Julian Cundiff Q&A

The last thing I bought and loved fishing-wise was some Fabsil Gold that I proofed the brolly and bivvy with. Watching the rain bead on it as it would a freshly polished brand-new car made me very smug (and dry) indeed. 

Having time on my hands is something I used to only dream about pre-2018, but almost four years on I’ve turned that dream into reality. I can tell you that you end up with no time on your hands, but you spend it doing only what you want. When that last breath comes, I can guarantee you that I’ve not left anything on the table as far as my bucket list is concerned.

When it comes to collecting things I’m definitely a bit of a hoarder, to be honest. Outside the fishing world I’m a Kiss fanatic, and having followed them from 1976 right up until now, I’ve collected toys, programmes, books and every bit of crap associated with them. In our crazy fishing world, I’ve been the same, and have every carp-fishing magazine, bait book, and organisation’s bumph you can think of—think Chris Ball levels from the early eighties onwards. 

I’ve recently discovered that when it comes to using my Bushwhacker to best effect, in the colder months, less is definitely more. A full spoon is way too much for a quick bite, and the contents of a small- to medium-sized PVA bag is far more effective on waters that aren’t chocker with nuisance fish. 

My favourite lake ever is Savay, and when Peter Broxup invited me to fish there for a weekend, I felt that I’d had my ‘Wembley’ moment. Sure, I didn’t score, so to speak, but I did tread the banks that Rod, Kevin and Andy did when they were my carp-fishing heroes. As far as my favourite swim goes, that’s on a different water altogether… and it’s not even a swim. When I turned Three Lakes into a syndicate in ’93 my perk was having Sunday nights to myself. I would set up to the right of Teddy Bear in the cut-through and have one rod in Two and two rods in One. That’s where I got into the habit of always taking two landing nets, and for obvious reasons. 

You will always find me with bright yellow pineapple pop-ups and bright pink condensed milk ones. Long may they have blown, or be that they shouldn’t catch and are small fish-orientated… and long may people keep saying that (cough, cough).

My game-changing moment came in the late eighties when I was fishing with Andy Little. I was blindly copying him without really knowing why. He told me never to use or do anything, without stopping to think why, and to ask myself what I was seeking to achieve. After that, carp fishing became a whole lot easier to get to grips with. 

The podcast I’m currently listening to is 83 weeks with Eric Bischoff, which also features Conrad Thomson. I loved the risqué and absolutely politically incorrect wrestling of the nineties when the WWE and WCW went head-to-head. For 83 weeks the WCW was on top. It was the era of Nitro, the NWO Puppies and women’s underwear matches. If you think the nineties was carp fishing’s magical era, then it was certainly wrestling’s too. 

The lake I can’t wait to get back to is the one I call ‘Jurassic Park’ in Lincolnshire, a totally secluded and intimate dead-man’s-shoes water that I fished last year and got hopelessly wrong. It wasn’t that I fished poorly, but my approach was adored by the ‘bodyguards’ and ignored by the A-Team.

I’m blessed in that I’ve fished with most who’ve influenced me, majorly, but if I could turn the clock back, I’d love to fish with Kevin Maddocks when he started to use the Hair Rig. In fact, scrap that. I would not have fished, I’d have watched, learned and applied it elsewhere. 

The tech I couldn’t do without is definitely a mobile phone. You can take my buzzers, my Bushwhacker, and anything like that, but I love having the world at my fingertips. The greatest gifts of all, though, are ‘delete’ and ‘block’.

An indulgence I’d never forgo fishing-wise is being able to send my hooks off to Rig-It Tackle and have them come back razor-sharp. Every time I tie a rig with one I think, bite, bite, bite, bite… and so on. Off the bank, it would be cars you don’t ever need to worry about. The eighties and nineties were an era of jump leads, WD40 and prayer!

A recent find was the power of salt. I’m no secret squirrel, but I have to say, when I’ve been writing my articles and doing my social media stuff I keep forgetting (cough) about salt. Must try harder Jules… or maybe not.

You’d never get me to part with my three-year-old, ten-foot Scope rods, my finishing file, eye piece, and power kettle. All of them show many signs of battle—and I’m sad to say, abuse—but they feel like body parts at times. 

My favourite apps are Facebook (screw the haters), NatWest Mobile Banking (that’s the Yorkie in me), and Google Earth. I’m pretty much old school, as I love print and Filofaxes, but I’m no fool either. 

If I wasn’t doing what I do and could choose something else reality-based, I’d love to run a gym and health centre because what I see being taught and trotted out is often complete rubbish. Telling people what they want to hear is very short-sighted, and being kind with how you deliver what they need to hear is better for them. It’s how I was brought up and how I learned from the anglers I respect, and either in person, or online/in print, it’s what I try to do now.