Bounty Hunter vs. Multiple Hits Angler

Bounty hunter or multiple hits angler… what is it that makes anglers favour one over the other? Simon Crow has caught some of the country’s finest, most historic, and hardest carp to catch, whilst Tom Maker is probably one of the country’s best anglers when it comes to racking up large numbers of carp during a session (and let’s not forget, he also has a habit of catching the big ‘un too from these pressured day ticket venues). So before we discuss how their tactics, methods, opinions and thought processes differ from one another, we asked both to explain why they each love the style of fishing they do?

Simon Crow: “Tom is a carp-catching machine! Almost every day I go on Instagram he’s there with another corking fish. His enthusiasm reminds me a lot of how me and Rob Hughes were when we were younger, visiting day ticket lakes just to get a bite. Those days made me the angler I am today. I loved the thrill of just hearing my buzzer scream, not knowing what was on the end. I didn’t mind if it went every second or just every now and then, I loved being on the bank. That’s not to say I don’t love being out any more. Far from it. I love carp fishing just as much, if not more, but as I’ve got older the challenge of targeting big carp is what now gives me the buzz. It’s also a lot less hectic than fishing day ticket waters!”

A gorgeous sixty-plus common, the biggest fish from an Austrian lake, a venue I’d been to before and learnt how best to approach it

A Linear unit taken using Tom’s tried and tested approach

Tom Maker: “When it comes to carp fishing, for me there is no greater sound than hearing that buzzer go off. When I’m loading the van before every session I get that weird ‘anxious and excited’ feeling, not knowing what the session is going to bring, the challenges it poses, the new people I’m going to meet, and, most importantly, how busy the lake’s going to be. Fishing mainly day ticket venues, the biggest challenge in my angling is competing with the anglers around me, and I think for me, the real buzz comes when I’m turning up and getting amongst some fish with so many other lines in the water. I’m only young too… well, 27 if that’s young… so I still have plenty of years left in me yet to sit back, chill and target a particular fish.

“With the waters I fish being predominantly busy both midweek and at weekends, the single biggest thing I am looking at achieving is to fish as accurately as possible, and if I can, slightly further than the guys either side of me. Now obviously weather plays a massive roll in accuracy and baiting; if I turn up and the conditions allow me to fish far and accurately then I will; however, if I feel they will hinder my accuracy at range I will simply come back to a sensible range and fish as accurately as I possibly can, even if it means I’m not quite on the fish. A perfectly presented bed of bait at a comfortable range is better than a wide spread of bait at long-range.

“Another thing I feel is also important is to fish inside the boundaries of your peg. By this I don’t mean casting into other peg’s water, what I mean is that find a spot relatively central in your swim and under halfway, that way if you start catching it is very hard for people around you to start interfering with your angling.

“I pretty much fish three rods on one spot on most venues I fish. Again, it’s down to how much water I have in my peg, and also I am 100% confident in that method as it works time and time again on all types of venues.”

I fished a lot of waters with Rob Hughes when we were young lads and it taught me so much about targeting carp

Simon Crow: “Where my approach massively differs from Tom’s, is I don’t have ‘an approach’ as such. The nature of the lakes I fish means I have to be versatile. I target fish in well-stocked and low-stock waters of all different sizes. I therefore have to adapt to the venue, get to know the fish, swims and anglers. Often this involves lots of research, and then a lot of trial and error, trying to work out the best way of targeting it. I rarely ever fish with more than one rod in close proximity to another. Generally I spread my rods about, trying to cover as many good areas as I can. The starting point is to focus on features, like snags, bars, islands, pads, reeds, no fishing banks etc. I usually don’t put much bait out to start with, but as I settle in and my fishing progresses, the emphasis is will shift to getting a bait established with lots of prebaiting.”

