To My Younger Self
Kev Hewitt considers how his results would surely have improved, if only he’d have embraced the Chod Rig and worked on his edge fishing
What a great, thought-provoking subject to write about. Initially, I thought this would be easy. I could pick the biggest lesson I have learned, and reflect on perhaps acquiring that knowledge 20 years ago. Sounds great, right? In all honesty, the more I consider that notion, the more I realise that fast-tracking that knowledge would have taken all of the pleasure out of my angling.
When I think back to my younger days, it is the learning curve that has given me the greatest pleasure, and greatest sense of achievement. I see myself as what I term an academic angler. I like to experiment, and I love to learn. If I’m not learning and progressing, I’m not enjoying my angling. Learning is absolutely what carp fishing is about, for me. By fast-tracking that learning curve, I cannot see that my angling would have had such longevity, or the sustainability to keep that flame alight throughout my angling career, a career that has spanned over three decades.
Some of my fondest memories are not of the moment I hoisted a carp of epic proportions. It’s always been about the journey, the countless sessions, making mistakes and getting it wrong. It’s been about learning from those mistakes; correcting the wrongs and turning them into rights; the blood, sweat and tears shed in the pursuit; the countless hours off the bank thinking about how to improve my angling and how to get one step ahead of the carp; the planning, preparation and the build-up to a notable capture. All of these give me greater pleasure than the crescendo of a capture. My love is for the experimentation and the learning, and ultimately, the perfecting of tactics I’ve explored.
If I were to go back and give myself some advice, I would tell myself not to be so narrow-minded with my tactics. I have always considered three rods on a dinner plate-sized spot with heavy baiting the ultimate tactic. I have persisted and experimented with the method, and I have pushed it to its outer limits. It’s an experiment that has lasted the best part of 25 years, albeit a very successful one inasmuch as it has brought about the downfall of a plethora of big and beautiful carp.
Over a period of time, however, my angling perhaps became very one-dimensional, and in all honestly, if three on a spot did not work on a venue, then I would not fish it. Looking back, that was totally the wrong mindset to have and maintain. Some of the lakes I fished, those that demanded fresh ideas and a rethink of tactics, I missed out on.
I can think back to places like Coate Water and Argal Reservoir, mainly the bigger, lower-stocked pits. These required a different skill set. I would have loved to have enjoyed those venues more, to have practised and experimented, and to have developed and expanded my angling, all in an effort to improve my results on such venues.
Don’t get me wrong, the three-on-a-spot tactic served me very well on the majority of the venues I fished, so much so that it was almost inevitable that I would become as narrow-minded as I did.
If I could go back and teach myself to be a better edge angler, a better boilie angler, and even understand and have confidence in the Chod Rig, I know I would have caught far more carp from a variety of venues and in different situations. The heyday of the Chod Rig was a phase I missed out on big time.
When it was weedy, quite often I would find myself setting up on fish, only to then spend far too much time thrashing the water in an effort to find a clear spot. As a whole, it worked in the long run, but I definitely missed out on quick bites. In many instances, a Chod Rig, along with a scattering of boilie over the top, would have been a far better approach, should I have learned about it, developed it, gained confidence in it and given it a proper go.
It is the same with edge fishing, in a way. I have never really been great at it. I know they are catchable from the edge, but I just never felt that I was an edge angler. I liked to bait heavily, out in the pond, rather than set a trap in the edge.
Looking back some 15 years, to my campaign on the incredible Linch Hill complex, there were a number of the A-team from Christchurch that I never managed to bank, the majority of which used to get caught from close in, in the edge. I was so so blinkered. I’d continue to fish well out in the pond, and whilst I was very successful and caught a lot of fish, if I were to go back and invest some time in edge fishing, I am sure I might have tripped up a few more of the rarer ones, those I so dearly regret not having in my album of big carp.
“Oi, 16-year-old Kev! Don’t grow up to be a three-on-a-spot one-trick pony!”
Let’s flip this question on its head quickly, if I may, and make one more point. If I were to go back 20 years and give advice to my older self, it would be to put more effort into floater fishing. Two decades ago, I spent a lot of time floater fishing, and I caught some mega fish. In the last ten years, however, I have forgotten to take my floater gear with me, more often than not, and I can hear my younger self reminding me of how enjoyable it is to catch carp off the top.
On that note, I think my next course of action is to take a trip to the syndicate, armed with nothing but three Chod Rigs, a bag of boilies and bag of floaters… oh, and a little 9ft retractable edge rod. It’s never too late to learn, right?
