Life On The Circuit

For well over a decade, John Claridge targeted pressured, intimate venues, such as Yateley’s North and The Car Park. He was hugely successful on both of these venues and many others further afield. Here John reveals the mind games, heartache and incredible level of angling skill that goes hand-in-hand with fishing on such lakes.

Single Scale, one of the original Car Park mirrors

Dan Wildbore: A lot has happened since the days of the young, bleached-hair Claridge with his circular specs back at Yateley! What made you fish there all those years ago?

John Claridge:: “I was actually born in Yateley and lived there until I was 16. It was the first complex of lakes that was ran by Leisure Sport back in those days. My house was only a mile away, so I was always biking round and occasionally fishing on some of the other lakes in Yateley.

“I did a little bit of carp fishing on the Nursery before we left, but I was more of an all-rounder at that time, fishing for anything, not specifically carp. When I moved away I fished some of the local pits and got more into the carp fishing side. It wasn’t until 1997 that decided to go back to Yateley, which always held a special place in my heart. The carp fishing was nationally known and having grown up there, I was always keen to go back once I had gained a bit more experience.

“It meant a 100-mile trip back to Yateley and my brother was still fishing the area, so I had kept in touch with what was going on while I was away. By now The Car Park fish were well known and of course so too was Bazil.

“When I did go back, I did what most would do and fish the side of the road that offered a better chance of a bite and a place to really hone in your skills. I started on The Match and caught well, including Drop Scale at 34lb 9oz, which was the lake’s big ‘un at the time. I then went on to The Copse, catching well in the summer. It really got me in to fishing small, weedy, and clear water pits and you could find and even see the features to fish too. My observation skills were tuned on that lake and I got to know the characteristics of some of the carp. With them being fairly low stocked, you could identify certain fish sat in the weedbeds and plan your fishing around the behaviours and location of the one you wanted.”

John started off on the ‘other side of the road’, enjoying The Copse, Match and Nursery

He soon went across in pursuit of Bazil, which he caught at over 46lb

Dan Wildbore: Was that the first lake that you fished where most of the fish were actually named?

John Claridge:: “No, I fished in Gloucester on a lake that had a couple of named fish in there. There was another lake in the Water Park had a couple too, but I see what you are saying. On Yateley, virtually every fish had a name and was well-known amongst the anglers that fished it. The Copse was the first one that I fished where real observation angling would allow you to really learn their behaviour.

“At the time, I was working on the farm with my Dad and he had a hernia operation, so I was having to work seven days a week. It meant doing a 200-mile round trip just to fish a single night, but I loved every minute of it. I was doing well in The Royal Box, fishing a shallow bar that was no more than two-feet deep. If they were on that area they would be using the bar a lot. I got up the tree and the area was really colouring up. I saw The Pretty One over the spot and their tails would be flopping out over the area; it really was exciting stuff.

“I went on to catch The Pretty One that afternoon and the rarely-caught leather the following morning. It was a magical time to be fishing and watching the action unfold, so much fun.

“Once the autumn came I decided that I would start to fish The North and have a go for Bazil. It was that move ‘over the road’ that meant tough fishing, but the rewards were incredible. I fished a couple of trips to get a feel for the place before the cold weather set in, but aimed to be back in the spring.

A photo session on The Car Park Lake

“I fished the lake in February, but the lake had the traditional close season. Once that closed, I fished back on The Match Lake as you were still allowed to fish the days on there. I caught a couple more that I wanted and was back on The North for the new season. I caught a few, including the ‘second in command’ at over 38lb.

“It was early October and with a slight frost, the third bite of the session occurred. It was the one that we all wanted, the mighty Bazil at 46lb 4oz. It was my first forty-pounder and what a historic and special one it was too.”

One of the old mirrors: The Big Orange

Dan Wildbore: Was it incredibly busy on there at the time and with a high calibre of angler?

John Claridge:: “Most certainly. It was one of the most desired carp in the country at the time and you had a lot of good anglers fishing it. There was a small group of us fishing together and when one had caught the one they wanted, they would always open up and help the others out. We all fished pretty similarly and we all sort of moved round the lakes together. At times, it was a bit of a team effort, but of course we were all competing with each other too. We had a tight friendship and they all came to my wedding a few years later. We were a tight knit group and it was always great when one of us caught a fish that they really wanted to catch.”

Dan Wildbore: I imagine that certain bits of information were kept close to the chest with the stakes being so high?

John Claridge:: “It was, yeah, and we all understood that. Some bits we would keep back, but there were times when it was different. I remember once on The Car Park watching Chunky feeding from up a tree. I had already caught him twice and my mate Fudgey was desperate to catch it. So, I belled him and let him know, and he raced down the pond as fast as he could. The stakes were high and some fish would only get caught once a year, so we all knew that if there was a particular fish that you wanted, looking catchable, we just wouldn’t tell each other.

“I remember Si Davey used to say something blatant and you would doubt if it was true or he was throwing you a swerve. There was a lot of mind games back then, especially on The Car Park Lake. That is what did a lot of people in and I have still to this day never fished another lake quite like it.