“Because I fish a variety of different waters, some low-stock and others full of fish, I have to be versatile. No two waters or carp are the same. Of course there are similarities, and that’s the beauty of having lots of experience, there are tons of memories I can refer back to. The older you get as a carp angler, the more you can refine things to fit a situation. You remember a session from the past that may be similar, and how you unlocked things. You try to fathom out how best to approach what’s in front of you. Of course you get it wrong a lot but that’s how you put the pieces of the jigsaw together. Rarely do you walk on a venue and get it right from the start. You have to have a base plan approach… My rigs are pretty straight forward, basic in many ways, but I may shorten or lengthen them depending on the softness/hardness of the bottom and the shape of the fish. Most of the time I go with bottom baits straight from the bag but I use pop-ups and wafters a lot over silt and weed. Zigs I tend to use on crystal clear waters, but of course they work on high-stock murky waters too. As I say, you need to be versatile when fishing lots of waters.”

48lb 12oz UK mirror: a proper brute and again caught fishing three rods on a spot

Tom Maker: “When it comes to baiting, I always start with around 7 to 10 accurate Spombs; my reason for this is because the venues I go to are popular and I am totally unaware of how much bait maybe in my peg from the previous angler(s) so if I were to go and fill it in, I would be putting new bait over old bait which would be a waste of my time and bait. Another reason for only putting that much bait in is because I know that’s enough to get one bite, which primarily I’m trying to achieve fairly early on into the session.

“With regards to what goes into my mix, I keep it very simple: hemp, corn, boilies and a liquid; three ingredients that all serve a purpose and a liquid for added attraction. I’m not looking to construct a mix with a thousand different seeds and more tinned fish than Tesco to try and ‘confuse’ the fish, I simply want a mix that stands out on the deck, keeps them interested and tastes nice. Plus, with it being constantly hydrated in a liquid/lake water, the mix is heavy, so I know when I’m spodding it in, it’s sinking straight down and not drifting all around the swim regardless of the conditions.

“Pop-ups are by far my go-to choice when it comes to hookbaits as I know that they are sitting proud and always “fishing” regardless if there is a little bit of weed on the spot. Colour-wise I will go for a yellow most of the time, but with a lot of boilie/corn in my mix I also have the option of fishing double plastic, a wafter, or a wafter tipped with corn if I feel I should be changing things up slightly.”

One hour in the right spot is better than a day in the wrong

I like to spread my rods about as much as I can

CARPology: When it comes to location, how do your mindsets differ? For example, when you’re walking around a mega busy Linear venue, what are you looking for Tom: the quieter areas of the lake or are you just looking to get on the fish, wherever they maybe? And with you Simon, will you ignore areas of the lake - even if there are carp present - if you know your target fish doesn’t get caught (or very, very rarely) in that area of the lake?

Tom Maker: “It’s very hard to get directly on to where the fish maybe held up on Linear. Sometimes I get lucky and am able to just drop on them, but a majority of the time I am simply not on them as much as I would like. The quieter corners/areas of the lake are pretty non-existent and in most cases the fish are normally in the central bodies of water away from as much angling pressure as possible. I never set off with one lake in mind; I will look at all of the day ticket venues and pick a swim that appears to have the largest amount of fish in and give me the best opportunity.

“What I will also do is speak to the other anglers around the lake, as 9 times out of 10 they will be packing up that day which gives me options to move. If I feel that I can get into a really good swim but have to wait a good few hours, I would rather do that than set-up in a not-so-good swim and potentially waste a night’s angling.”

Pop-ups are my go-to hookbaits

Simon Crow: “No, I’ll never ignore any area of a lake. I’m always willing to have a go anywhere I see a target fish, even somewhere it’s never been caught from before. There’s always a first for everything. However, I do like to work on the probability factor in my fishing as I don’t ever want to be someone who just sits there boring the fish out. I prefer to use my time wisely, working out if there is a trend with past captures. It makes the job a whole lot easier, and I suppose it comes from having an upbringing of the old saying: “One hour in the right spot is better than a day in the wrong.”