Living The Dream!

COULD YOU… MOVE TO FRANCE AND OPEN A HOLIDAY VENUE?
If moving to France and running your own holiday venue isn’t living the dream, we don’t know what is. Alan Simpson and his brother-in-law Dave Elliott did just that back in 2002 when they purchased CARPology’s favourite holiday venue: Etang du Soleil (www.francecarp.com). Here’s how it’s worked out since… 

What was the overriding decision to buy a lake in France and run it as a holiday venue?
“We fished in France several times a year and we worked out that we could get our money back in 10 years by just fishing our own lake! Little did we know (and how gullible we were at the time!)... Looking back, the additional benefit is the laidback French lifestyle, although until you get used to it—and accept it—it does cause you problems.”

When did you purchase the lake?
“We purchased in 2002 and opened in 2003.”

What were the biggest (and hardest) hurdles to get over when you started up?
“French red tape and, as I previously mentioned, nothing happens quickly in France. Finding a good supply of healthy and legal fish can be a minefield if you don’t know what you are looking for and just go for the attraction of ‘big fish’. You have to consider the long-term and go for smaller, healthier fish from a reputable, registered supplier and grow them on.”

Does running a French fishery mean you have more time to fish?
“100% NO! Certainly not, especially when you are busy looking after anglers and their demands. Also, it’s like catching your pets. If we go fishing it tends to be at other lakes or rivers during the off season.”

What are the best and worst parts of running a French fishery?
“The best part—and the main reason we do it now—is the happy grin on a customer’s face when they beat their PB. Knowing you have done your best for your customers, and to prove it they keep on coming back. The worst part is keeping on the correct side of the French law and red tape—it constantly changes. It’s open to interpretation and Brexit has made it worse. The French tend to act first and ask questions after!”

COULD YOU… RUN YOUR OWN FISHERY?
A recent survey on CARPology.net showed owning a carp fishery was top of the list for a carp fishing-related dream for our readers. One couple—Alan and Lorraine Hicks—have achieved that when they opened Arrow Meadow Fishery (www.arrowmeadowfishery.com). Here’s how they build it from one very silty pool… 

Why did you decide you wanted to own and run a carp fishery?
“Like most anglers, I have always been fascinated by water and have always dreamt of having my own pool or lake. My wife and I have worked very hard raising four children and building three other businesses over the past 25 years and were fortunate (lucky) enough to be in a position to buy our dream home which came with some land that contained a very silted-up pool! This was a dream come true for me—and at the right stage of our lives too!”

How much hard work has gone into it? 
“The land we purchased next to our house was 4.5-acres and is just idyllic, with the river Arrow running down one side with the existing, old, silted-up pond on the other. The pond was around 1-acre with 5/6ft of silt! We spent approximately £50k on restoring the pool which took around 7 months. Once filled, we then planted thousands of marginal plants and some extra trees, as well as installing an otter fence. Then came the first stocking from VS Fisheries and since then the work and general maintenance has been non-stop.”

Is the reality of running a carp fishery as good as the dream?
“I believe the running of a good fishery is full time, as there are always improvements to be made and issues and problems to solve. As well as taking up most of your thoughts, sometimes you do feel a little down and then you have to say to yourself: you own a fishery! It was your dream! Smile and enjoy it. On occasions I do sit down and take it all in and just think how lucky I am and how hard work can get you what you want if you’re stubborn and persistent enough.”

What’s been the best and worst part since achieving this dream?
“The worst part is fish deaths that occur mainly around spawning time. The other is the weather, which has been bad this year. Lack of rainfall and months of hot weather have been very hard, but I have learnt lessons and put procedures and equipment in place for next time it happens. The best parts, by far, are the anglers’ captures! There is nothing better than seeing someone overcome with emotion when landing a dream fish! You cannot beat that.”

What would be your advice to anyone else who wants to create their own fishery?
“Speak to people such as myself who have done it and get advice from the beginning. From my experience, all fisheries are completely different and have their own unique problems to overcome, so be prepared to work very hard as it’s never straightforward. Oh, and have deep pockets for the two main costs: fencing and fish. If you can, and have the means to, I say go for it! Make your dream come true as I have.”

COULD YOU… MAKE A HIT YT VIDEO CHANNEL?
When filmmaker Richard Chapman joined ties with match fishing pros Jamie Hughes and Andy May, the plan was to create something more entertaining and watchable than the competition. The result was Winning Ways. Four years on—and now with 40k+ subscribers and a profitable paid-for members section Richard runs through what you need to avoid doing… 

Who came up with the idea for the Winning Ways YT channel? 
“Back in 2018, there were a couple of people doing online coaching videos which you could buy on Vimeo but they were all pretty serious and a bit boring! I’d been working with Jamie and Andy at MAP and Jamie approached us with the idea of doing something like that but trying to make it a bit more entertaining and watchable.”

Did you ever envisage it becoming this big when you set out?
“Not really, as it was never planned out—it was always a case of trying it and seeing what happened. The nice thing was the risk was always minimal. Other than dedicating a bit of time to the filming and editing there were no real costs involved as we already had the filming kit, so we were never worried about trying things out.”

What were the biggest hurdles to get over when you started out?
“We started at a point where people were happy to pay for a magazine or even a monthly DVD, but paying for online content was a bit alien—just because they didn’t have a physical product to hold. Now, though, the business is set-up to be financially viable and produces a mix of paid-for and free content.”

Have those issues changed as you’ve become more successful?
“It’s certainly become normalised with more people getting used to streaming services. It’s far easier to explain that it’s like Netflix for match fishing nowadays.”