“It was so intense between the anglers and it was a game of chess. You were fishing for tricky fish on a lake busy with a high calibre of anglers. The guys that couldn’t take the mind games would often not last very long. Several people have not fished since The Car Park, such is the effect it had on some people.

“It was a lake that grabbed hold of your life and started off by gripping you the moment you entered the gate, to most of the day and every day. It had that effect, certainly on me, where it was so intense that was all you could think about. It was a single guy’s lake, to do it with a family would be hard that’s for sure.”

One of the Pinge A-Team: The Pearly Lin at 38lb 2oz

Dan Wildbore: Would you say it all affected you and if so, how did it?

John Claridge:: “At times, it would have that effect. That dreaded phone call in the morning, especially with Heather, knowing that it could be another season without catching the fish of your dreams, especially around September time, when you know that there is a good chance that it is all over then until the new season. I would always go back, as there were a couple of others that I was yet to catch, but for me Heather turned into an obsession.”

That autumn John caught The Brute at a big weight

Dan Wildbore: I imagine that there were few secrets back then, in terms of spots, with everyone fishing similar areas and there always being people on the lake?

John Claridge:: “The weed had a lot to do with that, with it being such a rich pit. The spots were often sparse and people could always see where you are fishing. Generally, there was only three or four clear spots in the lake. I have learnt over the years though that there is always that spot within a spot. That sweet spot that gives you that real crack down was the one and all of my bites from The Car Park came on these spots. I remember once you could cast ten times and it looked like it landed in the same spot every time, but you would get that one where it went down with a vibrating crack down. I would make a point to do as many casts as I needed to, just to get that drop I wanted.”

A new PB common at the time, all 39lb of her, before venturing off to the Roach Pit

Dan Wildbore: What was the point where you decided to stop fishing The Car Park?

John Claridge:: “When Heather died! I did have a Gold Card at the time, which originally cost a grand. The Car Park was my main water, but when the 48hr rule came in, I did have a bit of spare time to fish on some of the other lakes. Then that started going up in price to £1,500, which coincided with the time of moving in with my missus and with the kids and less time available, I just couldn’t justify it.

“I had caught six out of the nine and probably the only person to catch six and neither of the big two, but that’s life. I pulled off and fished Fox Pool and Pingewood and enjoyed fishing both. Heather was still in the back of my mind and when a Car Park ticket came up three years later, I had to take it.

“I went back with the idea of fishing for Heather. I couldn’t make the draw, but I had a couple of nights on Pingewood and then got over to The Car Park for two. I was sat on the slipway on Pingewood, June the 1st when The Car Park opened and I got a phone call. I was boiling up a load of maples at the time as I knew she had a liking for them, when I answered and got the dreaded news.
I was totally distraught. I did a little bit through the year, but after catching The Brute in the autumn I had one last push for Arfur, but it never happened.”

Pre-baiting has been a key part to his angling in recent years

Dan Wildbore:: From fishing on such intense circuit waters, did you crave somewhere with a bit more freedom, or were you used to that sort of fishing now?

John Claridge:: “I put my name down on one or two lists while I was on The Car Park. One of those was Roach Pit in Ringwood. It was a CEMEX water at the time and I got offered a place on there. I was living in Swindon and decided to fish locally for the spring until the ticket came up.
One lake held a couple of 40lb mirrors and a common that went over 40lb too. At the time, I was yet to catch a really big common, so I set my sights on trying to catch that one until the Roach ticket started.

“I managed to catch 28lb and 35lb mirrors on the first trip, which was a good start. I had a few more the following weeks and then managed to catch the Big Common at the beginning of May at 39lb 6oz. It felt great catching such a special carp, knowing that one of the best lakes in the land was looming just a few weeks away.”

The Roach Pit’s Big Linear at over 45lb, what a carp

Dan Wildbore:: How did you find the Roach Pit, because at the time it probably held one of the best stocks of big carp in the country?

John Claridge:: “The first year I fished it I did struggle. The majority of the fish were coming from one swim and by the time I got there on the Sunday after work, it was already taken. For whatever reason, that seemed to be the spot to be in and not being able to ever fish it was frustrating. The first time I turned up The Mug came out at 50lb and ounces, which was a new lake record. It ended up doing three different fish over 50lb that year and I only had a couple of losses to show for it.

“Like I have found on any lake, the fish had a preference to a certain type of bait and I was using a sweet one at the time. However, it soon became apparent that they loved a fishmeal in there. I changed baits later in the year and got a couple of bites, so I knew that the bait needed to change for the following season. That season I changed jobs and my time was stripped back to the bones. This, combined with trying to put my book together, it made fishing time tough. I would spend the weekends with the family and putting together all the material, which left me with holidays and a long journeyed overnight trip.

