Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/import.php on line 29
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 71
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/import.php on line 32
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 71
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::load() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 161
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 138
Strict Standards: Non-static method JRequest::clean() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/import.php on line 33
Strict Standards: Non-static method JRequest::_cleanArray() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/environment/request.php on line 463
Strict Standards: Non-static method JRequest::_cleanArray() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/environment/request.php on line 464
Strict Standards: Non-static method JRequest::_cleanArray() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/environment/request.php on line 465
Strict Standards: Non-static method JRequest::_cleanArray() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/environment/request.php on line 466
Strict Standards: Non-static method JRequest::_cleanArray() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/environment/request.php on line 467
Strict Standards: Non-static method JRequest::_cleanArray() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/environment/request.php on line 468
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/import.php on line 35
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 71
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/import.php on line 38
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 71
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/import.php on line 39
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 71
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::load() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 161
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 138
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/import.php on line 46
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 71
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/import.php on line 47
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 71
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/import.php on line 50
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 71
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/import.php on line 53
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 71
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/import.php on line 54
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 71
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/import.php on line 57
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/import.php on line 58
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 186
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 71
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 186
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 71
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 186
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 71
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 186
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 71
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 186
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 71
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 186
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 71
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 186
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 71
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 186
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 71
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 186
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 71
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::load() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 161
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 138
Strict Standards: Non-static method JFactory::getApplication() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/index.php on line 32
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 186
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 71
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::load() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 161
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 138
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::load() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 161
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 138
Strict Standards: Non-static method JApplication::getInstance() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/factory.php on line 46
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 186
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 71
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::load() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 161
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 138
Strict Standards: Non-static method JApplicationHelper::getClientInfo() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/application/application.php on line 130
Strict Standards: Declaration of JSite::getRouter() should be compatible with & JApplication::getRouter($name = NULL, $options = Array) in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/includes/application.php on line 0
Strict Standards: Declaration of JSite::getPathWay() should be compatible with & JApplication::getPathway($name = NULL, $options = Array) in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/includes/application.php on line 0
Strict Standards: Declaration of JSite::getMenu() should be compatible with & JApplication::getMenu($name = NULL, $options = Array) in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/includes/application.php on line 0
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 186
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 71
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 186
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 186
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 71
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::getConfig() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/application/application.php on line 726
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::_createConfig() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/factory.php on line 73
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 186
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::load() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 161
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 138
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/registry/registry.php on line 19
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::load() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 161
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 138
Deprecated: Non-static method JUtility::getHash() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/application/application.php on line 99
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::getConfig() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/utilities/utility.php on line 111
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::getConfig() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/application/application.php on line 384
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::getSession() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/application/application.php on line 764
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::_createSession() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/factory.php on line 94
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 186
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 71
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::getConfig() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/factory.php on line 500
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::load() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 161
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 138
Strict Standards: Declaration of JSession::set() should be compatible with JObject::set($property, $value = NULL) in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/session/session.php on line 0
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/session/session.php on line 19
Deprecated: Non-static method JSession::getInstance() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/factory.php on line 506
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::load() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 161
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 138
Deprecated: Non-static method JSessionStorage::getInstance() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/session/session.php on line 108
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::load() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 161
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 138
Deprecated: Non-static method JFilterInput::clean() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/session/storage.php on line 57
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::load() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 161
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 138
Warning: session_start(): Cannot find save handler 'memcached' - session startup failed in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/session/session.php on line 423
Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/import.php:29) in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/session/session.php on line 426
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 186
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 71
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::load() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 161
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 138
Deprecated: Non-static method JTable::getInstance() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/application/application.php on line 767
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::load() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 161
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 138
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 186
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 71
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::load() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 161
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 138
Deprecated: Non-static method JPath::find() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/database/table.php on line 91
Deprecated: Non-static method JTable::addIncludePath() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/database/table.php on line 91
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::getDBO() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/database/table.php on line 112
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::getConfig() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/factory.php on line 268
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::_createDBO() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/factory.php on line 271
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 186
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 71
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 186
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::getConfig() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/factory.php on line 550
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::load() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 161
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 138
Deprecated: Non-static method JDatabase::getInstance() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/factory.php on line 562
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::load() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 161
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 138
Deprecated: Non-static method JError::isError() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/factory.php on line 564
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::getUser() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/includes/application.php on line 53
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 186
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::getSession() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/factory.php on line 163
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::load() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 161
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 138
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 186
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 71
Deprecated: Non-static method JUser::getInstance() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/factory.php on line 166
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::load() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 161
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 138
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 186
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/html/parameter.php on line 21
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::load() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 161
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 138
Deprecated: Non-static method JComponentHelper::getParams() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/includes/application.php on line 60
Deprecated: Non-static method JComponentHelper::getComponent() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/application/component/helper.php on line 83
Deprecated: Non-static method JComponentHelper::_load() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/application/component/helper.php on line 39
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::getDBO() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/application/component/helper.php on line 196
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::load() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 161
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 138
Deprecated: Non-static method JRegistryFormat::getInstance() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/registry/registry.php on line 373
Deprecated: Non-static method JFilterInput::clean() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/registry/format.php on line 45
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::load() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 161
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 138
Strict Standards: Declaration of JRegistryFormatINI::objectToString() should be compatible with JRegistryFormat::objectToString(&$object) in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/registry/format/ini.php on line 0
Deprecated: Non-static method JApplicationHelper::getClientInfo() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/includes/application.php on line 61
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::load() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 161
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 138
Deprecated: Non-static method JLanguage::exists() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/includes/application.php on line 68
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 186
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 71
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::load() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 161
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 138
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 186
Deprecated: Non-static method JFolder::exists() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/language/language.php on line 265
Deprecated: Non-static method JPath::clean() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/filesystem/folder.php on line 392
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 186
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 71
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::getConfig() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/application/application.php on line 164
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::getUser() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/application/application.php on line 172
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 186
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::getSession() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/factory.php on line 163
Deprecated: Non-static method JUser::getInstance() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/factory.php on line 166
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::getConfig() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/application/application.php on line 384
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::load() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 161
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 138
Deprecated: Non-static method JPluginHelper::isEnabled() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/application/application.php on line 174
Deprecated: Non-static method JPluginHelper::getPlugin() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/plugin/helper.php on line 75
Deprecated: Non-static method JPluginHelper::_load() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/plugin/helper.php on line 41
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::getDBO() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/plugin/helper.php on line 174
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::getUser() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/plugin/helper.php on line 175
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 186
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::getSession() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/factory.php on line 163
Deprecated: Non-static method JUser::getInstance() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/factory.php on line 166
Strict Standards: Non-static method JPluginHelper::importPlugin() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/index.php on line 42
Strict Standards: Non-static method JPluginHelper::_load() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/plugin/helper.php on line 92
