Hi my name is Damian Archer and I am 16 with a great passion for carp fishing. I have known Alan from Bells Of Hythe for 5 years and he has asked me to write this to give you an insight as to what I do and hopefully inspire other people to do what I am doing.
I am currently studying fish management at Sparsholt agriculture collage in Winchester. It is one of the best collages in Hampshire and the well known carp angler Simon Scott studied there and also works there as a tutor, it’s a great privilege to work along side him.
The facilities are brilliant the tutors are friendly and helpful and they also treat you as an adult so that really helps you to get along. The collage also takes you on amazing trip that can be a once in a lifetime experience.
For an example if you have ever watched the program “A passion for angling” then you will be familiar with Redmire Pool which has produced two British record carp “Clarissa” at 44lb and “The Bishop” at 51lb two respected fish in the carp anglers world.
While at sparsholt you get to go there and see it for with own eyes something very special.
Another place you get to go to is Yately which is part of Cemex angling this has produced fish like “ Heather the leather” which has recently passed away. I got to go there and see this stunning fishery and do some tree work this evolved cutting down big trees in swims that could fall and injure people, this was very interesting to do. So if your reading this and you are in your last year at school and your interested in fishing then this is the course for you.
Recently I have been fishing a local lake near where I live, with a stocking of only seven carp! it’s a truly hard lake but boy do I have a story to tell! I’d been fishing this lake for about a year for the Tench and Crucian Carp and had some nice ones but one day I was fishing and all of a sudden I saw a dark shape swim 10 yards from the bank and straight away I could tell this was a big carp.
So for about two weeks every day after school I went down there and watched this fish by climbing trees and watching it’s feeding patterns.
I found by doing this, in the afternoon the fish where coming into a patch of lilies in the margins. I watched them do this for about a week, so that weekend I bought a loaf of bread and took my stalking rod down to see if I could bag one.
I cycled down and arrived about 6:30 in the afternoon perfect ! I set my rod up with just a korda wide gape size 6 on the line, you need a good strong hook because it is very weedy.
I ripped up some bread and I spread it in the lilies I left it for 10 minutes to have a walk round the lake but by the time I got back the fish were already feeding. I baited my hook with a big lump of crust and I watched a fish feeding in the pads and slowly I lowered it into its path it came straight to it and then SLURP ! It took it!!
Whack!! I was in, with one surge of power from its tail it took me through two weed beds, I kept the rod low and pumped the fish back through the weed and after a short but powerful fight I put the net under the fish and shouted “YES” I could not believe it.
I lifted the net and saw that it was a monster, so I lowered the fish into the margins in my landing net and quickly phoned my dad and told him to bring down the camera.
A very short time later my dad arrived with the camera and we weighed the fish. It pulled the scales round to 33lb 8oz a new pb brilliant! I’ve never been so happy I got a load of pictures and then I carefully slipped her back to haunt this lake for another generation, result!
About 2 weeks later I was down there fishing and I met an angler called Greg Alexander, a CC Moore bait consultant, I could not believe my eyes as I have seen Greg in loads of magazines and videos. He came down because he had heard via Al at Bells fishing shop that I had caught this fish so he thought he would have a go for it. Greg did catch one of the other commons from the lake at 23lb, but I don’t believe he has had the one I caught yet.
To my knowledge no one else has caught the fish since I had it and I have recently heard that Shaun Jarvis (another local carp fishing legend) is having a look.
I hope my article has been interesting and I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Many Thanks
Damian Archer.
