Inside The Mind Of Mark Holmes

Experience
Now, first up in my categories would be something you definitely can’t buy: experience. In the disposable world—never mind in carp fishing—this is a rare commodity. I began carp fishing in 1975 and have been trying to become competent at it ever since. The fashionable methods, people, bait and angling companies that have come and gone in those 47 years are, as they say in the good book, legion—that means a lot in common speak! In fact, I have been around that long, that some tactics have come and gone and then come back again!

Drive
This attribute is something that really is a game changer. Carp fishing can be something that’s done infrequently or frequently, but the real big carp-catchers must have it in bucketloads. It is a very personal quality, too, as it isn’t topic-specific, either. However, I am always thinking about the next tactic, the next session, and how I might improve on my results. I never feel I have completely understood what I don’t, or do need to change. Even now, though, I will get out of bed early, and go to the farthest swim if it means that I will catch another big carp, and I push the boundaries with my loved ones in normal life, just to have another chance to catch the target I am after. On reflection, is it an attribute or distraction? You tell me.

Innovation
Now you’re talking! Even my worst detractors must admit that I have perfected and brought about many new ways of carp fishing, shall we say. Yes, they may be variations on existing themes at times, but refining them and applying them so that they work consistently is something I do. I first publicly coined the terms ‘pre-spawning’ and ‘post-spawning’. Then there was the advent of a total-liquid bait approach; bespoke hookbaits; salt use; the understanding of pheromones and how to apply them; crushed, ground-down insects, etc… I really could go on, but no one loves a big head, do they?

Stubbornness
To many, this is hardly an attribute. To me, it is my number-one quality. I never quit, and that is down to stubbornness. As I’ve got older and maybe a little wiser, I’ve seen clearly how I have abused my body, mental health, financial health and personal relationships, all because I have wanted just one more session. It’s not the right conditions; it’s not safe due to the weather; you’ve not got the correct gear; you’ve even not brought any food or drink… in my carping past, all these have applied. Yet just being there, in with a chance, no matter how much the odds are stacked against me, has never stopped me. Maybe the thick Yorkshireman in me doesn’t realise it, but this innate stubbornness is what has brought me the target carp I’ve chased so many times, and that is why it has made this list.

Insecurity
This is something all the top boys will dismiss as bollocks, but I am telling you, those at the very top of their game will suffer from it, even though they won’t admit it. I am always ripping my tactics, bait application, venue choice and performance to pieces. In football, they say you are as good as your last game. Well, in carp-fishing parlance, I think I’m as good as my last fish. Do you believe I sit there and think, This is the number of big carp I have caught, so I must be good? Not a chance. I couldn’t tell you how many UK forties I have caught, but it’s in the hundreds now. Why? Because deep down I think I have to be catching big carp because those are my own personal standards. Yes, I am a professional, sponsored angler now, but for the majority of my life I worked my arse off in Civvy Street. I still caught big carp, and that wasn’t easy, me being from the North of England. This is mostly down to me feeling that I haven’t quite reached what I want, and I’m not quite the finished big carp angler. So where does that come from after all these years? Simple: insecurity.