Strict Standards: Non-static method JPluginHelper::_import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/plugin/helper.php on line 97
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 186
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 71
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 186
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::load() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 161
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 138
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 186
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::load() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 161
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 138
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 186
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 71
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::load() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 161
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 138
Strict Standards: Declaration of JEvent::update() should be compatible with JObserver::update() in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/event/event.php on line 29
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::load() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 161
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 138
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 186
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 71
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::load() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 161
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 138
Strict Standards: Non-static method JDispatcher::getInstance() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/plugin/helper.php on line 140
Strict Standards: Non-static method JPluginHelper::getPlugin() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/plugin/helper.php on line 147
Strict Standards: Non-static method JPluginHelper::_load() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/plugin/helper.php on line 41
Strict Standards: Non-static method JPluginHelper::_import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/plugin/helper.php on line 97
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 186
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 186
Strict Standards: Non-static method JDispatcher::getInstance() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/plugin/helper.php on line 140
Strict Standards: Non-static method JPluginHelper::getPlugin() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/plugin/helper.php on line 147
Strict Standards: Non-static method JPluginHelper::_load() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/plugin/helper.php on line 41
Deprecated: Non-static method JRegistryFormat::getInstance() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/registry/registry.php on line 373
Deprecated: Non-static method JFilterInput::clean() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/registry/format.php on line 45
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::getLanguage() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/plugin/plugin.php on line 113
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::getConfig() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/factory.php on line 116
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::_createLanguage() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/factory.php on line 119
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 186
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::getConfig() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/factory.php on line 681
Deprecated: Non-static method JLanguage::getInstance() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/factory.php on line 683
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::getXMLParser() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/language/language.php on line 760
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 186
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 71
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::load() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 161
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 138
Deprecated: Non-static method JRegistryFormat::getInstance() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/registry/registry.php on line 373
Deprecated: Non-static method JFilterInput::clean() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/registry/format.php on line 45
Deprecated: Non-static method JRegistryFormat::getInstance() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/registry/registry.php on line 373
Deprecated: Non-static method JFilterInput::clean() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/registry/format.php on line 45
Strict Standards: Non-static method JPluginHelper::_import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/plugin/helper.php on line 97
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 186
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 186
Strict Standards: Non-static method JDispatcher::getInstance() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/plugin/helper.php on line 140
Strict Standards: Non-static method JPluginHelper::getPlugin() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/plugin/helper.php on line 147
Strict Standards: Non-static method JPluginHelper::_load() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/plugin/helper.php on line 41
Deprecated: Non-static method JDispatcher::getInstance() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/application/application.php on line 501
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::getUser() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/plugins/system/remember.php on line 52
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 186
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::getSession() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/factory.php on line 163
Deprecated: Non-static method JUser::getInstance() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/factory.php on line 166
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 186
Deprecated: Non-static method JUtility::getHash() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/plugins/system/remember.php on line 56
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::getConfig() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/utilities/utility.php on line 111
Deprecated: Non-static method JRequest::getString() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/plugins/system/remember.php on line 58
Deprecated: Non-static method JRequest::getVar() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/environment/request.php on line 276
Deprecated: Non-static method JRequest::_cleanVar() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/environment/request.php on line 151
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::load() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 161
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 138
Deprecated: Non-static method JURI::getInstance() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/application/application.php on line 192
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::getConfig() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/includes/application.php on line 372
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 186
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 71
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::load() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 161
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 138
Deprecated: Non-static method JRouter::getInstance() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/application/application.php on line 655
Deprecated: Non-static method JApplicationHelper::getClientInfo() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/application/router.php on line 98
Deprecated: Non-static method JError::isError() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/application/application.php on line 656
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::getApplication() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/includes/router.php on line 40
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::getConfig() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/application/application.php on line 384
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::getConfig() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/application/application.php on line 384
Deprecated: Non-static method JURI::base() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/includes/router.php on line 67
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::getConfig() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/environment/uri.php on line 208
Deprecated: Non-static method JURI::getInstance() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/environment/uri.php on line 211
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::getApplication() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/includes/router.php on line 366
Deprecated: Non-static method JSite::getMenu() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/includes/router.php on line 163
Deprecated: Non-static method JApplication::getMenu() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/includes/application.php on line 345
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 186
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::load() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 161
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 138
Deprecated: Non-static method JMenu::getInstance() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/application/application.php on line 701
Deprecated: Non-static method JApplicationHelper::getClientInfo() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/application/menu.php on line 93
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::getCache() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/includes/menu.php on line 36
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::getConfig() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/factory.php on line 192
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 186
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 71
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::load() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 161
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 138
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/cache/cache.php on line 19
Deprecated: Non-static method JCache::getInstance() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/factory.php on line 208
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::load() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 161
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 138
Deprecated: Non-static method JRequest::getCmd() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/cache/cache.php on line 87
Deprecated: Non-static method JRequest::getVar() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/environment/request.php on line 255
Deprecated: Non-static method JRequest::_cleanVar() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/environment/request.php on line 151
Deprecated: Non-static method JFilterInput::getInstance() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/environment/request.php on line 577
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::load() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 161
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 138
Strict Standards: Declaration of JCacheStorage::get() should be compatible with JObject::get($property, $default = NULL) in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/cache/storage.php on line 0
Deprecated: Non-static method JCacheStorage::getInstance() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/cache/cache.php on line 313
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::load() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 161
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 138
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::getConfig() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/cache/storage/file.php on line 37
Deprecated: Non-static method JError::isError() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/cache/cache.php on line 206
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::getDBO() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/includes/menu.php on line 40
Deprecated: Non-static method JError::isError() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/cache/cache.php on line 229
Deprecated: Non-static method JError::isError() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/application/application.php on line 702
Strict Standards: Non-static method JSite::getMenu() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/components/com_content/router.php on line 120
Strict Standards: Non-static method JApplication::getMenu() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/includes/application.php on line 345
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 186
Strict Standards: Non-static method JMenu::getInstance() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/application/application.php on line 701
Strict Standards: Non-static method JError::isError() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/application/application.php on line 702
Deprecated: Non-static method JRequest::set() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/application/application.php on line 197
Deprecated: Non-static method JRequest::setVar() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/environment/request.php on line 423
Deprecated: Non-static method JRequest::setVar() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/environment/request.php on line 423
Deprecated: Non-static method JRequest::setVar() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/environment/request.php on line 423
Deprecated: Non-static method JRequest::setVar() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/environment/request.php on line 423
Deprecated: Non-static method JRequest::setVar() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/environment/request.php on line 423
Deprecated: Non-static method JRequest::setVar() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/environment/request.php on line 423
Strict Standards: Non-static method JRequest::getInt() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/index.php on line 56
Strict Standards: Non-static method JRequest::getVar() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/environment/request.php on line 179
Strict Standards: Non-static method JRequest::_cleanVar() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/environment/request.php on line 134
Strict Standards: Non-static method JFilterInput::getInstance() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/environment/request.php on line 577
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 186
Deprecated: Non-static method JMenu::getInstance() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/application/application.php on line 701
Deprecated: Non-static method JError::isError() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/application/application.php on line 702
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::getUser() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/includes/application.php on line 198
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 186
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::getSession() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/factory.php on line 163
Deprecated: Non-static method JUser::getInstance() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/factory.php on line 166
Deprecated: Non-static method JDispatcher::getInstance() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/application/application.php on line 501
Strict Standards: Non-static method JRequest::getCmd() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/index.php on line 68
Strict Standards: Non-static method JRequest::getVar() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/environment/request.php on line 255
Strict Standards: Non-static method JRequest::_cleanVar() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/environment/request.php on line 134
Strict Standards: Non-static method JFilterInput::getInstance() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/environment/request.php on line 577
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::getDocument() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/includes/application.php on line 91
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::_createDocument() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/factory.php on line 140
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 186
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 71
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::getLanguage() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/factory.php on line 700
Deprecated: Non-static method JRequest::getBool() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/factory.php on line 703
Deprecated: Non-static method JRequest::getVar() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/environment/request.php on line 217
Deprecated: Non-static method JRequest::_cleanVar() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/environment/request.php on line 151
Deprecated: Non-static method JFilterInput::getInstance() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/environment/request.php on line 577
Deprecated: Non-static method JRequest::getWord() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/factory.php on line 704
Deprecated: Non-static method JRequest::getVar() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/environment/request.php on line 236
Deprecated: Non-static method JRequest::_cleanVar() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/environment/request.php on line 140
Deprecated: Non-static method JFilterInput::getInstance() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/environment/request.php on line 577
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::load() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 161
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 138
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/document/document.php on line 19
Deprecated: Non-static method JDocument::getInstance() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/factory.php on line 714
