Improve Your Coarse Fishing (UK)
CARL & ALEX
Brothers Carl & Alex, two of the biggest angling stars on YouTube, reveal new plans for their online videos and Carl shares the capture of a 30lb spectacular ghostie!
It’s going to be epic!
ALEX – Over the past month Carl and I have spent the majority of our time sat behind a computer screen editing videos. When we haven’t been editing we’ve been filming and this is normally the more exciting part of our job. Recently we were sent on a trip to film top Nash consultant Steve Briggs fishing on a beautiful estate lake in France. He managed to catch some cracking carp for the cameras and luckily all went to plan. To be honest, it felt more like a holiday, especially in the warm French sun. Steve was fishing in the shallowest part of the lake where, due to a sharp increase in temperature, all the carp had shoaled up. He used easy-to-tie hair rigs, tiger nuts and boilies and kept the action coming by feeding a little particle each day. This film is due to be launched on NashTV at some point next spring as the coming months are already full of UKbased fishing films!
In addition to making videos for NashTV, Carl and I set ourselves a target last summer to try to produce a fishing video every Friday for our own YouTube channel ‘Carl and Alex Fishing’. Until a month ago we managed to do this but due to pressures of work, making our video every week just possible. However, Carl and I have set some new targets, more realistic ones that I hope we can aim for in the coming months. Instead of making regular videos we will be embarking on a number of big overseas missions to fish places we’ve never been before and catch fish we’ve never caught! This is extremely exciting for us and we can’t wait to put together the videos from these trips and share them with you. This summer we are going for quality over quantity and aim to make fewer videos but bigger, more exciting ones! Road tripping through the USA and a 15hour drive from England to Slovenia are just a couple of the adventures we have lined up. Let’s hope they go to plan. Only time will tell.
Fishing with friends
CARL – It could be said that the last month has been somewhat pivotal. The stresses of buying a house, workload reaching tipping point, planning a number of huge projects and dealing with some tricky times has resulted in a noticeable alteration in my perspective on life. Without wanting to go too deep, angling in general is an independent pastime. It’s often solitary, and that was always the appeal for me, particularly at a younger age when friendship was a confusing concept and inter-human relationship was a stress I would rather avoid. Over the years our fishing has taken us to some awesome places and a by-product of that has been making new contacts. However, the drive to create and succeed had sometimes taken over from socialising and appreciating the people around me. To cut a long story short, the events of the last month have changed my mindset considerably. Time spent alone on the bank is still special, particularly when targeting something rare or large. However, on the other hand I have grown to really appreciate company. Having Alex present for some of our best fishing moments has not only resulted in capturing them in video form, but those shared memories are worth more than I ever imagined. Due to my unearthed appreciation for other people, I have not fished much lately. It felt alien to take a train to London last week on a Saturday evening. Instead of casting my lines into the darkness, I found myself sharing stories with someone I hadn’t seen for years. Instead of photographing my catch in the morning, I took photos of passers-by on the street and my re-united friend. For once I felt like part of humanity instead of a sub-species looking on at human behaviour the same way scientists look at micro-organisms through a microscope. A fishing magazine is no home for the street photography and portraits I took in London that evening, but the thoughts I had that special day have run through into my time spent bankside.
“This summer we are going for quality over quantity to make exciting videos”
Meeting up with Alfie Willingale (Social Media Manager at Nash) for an afternoon of fishing is a prime example of getting the most from a session. All three venues I took him to would rarely see me visiting independently, having caught most of the decent carp they hold already. However, seeing him discover these waters for the first time, and catch himself a few fish was so rewarding! We ended up hours into dark sat on a park bench, rods leaning against a fence of the village pond, discussing all manner of topics, fishing and otherwise. That evening I knew full well that if it weren’t for the company, I would have reeled in on dusk and gone home, and missed the only bite that came soon after dark! Alex and I have enjoyed a couple of onehour sessions in our lunch breaks as normal, especially when the weekend is too busy to get out. We have to get our fix, and a little adventure to a dot of blue on the map is enough to satisfy the urge. Even when things don’t go to plan! Sometimes these interesting ponds are behind fences. Others are seemingly devoid of fish. But once in a while a pool produces the goods and even if the result is a mere 3lb common it feels like a huge achievement. Interestingly, the highlight of this month’s fishing antics occurred on a day when I had no intention of wetting a line. I had met a new friend five weeks before, while fishing on a canal in Lewes, East Sussex. Before I had a proper chance to get to know her, I found out she was soon moving away from the county, so planned to visit a few of Sussex’s best sights before she left the area. We drove to windmills on the South Downs, commenting how dull and drab the light was. Not wanting to dampen spirits, it was time to visit the Ouse Valley Viaduct – an immense structure which is always impressive. I took some photos, getting more practice in capturing images other than fishing.
“The water erupted as an immense power tore off, my 8lb line unable to stop it”
The drive to the next destination was just over an hour but it passed in seconds to the soundtrack of music we both appreciate. Arriving at the castle, a brief cake and coffee break was enjoyed before strolling round the moat. We didn’t get far as Naomi spotted some carp cruising near some branches, carp which readily surfaced and began taking the odd chunk of bread! A quick scan for signs relating to the legitimacy of the fishing rights turned up nothing and since a very minimal purchase in the cafe had come to more than £9 I deemed my dues paid. By this point the floating bread had attracted a number of impressive fish into the area, including one absolutely giant ghost carp which dwarfed everything else! I left my friend with a few slices of bread and instructions to keep the big one occupied. I sprinted back to the van to grab a rod. It was at this point I panicked. I had knocked the front bumper off my van in haste leaving my house that morning, so had taken Alex’s motor instead. I twigged that I didn’t have a rod in my van, but would Alex be more prepared? Thank the Lord, there it was, Alex’s trusty 9ft 1.75lb Scope rod and Nash pan net with telescopic pole. Perfect. Just seconds later I was swinging my hookbait in front of the giant carp, still present in the area thanks to Naomi’s drip feed of bread flake. Seconds later two carp hit the bait at the same time but, not knowing which fish had actually sucked in the hook, I struck lightly. The water erupted as an immense power tore off towards the castle, my 8lb line not doing much good trying to stop it. It was a stressful battle, knowing full well I had such an impressive fish on the end and with a crowd of onlookers too! My friend’s stern netting attempts succeeded on the third round and I looked down at the biggest fish I had seen for months. Looking back up, seeing the joy in her eyes was perfect. We had done it! She lifted the fish for my camera, both in awe of what had just happened. My opportunity to feel a human connection like never before, and her opportunity to experience nature up close and achieve something we had not even considered when leaving home that morning. I said I didn’t want to go too deep, but for me these thoughts only become quantifiable once they are released. Some like to paint or draw, others create music. I don’t enjoy writing but typing this article while sat on a flight to Chicago has released some tension and I hope someone gains some satisfaction from reading it. I had been missing life, but not any more.