Carpworld articles, and they’d be the first I’d turn to. In real life, though, I found him to be a bit of a charlatan. Maybe there are a few anglers who aren’t actually as good as they seem on the outside, and perhaps it’s others who have made them look good. But what’s good? If you enjoy your fishing, then that’s the most important thing.

“In my eyes, carp angling’s not really a competitive thing. If you get on with other anglers, and you go about your business without disturbing others, then you’re a good angler, I’d say.”

You spend your life by the water, more or less. What common mistakes do you see other anglers make? For all those reading this interview, perhaps, if they could eliminate one mistake, what would it be?
“First of all, it would be having a preconceived idea of where they want to go before they arrive at a venue. Yes, of course there are productive areas on every lake, but most anglers are way too keen, and will have decided where they’re going to go before they arrive. That can ruin their session if they turn up and someone’s fishing the swim they’re after, or that area. They don’t have a plan B, or maybe they have a set plan and don’t have that versatility. Perhaps the idea is not to have a plan, but to turn up and see what you’re faced with.

“Then there are anglers who look at swims, rather than for fish. They’ll walk round and see where’s comfortable. They’ll consider where they’re going to put their bivvy and whether they can cast from the swim, and be thinking about how much water is in front of them, rather than, once again, looking to see where the carp are.

“The other thing I see is anglers making too much disturbance. Even if you’re fishing for just 24hrs. Chuck a rod out, or a couple of rods out quickly before you thrash the water to a foam, before you smash your tent pegs in and before you spod the granny out of it. That all might be your ultimate plan, but an hour or so with your rod in the water whilst you get everything ready, will bring you bonus bites.

“What else? Oh yeah, a classic one: don’t ignore the margins. A lot of anglers want to fish at range and they want to spod. A lot of the time, though, the fish aren’t out at range, they’ll be in a quiet corner. Fish for one at a time and fish for a bite; don’t fish for a hit.”

With your own margin fishing, have you caught carp in the margins every month of the year?
“I have done. In January 2021, for instance, I stalked one, and I watched it pick up the hookbait. I wasn’t really expecting to find fish in the edge at that time of year, but they were. I wasn’t expecting to get them feeding either, but I did. The moral of the story is, then, that whilst it might be unlikely that you’ll find them in the edge at certain times of the year, it’s never impossible. It pays to keep those areas in mind, and to make the effort to check them. Those bonus captures stand out over the years, and they’re the ones that really mean the most.”

When you’re fishing the margins, what’s critical? Is it line or hooklength concealment, or heavy leads, possibly?
“Line concealment, for me, is the most important factor. I’ve never seen a fish shy away from a rig. I think we give them too much credit in that regard, but line concealment can be difficult to achieve when you’re fishing so close in. If you’re fishing just a metre or so out, it’s hard, sometimes, to get your line tucked out of the way, and that can be key, because the fish are often more wary in the edge. They’re a little more confident out in the lake, but in shallow water, they’ll find it easier to discover your trap.

“In my experience, the thing that’s most likely to spook them is the hookbait. Whether you choose to fish a bright hookbait or not is a major decision. Sometimes a fish will look at brightly coloured bait and flatly refuse it before swiftly leaving the area. Rig-wise, though, I don’t really worry too much. As I say, it’s something that we make too much of, perhaps.”

With your margin fishing, then, do you obsess about your line-lay back to the rod, and do you look for a spot within a spot?
“Those are the two most important factors. If you spend time observing, you’ll always find that there’s part of a spot that the fish prefer. It may be the size of a dustbin lid, or a wider area, but they’ll always be one part of it, over which the fish feed harder or more confidently. Bigger fish might feed at the edge of a spot, perhaps where it starts to become a little bit rougher.”