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::load() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 161
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 138
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::getUser() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/includes/application.php on line 92
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 186
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::getSession() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/factory.php on line 163
Deprecated: Non-static method JUser::getInstance() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/factory.php on line 166
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::getConfig() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/includes/application.php on line 372
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 186
Deprecated: Non-static method JRouter::getInstance() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/application/application.php on line 655
Deprecated: Non-static method JError::isError() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/application/application.php on line 656
Deprecated: Non-static method JRequest::getCmd() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/includes/application.php on line 238
Deprecated: Non-static method JRequest::getVar() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/environment/request.php on line 255
Deprecated: Non-static method JRequest::_cleanVar() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/environment/request.php on line 134
Deprecated: Non-static method JFilterInput::getInstance() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/environment/request.php on line 577
Deprecated: Non-static method JComponentHelper::getParams() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/includes/application.php on line 240
Deprecated: Non-static method JComponentHelper::getComponent() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/application/component/helper.php on line 83
Deprecated: Non-static method JComponentHelper::_load() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/application/component/helper.php on line 39
Deprecated: Non-static method JRegistryFormat::getInstance() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/registry/registry.php on line 373
Deprecated: Non-static method JFilterInput::clean() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/registry/format.php on line 45
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 186
Deprecated: Non-static method JMenu::getInstance() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/application/application.php on line 701
Deprecated: Non-static method JError::isError() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/application/application.php on line 702
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::getConfig() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/application/application.php on line 384
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::getConfig() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/application/application.php on line 384
Deprecated: Non-static method JRegistryFormat::getInstance() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/registry/registry.php on line 373
Deprecated: Non-static method JFilterInput::clean() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/registry/format.php on line 45
Deprecated: Non-static method JURI::current() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/includes/application.php on line 114
Deprecated: Non-static method JURI::getInstance() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/environment/uri.php on line 277
Deprecated: Non-static method JComponentHelper::renderComponent() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/includes/application.php on line 124
Deprecated: Non-static method JComponentHelper::isEnabled() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/application/component/helper.php on line 119
Deprecated: Non-static method JComponentHelper::getComponent() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/application/component/helper.php on line 67
Deprecated: Non-static method JComponentHelper::_load() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/application/component/helper.php on line 39
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::getConfig() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/application/application.php on line 384
Deprecated: Non-static method JRequest::getString() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/application/component/helper.php on line 151
Deprecated: Non-static method JRequest::getVar() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/environment/request.php on line 276
Deprecated: Non-static method JRequest::_cleanVar() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/environment/request.php on line 151
Deprecated: Non-static method JFilterInput::getInstance() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/environment/request.php on line 577
Deprecated: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is deprecated, use preg_replace_callback instead in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/filter/filterinput.php on line 501
Deprecated: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is deprecated, use preg_replace_callback instead in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/filter/filterinput.php on line 503
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::getLanguage() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/application/component/helper.php on line 154
Deprecated: Non-static method JRegistryFormat::getInstance() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/registry/registry.php on line 373
Deprecated: Non-static method JFilterInput::clean() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/registry/format.php on line 45
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 186
Deprecated: Non-static method JApplicationHelper::getPath() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/application/component/helper.php on line 168
Deprecated: Non-static method JRequest::getCmd() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/application/helper.php on line 112
Deprecated: Non-static method JRequest::getVar() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/environment/request.php on line 255
Deprecated: Non-static method JRequest::_cleanVar() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/environment/request.php on line 134
Deprecated: Non-static method JFilterInput::getInstance() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/environment/request.php on line 577
Deprecated: Non-static method JApplicationHelper::_checkPath() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/application/helper.php on line 133
Deprecated: Non-static method JDispatcher::getInstance() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/application/application.php on line 501
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::getDocument() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/includes/application.php on line 135
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::getUser() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/includes/application.php on line 136
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 186
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::getSession() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/factory.php on line 163
Deprecated: Non-static method JUser::getInstance() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/factory.php on line 166
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::getConfig() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/application/application.php on line 384
Deprecated: Non-static method JRequest::getCmd() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/document/feed/feed.php on line 201
Deprecated: Non-static method JRequest::getVar() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/environment/request.php on line 255
Deprecated: Non-static method JRequest::_cleanVar() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/environment/request.php on line 140
Deprecated: Non-static method JFilterInput::getInstance() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/environment/request.php on line 577
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::load() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 161
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 138
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::load() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 161
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::register() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 138
Strict Standards: Declaration of JDocumentRendererAtom::render() should be compatible with JDocumentRenderer::render($name, $params = Array, $content = NULL) in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/document/feed/renderer/atom.php on line 34
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::getDate() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/document/feed/renderer/atom.php on line 51
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 186
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::getLanguage() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/factory.php on line 426
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::getURI() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/document/feed/renderer/atom.php on line 54
Strict Standards: Non-static method JLoader::import() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/loader.php on line 186
Deprecated: Non-static method JURI::getInstance() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/factory.php on line 402
Deprecated: Non-static method JRoute::_() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/document/feed/renderer/atom.php on line 56
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::getApplication() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/methods.php on line 41
Deprecated: Non-static method JFactory::getConfig() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/includes/application.php on line 372
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Strict Standards: Non-static method JResponse::sendHeaders() should not be called statically in /home/cfx8bem9ipav/northwestcarp.co.uk/libraries/joomla/environment/response.php on line 205 ArticlesNorth West Carp, Carp fishing in the North West of England.http://www.northwestcarp.co.uk/index.php/features/articles/72-the-think-tank2024-05-19T03:47:31ZJoomla! 1.5 - Open Source Content ManagementMy approach to short session carping2012-02-22T20:37:24Z2012-02-22T20:37:24Zhttp://www.northwestcarp.co.uk/index.php/features/articles/72-the-think-tank/1033-my-approach-to-short-session-carpingOli Astonjulian.grattidge@btinternet.comThe majority of my fishing revolves around short 5-6 hour sessions when I can get a lift or when the Old Man takes me with him. I have to make the most of every minute available to me and during the 2011 season I decided to rethink the way I approach my angling. Firstly, I needed to decide what my objectives were. The lake I fish mostly is about 12 acres in size with a good head of fish. It is also very busy, but if you pick your moments you can be on your own on the place and as it's only 5 minutes from where I live I can do just that! The anglers that fish this water all seem to follow the same pattern - turn up on a Friday afternoon, bivvy up close to the carpark and ‘camp' for the weekend. This style of angling is not very productive at all. The fish move about in shoals, following the wind so to catch them you really need to find them and then follow them.
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="images/ALL/220212_1_19lb2.jpg" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Changing approach; 19lb 2oz common</p>
<p>I decided that my method of attack would be to trim down as much gear as I could and take only the essentials, making a mid session move much easier. How many times have you been sat there and seen fish show on the other side of the lake, only to look at the mountain of gear you have brought and think ‘sod it, the fish can come to me!'</p>
<p>So, I got all my gear out in the garden, took out what I thought wasn't needed and then got the Old Man to come out and see if he thought there was anything else I had missed. Do I really need 10 tubs of pop-ups, 16 leads, a stove and cooking gear, head torch and spare batteries, 3 sets of bank sticks etc. etc. for a couple of hours in the afternoon ? You get the idea!</p>
<p>With my gear stripped down to the minimum, I could then move about and drop onto fish without too much fuss, giving me what I hoped would be a big edge. Time to put my plan into action. The first few trips out at the start of the season saw the lake very busy but the further away from the car park you walked the more swims were available. Because of the sandy nature of the paths around the lake, it is a nightmare pushing a barrow so 99% of the anglers don't venture more than a few hundred yards from the car parks. This leaves large areas of water that don't get touched very much at all.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="images/ALL/220212_2_LD.jpg" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Low Double</p>
<p>One thing I did learn quickly is that everyone seems to follow each other; casting out to around the middle of the water and putting a few hundred baits over each rod. This does produce fish but while up a tree I noticed a few fish beneath the bushes overhanging the margins. I waited for the fish to swim off and then dropping a couple of broken baits into the water, I waited for them to return. It didn't take long for them to come back and they were straight down onto the bait feeding really confidently. I couldn't get down the tree quick enough!</p>
<p>I set up just one rod (you can only land one at a time!) with no tubing, a small Guru Tackle 2/3 oz lead attached to one of their small match type lead clips, a Rigmorole Hydrolink rig and a size 8 Widegape hook, tied knotless knotted with a small amount of silicon tubing at the top of the shank and a small piece above the knot to kick the rig over. The rig was finished with a trimmed down CC Moore Triple X boilie with a little PVA bag of chops onto the margin spot.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="images/ALL/220212_3_17lb10oz.jpg" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">17lb 10oz</p>
<p>Once again, the fish returned and soon got to work on the bait. There were several mid double commons along with an upper 20 mirror and a common that was bigger again. My heart was in my mouth - within 30 seconds, the rod hooped round and we were on! The fight was good but brief - I don't think the fish knew what was happening and it was in the net before it realised what was going on. I broke the net down and took everything over to the waiting mat. It was one of the smaller commons but I didn't care - I had caught it on my terms and that is what mattered.</p>
<p>Two guys in the next swim came over to see if I was OK. They had heard a bit of a commotion (the fish fighting in the margins) and not heard an alarm, put 2 and 2 together and thought I had fallen in. They helped me weigh the fish (19lb 8oz) and did the honours with the pictures. I was well happy!</p>
<p>The swim was obviously blown but time to put the main part of the plan into action - rod in quiver, rucksack on back and onto swim number 2. I did this for the rest of the afternoon and caught 4 more fish. To put this into context, it is not a difficult water but the amount of anglers (20 plus spread over 12 acres) and the fact that there were only 9 fish out that day in total showed me that my plan was indeed going to work.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="images/ALL/220212_5_rods.jpg" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">My alarms, buzz bar and bobbins now weigh less than one Matrix bank stick!</p>
<p>Fast forward to the middle of August - pretty much the end of my season (I play rugby and pre season training starts now) and 70 odd fish to 22lb in 26 sessions later (a very good average indeed given the number of rod hours) and I believe I have found the little edge that I was hoping to find at the start of the season. It's not rocket science and it's certainly nothing new but with a bit of thought and the proper application this really is the way forward for my fishing.</p>
<p>The Old Man has got in on the act as well - both mine and his Matrix have been sold on, replaced by Dymag carbon buzz bars and sticks. We've got a 50" Aqua brolly that lives in the car to be taken along if the weather really is bad. I don't usually take a chair - I sit on my Aqua Combi mat. I take a couple of butties and a litre of water instead of cooking and brewing gear (although I keep a cup in my rucksack - there is always someone that will make you a brew!).</p>
<p>I have taken these tactics and used them on several waters that I used to fish in a static way - turning up and looking for a swim that will fit the bivvy in has now been replaced with looking for a swim with fish in! Walking around the lake and priming spots rather than pitching up and lobbing a couple of kilos out into the middle. Don't get me wrong - if my margin tactics take a pounding and the only way to get a bite is to smash them out to the middle then that's what I will do but for the time being ...</p>
<p><strong>Oli Aston<br />January 2012</strong></p>
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</script>The majority of my fishing revolves around short 5-6 hour sessions when I can get a lift or when the Old Man takes me with him. I have to make the most of every minute available to me and during the 2011 season I decided to rethink the way I approach my angling. Firstly, I needed to decide what my objectives were. The lake I fish mostly is about 12 acres in size with a good head of fish. It is also very busy, but if you pick your moments you can be on your own on the place and as it's only 5 minutes from where I live I can do just that! The anglers that fish this water all seem to follow the same pattern - turn up on a Friday afternoon, bivvy up close to the carpark and ‘camp' for the weekend. This style of angling is not very productive at all. The fish move about in shoals, following the wind so to catch them you really need to find them and then follow them.
