Meet The Team

Who are the Northern Monkeys and what are they all about? Good question really; the original Northern Monkeys were founder committee members of the Excalibur AC Carp Syndicate. The Syndicate was formed back in 1994 to run carp angling on Blackwood Pool; the small club water still controlled by Excalibur. ... [full story]

Julian Grattidge is never happier than when fishing the banks of Capesthorne Top Pool, which he ranks as one of the finest carp waters in the country - and he should know! Julian once edited a 780 page ‘where to fish’ book in association with Angling Times. Editing the book ... [full story]

Stoke based angler, Chris Knapper, has become a familiar face on a number regional big fish waters over the last few years since taking up the sport after meeting up with fellow Northern-Monkeys members on Blackwood Pool. Chris has become a highly accomplished angler in his own right possessing a ... [full story]

Rich Gillett, Aka ‘Chesh’ joined the rest of the Northern-Monkeys team fishing the Top Pool during the 2004/5 season. Rich currently resides in Crewe but originally hales from the West Midlands. Rich has spent time on a number of regional waters over the last few years and recently joined the ... [full story]

Paul Smith, affectionately known as ‘Miffer’ to all his friends. Miffer is effectively the ‘daddy’ when it comes to all things monkey, and his presence on the bank is guaranteed to raise the mood during any session. Paul is Excalibur AC Chairman and holds tickets for several other regional waters. ... [full story]

With Julian winding-down operations on the Top Pool, it would appear Phil Wain, aka ‘Phil Highlander’ has taken up the vacant post of ‘site furniture’. Phil made the Top Pool his main target during 2005 and banked a couple of stunners along the way - no doubt many more will ... [full story]

Nige Weston, aka ‘Blank’ is the latest edition to the team, and what he may lack in years, he certainly makes up for with enthusiasm! Nige has been a familiar face on the website for some time now and after banking his first UK twenty back in 2005 followed up ... [full story]

Shaun Docksey, aka ‘Captain Flash’ is an experienced all-rounder with an impressive list of PB’s for most coarse species. In past years Shaun spent a great deal of time successfully fishing the regional match circuit, but now spends any available time pursuing specimen carp. Shaun is without doubt the joker ... [full story]

Steve Baker has been a keen angler since the age of eleven and has banked some impressive specimens along the way. Steve spends quite a bit of time travelling around from water to water and holds a number of club and syndicate tickets. Steve recently joined SOTAS and hopes to ... [full story]

The gallery below displays some of the fish taken by NM regulars. If you would like to read about the tactics and methods used in the capture of some of the fish below, visit the articles section. They don't come much better than this! 23lb of golden common for Julian ... [full story]