5. Photography: Then and Now 

You’re best known for your photography skills; do you still take as many photographs as you used to, and do you still get the same buzz, even though photography’s only part of your job?
“I guess it’s still part of my job to create content, but I don’t get as much opportunity for photography now, no. When you’re out shooting features or filming, you always have a camera in your hand, and you’ve got a muse. As much as I can take scenic shots now, I don’t often have anglers to photograph, and capturing the moment when anglers are doing stuff has always been one of my strong points. In some ways, I’m like a nuclear missile sitting in a silo gathering dust… I’m as much a deterrent these days, as a weapon!” [laughing]

Whether you admit or not, you’ve certainly made a big impact with anglers who’ve gone into the photography side of things. Then there’s the quality and availability of equipment, these days. iPhone cameras have improved vastly, and cameras like the Sony have come in and mixed up the Canon-Nikon dominance. It must fill you with joy that more and more anglers out there are creating good stuff…
“I’ve always said that I like to see nice pictures. What inspired me, personally, was a need to see nice imagery. From that point of view, the bar has been raised massively over the last few years. I think, with the advent of digital photography, the standard initially dropped. Photography within carp angling was pretty dire for a few years. With the small, compact digital cameras and the early camera phones anglers were using, pictures were terrible. That era, though, probably coincided with me acquiring a proper camera, and I think that set me apart from a lot of anglers, inasmuch as I was prepared to make the effort to take better pictures. Now, as quality is more affordable and accessible, that advantage has gone a little bit in terms of equipment and being the first, and it’s a far richer photographic landscape.

“Ironically, I don’t tend to follow angling photography that much, because I want to be inspired by stuff outside fishing. I now follow a lot of other photography disciplines, shall we say, rather than just angling.”

As anglers become more competent with their photography, then, is there a danger that clichéd shots will creep in? We’ve all seen the ‘kettle’ shot, or a video with the steam rising. Is that a concern, or is that what angling is, and you’re always going to have similar photos?
“It’s tough, isn’t it? I’m less inspired now by certain things. If you’ve taken a shot and combined the light and everything else to make a nice image, you don’t want to be doing it again and again. I try not to take too many ‘bobbin’ shots these days, and you’re right, there’s only so much equipment-based stuff you can do. You just have to do it better than everyone else in order to stand out, these days, because they’re all doing it.

“There are the clichéd shots, yes, but there’s also room for new ideas and approaches, and a lot of new ideas come from outside fishing.”

It’s important that you take influence from other sports or outdoor activities, then?
“It’s always been important, otherwise you become introverted. If I’m looking at people who are looking at me… well, it’s a big circle, and at some point you need to bring other stuff into it.”

You’ve probably been asked this question many times, but if someone’s used their iPhone up until now, but now might like to purchase their first mirrorless camera or DSLR, what would you say to guide them from taking phone snaps to proper photographs?
“Firstly, spend more than you want to. People often ask me, for instance, “What’s the best camera under three hundred quid?” and to be honest, you can’t get much for three hundred quid. These days, thousand pounds is a more realistic benchmark if you really want to improve on the images you take with your phone camera. Let’s face it, if you have an up-to-date iPhone or Android phone, the cameras on them are pretty damned good, so you need to spend more to make it worthwhile, otherwise you’ll just have a camera that’s only as good as your phone, or perhaps marginally better. To me, that seems pointless.

“Maybe consider a second-hand camera. That way you’ll get a lot more bang for your buck. Cameras tend to be well looked after, unless you’re a professional photographer, as I was for many years. My kit got battered, as it was used day in, day out, but most people will look after their gear. With both cameras and lenses, don’t be afraid to look at secondhand models. The lens is at least as important as the camera, so factor in a good-quality fixed lens, because everyone wants that nice blurred background. As much as you can do it in portrait mode with an iPhone, it’s still ones and zeros. The programme sometimes gets it wrong and you don’t get a true bokeh or depth of field.

“Finally, practise. A lot of it is about learning how to use your equipment. Certainly, when I was a novice, I made mistakes. I spent time trying to balance the ISO, shutter speeds and aperture settings. Those are the three things that are important. So practise and take lots of pictures… and only show the good ones to people!” [laughing]

How important is post-processing?
“These days, it’s at least as important as taking the shot. I think people used to wear it as a faux badge of honour when they posted a photo straight from their camera. Nowadays, if someone posts an image like that, I don’t think they really know what they’re doing… or they’re missing out, more than anything else, because half of the impact of the image can be created or brought out by post-processing. It all goes back to traditional, non-digital photography. I think any photographer worth their salt had their own darkroom and they’d process their own images, because there is a degree of control you can maintain in respect of your final result.

“Shoot in RAW, too, and get a Lightroom subscription, or maybe you can purchase it on disc—I’m not sure how they do it, these days. Post-processing is important, and it will improve your photography massively.”

Read Part One here!