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="images/ALL/220212_1_19lb2.jpg" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Changing approach; 19lb 2oz common</p>
<p>I decided that my method of attack would be to trim down as much gear as I could and take only the essentials, making a mid session move much easier. How many times have you been sat there and seen fish show on the other side of the lake, only to look at the mountain of gear you have brought and think ‘sod it, the fish can come to me!'</p>
<p>So, I got all my gear out in the garden, took out what I thought wasn't needed and then got the Old Man to come out and see if he thought there was anything else I had missed. Do I really need 10 tubs of pop-ups, 16 leads, a stove and cooking gear, head torch and spare batteries, 3 sets of bank sticks etc. etc. for a couple of hours in the afternoon ? You get the idea!</p>
<p>With my gear stripped down to the minimum, I could then move about and drop onto fish without too much fuss, giving me what I hoped would be a big edge. Time to put my plan into action. The first few trips out at the start of the season saw the lake very busy but the further away from the car park you walked the more swims were available. Because of the sandy nature of the paths around the lake, it is a nightmare pushing a barrow so 99% of the anglers don't venture more than a few hundred yards from the car parks. This leaves large areas of water that don't get touched very much at all.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="images/ALL/220212_2_LD.jpg" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Low Double</p>
<p>One thing I did learn quickly is that everyone seems to follow each other; casting out to around the middle of the water and putting a few hundred baits over each rod. This does produce fish but while up a tree I noticed a few fish beneath the bushes overhanging the margins. I waited for the fish to swim off and then dropping a couple of broken baits into the water, I waited for them to return. It didn't take long for them to come back and they were straight down onto the bait feeding really confidently. I couldn't get down the tree quick enough!</p>
<p>I set up just one rod (you can only land one at a time!) with no tubing, a small Guru Tackle 2/3 oz lead attached to one of their small match type lead clips, a Rigmorole Hydrolink rig and a size 8 Widegape hook, tied knotless knotted with a small amount of silicon tubing at the top of the shank and a small piece above the knot to kick the rig over. The rig was finished with a trimmed down CC Moore Triple X boilie with a little PVA bag of chops onto the margin spot.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="images/ALL/220212_3_17lb10oz.jpg" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">17lb 10oz</p>
<p>Once again, the fish returned and soon got to work on the bait. There were several mid double commons along with an upper 20 mirror and a common that was bigger again. My heart was in my mouth - within 30 seconds, the rod hooped round and we were on! The fight was good but brief - I don't think the fish knew what was happening and it was in the net before it realised what was going on. I broke the net down and took everything over to the waiting mat. It was one of the smaller commons but I didn't care - I had caught it on my terms and that is what mattered.</p>
<p>Two guys in the next swim came over to see if I was OK. They had heard a bit of a commotion (the fish fighting in the margins) and not heard an alarm, put 2 and 2 together and thought I had fallen in. They helped me weigh the fish (19lb 8oz) and did the honours with the pictures. I was well happy!</p>
<p>The swim was obviously blown but time to put the main part of the plan into action - rod in quiver, rucksack on back and onto swim number 2. I did this for the rest of the afternoon and caught 4 more fish. To put this into context, it is not a difficult water but the amount of anglers (20 plus spread over 12 acres) and the fact that there were only 9 fish out that day in total showed me that my plan was indeed going to work.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="images/ALL/220212_5_rods.jpg" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">My alarms, buzz bar and bobbins now weigh less than one Matrix bank stick!</p>
<p>Fast forward to the middle of August - pretty much the end of my season (I play rugby and pre season training starts now) and 70 odd fish to 22lb in 26 sessions later (a very good average indeed given the number of rod hours) and I believe I have found the little edge that I was hoping to find at the start of the season. It's not rocket science and it's certainly nothing new but with a bit of thought and the proper application this really is the way forward for my fishing.</p>
<p>The Old Man has got in on the act as well - both mine and his Matrix have been sold on, replaced by Dymag carbon buzz bars and sticks. We've got a 50" Aqua brolly that lives in the car to be taken along if the weather really is bad. I don't usually take a chair - I sit on my Aqua Combi mat. I take a couple of butties and a litre of water instead of cooking and brewing gear (although I keep a cup in my rucksack - there is always someone that will make you a brew!).</p>
<p>I have taken these tactics and used them on several waters that I used to fish in a static way - turning up and looking for a swim that will fit the bivvy in has now been replaced with looking for a swim with fish in! Walking around the lake and priming spots rather than pitching up and lobbing a couple of kilos out into the middle. Don't get me wrong - if my margin tactics take a pounding and the only way to get a bite is to smash them out to the middle then that's what I will do but for the time being ...</p>
<p><strong>Oli Aston<br />January 2012</strong></p>
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</script>Do you work for your fish.....?2010-08-26T19:42:46Z2010-08-26T19:42:46Zhttp://www.northwestcarp.co.uk/index.php/features/articles/72-the-think-tank/650-do-you-work-for-your-fishClint Walkerjulian.grattidge@btinternet.com<p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">We all get one at some time or other, a period in which we just cannot buy a bite or get a run, never mind a fish on the bank. It’s easy to blame everything except the angler; the weather was wrong, the peg was wrong, too much water, not enough water, or, better still, the venue is no good! What do you do about it though? <br /><br />As some of you may know through reading my ‘Carp Talk’ column, I’ve joined Lymm Anglers Club this season after my previous club surrendered the lease on the waters I was hoping to concentrate on. Being new to a club always brings its own challenges, and Lymm is no different; waters that I have not seen before let alone fished, new rules to adapt to and new people to meet all add to the challenge that is fishing.<br /><br />Like everyone else, I’ve really been itching to hit the bank and get amongst the carp. The big freeze seemed to go on for ever and I spent my time trawling the magazines and forums to get new ideas to get fish in the net as soon as I could….New ticket means exciting waters to explore, different fish to target and more tricks to learn; I was really looking forward to it!!!<br /><br />I had a look through the portfolio of Lymm waters to try and decide the best place to start. Some of the North West readers may know of the Belmont Estate in Cheshire, a complex of several smallish pools containing at least one ‘runs’ water guaranteed to give a bend in the rod…..except mine obviously. The pool I chose to concentrate on is actually called Belmont Pool and is around 2 acres in size, with a fairly constant depth of 3-4 feet. It also boasts an island, a snaggy area, silty spots and margins which are protected by tree cover; perfect! <br /><br />My first session on the water was preceded by much research on the Lymm forum, hunting through past catch reports and sending loads of private messages and emails to those ‘….in the know’ who mainly advised me to fish single hook baits, perhaps popped up an inch or two with very little in the way of additional baiting. The one thing I did find out that was a little unusual is that the island is deeply undercut and many anglers clip up religiously to allow them to arrow a bait under the island banks at speed without fear of getting caught in bank side vegetation. <br /><br />Arriving in the cold misty morning before sunrise, I questioned my own sanity turning up at a bitterly cold venue with little idea of where to start. I make a point of spending an hour or so watching the water and having a wander around any new venue to look for clues. I often try to avoid well used pegs as I believe fish get wise fairly quickly when a venue starts to come under pressure, so I keep my eye out for fresh boot prints, cigarette ends, litter (pet hate by the way) or dropped bait so I know I’m not fishing over someone else’s previous tactics and baiting patterns. I think it’s important to begin a new campaign with a ‘clean slate’ so I know whatever happens is down to me and not a result of hard work by someone else. First session was a disaster. No fish, none seen and not a bleep from my alarms. The only other angler on the water hadn’t caught either, so I wasn’t too concerned…<br /><br />Second session just a week later, and I set up again in the same peg. Mistake; I’d turned up with a preconceived idea of what I wanted to do, how I was going to fish and exactly where I was going to put a bait, ignoring the fact that the wind had changed direction completely from the first day, there had been plenty of rain, and someone had certainly recently fished the same spot. I was prepared to experiment with my rigs however, so I made sure I was using quick change clips which meant I could change my hook links easily. I’d already tried nylon links as I sometimes think it gives an edge where most other anglers are on braided or other materials. I think mono doesn’t get the credit it deserves in a world where new tackle is a ‘must have’ for many carpers. I’ve had plenty of good carp on nylon so I’m not bothered about using it. However, it hadn’t worked last time and it was the first thing I changed. This time I switched to a shorter braided set up on both rods and lobbed them out to exactly the same place I hadn’t caught from the week before! Another 9 hours later resulted in the same silent alarms, the same lack of indications and the same seriously fed up, cold angler!