Rigs:The 90 Degree Rig

Our resident rig master gives instructions on how to tie the 90 degree rig,this devastatingly effective rig has been taking lakes apart and CAUK has the instructions for you,all revealed in our Rigs section.

Canal Carp Challenge Update

Carp Anglers Uk's Canal Carp Challenge 2012 kicks off in 2 days so if your going carp fishing on any of the canals in England and catch don't forget to send us your pictures and catch report,it's pretty important we need as much information as possible,why not let us know if your planning on taking part wev'e already got some inside information for a few stretches and will be glad to share what we know just drop us a comment or email with your location and if your in the right place we may be able to save you half the job.Good luck.CAUK.

Canal Carp Challenge 2012

These places are stuffed with carp

Many carp anglers are put off when it comes to fishing on UK canals,carp are notoriously elusive the sheer size of the canals equate to a vast body of water.Some canals hold more carp than others and besides from the stretches that have produced recorded carp catches in the past there is not a lot known about what carp are in what canals overall.It is this lack of information and knowledge that has given us the idea of launching the Canal Carp Challenge 2012.Carp Anglers UK are asking England's carp fisherman to take pictures,weigh and record all the details of each carp caught from any of the canals in England.It's common knowledge that the canals hold carp but the numbers and sizes of carp in the different canals across our country are not specific,unlike that of the stillwaters.It is our intention to gather as much information on the canal carp as possible over the coming year and present our findings on the Carp Anglers UK blog aswell as to any other party the information may be relevant to.
For the Canal Carp Challenge 2012 to be a success we need as much data as possible so the pictures and catch records sent to us really are important.The title of our project may suggest that we are running a competition when in fact we are challenging you to go and catch carp of any size and report it back to us.There are no prizes for the challenge this year but the person who sends us details of the most catches (not heaviest) will be named Canal Carp Challenge champion 2012.There will be prizes for the 2013 canal carp challenge a number of retailers have pledged prizes but our first year must generate enough participants to gather the data required for us to make an analysis of the carp content in our canals.
The 2012 Canal Carp Challenge will officially begin on the 14th April 2012,this is when the logging of the information you sent us will begin.This initiative will benefit all anglers in the long run,knowing our target species and the waters they inhabit is one of the most valuable pieces of information we can use in the successful pursuit of the fish we love to catch,Carp!
So if your targeting carp on any of the canals that are situated in England regardless of their size and weight,we want to know about it.

(The Canal Carp Challenge will only be collecting details of catches from canals in England.)

For more information on Canal Carp Challenge 2012 or to report a catch Email: sharpercarper@fishhoo.com 

REMEMBER: Anglers logging catches must supply the following,Name,Email,Location of catch,weight,tactic,bait and a picture.
Good luck and thank you to all who are planning to take part,the information you send us will be very valuable,CAUK.

Fishing in beautiful surroundings,bonus!

That's it for another year,Closed season

River Severn at Montford bridge

If your going to go fishing on our rivers then you have probably one more day to do it legally,it's the end of the season and also time to renew our rod licenses.The tradition of closing our running waters is often a heavily debated one but there's no doubt in my mind that it is necessary.Pressure has to be taken off the rivers in order for our fish stocks to replenish and lets face it their up against it even in closed season with the chance of pollution and the increased predation problems some would argue if it made a difference at all.Yes it does and the people who call for the closed season to be abolished have either little understanding of the rivers Eco system or there after making money from a stretch of water they control or some piece of tackle designed to be used on a river,so if it does ever come to a vote on whether we should get rid of our closed season then the clever persons vote would be NO!

Be Prepared

Extended overnight fishing sessions,if your a serious specimen hunter whether it's Carp,Pike,Catfish or Barbel then the overnight session is an inevitable factor in the pursuit of your quarry.Last week myself and a friend decided to do our first overnighter of the year,i had checked the weather report on the internet for our region and it informed me that it was going to drop below freezing in the early hours.Taking note of this i equipped myself accordingly packing my bivvy over wrap and a season 4 sleeping bag aswell as the relevant clothing,ok the weight would be up on the barrow but to not have the correct gear can be damn right dangerous as i will explain.we arrived at Goldendale,our chosen venue and the weather  was really nice for the time of year.Starting to set up the first thing i did was to get my rods out i like to spend as much time fishing as possible and besides i can set up my base whilst waiting for a bite.This was also the case of my friend who also made getting his rods out a priority,this done we then proceeded to set up our bivvies,the first thing that struck me was how light my mates barrow was,i asked him if he had left some stuff on the van but he said he had brought everything.Anyway after making ourselves as comfy as possible we settled in for the night ahead and as predicted by the internet the temperature plummeted.Around midnight i shouted to see if my mate wanted a cuppa,there's nothing like a nice hot brew to lift your spirits in the freezing cold,i delivered his brew to him in his bivvy which had no overwrap and when i unzipped the door and looked inside he was shivering,there was also loads of condensation dripping down the inside walls of his shelter.I also noticed that the clothing he had on was completely inadequate for the temperatures we were going to have to endure.I did ask him if he thought he would be ok and he was adamant that he would be,i did in fact get on his case a little about how he wasn't really prepared for the session but he assured me that he would be ok.As the night wore on i had a couple of runs on culminating in the capture of a 26Lb 7oz common but the thing that struck me was the fact that he never once came out of his bivvy not to see my catch not even to tend to his rods,so i visited him in his bivvy again and this time when i saw him he was shivering uncontrollably he must have been at that stage of coldness for at least 3 hours.I told him to get the keys to the van and go turn on the heaters to warm himself up but he had got that cold he wasn't able to get up and do that.I got the stove from my bivvy and turned it on telling him to warm himself up enough to go and turn the heater on in the van and eventually he was able to do this.A little while later he was warm enough to be able to make it to the van where he remained for the rest of the session which was cut short because he had made himself really poorly through letting himself get to cold.It was that cold in the early hours of that morning that the condensation on the outside of my bivvy had turned to ice.The whole affair spoilt the session really,for myself it was the worry that my pal was freezing and for him that was a reality.If he had been well prepared and equipped we could have had quite a productive session,the fish where feeding.When i decided to cut the session short i had to pack my stuff up aswell as his,i even had to unload his tackle off the van when i dropped him off as he was unfit to help.He was actually bed ridden for 4 days after that,the cold had really got to him and it made him really poorly.Myself i could have quite happily stayed there for a couple of days not noticing the cold to any great extent and all because i had the foresight to be prepared.Freezing temperatures are a killer,it's a known fact and if extreme temperatures don't kill you then they will certainly make you very ill,it's always worth going that extra yard for comforts sake as this will keep your moral up after all if you lose your spirit whilst night fishing the session could become one big waste of time.Going on overnight sessions on a whim will almost certainly end with you at best going home with a runny nose and if your luggage weight has to go up a couple of kg's then so be it but for your own safety always be prepared,do a little research into the weather situation for the coming day or evening ahead this will help you to make an informed decision on what stuff you will need to take so you can fish comfortably for as long as your on the bank.Never go fishing overnight on a whim it's just a bad idea.CAUK. 

40Lb 2oz Carp First for Ireland

The first Irish 40 has been caught,picture and details on our Carp News page.

Mitchell Pro-cast 8000 big pit reel review

We got our hands on a new 2012 Mitchell Pro-cast read what we thought about the new big pit reel from the French reel masters.Read the full review in the tackle news and reviews cat.