stories about carp
‘The fish of monks, kings and thieves alike.’ Dan is an angler who seeks out forgotten ponds in the southeast of England in search of the wildie, an older strain of feral carp. His diligent research leads him to a castle moat, an ancient abbey, a manor house stew pond—and finally—a vicarage pool. Using a …
With the summer sun currently blazing, we venture back to the coolness of the beginning of spring and join Kevin Parr as he catches a big perch before the season’s end. < Fallon’s Angler · Ramble On Episode 11: Pipe dreams: the search for a 3lb perch with Kevin Parr
Dominic Garnett reveals some of the unique charms of the River Exe and the Exeter Canal. < Fallon’s Angler · Ramble On Episode 10: A walk along the River Exe and the Exeter Canal with Dominic Garnett
We join John Langridge as he ventures to a Spanish river and fishes for barbel with a variety of wildlife to keep him company. Fallon’s Angler · Ramble On Episode 9: Spanish Barbel with John Langridge
Join Andrew Griffiths on a winter’s day as he tries to tempt a fish from the depths of a Derbyshire pool. Fallon’s Angler · Ramble on Episode 8: A Derbyshire pool with Andrew Griffiths
Garrett Fallon travels to the renowned Ashmead Fishery tucked deep into the Somerset Levels. There, in the company of good friends and enormous carp, he ponders the methods and lifestyle choices that have influenced his angling, and whether he might benefit from looking at the water through fresh eyes….
Join Kevin Parr on a warm summer’s evening as he seeks out a tench from a lake deep in the Dorset hills, with a surprise capture or two. Fallon’s Angler · Ramble On Episode 7: A Dorset Tench with Kevin Parr
Join Mark Walsingham as he continues to explore the Ashmead wetlands in Somerset, but this time brings a rod, with an epic result. Fallon’s Angler · Ramble On Episode 6: Ashmead with Mark Walsingham, Part 2
Join Mark Walsingham as he walks us through the dawn chorus at the unique fishery that is Ashmead on the Somerset Levels. Fallon’s Angler · Ramble On Episode 5: Ashmead with Mark Walsingham, Part 1
Garrett Fallon continues to trace the path of the lost River Peck through Peckham Rye Park as it meanders its way through a vibrant ecosystem and a rich history.
(Freebird Publishing, 2013) The name Harry Haskell has always been familiar to me, his magazine articles from the 80s embedded into my psyche. Perhaps he was not as well known as some anglers, but he was certainly influential. This autobiography came to my attention after hearing the sad news that Haskell had passed away in …
(Little Egret Press, 2016) I guess one of the criteria for a successful book is whether you would buy another by the same author. In the publishing of this, his second work, Stuart Harris—aka The Sweetcorn Kid—immediately informs us that this is very much part of an angling journey. If his first book, From Carbon …
A Coming of Age: An angler’s search for solitude continues By Stuart Harris Read More »
Join Kevin Parr as he continues his short stroll by a lake next to his cottage, that nestles deep in a valley in Dorset, and listen as he tries to track down the carp that swim there, Fallon’s Angler · Ramble On Episode 2: The lake at the end of the lane, part 2
I’d like to say it was a typical Irish summer’s evening, but it was not. It was warm and nurturing, not too hot, with the rain being contrary and going somewhere else for a while. The cornfield opposite blushed with colour as it flirted with the last of the sun and rippled gently as it …
Join Kevin Parr as he takes us on a short stroll to a lake next to his cottage, that nestles deep in a valley in Dorset, and listen as he talks us through the local flora and fauna he encounters on his way (click on the orange button below). Fallon’s Angler · Ramble On Episode …
NEW PODCAST: Ramble on: episode 1. the lake at the end of the lane, by Kevin Parr Read More »
Redmire. If you have any interest in carp angling whatsoever, that name will conjure magic. If your angling is rooted in traditional carp angling, that name will open a gallery in your mind from a time when carp fishing was in its infancy and everything was a glorious and exciting adventure. I pored over the …
Sometimes, change is so gradual that we don’t notice it until we sit back and reflect. So subtle are the shifts, that subconsciously we accept the new as the original. The baseline moves – and unless we get a rude awakening we don’t notice the lack of chaffinches in the garden, or hair on the …
The autumn equinox is one of the loveliest times of the year, with soft days sandwiched between dew-drenched mornings and slow pink sunsets. Yet there is also a curious sense of poignancy, stirred by the end of summer, with a shift from light to dark and the quiet of the air. The fishing though, can …
Back in the thick heat of July, on World Cup Final weekend in fact, I made my way north across the county line and into Somerset. I snuck through Yeovil, dropped down onto the Levels and listen to the tyres crackle across the dust and loose stone of a well-worn track. Windows down, skin …
“It is the magic of the Los Angeles River, a concrete corset that many know from Hollywood films: Drive, Transformers, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, it’s a long list that shows the concrete, but not the hidden seven miles or so nature has reclaimed.” The Los Angeles River is the unlikely scene for some urban …
It has been a long time since my fishing took a truly unexpected turn, but July has delivered a fresh and local diversion that has given my summer quite a lift. In fact, there has been enough going on for me to start to diarise as a piece for Fallon’s angler Issue 11, providing our …
Parr’s Diary – July 2017: of mushrooms, mackerel and a quartet of carp Read More »
I’m not a sun worshipper, not with my delicate Irish skin. I crisp like burnt potatoes, dry out rapidly like a jellyfish stranded on a beach. I find myself wishing for any of the many types of rain we have back home, hitting my skin and exploding into little balls of steam. Still, once the …