<br /><br />A week later, I was back for a third time; determined to fish a different peg, I set up in the woods which meant a much shorter cast meaning much improved accuracy, and the chance to fish a different area of the lake. Mono hadn’t worked; braid hadn’t worked, so I was left with the choice of changing something else. This time, I changed the bait; I know my rigs mechanics work; I’ve used them for a while now so I know they catch fish so bait was the obviously the thing to change. I’d tried the maggot ‘medusa’ rig and not even had a twitch, tried corn to no avail and tried an inch long pop up which had been just as unsuccessful. This time I was fishing bottom baits with a PVA mesh bag of crumbed bits to try and induce a run. Six fruitless hours later, I was prepared to try a zig rig, floating crust or who knows what to get a fish on the bank!!!! We’ve all been there and started to try weird and wonderful schemes to get a bite instead of sticking to what we know we will work eventually………. As the sun set, the bats swooped and I returned to the van fishless again; I was struggling! <br /><br />At about this point, some anglers will turn around and say it’s not me, it’s the venue. I don’t buy into that. Some venues are easier than others, but I can’t stand it when an angler catches little or nothing then blames the water when other anglers are quite happily catching fish. I think it shows a lack of commitment, and perhaps a lack of persistence. I know many anglers are on limited time each week, but I count myself in that mob! I was not giving up!<br /><br />I’d altered my rigs, I‘d changed my baits, that left only one other thing; location. I’d heard of fish being taken from an area of the lake in which it was possible to see the fish if you looked hard enough. Already, I had spent hours watching the water for signs of carp and seen nothing to let me into the secret of the venue. Maybe today would be different? I left my kit in the van and sneaked to the side of the lake and hid behind a tree. As my eyes adjusted to the colour and depth of the water, through my polarising glasses, I saw a faint shadow! A carp! Not just one, but at least a dozen deep flanked fish and better still, they were moving! Not just laying on the bottom of a cold venue, but actively looking for food; I‘d found them at last! But could I catch one??<br /><br />There were already anglers on the lake, so I didn’t want to appear too keen as I made my way back to pick up my tackle. I didn’t want to give up my new found knowledge, so made efforts to seem nonchalant as I streaked back towards the van! (Ever tried to look nonchalant in the race to get there first? Think about it when you are pulling your boots on and another car comes into the car park and unloads before you do. I bet you try to get to ‘your’ peg first without running or making it obvious that you would willingly shoot the other angler in the race to be first!).<br /><br />First thing in were the rods. Baited with a single boilie, butterfly style just to give the carp something else to think about, I gently swung the baits out to the fish and scattered a few freebies around the hook. As I was setting up the bivvy, my first bobbin hit the blank as the alarm screamed away at me. Staring in disbelief, I swiftly picked up the rod to lift into the fish and guess what? I missed it!! Gutted!!! I could’ve cried……Seconds later, my other rod took off and I managed to connect with what appeared to be a considerable fish! After a minute or two, the carp was in open water and I could see a bronzed carp roll in the water; success!! Then the hook link snapped and the lead whistled over my shoulder! I had made the mistake of using a Dacron hook link that was long past its sell by date and had failed almost as soon as it came under any real pressure. I knew the barbless hook would soon come free and not harm the fish but I was not happy…. <br /><br />After a cup of tea, (and a bit of a cry!), the rods were back out. Fresh baits, new hook links and renewed hope. No Dacron to let me down, this time I had ACE camo core on. A braided, coated material, it’s something I have reviewed in the past, and I have every confidence in it, so I was certain the next carp to trip up would be on the bank. The fish were still moving over the baits, tails waving just below the surface, so I was happy to just watch and anticipate the next run. Sitting close to my rods, I noticed the rod tip move slightly towards the hook baits and the bobbin lift imperceptibly. I watched and waited….certain that a carp had the bait in its mouth and was going to bolt as it felt the weight of the lead….It did……and I missed it again!!! A line bite? I’m not sure… Three runs in half an hour signalled a definite feeding period and I couldn’t get my act together to catch a single fish!!! I knew that I wasn’t doing anything wrong, it was just ‘one of those things’, and the next one was in the net. but I couldn’t help feeling useless…<br /><br />The fourth run came shortly afterwards; a long steady lift to tighten the line and the carp was on. At last! Ten minutes later and the fish is on the surface, beaten, and defeated. I was jubilant! At the net, the fish gave a last thrash of the tail…..and the hook bumped out! The fish was mine and had escaped. At the time, I would have gladly sold my kids (cheaply) to get that carp on the bank! Now it was personal! I was sure the fish were giggling away (in a fishy kind of way) and I was destined never to catch from this so called ‘runs’ water.<br /><br />The following hours did not help. Not a single bleep emitted from my alarms, but the fish were still there; I could see them watching me, watching them…. Five hours later however, the rod tip nodded once again, just a slight dip, but definite movement. Hovering over the rod, I was preparing to hit a single bleep when the bobbin smashed up into the alarm as the hooked carp took off for cover. Side strain got the fish from under the tree line and into the deeper water; delicate playing bought the carp over the net, and then, unbelievably, it was in; my first Belmont carp! <br /></span></p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><img src="images/NorthWestCarp/articles/Belmont_carp.jpg" /></span><br /><span style="font-size: 10pt;"></span></div>
<p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Glistening in the folds of the net, it lay on the thick unhooking mat. Not a big fish by any standards, but probably one of the hardest I’ve ever had to work for. On the scales, just 15lbs 2ozs, but to me, priceless. Taking the hook out from the corner of its mouth, I reflected on what had occurred over the past few weeks. It was apparent that my approach had initially been correct, that the information I was acting on was good, established knowledge, shared with me by kindly anglers. My rigs were reasonably effective, more so when adjusted to suit the situation, and the choice of bait had worked when I found the right place. The only thing which had really changed was location; it was essential to find the fish to catch the fish. Slipping the carp back into the water, I realised that getting everything right on the day was the result of perseverance, acquired knowledge and the desire to catch. Nothing more complicated than that. <br /><br />It really can be that simple to end a run of blank sessions, so don’t despair, we all go through it, and we all come out the other side with a fish in the bag so keep trying; that’s what makes fishing fun!!<br /><strong><br />Clint Walker<br />April 2010</strong></span></p>
<br />
<hr />
<script language="JavaScript"
src="http://ilapi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?EKServer&ai=d%7Bhqis%7E%7Fy%7Bhjn%7Byqv%7F&bdrcolor=45910d&catid=117098&cid=0&e
ksize=1&encode=UTF-8&endcolor=FF0000&endtime=y&fbgcolor=EFEFEF&fntcolor=000000&fs=0&hdrcolor=45910d&hdrimage=8&hdrsrch=y&
img=y&lnkcolor=0000FF&logo=10&num=8&numbid=y&paypal=y&popup=y&prvd=9&query=dvd&r0=4&sacategoryin=117098&shipcost=
y&siteid=3&sort=MetaEndSort&sortby=endtime&sortdir=asc&srchdesc=n&tbgcolor=FFFFFF&title=Hot+Carp+Offers+Ending+Soon%21&tlecolor
=45910d&tlefs=0&tlfcolor=FFFFFF&toolid=10004&track=NWC%2BOffers&watchcat=117098&width=650"></script><p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">We all get one at some time or other, a period in which we just cannot buy a bite or get a run, never mind a fish on the bank. It’s easy to blame everything except the angler; the weather was wrong, the peg was wrong, too much water, not enough water, or, better still, the venue is no good! What do you do about it though? <br /><br />As some of you may know through reading my ‘Carp Talk’ column, I’ve joined Lymm Anglers Club this season after my previous club surrendered the lease on the waters I was hoping to concentrate on. Being new to a club always brings its own challenges, and Lymm is no different; waters that I have not seen before let alone fished, new rules to adapt to and new people to meet all add to the challenge that is fishing.<br /><br />Like everyone else, I’ve really been itching to hit the bank and get amongst the carp. The big freeze seemed to go on for ever and I spent my time trawling the magazines and forums to get new ideas to get fish in the net as soon as I could….New ticket means exciting waters to explore, different fish to target and more tricks to learn; I was really looking forward to it!!!