Phil Spinks- Carp, Carp & MORE Carp!

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Phil Spinks- Carp, Carp & MORE Carp!

This summer has seen me dedicate more of my fishing time to targeting carp. I’ve always had a slight addiction to carp fishing but as an all-round angler, carp fishing normally takes a back seat to free up time for other species.

Although I have enjoyed a couple of days catching big rudd in the Fens this summer, it was noticeable that more anglers where heading to the Fens after the rudd. My enthusiasm wasn’t as high as last summer, I felt as though I had scratch to itch, so to speak, last summer and I was more than happy with a new pb of 3lb 2oz last year.

The carp fishing this summer has been great and I’ve found it difficult to tear myself away. By mixing up my approach targeting the carp with either zigs, surface baits or off the bottom, depending on conditions, but adjusting my approach has kept things more interesting.

Without a shadow of a doubt zig fishing has caught me lots of carp that I wouldn’t have caught if I continued bottom fishing. Adapting my approach to suit conditions has undoubtedly kept the bobbins moving more often. The game changer for me has been the adjustable zig kits, they make zig fishing so much easier when zigging in deep water.

Lots of 20lbers have fell to the zigs this summer topped by a nice chunky common of 36lb 2oz. Not to mention the catfish...far too many catfish!

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Fellow Angling direct employee Oliver gets extra ziggy points for landing a 52lb catfish on a zig consisting of a size 10 hook and 12lb hooklink!

Surface fishing has been exciting as always, when time is tight quite often short evening sessions have produced plenty of hard fighting carp including a nice common of 35lb 10oz.

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The ADTV crew and I enjoyed a days filming at Homersfield Lake, showcasing my approach to surface fishing. The video was a great success and the guys managed to capture some awesome takes using the drone for the camera.

My bottom fishing has been more consistent for the bigger carp this summer, my usual approach fishing two rods over a large bed of bait has done the trick again. The best carp has been the most perfect looking common carp weighing 44lb, a new pb common for me to boot!

A 24-hour trip to Kevin Nash’s Church lake saw me catch two carp, the best being a beautiful heavy scaled mirror of 32lb.

Lastly, I enjoyed a trip to Airfield lakes in Norfolk. Although the venue was tricky at times with most of the carp all stacking up in the south west corner of the lake. Moving onto the fish wasn’t an option as we had drawn for swims. But the trip was a success with carp of 33lb 4oz and 36lb 8oz falling to my rods. Between 5 of us 10 carp where landed, but it was the average size that impressed me the most; 27lb 8oz, 29lb, 33lb 4oz, 34lb 8oz, 34lb 12oz, 35lb, 36lb 8oz, 36lb 12oz, 37lb and 37lb 4oz. What an amazing fishery Rich has created!

I’m planning on a few more carp sessions into the Autumn but it won’t be too long until the predator gear gets dusted down. There’s a big Grafham zander with my name on it…
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