How do you make money from the channel? 
“On YouTube you make a fraction of a pence every time someone sees an advert before or during a video, but you really need huge numbers to make it viable (1 million views is around £3-4k in revenue so in a niche like match fishing, it makes life tricky). Because of this, we also have ‘Channel Members’ who pay a few pounds each month to access exclusive content, and it’s the people who sign up for that who make the business viable. Without them, it wouldn’t work. We also do a few bits of merch and actually have a physical book out soon!”

What advice would you give to someone wanting to start a YT channel?
“Don’t try and copy what everyone has done before; be original in your ideas and let your personality come through. In fishing, pretty much every tactic and technical aspect will have been covered, but it’s about how you package that content to make it entertaining and engaging to the viewer.”

COULD YOU… WRITE A BOOK?
Mike ‘Spug’ Redfern didn’t have any experience of writing a book before he had a crack at it with his first title, Carping Mad!, but he’s since followed it up with a second. Reckon there’s a novel trying to escape from you? Here are his tips: 

When and why did you decide you wanted to write a book?
“I decided to write my first book in 2008. Having a strong passion for carp fishing, I grew up reading carp books and it was something I really wanted—and needed—to do, especially as quite a few other parts of my life have been a bit of a disaster!”

Where did you start? Drawing up a list of chapters?
“Pretty much from day one I videoed all my fishing. We didn’t have DVD’s in those days and it was some fishing I could watch. This meant my whole story was there (or in diaries), so I just did it in chronological order.”

How long did it take to write and compile the imagery and drawings?
“Both books took approximately three months solid to write, with the images being organised chapter by chapter. For the first book I added some cartoons which I commissioned the talented John Hannent to draw.”

How did you go about funding and printing it?
“For the first one I struck a deal with MPress and put in a couple grand. My second book I had to self-publish, which I wish I hadn’t in all honesty, but I had already designed and laid it out, so it wasn’t any good for a publisher. I ended up borrowing £10k to print it, which, thankfully, I’ve now repaid.” 

Where was it sold?
“The first one was through my publisher, MPress. The second one I had to sell and promote myself, so I had to learn how to make a website and then add a ‘buy it now’ button. It was major stress but I worked it out in the end and I’m very proud of it: www.mikespugredfern.com.”

Will writing an angling book make you rich?
“Only if you can sell a good few thousand copies! I know the figures and how it works. I only printed 1,000 copies of each, as I’m not a big name in the sport, but it genuinely wasn’t about the money for me.”

COULD YOU… START YOUR OWN BAIT FIRM?
Sean Leverett and his business partner Jon McAllister, launched their bait company, Proper Carp Baits, in 2015. After years of hard slog, it’s now thriving, but is having an endless amount of bait on tap as good as it would seem?

When did you decide you wanted to start a bait company?
“Back in 2015, after I’d ended my ties with Sticky Baits, myself and Jon [McAllister] had a discussion about doing something ourselves. We’d often spoken about doing something in the past but we had always had other commitments. With both of us now commitment-free, we decided to go for it.”

Where did you start?! 
“It all started by making test samples at home in my kitchen. We did this for a year, sourcing the best ingredients we could and formulating recipes. Once happy with the final results and the baits were catching carp, we took the leap and rented an industrial unit and purchased all the machinery.”

How long did it take until you got to a point where the business was profitable and you felt comfortable it was established?
“That’s a tough question to answer because although it was profitable from day one, all profit was reinvested in order to grow and that’s something I’m still doing now. If I’m honest, although the company is well established, it’s a never ending investment if you want the business to be a success.”

What are the hardest parts of running a bait company?
“Because we are in tackle shops and offer credit, cash flow is one of the hardest parts of running a company. It’s long hours, hard work. Constant price increases in ingredients and packaging etc., make it tough, as quality will alway come before profit.”

Any advice to someone who likes the idea of running their own bait company?
“Simple: don’t do it. As much as I love what I do, if I’d known back then what I know now, I wouldn’t have gone into it. It’s bloody hard work, long hours and can be very stressful.”

Will starting a bait company make you rich or give you more time to fish?
“The days of getting rich through making bait are long gone! Unless you have a large amount of money to invest at the beginning to help with advertising and a bit of media presence, it’s tough. I have no time to fish—in fact the last time I actually properly fished was three years ago!”

COULD YOU… INVENT SOMETHING THAT’S GAME-CHANGING?
Everyone’s got an idea for an amazing, revolutionary invention that will land them a vast sum of money. Paul Getty, owner of RidgeMonkey, had one such product with the RM Toaster. It’s been a massive, bloody success 

When and how did you come up with the idea for the RidgeMonkey Toaster?
“It was more a development on an existing product. I’d seen some sandwich toasters that were mainly aimed at the camping market. They seemed to waste a lot of bread and weren’t big enough to fill the appetite of most carp anglers. We made a few tweaks and the rest, as they say, is history.”

Did you believe it was going to be hit from the very start?
“As soon as I used the first sample, I knew it was going to be a winner, but not quite to the extent that it has become.”

What was the biggest stress and worry in the early days?
“Keeping up with demand was the hardest part. We always needed at least one full container of stock in the warehouse, one on the water and another in production at the factory. It was hectic!”

How many do you think you’ve sold worldwide?
“Well over a million. They’re still selling at an unbelievable rate and as far-afield as Thailand, Australia and the US.”

What advice would you give to someone who thinks they have a game-changing product?
“Just get on with it! If you think you have a product that’s a winner, support your faith in it with hard work. Don’t do it half-hearted, get your product in front of people and graft your arse off to make it work.”