<br /><br />I had a look through the portfolio of Lymm waters to try and decide the best place to start. Some of the North West readers may know of the Belmont Estate in Cheshire, a complex of several smallish pools containing at least one ‘runs’ water guaranteed to give a bend in the rod…..except mine obviously. The pool I chose to concentrate on is actually called Belmont Pool and is around 2 acres in size, with a fairly constant depth of 3-4 feet. It also boasts an island, a snaggy area, silty spots and margins which are protected by tree cover; perfect! <br /><br />My first session on the water was preceded by much research on the Lymm forum, hunting through past catch reports and sending loads of private messages and emails to those ‘….in the know’ who mainly advised me to fish single hook baits, perhaps popped up an inch or two with very little in the way of additional baiting. The one thing I did find out that was a little unusual is that the island is deeply undercut and many anglers clip up religiously to allow them to arrow a bait under the island banks at speed without fear of getting caught in bank side vegetation. <br /><br />Arriving in the cold misty morning before sunrise, I questioned my own sanity turning up at a bitterly cold venue with little idea of where to start. I make a point of spending an hour or so watching the water and having a wander around any new venue to look for clues. I often try to avoid well used pegs as I believe fish get wise fairly quickly when a venue starts to come under pressure, so I keep my eye out for fresh boot prints, cigarette ends, litter (pet hate by the way) or dropped bait so I know I’m not fishing over someone else’s previous tactics and baiting patterns. I think it’s important to begin a new campaign with a ‘clean slate’ so I know whatever happens is down to me and not a result of hard work by someone else. First session was a disaster. No fish, none seen and not a bleep from my alarms. The only other angler on the water hadn’t caught either, so I wasn’t too concerned…<br /><br />Second session just a week later, and I set up again in the same peg. Mistake; I’d turned up with a preconceived idea of what I wanted to do, how I was going to fish and exactly where I was going to put a bait, ignoring the fact that the wind had changed direction completely from the first day, there had been plenty of rain, and someone had certainly recently fished the same spot. I was prepared to experiment with my rigs however, so I made sure I was using quick change clips which meant I could change my hook links easily. I’d already tried nylon links as I sometimes think it gives an edge where most other anglers are on braided or other materials. I think mono doesn’t get the credit it deserves in a world where new tackle is a ‘must have’ for many carpers. I’ve had plenty of good carp on nylon so I’m not bothered about using it. However, it hadn’t worked last time and it was the first thing I changed. This time I switched to a shorter braided set up on both rods and lobbed them out to exactly the same place I hadn’t caught from the week before! Another 9 hours later resulted in the same silent alarms, the same lack of indications and the same seriously fed up, cold angler!<br /><br />A week later, I was back for a third time; determined to fish a different peg, I set up in the woods which meant a much shorter cast meaning much improved accuracy, and the chance to fish a different area of the lake. Mono hadn’t worked; braid hadn’t worked, so I was left with the choice of changing something else. This time, I changed the bait; I know my rigs mechanics work; I’ve used them for a while now so I know they catch fish so bait was the obviously the thing to change. I’d tried the maggot ‘medusa’ rig and not even had a twitch, tried corn to no avail and tried an inch long pop up which had been just as unsuccessful. This time I was fishing bottom baits with a PVA mesh bag of crumbed bits to try and induce a run. Six fruitless hours later, I was prepared to try a zig rig, floating crust or who knows what to get a fish on the bank!!!! We’ve all been there and started to try weird and wonderful schemes to get a bite instead of sticking to what we know we will work eventually………. As the sun set, the bats swooped and I returned to the van fishless again; I was struggling! <br /><br />At about this point, some anglers will turn around and say it’s not me, it’s the venue. I don’t buy into that. Some venues are easier than others, but I can’t stand it when an angler catches little or nothing then blames the water when other anglers are quite happily catching fish. I think it shows a lack of commitment, and perhaps a lack of persistence. I know many anglers are on limited time each week, but I count myself in that mob! I was not giving up!<br /><br />I’d altered my rigs, I‘d changed my baits, that left only one other thing; location. I’d heard of fish being taken from an area of the lake in which it was possible to see the fish if you looked hard enough. Already, I had spent hours watching the water for signs of carp and seen nothing to let me into the secret of the venue. Maybe today would be different? I left my kit in the van and sneaked to the side of the lake and hid behind a tree. As my eyes adjusted to the colour and depth of the water, through my polarising glasses, I saw a faint shadow! A carp! Not just one, but at least a dozen deep flanked fish and better still, they were moving! Not just laying on the bottom of a cold venue, but actively looking for food; I‘d found them at last! But could I catch one??<br /><br />There were already anglers on the lake, so I didn’t want to appear too keen as I made my way back to pick up my tackle. I didn’t want to give up my new found knowledge, so made efforts to seem nonchalant as I streaked back towards the van! (Ever tried to look nonchalant in the race to get there first? Think about it when you are pulling your boots on and another car comes into the car park and unloads before you do. I bet you try to get to ‘your’ peg first without running or making it obvious that you would willingly shoot the other angler in the race to be first!).<br /><br />First thing in were the rods. Baited with a single boilie, butterfly style just to give the carp something else to think about, I gently swung the baits out to the fish and scattered a few freebies around the hook. As I was setting up the bivvy, my first bobbin hit the blank as the alarm screamed away at me. Staring in disbelief, I swiftly picked up the rod to lift into the fish and guess what? I missed it!! Gutted!!! I could’ve cried……Seconds later, my other rod took off and I managed to connect with what appeared to be a considerable fish! After a minute or two, the carp was in open water and I could see a bronzed carp roll in the water; success!! Then the hook link snapped and the lead whistled over my shoulder! I had made the mistake of using a Dacron hook link that was long past its sell by date and had failed almost as soon as it came under any real pressure. I knew the barbless hook would soon come free and not harm the fish but I was not happy…. <br /><br />After a cup of tea, (and a bit of a cry!), the rods were back out. Fresh baits, new hook links and renewed hope. No Dacron to let me down, this time I had ACE camo core on. A braided, coated material, it’s something I have reviewed in the past, and I have every confidence in it, so I was certain the next carp to trip up would be on the bank. The fish were still moving over the baits, tails waving just below the surface, so I was happy to just watch and anticipate the next run. Sitting close to my rods, I noticed the rod tip move slightly towards the hook baits and the bobbin lift imperceptibly. I watched and waited….certain that a carp had the bait in its mouth and was going to bolt as it felt the weight of the lead….It did……and I missed it again!!! A line bite? I’m not sure… Three runs in half an hour signalled a definite feeding period and I couldn’t get my act together to catch a single fish!!! I knew that I wasn’t doing anything wrong, it was just ‘one of those things’, and the next one was in the net. but I couldn’t help feeling useless…<br /><br />The fourth run came shortly afterwards; a long steady lift to tighten the line and the carp was on. At last! Ten minutes later and the fish is on the surface, beaten, and defeated. I was jubilant! At the net, the fish gave a last thrash of the tail…..and the hook bumped out! The fish was mine and had escaped. At the time, I would have gladly sold my kids (cheaply) to get that carp on the bank! Now it was personal! I was sure the fish were giggling away (in a fishy kind of way) and I was destined never to catch from this so called ‘runs’ water.<br /><br />The following hours did not help. Not a single bleep emitted from my alarms, but the fish were still there; I could see them watching me, watching them…. Five hours later however, the rod tip nodded once again, just a slight dip, but definite movement. Hovering over the rod, I was preparing to hit a single bleep when the bobbin smashed up into the alarm as the hooked carp took off for cover. Side strain got the fish from under the tree line and into the deeper water; delicate playing bought the carp over the net, and then, unbelievably, it was in; my first Belmont carp! <br /></span></p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><img src="images/NorthWestCarp/articles/Belmont_carp.jpg" /></span><br /><span style="font-size: 10pt;"></span></div>
<p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Glistening in the folds of the net, it lay on the thick unhooking mat. Not a big fish by any standards, but probably one of the hardest I’ve ever had to work for. On the scales, just 15lbs 2ozs, but to me, priceless. Taking the hook out from the corner of its mouth, I reflected on what had occurred over the past few weeks. It was apparent that my approach had initially been correct, that the information I was acting on was good, established knowledge, shared with me by kindly anglers. My rigs were reasonably effective, more so when adjusted to suit the situation, and the choice of bait had worked when I found the right place. The only thing which had really changed was location; it was essential to find the fish to catch the fish. Slipping the carp back into the water, I realised that getting everything right on the day was the result of perseverance, acquired knowledge and the desire to catch. Nothing more complicated than that. <br /><br />It really can be that simple to end a run of blank sessions, so don’t despair, we all go through it, and we all come out the other side with a fish in the bag so keep trying; that’s what makes fishing fun!!<br /><strong><br />Clint Walker<br />April 2010</strong></span></p>
<br />
<hr />
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img=y&lnkcolor=0000FF&logo=10&num=8&numbid=y&paypal=y&popup=y&prvd=9&query=dvd&r0=4&sacategoryin=117098&shipcost=
y&siteid=3&sort=MetaEndSort&sortby=endtime&sortdir=asc&srchdesc=n&tbgcolor=FFFFFF&title=Hot+Carp+Offers+Ending+Soon%21&tlecolor