“I had always done well on that first week of October, so I booked in a few nights to go down to Roach. I found a couple of big fish in a set of snags, so decided to fish with one rod and set a trap. On the second afternoon, I freshened things up and placed the rig back on the spot. A few bubbles came up on the spot and the tip wrapped round. Everything went slack and then tightened again, all in a split second. I jumped down and grabbed the rod, holding on as this powerful fish stripped line off me and headed out into the pond. For the whole fight, I knew it was one of two fish after seeing it roll, it was either the Big Linear or Sean’s Fish, both being the best-looking carp in the lake, if not the country at the time.

“It was a nervy fight as it picked up weed, but eventually bundled the Big Linear in to the net. She went 45lb 6oz, one of the best-looking carp to swim in our waters.”

The book and a new job took up a lot of time and the fishing suffered

Dan Wildbore:: I imagine that from The Car Park Lake, where everything is so precise, is this something that you took everywhere you went?

John Claridge:: “I have always been attentive to getting things right. ‘It’s alright’, isn’t good enough, it has to be bang-on. Whether that’s a cast, a rig, the bait, swim choice, everything is very much thought out. It can be intimidating if you can’t get the cast right and keep doing it again and again, you feel the eyes burning in to you as people get disgruntled at the disturbance that you are making, particularly so on The Car Park, where most of the anglers used a bait boat.”

Dan Wildbore:: Did you not use one?

John Claridge:: “I did use one occasionally to put bait out, or take my lines over to the far margin to place the rig with the spoon. When it came to getting the rigs out in the pond, I wanted to feel it down with the cast. I asked myself the question of if I would be happy to catch Heather with a boat and the answer was no. So, I personally didn’t use one. That isn’t taking anything away from the guys that did use them, it is a personal thing and for me it didn’t feel right.”

One of two 46lb mirrors caught that season, pre-baiting being the key

A common that hadn’t been caught for over four-years

Dan Wildbore:: Did you take in a lot of influence from the guys that fished over there?

John Claridge:: “The standard of angling was high, so you couldn’t fail to learn anything. I didn’t take too much in rig-wise, but there were elements that I did pick up on. One thing I did do is fish with nylon hooklinks. A lot of the guys were using supple braid with a bit of PVA foam, due to dropping it from a boat. I had to cast and couldn’t afford for it to be tangled, so I used stiffer materials. It got me in to using stiffer materials and I have used them ever since.

“Little John destroyed the lake the first season I fished it. I’m sure he had 11 out of the 15 captures that year, all fishing with pellets in the edge. He would bait it regularly and it really showed me how effective pre-baiting could be, providing you put something in that they want and with regularity. It taught me that fish can be trained through food and that is something that I have taken in to my angling in recent years, especially with less time on my hands to fish.”

The other part of the 46lb mirror brace

Dan Wildbore:: I was just about to ask with your fishing being local to you, is this something that you put in to your angling?

John Claridge:: ‘I generally get one night a week now, so the lead up to the session is often spent prepping spots. With bait, I can keep areas topped up and when it comes to fishing, the carp have had a number of free meals already. I am lucky that the lake that I have been fishing recently isn’t very busy and being over 50-acres in size, there is plenty of space to get something going. I am 100% sure that from doing this it has caught me a lot more carp. Putting a quality bait in the same areas trains the carp to know where to get that regular food source.”

Returning the big one, what a carp!

Dan Wildbore:: What do you bait with?

John Claridge:: “I only use boilies, but do a couple of things to them to ramp the attraction up. I feed Manilla boilies and I don’t want anything else in the mix to confuse the issue. My hookbait is a boilie too, so I want them used to picking up boilies and nothing else. The more boilies they are used to eating, the better the chances are of me catching one. They also seem to pick out the better fish too.”

Dan Wildbore:: In recent times you fished Farriers, which is known for its big commons, was that something that you still wanted to achieve, a 40lb common?

John Claridge:: “It was really. Farriers had a good stock of big commons and it was literally up the road from work. I had a couple of really enjoyable seasons on there and caught a few big commons. The one in particular was the Long Common, which was a cracking fish. I also had a chunky 43lb 14oz common too, which was the biggest I had, so it was an enjoyable couple of seasons fishing. It was a boilie-dominated lake and I noticed a preference they had for a sweet bait. I caught well on Krill, but after switching to the Vor-Tex and then the Manilla, I caught with more regularity.”

Dan Wildbore:: Then you fished the lake that we can’t name, again in the Water Park, where you have been really successful?

John Claridge:: “I have loved fishing the place, that’s for sure. Once they spawned and the fish were hitting the big beds of bait, which I capitalised on. It is a lake where 10 fish a year is good, but the baiting was helping me catch regularly. At times I would turn up and have to wait to get the rigs out and didn’t need to clip-up, the Jacuzzi of bubbles showed me where the spot was. They were so tuned in to that Manilla, I was catching regularly, even managing nine in a trip. I was lucky enough to catch two of the big mirrors on my first year, both over 46lb. I also managed to catch a common that hadn’t seen the bank for four years, which was a huge buzz. I have repeated on one of the big mirrors, but there are still a couple of big mirrors left to catch, so that is where I will be fishing this season and I can’t wait.”