Carping Allegedly - February 23'
Bill Cottam returns to consider, amongst other things, advertising trends, Ali’s gadget for all eventualities and Echo Sounders. He also has a word of advice for those who’ve criticised Carp Angler of the Year, Dave Levy... or perhaps two!
Echo Sounders
I always follow the writings of anglers who exude oodles of effortless carpyness. Gaz Fareham—despite the rather peculiar piercings he chooses to have in his listeners—certainly comes under that category, and I have long been a regular reader of his stuff.
Gaz adorned the front cover of ’Ology 230, and his contribution within was no exception. I was particularly intrigued by a passing comment he made regarding the use of outboards and echo sounders, specifically that their use can potentially unsettle carp.
I have to be honest and say that, unless the water has been abnormally shallow, I have never seen any evidence to suggest that a sensibly used electric outboard spooks fish, but, and as Gaz suggests, I don’t believe the same can be said for echo sounders. I do use a sounder for depth-finding and feature-finding, but I always restrict their use to an absolute minimum.
The fact that they work by sending a pulse from a transducer to the lakebed, which then bounces back again and registers the depth, has always concerned me. I simply cannot believe that creatures with such finely tuned senses are not aware that something odd is going on.
The owner of a lake I have been fishing in France for the last few years always comments that I am different to the vast majority of anglers there, due to the fact that he has never seen me use an echo sounder. In truth, I did use one for a couple of hours on the opening day of my first-ever trip, but I have not felt the need to since. To be fair, I already have a good idea of what is in front of me, and any fine-tuning when fishing shallow water can be done using my eyes. For deeper water I use a prodding stick or a feature-finding lead attached to a length of meaty braid.
Hats off to Uttings
I wholeheartedly agree with Thom Airs’ observation in November’s CARPology regarding tackle retailer, Uttings, who have reverted to the traditional style of advertising, namely by placing a double-page listing of angling equipment available via mail order within the pages of our favourite magazine. I sincerely hope Uttings’ campaign proves successful, and that more shops see fit to follow their lead. You can also order online, of course, at www.uttings.co.uk
Old-timers like me will remember the days when virtually every carp magazine’s pages were littered with advertisements offering mail order from Leslies of Luton, Erics Angling Centre, The Tackle Box, Penge Angling and the like. I have little doubt that the revenue that came as a result made the production of magazines a great deal easier and more cost-effective for the publishers.
When we used to produce our full-blown annual bait catalogue at Nutrabaits—if my memory serves me correctly, from 1988 to around 2010—we had advertisers queuing up to be included. Without their support, we could never have produced the publications of the quality and size we did. I suspect, though, that the story would be somewhat different today.
Social media, in its various guises, and the World Wide Web have changed all that, of course. A blind man on a galloping horse can see why the trade sees fit to put the majority of their promotional eggs in that particular basket, but I, for one, still like the feel and smell of print… or maybe I’m rather too old and a bit reluctant to embrace change!
A Very Cool Tool
Irrespective of whether their marketing strategy finds favour with you or not, you simply cannot argue with the fact that One More Cast has worked incredibly hard over the last few months to get their brand established, and they have done a mighty fine job of doing so.
I am quite taken by a number of their products, and I have to confess to particularly liking The Cool Tool, which Ali’s army brought to market just as I was penning, or should I say keying, this month’s twaddle.
I have always been a sucker for a bit of piscatorial gadgetry. The OMC Cool Tool ticks that box with considerable aplomb. The Leatherman-style, stainless-steel multi-tool includes a knife, braid needle, drill bit, D-rigger, both standard and fine boilie needles, and two sizes of latch needle. There are ten tools in all, and to add even more to just how well the product has been thought out, six of these can be removed or replaced via little grub screws, and spares are supplied in the box.
Admittedly, sixty of your hard-earned Earth pounds is something of a hefty price tag. I, though, like to think you get what you pay for in this world. The OMC Cool Tool is custom-designed, made from stainless steel, and has been really well put together… so such a product was never going to retail for a tenner!
Rather predictably, there have been a handful of disparaging comments made on the various social media platforms, primarily regarding the price point, but I’m happy to offer some meaningful advice for those of you who don’t deem The Cool Tool worth the money. Whinging and whining isn’t big and it isn’t clever. Simply vote with your wallet and don’t buy one. After all, Ali’s army aren’t forcing your arm up your back!
Carp Angler of the Year
RidgeMonkey- and Mainline baits-backed Dave Levy has, rather unsurprisingly, been voted Angling Times Carp Angler of the Year, 2022. This follows a season that included his 51 fish from Frimley Pit 3, a UK personal best at 56lb, and his staggering two-week haul from Euro Aqua. There, he banked an incomprehensible 101lb mirror, two fish over 90lb and several others in excess of 80lb—mind-bobbling stuff, however you want to look at it!
I wasn’t at all surprised to see that, along with the numerous congratulatory messages on social media, there have been a few dissenting voices. Their criticism has primarily centred around the fact that Dave has a seemingly endless supply of free bait and tackle, and that his role at RidgeMonkey and the doors that open for him as a consequence, give him an unfair advantage over ‘Joey Three Spods’ who fishes his local farm pond one night every three weeks.
A very astute observation, one that I am sure ‘The Levynator’ wouldn’t argue with, is that, once again, I fear such criticisms might not be aimed at those who spend their lives attempting to be the very best they can be in other spheres. Please humour me, then, and allow me to take on the role of devil’s advocate for a few seconds…
In the last twenty years, the Ballon d’or has been won by such global footballing superstars as Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Luka Modrić, Karim Benzema and Ronaldinho. I don’t hear Worksop Town’s under-17s’ left back moaning that it’s not a level playing field because they play in bigger games, earn six zillion a year and get their pink boots free of charge!
Anyway, many congratulations to Dave on such an incredible season… even if I am a little jealous that you get your XXL Toaster and CoZee khazi seat for nowt!