=45910d&tlefs=0&tlfcolor=FFFFFF&toolid=10004&track=NWC%2BOffers&watchcat=117098&width=650"></script>Commercial waters; are they worth it?2010-02-23T21:15:02Z2010-02-23T21:15:02Zhttp://www.northwestcarp.co.uk/index.php/features/articles/72-the-think-tank/258-commercial-waters-are-they-worth-itClint Walkerclint597@btinternet.com<p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">The huge rise of carp angling over the last 25 years has helped develop a different kind of fishery. In days gone by, estate lakes, farm ponds, rivers and gravel pits were what many carpers looked for, preferably one which hadn’t been found or fished before! The secretive nature of this type of angling meant that unless you were ‘in the know’, then finding out any information about these waters proved almost impossible. Understandably, many big fish anglers like to keep their catches quiet to prevent hordes of ‘outsiders’ flocking to the bank side, and to protect their own chances of catching the monsters. Even now, I’m amazed at the amount of animosity that can be directed at someone for disclosing where they have caught a hefty carp in the press or public domain; the fact that it may well be a water with open access becomes irrelevant. Look at any forum and the debate rages about whether waters should be exposed or not. You are either for or against, there is no middle ground!<br /><br />In spite of this, carp angling continues to be one of the fastest growing areas of our sport. Many ‘how to’ magazines have fuelled a rise in anglers who view anything under 20lbs as an inconvenience, picking up baits prepared for ‘proper’ fish. Personally, I think this has contributed to an expectation of instant angling where inexperienced anglers can fish a ‘commercial’ water and catch big carp without gaining an understanding of how and why. The art of angling is being lost as fishermen have no need to learn watercraft, baiting patterns or rig building. Everything is now done for today’s modern angler; fish are stocked in day ticket waters, rigs are supplied pre-tied, and bait is almost guaranteed to catch with all the additives that are now available. Is this a bad thing.....?<br /><br />Work patterns and family life have a huge impact on most anglers; those who are lucky enough to be able to sit on the bank for 3-4 days and nights a week are few and far between. The ability to spend hundreds of hours on the bank watching and learning is something not considered achievable by the vast majority of those who seek big fish, so the ‘commercial’ is a chance to access huge fish with minimum effort. </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">There is an awful lot of money in angling; fact. The tackle companies entice anglers with ever newer, more technical, shinier and more efficient items, the bait firms promise fish on the bank with new flavours and scents and the commercial fisheries have testimonials from every celebrity angler who has a programme on television. With this in mind, a commercial must have something to attract the punter. Good facilities, nice scenery all help, but the key ingredient is big fish and the publicity that goes with it. Stocking huge carp costs a lot, so the amount invested in fishing to create a profit must match that, but let us remember, the owner also needs to make revenue. Sponsorship helps, as does shop profit and food sales, but the main income must surely be the day ticket. <br /><br />One of the biggest criticisms I hear of day ticket waters is the fact that they only allow you to fish with ‘their’ baits, and that these baits are often more expensive than those available in the local tackle shop. Market forces prevail unfortunately; if you want big fish with easy access, then you have to be prepared to help out with the financial commitment. I also know of waters who have signed deals with mainstream bait companies which only allow you to fish certain baits at the expense of others, again, at much higher prices. Some waters say that the reasoning behind this is to protect stocks; there may be an element of truth in it, but I can’t help feeling that some owners wouldn’t know a top quality bait if it bit them! Having seen various rules and bait bans that do more to confuse the angler than protect the fish, I have had discussions with different owners and asked why such rules exist. Some owners at well renowned sites have no idea why they have things in place other than they heard it exists elsewhere! Boilie bans, dog meat, pellets, groundbait and nuts are all things I’ve seen prohibited , and I’m sure with good intentions, but if it’s to protect the fish, why aren’t all bans the same? <br /><br />Quality control is another issue; not of the stock, but of the angler! There is no way to ‘vet’ a prospective visitor to the water and many practised carpers have tales of dangerous angling, leads hitting the bank next to them, lines crossed and bird or fish deaths caused by less experienced fishermen who have little or no knowledge of the ‘correct’ way to fish or of bank side etiquette. Bailiffs may patrol, but they can never hope to see every transgression of the rules or mistreatment of the fish. This can result in conflict which goes directly against the quest for the peace and quiet that many of us go out for! Derogatory terms such as ‘noddy’ are often heard on forums and websites as members discuss commercial waters and the anglers who fish them. What is sometimes forgotten is that we all had to learn somewhere and the commercial fishery presents a ‘target rich environment’ in which to catch fish, so why not learn there? <br /><br />Commercials can sometimes provide better angling than other, harder, less developed waters; this is what makes them work so well (and they do work well). The availability of a ‘one stop shop’ for big carp is something that is here to stay. These fisheries can supply baits, pleasant surroundings, the prospect of huge carp and you have just as much chance of catching the fish of a lifetime as the ‘professional’ in the next peg. Because of this, the lack of free time the modern day angler has and the endorsement of major angling celebrities and manufacturers, the commercial will be the only water that some anglers ever see. They will be perfectly happy in their choice, just as those who seek to avoid them will be. One thing is for certain though; like it or not, these places can offer everything a modern, time starved angler requires. The opportunities that the commercial fisheries offer will play a huge part in the future of fishing, big fish will be caught, pictures will be published and the debate will continue, BUT, the ‘commercial’ is here to stay.<br /></span><strong><br /><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Clint Walker <br />Oct 2009</span></strong></p><p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">The huge rise of carp angling over the last 25 years has helped develop a different kind of fishery. In days gone by, estate lakes, farm ponds, rivers and gravel pits were what many carpers looked for, preferably one which hadn’t been found or fished before! The secretive nature of this type of angling meant that unless you were ‘in the know’, then finding out any information about these waters proved almost impossible. Understandably, many big fish anglers like to keep their catches quiet to prevent hordes of ‘outsiders’ flocking to the bank side, and to protect their own chances of catching the monsters. Even now, I’m amazed at the amount of animosity that can be directed at someone for disclosing where they have caught a hefty carp in the press or public domain; the fact that it may well be a water with open access becomes irrelevant. Look at any forum and the debate rages about whether waters should be exposed or not. You are either for or against, there is no middle ground!<br /><br />In spite of this, carp angling continues to be one of the fastest growing areas of our sport. Many ‘how to’ magazines have fuelled a rise in anglers who view anything under 20lbs as an inconvenience, picking up baits prepared for ‘proper’ fish. Personally, I think this has contributed to an expectation of instant angling where inexperienced anglers can fish a ‘commercial’ water and catch big carp without gaining an understanding of how and why. The art of angling is being lost as fishermen have no need to learn watercraft, baiting patterns or rig building. Everything is now done for today’s modern angler; fish are stocked in day ticket waters, rigs are supplied pre-tied, and bait is almost guaranteed to catch with all the additives that are now available. Is this a bad thing.....?<br /><br />Work patterns and family life have a huge impact on most anglers; those who are lucky enough to be able to sit on the bank for 3-4 days and nights a week are few and far between. The ability to spend hundreds of hours on the bank watching and learning is something not considered achievable by the vast majority of those who seek big fish, so the ‘commercial’ is a chance to access huge fish with minimum effort. </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">There is an awful lot of money in angling; fact. The tackle companies entice anglers with ever newer, more technical, shinier and more efficient items, the bait firms promise fish on the bank with new flavours and scents and the commercial fisheries have testimonials from every celebrity angler who has a programme on television. With this in mind, a commercial must have something to attract the punter. Good facilities, nice scenery all help, but the key ingredient is big fish and the publicity that goes with it. Stocking huge carp costs a lot, so the amount invested in fishing to create a profit must match that, but let us remember, the owner also needs to make revenue. Sponsorship helps, as does shop profit and food sales, but the main income must surely be the day ticket. <br /><br />One of the biggest criticisms I hear of day ticket waters is the fact that they only allow you to fish with ‘their’ baits, and that these baits are often more expensive than those available in the local tackle shop. Market forces prevail unfortunately; if you want big fish with easy access, then you have to be prepared to help out with the financial commitment. I also know of waters who have signed deals with mainstream bait companies which only allow you to fish certain baits at the expense of others, again, at much higher prices. Some waters say that the reasoning behind this is to protect stocks; there may be an element of truth in it, but I can’t help feeling that some owners wouldn’t know a top quality bait if it bit them! Having seen various rules and bait bans that do more to confuse the angler than protect the fish, I have had discussions with different owners and asked why such rules exist. Some owners at well renowned sites have no idea why they have things in place other than they heard it exists elsewhere! Boilie bans, dog meat, pellets, groundbait and nuts are all things I’ve seen prohibited , and I’m sure with good intentions, but if it’s to protect the fish, why aren’t all bans the same? <br /><br />Quality control is another issue; not of the stock, but of the angler! There is no way to ‘vet’ a prospective visitor to the water and many practised carpers have tales of dangerous angling, leads hitting the bank next to them, lines crossed and bird or fish deaths caused by less experienced fishermen who have little or no knowledge of the ‘correct’ way to fish or of bank side etiquette. Bailiffs may patrol, but they can never hope to see every transgression of the rules or mistreatment of the fish. This can result in conflict which goes directly against the quest for the peace and quiet that many of us go out for! Derogatory terms such as ‘noddy’ are often heard on forums and websites as members discuss commercial waters and the anglers who fish them. What is sometimes forgotten is that we all had to learn somewhere and the commercial fishery presents a ‘target rich environment’ in which to catch fish, so why not learn there? <br /><br />Commercials can sometimes provide better angling than other, harder, less developed waters; this is what makes them work so well (and they do work well). The availability of a ‘one stop shop’ for big carp is something that is here to stay. These fisheries can supply baits, pleasant surroundings, the prospect of huge carp and you have just as much chance of catching the fish of a lifetime as the ‘professional’ in the next peg. Because of this, the lack of free time the modern day angler has and the endorsement of major angling celebrities and manufacturers, the commercial will be the only water that some anglers ever see. They will be perfectly happy in their choice, just as those who seek to avoid them will be. One thing is for certain though; like it or not, these places can offer everything a modern, time starved angler requires. The opportunities that the commercial fisheries offer will play a huge part in the future of fishing, big fish will be caught, pictures will be published and the debate will continue, BUT, the ‘commercial’ is here to stay.