THE ROAD TRIP | Scoping It Out

For our company and the other tackle companies out there it is when that year’s new products come to fruition, catalogues are being put to bed, trade shows are starting. From a tackle development point of view it is a really hectic time of year, without taking into account that it’s also a really good time of year to be out on the bank.

So a bit like every other instalment of this series my angling has been somewhat limited and I’ve been scratching around here, there and everywhere getting my fix where I can. I have been over to the Czech Republic for a long weekend doing some charitable stuff and really I haven’t done any fishing at all. This particular road trip wasn’t even a fishing road trip but it gives you an insight into part of what I do at Nash

 One of the things I am heavily involved in is product development and this particular outing, taking place over a couple of days, involved another aspect, the marketing of that product. I was going out with Lewis and Oli shooting in a variety of locations to showcase the new Scope range that we are launching. It’s all well and good developing new product but we also need to tell everyone about it. The most effective form of marketing in this day and age is through video and exceptionally good images. Images that make people go: “Wow, I’d love to be there, to go and do that!”

So we headed out with all the brand new Scope gear and staged it – I’d be lying if I said otherwise – but the places we went were places where I go fishing! The nature of the Scope range has always been about making fishing accessible in various locations right across the world – everything from small rivers to giant lakes. As quickly as possible in that timeframe we needed to cram in some of those diverse locations.

First stop was a small river where I donned one of the back packs, grabbed a single Sawn-Off and had a wander along the river in my waders, which is something that if you follow me on Insta you will know I do quite regularly. It’s one of my favourite styles of fishing – that single-rod approach, rucksack, rod, net and mat and just go wandering off, sight fishing.

I was under very strict instructions from the media team that there was to be absolutely no fishing whatsoever because we needed to keep moving. There is always a danger when you take an angler out to do a non-angling job, especially in an environment when you have all this shiny new equipment and visiting some of your favourite locations, that the temptation will prove to be too much. I got the shoot done and then pleaded with the guys – could I just throw a few slices of bread in and let it drift down to see if any chub or the odd carp might be interested. The boys grudgingly said yes to stop me from sulking.

Lo and behold the fish started to take and four casts resulted in four beautiful river carp. Bearing in mind it’s one of my favourite spots when I have a bit of time to myself and I haven’t managed to get down at all this year, I was really chuffed to get the opportunity to drift a bit of bread down naturally in the current and watch those carp come up and engulf the hook bait. Yeah they were no monsters, but they were banging little river carp.

The next day we had an early start and we visited Central Park in Chelmsford. It’s your typical park lake in a busy town, surrounded by the concrete jungle but with some beautiful carp in it. While Lewis looked for locations I ran straight over to the lake with a bag of Citruz, and chucked a little bit of bait in just in case I did get an opportunity to wet a line.

While we did the necessary shots I was itching to get back and check. When I arrived I had seen carp fizzing and tail patterns. If I had been fishing it would have been rods straight out discreetly. Unfortunately, a couple of hours later when I got the chance to think about fishing the carp had drifted off, the lake had become much busier and my chance of a bite had disappeared too.

Next stop was another stretch of river I have fished, where I pumped up my small boat and headed off down the river, flicking the rods out for half-an-hour. I did see some fish, including one very big one, that isn’t THE big ’un – it might be a new one that I hadn’t seen before.

As much as I was there working I used that opportunity to look for fish, and spots. Where had they been feeding? Where are the fish congregating? All the time building the pieces to the puzzle so when I do go down on my next session I will have some valuable info. These are things that you can’t see from the bank and Oli and Lewis walking alongside me couldn’t see what I could from directly above them looking down with the glasses on.

From there it was a brief visit to a small tidal river, revisiting the spot at high tide after popping in earlier at low tide, followed by a trip on the train to a local reservoir. Both these venues have featured in previous episodes of Urban Banx.

Going into the final day, there were several more venues to visit. We started off at lunchtime meeting up at an idyllic bit of river that runs through a beautiful estate. With Oli just round the corner I couldn’t wait. I had arrived and immediately found about a dozen fish, including some really nice ones milling around in a stand of dying pads. I introduced a bit of bread – if I was professional I wouldn’t have removed the rod from the skin, knowing that Oli was there to get playing shots but I couldn’t help myself and made a cast. Moments later I hear Oli wading through the stinging nettles saying: “Al, can you just wait while I get the camera out?” With that I was in, and after a tussle too brief to get the camera out to capture it, I bagged a really lovely character, the type of fish we dream of catching every time we go.

