LATEST ADDITIONS

Well, it's been a while since I did my last blog. We've been getting steadily busier in the TC office and I hadn't really given it a thought! Anyway, in my last one I detailed an encounter with a somewhat disagreeable landowner. I'd been unknowingly preparing a small piece of his overgrown 'garden', for a spring assault on the carp living in the stretch of river below. After weeks of hard work doing recces from my small inflatable boat, plumbing it, and baiting it up, I was left licking my wounds after a right earbashing.

Question: I have bad knees and ankles but love my fishing but I need to cut my kit down how do I do this please as its starting to hurt me now to go and I love my fishing? Vanessa Warner via e-mailHi VanessaThanks for your email via the Total Carp websiteThe simplest way of cutting down your gear is to go fishing on two or three occasions and make a note of the actual tackle and suchlike that you use. You will soon find that a lot of what you take you never actually use, so therefore can start to look at going without. Soon enough you will be able to cut your gear down to a minimumI hope that helpsMarc. .

Total Carp catches up with Daren Welton for his latest blog. Hello again, with the weather forecast a lot more favourable and finally the first signs of spring beginning to show I decided to base a couple of my short sessions around these conditions. The trouble is with the weather being mild and some nice south westerly’s blowing in, couple that with sunny periods, everyone seems to start looking for their shorts/flip-flops and carp rods!!What was only a couple weeks ago on the waters I target, deserted banks and the freedom to go anywhere has now returned to the car park having in excess of 7 to 8 cars parked in it. I suppose we get spoilt through the colder months having the luxury of the lakes to ourselves and personally even though the fishing is a lot more challenging I certainly prefer to be out on the bank at this time of the year.

Sadly, given the inclement conditions over the time that this shelter was first here for testing, I have only been able to do one night under it, and used it for a couple of short, afternoon sessions. I will put that right by using it a couple more times over the spring and, all being well, report back. From what I have experienced so far, this is an improvement on the original Groundhog and this can be seen in many key areas. The material remains drum-tight in cold conditions and there’s plenty of room underneath what is, essentially, a luxury brolly-type shelter but with all the bells and whistles.