The 'spring' carpy list
Mark Pitchers, aka YouTube's angling phenomenon (Fox's 'The Challenge') highlights five key elements you need to carry out to be 'carpy' this spring
1 “Now that spring is upon us, it is the prime time to select a water and embark on a “campaign”. Rocking up at a random venue and catching carp is all well and good but it won’t gain you respect from your peers; being in it for the long haul really is the hallmark of a true carpy veteran!”
2 “Using certain “buzzwords” to describe your chosen water will go a long way to give you carpy credibility. A secret/undisclosed, big/vast/deep, gravel/clay/sand/silt/snag pit with an low/ultra low stock of unknown/uncaught leneys/originals sounds mighty impressive and can also hide the true identity of the well stocked day ticket water you’re actually fishing.”
3 “Pre-baiting is not only beneficial to the campaign but is also a great opportunity to show off just how big a deal you are in the carpy community. If you’re in the fortunate position to be able to afford large quantities of bait, or you’re able to purchase it at a discounted rate, or better still get it for free, then why not take some pics of the expensive mountain of bait in the back of the car and then share it on social media just before you throw it all in the lake. I’m pretty sure this will make you look totally carpy, and in no way will it make you look like a total c*ck.”
4 “We all love those steaming kettle pics with the pyramid of used tea bags and rods in the background, but that iconic photo is now sliding down the carpy rankings! These days the portable toastie makers are where it’s at and are quite possibly the biggest thing to happen to carp fishing since the creation of the Hair rig.”
5 “Okay, so you’ve done your first session on the undisclosed, big, deep, low stock, snaggy, clay pit; the pre-baiting didn’t pay off; the two Leneys that live there weren’t playing ball and you’ve blanked; so what next? Well, why not just bin off the campaign and head to France? That seems to be the most popular option at this time of year, and although it may not be the carpy thing to do, at least you’ll get to hold aloft a whacker and prove to everyone you haven’t forgotten how to catch them.”