Carping Allegedly - June 22
So what should you wear to a carp show? Bill Cottam shares his thoughts. First, however, he needs to set a few records straight…
It Must Be True
The carp world has always loved a rumour. Some of the ones I have heard over the years are proof that vivid imaginations continue to be commonplace, and continue to run riot within the world of angling. I have been the subject of a few rather imaginative pieces of idle gossip over time. Several I would have thought you just couldn’t make up, but obviously I was wrong!
I have heard the tale on a number of occasions that a few days in advance of some of my French trips, I used to send a member of the Nutrabaits workforce across with a van, full to the gunnels with bait, the implication obviously being that I was using that much bait, I couldn’t possibly fit it in the vehicle I would be travelling in. On a similar theme, I hear that some parties were not keen on following me and my group on to a water because the amount of bait we were likely to have used would have caused the water level to rise by a couple of foot!
All of this is absolute nonsense, of course, and I know for fact that many anglers remain constantly surprised by how little bait I use over the course of a week.
And then there’s the oft-repeated rumour about pre-baiting in advance of a trip. I am not alone in being the subject of these types of tall tales. Over the years, I have spoken to a couple of guys who run bait companies and they have been subject to the same type of thing.
I have it on very good authority, for example, that prior to our trip to Bolsena, Mark Backhouse and I supposedly shipped 1,000kg of Trigga over to Italy so my Italian friends could steadily introduce it for us and ensure that the fish were stacked up for when we arrived—yeah right!
One of my all-time favourite rumours centres around my great mate, Luke Moffatt, and his Les Graviers Fishery near Dijon. I spent a considerable amount of time chasing Luke’s big ’uns, and without wishing to blow my own trumpet, I did reasonable well in my quest. That’s not particularly surprising, though, when you take into account that Luke used his Crocodile Dundee-like skills to corral my target fish into a small corner of one of the bays in advance of my trips. I kid you not; I have heard this bollocks on more than one occasion. And that was on top of me being able to cherry-pick prime weeks in advance of the bookings becoming available, and fishing the place for nowt!
When the Chateau Lake first became known about, I had a couple of trips there, one of which was with my long-time mate, Brian Skoyles. We had a nice trip, topped off by what was a very good fish for the water at the time, a 37lb common for yours truly. Within a couple of days, word had made its way around the lake about my fish, the only problem being that a Dutch party were under the impression—totally convinced, in fact—that it weighed 57lb and was a new lake record to boot.
Amazingly, I have spoken to one of the Dutch guys on several occasions since, and he continues to talk about my 57lb common and congratulate me on it. I have reached the stage now, that I see little point in telling him that it was actually 20lb less than the rumoured 57lb, as he simply will not have it!
Now, let it be whispered that I have heard of some high-profile anglers who seek to use their position to gain an advantage over us mere mortals, and whilst I would never claim to be an angel, I would like to take this opportunity to remind you all that I am a self-proclaimed seeker of truth and justice, and would never sink to such depths myself. Roped-off swims, lakes closed down and pre-baited in advance of my arrival, and being able to fish from private swims are all not for me. I would much rather catch—or indeed, not catch—on the same terms as everyone else!
Very Tidy Booms
I have never made any secret of the fact that I favour soft, supple hook lengths for the vast majority of my angling, but I do like stiff links for Ronnie Rig presentations, if the lakebed allows. I have admired Gemini Carp Tackle Tidy Booms from a distance for some time, but with a maximum standard length of 9”, they were always a little short for oddball piscators like me.
More recently, however, Gemini launched their ‘Custom Build’ service. You can now order fluorocarbon tidy booms—complete with their innovative ‘fused bond technology’—and the metalware add-ons of your choice, with whatever hooklink you wish, and in various lengths. I haven’t wasted any time and have secured a nice bundle of 11” hooklengths with the standard fused loop at one end, and with a 5mm loop and a size 6 quick-change ring swivel at the other—just perfect for attaching my trusty Ronalds! Delivery was incredibly prompt and they arrived well packaged, thus ensuring they were kept straight in transit; and all for an incredibly reasonable £1.85 per hooklength! ‘Tidy’ is not the word!
Carp Show Dress Code
I am sure we all agree that it is great to see the carp shows back after two years of lockdown-enforced cancellations, and although we’ve seen a couple of noticeable changes, by all accounts they were reasonably well attended. This is excellent news all round, and a sure sign that life is beginning to get back to something vaguely resembling normal. Even though I no longer have any professional or specific reason to attend the shows these days, I had fully intended to do so. I was quite looking forward to just being able to spend a day or two wandering around, checking out all things carpy in the faint hope that I might stumble upon a little rig tweak, or an item of tackle that would instantly propel me to carping greatness. Sadly, every time a show approached, something came up, and I wasn’t able to attend any of them.
I had, however, given a great deal of thought as to what I was going to wear, had I been available to go to one of the shows. My thought process centred around jeans, a dark-coloured T-shirt or polo shirt of some description, and a pair of Adidas’s finest. I had very little intention of doing what some show-goers choose to do, and that’s rock up dressed head to toe in camouflage, merely to remind people of the fact that I am carp angler!
It’s a free world, of course, but I don’t get it. I cannot claim, by any stretch of the imagination, to be a regular visitor to wedding fairs. I would hazard a guess, though, and say that not many who are, turn up carrying a pastel-pink bouquet and dragging a fifteen-foot silk train behind them. Now, don’t get me wrong, low-key, carp company-branded clothing and caps to advertise your tackle or bait allegiances are undoubtedly acceptable garb when visiting a carp show, but full camo? I’m not so sure…