Surface tension for sun worshippers: chasing carp from the top Read More »
It seemed so straightforward. All we needed was a small lake or pond, preferably quiet, hopefully natural, but definitely home to a tench or two. Ideally there would be a lily pads and overhanging trees, with a grass snake slipping through the marginal reeds, a song thrush singing and a musty whiff on the air. …
It is easy to forget how close we live to the sea. Our cottage faces south, but is tucked into a fold of the West Dorset hills and we need to climb a few hundred feet in order to glimpse saltwater. Occasionally, with an inshore breeze, there is the faintest briny whiff on the air, …
Parr’s Diary – (May) Thank heavens for the Glorious 16th! Read More »
It ended up being two months between casts, give or take a few days. Illness, a lack of time and a monster bout of lethargy had left me dry through all of August and most of September. If I was going to end such a drought, then it may as well be somewhere extraordinary. Ashmead …
Words by Jon Berry I have just been carp fishing, not in itself unusual, except it is something I never do at this time of year. It wasn’t a bivouacked endurance test in thermals, wet gloves frozen to fingers, slack lines freezing in cat ice—more a casual few hours with an Avon rod, a pocket …
Angling, and carp fishing in particular, lost another advocate shortly before Christmas. Peter Mohan was born in Berkshire in 1930 before growing up on the Channel coast at Bogner Regis. He began fishing at the age of twelve, and, at a time when the species was deemed by many to be uncatchable, developed a special …
Published in 1973, Cypry the Carp broke the mould by which much of angling writing is formed in that it was a work of fiction. Author Peter Mohan was a carp angler of great note, and though he also wrote numerous non-fiction titles on the subject, it is the tale of Cypry for which many …
Back in the late 1970’s a small group of anglers, sharing a fondness for carp fishing and split cane rods, founded The Golden Scale Club, an organisation which excels at disorganisation. For more than thirty-five years, The GSC have drifted very lazily around the eddy at the back of the weirpool, meeting, in some number …
The New Year inevitably brings with it a tinge of regret when those extra pounds (or kilos) around the belly first show themselves on the scales. But gluttony is thankfully a mainstay of our festive season, and resolutions are quickly made (and broken). It is popularly believed that it was Henry VIII’s fondness for turkey on Christmas Day …
Native to eastern Asia, the grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) is a fast growing Cyprinid with a large mouth and cigar shaped body. They superficially resemble the chub (Squalius cephalus), and confusion has led to more than one erroneous chub ‘record’ claim. Grass carp grow large, with specimens reaching nearly five feet in length and weighing …
Back in the early 1970’s, despite the success of anglers such as Dick Walker and Maurice Ingham, the King carp (see Fish we Like) was still widely considered to be an enigma not worth trifling with. To single out and catch these great fish required skill, patience and improvisation – as it transpired, Rod Hutchinson …
The carp (Cyprinus carpio) comes in many different guises. The wildie (see Bits and Pieces Issue 12), the leather, the mirror and the common carp are all taxonomically the same species, yet they vary as much as people in size, shape and appearance. ‘King’ is a label that essentially encompasses all carp that differ from …
In carp fishing circles, the name Donald Leney reverberates like the ripples from the crash of a fifty pounder – yet he himself was no angler. Instead, Leney was a fish farmer, working for a Surrey trout farm, when he travelled to the Netherlands and hand picked a strain of Galician carp to bring back …
Deep in the folds of southwest Herefordshire, just a few miles from the Welsh border, sits the most famous pond of them all. The waters of Bernithan Court, or Redmire Pool as it is more widely known, swirl through the dreams of every carp angler. It was here that Donald Leney (see People we Like) …
Once described as a polymath – or as Chris himself prefers, ‘Jack of all and master of none’ – Chris is a keen all-round angler who has written for a variety of general interest and business publications in both a freelance and ghost writing capacity. His account of a stunning river capture on the Dorset …
Long before the King Carp made it to our shores, a Danubian strain of Cyprinus carpio was finding its way into our lakes and rivers. Imported as a food source, these ‘wild’ carp were stocked into pools across the country by Medieval Monks looking for an easy to maintain food source. These fish were slim …
By Chris Netto The tendrils of mist wound lazily around the tree branches as I stood on the banks of the Dorset Stour on a dull, grey, mid-July dawn. I had planned this adventure for weeks, keen to get in among Throop’s not inconsiderable chub population, but really hoping for one of its sizeable barbel. …
The ‘wrong’ type of gold—memories of a river capture Read More »
Written by Matthew Tanner For too many years I suffered from a prolonged bout of naivety, the sort normally associated with the folly of youth, turning down multiple requests from my Mum’s friend Steve, that I accompany him on a days fly fishing. In the end it became a running joke between us. However, I …
I have twin seven year old nephews, Tom and Fred. They are energetic dynamos, indefatigable creatures of havoc, as entertaining with their ludicrous antics as their devilish double act is testing to the patience of the most tolerant of adults. A day with the prankish pair requires deep reserves of many attributes, most of which …
A funny thing happened at the weekend. What was lost was found, and a once-burning flame was rekindled by a chance series of events that fell into place like a float to the water. I rediscovered my love of the simple angling adventure. I cannot wait to see the little pond again, and taste the …