Again simple Bread Bomb tactics had nicked a quick bite, the fish having no hesitation in coming up and nailing the hook bait. In fact it was a long way down its throat, so confidently had it taken the hook bait. A 2lb Sawn-Off, reel loaded with 10lb Zig Flo, a size 4 Claw hook and a small Bread Bomb was all that was needed!

I fished a bit longer but the disturbance had spooked the rest of the fish, and after nearly falling off a log we called it quits and headed to another, more urban spot of river where I set up under a railway bridge. It’s another bit of river I have fished, but today once we had the shots we were again on the move, this time to a shopping centre. It wasn’t quite as busy as we needed it to be for the shot, but never one to miss an opportunity, armed with Scope rucksack and Sawn-Offs in rod skins I ended up doing a bit of shopping while we were there!

After a much-needed bite to eat we headed back to the van and shot some more in the multi-storey car park to highlight how I keep my van organised with Scope.

Now it was dark, so on the agenda was an urban section of canal where we could take advantage of the artificial lighting. It’s a section I have fished before with Oli, and it’s quite different to the Grand Union I’m used to fishing around Milton Keynes. This is a lot wider and more like a river, absolutely brimming with life – weed, small fish and of course the odd carp too.

It was about 2.30am when we ended up all set up for the night, after something of a mission through the undergrowth. It was a cool location, and even at that time in the morning I still made sure that the rigs were bang on and I prepared a bait mix consisting of mashed bread, Spod Cloud and Citruz boilies. I fished nice long hook links in conjunction with grippa leads to combat the flow. I actually went to sleep shattered but optimistic. I was shattered, having only had a few hours’ sleep.

I woke to two lure anglers on the opposite bank making one hell of a racket for such a quiet and peaceful location. I missed this, but Oli later told me that just before the other anglers arrived a fish had shown twice directly on top of me, For whatever reason, be that it wasn’t my time or that the other anglers had spooked them with their casting, it didn’t happen. It was only a very short session but unfortunately I didn’t land one there either.

The final leg of the trip took us to the bottom of the Colne Valley. We headed into Staines to get some time-lapse shots in the town centre. The boys got to it quickly and lucky too. We soon attracted the attention of security, and were seconds from being escorted off by the manager. Luckily Oli stalled him, keeping him chatting long enough to finish the time-lapse, at which point we quickly packed up and shipped out. Thankfully we had the shots that we needed.

From there we headed to the carp Mecca that is Wraysbury. I’m a bit embarrassed it has taken me so long to get over there. I’ve had plenty of invites but just not got round to it – there are so many places to go! I was delighted to finally drive through the gates and see the huge investment that Rafa has put into the place. It’s a credit to him and all the guys that are involved. If I was a long-session angler who had the time to fish I think I would struggle to find somewhere as good as there to go.

However, we had a day’s work to do, which involved using the Scope range in that big-pit scenario. Oli didn’t help matters, he was as bad as me being distracted by fish feeding, and showing me spots and priming areas as we went. Once all the work was done Lew disappeared off to do a night on the nearby River Thames and I’m delighted to say all his hard work was very much rewarded with a couple of Thames bangers. He definitely deserved those.

Oli and I got the rods out on the South Lake for the night. There are some beautiful spots round the edge so we kept it simple and set traps in the margins. As much as it is a big piece of water, the nature of it with huge overhangs, snags and deep margins mean the fish can be caught really close in.

However, Oli reported that it had got a bit harder recently, with fewer fish visiting the edge than earlier in the season, and the fishing was testament to that. Neither of us had a bite through the night but just a few minutes before we had to leave Oli did have a bite and landed a really cool carp. It might have been an original, who knows, but whatever it was a banger, an upper-double jet black common with a really unusual deformity – it had two pectoral fins on one side.

At 6.30am we were packed up and out of there as the pair of us were meeting up with Tom Forman and spending the day working at the opening of the new Angling Direct store in Guildford. So this month wasn’t really a fishing month; I did get to flick the rods out here and there but it was far more about getting the job done. True to the Scope ethos I made the most of my opportunities along the way!

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