<br /></span><strong><br /><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Clint Walker <br />Oct 2009</span></strong></p>Float fishing.....can you remember when you started out...?2010-02-20T21:39:06Z2010-02-20T21:39:06Zhttp://www.northwestcarp.co.uk/index.php/features/articles/72-the-think-tank/254-float-fishingcan-you-remember-when-you-started-outClint Walkerjulian.grattidge@btinternet.com<p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">I was engaged in a review of a fishery recently when I came across two friends who were float fishing with bread punch. Seated by an absolutely gorgeous little estate lake in Cheshire, these chaps were happy to catch whatever came next from the swim in front of them. Banter and light hearted chat between them made me realise that fishing isn’t all about big carp, bite alarms, techno-poles, bivvies, overnighters, match weights or bling - it’s about having fun and enjoying it! The fact that they were sitting in glorious sunshine only added to atmosphere.....<br /><br />I sat with Gary and Paul for almost an hour watching as they caught delightful chubby crucian carp and the odd tench with a method that I bet the majority of anglers, especially carp anglers, rarely seem to use; the waggler. Not dropped exactly on the spot with an expensive pole, but cast out, amongst the lilies, underarm to the general area with a few loose offerings chucked over the top. It brought back treasured memories of when I, and I bet you, started out in this wonderful pastime.<br /><br />Did you start out with your Dad on a small local pond or river using a ‘perch bobber’? Squeamish the first time you burst a maggot or worm on the point of a hook? Or wrapping on big pieces of breadflake, golden kernels of corn or chunks of luncheon meat? I recall wooden boxes with hundreds of floats in, neatly laid out in colour and size, kept in pristine condition by the old chap who fished off a wicker basket, cigarette clamped to his bottom lip (that never fell out when he spoke to you...) who seemed to fish the same peg every time I or you turned up! I could sit and watch him as he quietly swung a roach to hand each cast which had taken a single maggot ‘on the drop’, or as he lifted the glass fibre rod to ‘mend the line’ in the wind. I always wondered how long he had been there, and how he could catch so much when I was still tangled around the end of my ‘Woolies’ rod, or I had kicked over the bait box full of maggots in my rush to get fishing!<br /><br />Like me, I suppose you saw the first short, exciting flight of many small perch or gudgeon which landed at your feet or in the bushes behind after the float had slipped gently away to be followed by a STRIKE! worthy of setting the hook in a ‘Jaws’ film!...I bet you did......<br /><br />After sitting for hours catching tiny fish (and the odd big 10oz’er) I suppose I’ll never forget the first time the float disappeared and I lifted the rod.....but it just bent over; the fish I was going to swing in, took off up the lake with me frantically trying to loosen the clutch or to select backwind, then rapping my fingers as I missed the spinning reel handle! Or the way in which I shouted “Dad, Dad! I can’t stop it! Help!” only to watch him grunt, carry on snoring then fall off his deck chair (the old alloy one with the stripy nylon seat?) when he realised it was me shouting, not the Bo Derek he was dreaming about...<br /><br />I once hooked a fish in a junior match; I was fishing a size 20 barbless to 1.5lb bottom and a single maggot on a balmy summer evening. 15 minutes before the ‘all out’, my peacock quill slid away purposely and I lifted into a fish which I played for 45 minutes before the line parted. In that time, I received ‘expert’ advice from umpteen ‘proper’ fishermen and never saw the fish before it got bored with toying with me and decided enough was enough. As the float rig whistled past my ear, the stunned silence of the bystanders was only matched by the ‘unlucky son’ that followed from all of them. I was absolutely gutted that I had lost that fish after so much concentrated effort, and, as I packed up my gear and watched the winner take the £5.00 pot for 1st place, I admit there were tears in my young eyes......<br /><br />All float anglers have sat and watched the orange tip of a quill as it shifts awkwardly, flinches, lifts slightly or bobs downwards. We’ve all seen the ripples that emanate from around the float....but the float never moves....the bubbles which cloud upwards as hungry tench root about below us in the silty bottom, or the cobalt of the newly hatched dragonfly as it rests for a second on our temporarily provided refuge...and we’ve all wished the float would shoot under leaving it stranded! How many times have you spent ages gazing through dappled water at the float tip, then dropped your eyes to the bankside only to find out that the grass starts to move as though viewed through a child’s kaleidoscope?<br /><br />Why does the float move EVERY time we glance away? Why, when you look back up after a cup of coffee or a bite of sandwich is it NEVER there? And why does it ALWAYS ease its way back up as we frantically scout the surface for it? Why, when a spot has been baited solidly for hours, does the sun always move to a position where I can no longer see the float? The glorious evening light that splits into millions of sparkling diamonds, blinding us as it shatters on rippled green waters and makes the float impossible to discern?</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> <img src="images/NorthWestCarp/thinktank/float1.jpg" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Seen one of these before.... the float, that is...!?</span></p>
<p><br /><span style="font-size: 10pt;">All these things are to be cherished, enjoyed, but above all remembered; it’s not just a method for youngsters or inexperienced fishermen, but I still think that in these times, it’s vastly under rated. Stalking big carp with a crystal waggler and a piece of corn on a size 10 is as exciting as hearing the delkims chuckle away, especially if you see the fish approach and pick up your bait. In times before bolt rigs, float fishing was King; it was either that or swingtip! Gary and Paul reminded me of a valuable lesson; it’s great to catch the biggest fish, it’s great to have the shiniest kit, BUT; the most important thing is to remember why we started.......and I’m sure that was to have FUN and catch fish!!<br /><br /><br /></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Clint Walker<br />July 2009</strong></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">I was engaged in a review of a fishery recently when I came across two friends who were float fishing with bread punch. Seated by an absolutely gorgeous little estate lake in Cheshire, these chaps were happy to catch whatever came next from the swim in front of them. Banter and light hearted chat between them made me realise that fishing isn’t all about big carp, bite alarms, techno-poles, bivvies, overnighters, match weights or bling - it’s about having fun and enjoying it! The fact that they were sitting in glorious sunshine only added to atmosphere.....<br /><br />I sat with Gary and Paul for almost an hour watching as they caught delightful chubby crucian carp and the odd tench with a method that I bet the majority of anglers, especially carp anglers, rarely seem to use; the waggler. Not dropped exactly on the spot with an expensive pole, but cast out, amongst the lilies, underarm to the general area with a few loose offerings chucked over the top. It brought back treasured memories of when I, and I bet you, started out in this wonderful pastime.<br /><br />Did you start out with your Dad on a small local pond or river using a ‘perch bobber’? Squeamish the first time you burst a maggot or worm on the point of a hook? Or wrapping on big pieces of breadflake, golden kernels of corn or chunks of luncheon meat? I recall wooden boxes with hundreds of floats in, neatly laid out in colour and size, kept in pristine condition by the old chap who fished off a wicker basket, cigarette clamped to his bottom lip (that never fell out when he spoke to you...) who seemed to fish the same peg every time I or you turned up! I could sit and watch him as he quietly swung a roach to hand each cast which had taken a single maggot ‘on the drop’, or as he lifted the glass fibre rod to ‘mend the line’ in the wind. I always wondered how long he had been there, and how he could catch so much when I was still tangled around the end of my ‘Woolies’ rod, or I had kicked over the bait box full of maggots in my rush to get fishing!<br /><br />Like me, I suppose you saw the first short, exciting flight of many small perch or gudgeon which landed at your feet or in the bushes behind after the float had slipped gently away to be followed by a STRIKE! worthy of setting the hook in a ‘Jaws’ film!...I bet you did......<br /><br />After sitting for hours catching tiny fish (and the odd big 10oz’er) I suppose I’ll never forget the first time the float disappeared and I lifted the rod.....but it just bent over; the fish I was going to swing in, took off up the lake with me frantically trying to loosen the clutch or to select backwind, then rapping my fingers as I missed the spinning reel handle! Or the way in which I shouted “Dad, Dad! I can’t stop it! Help!” only to watch him grunt, carry on snoring then fall off his deck chair (the old alloy one with the stripy nylon seat?) when he realised it was me shouting, not the Bo Derek he was dreaming about...<br /><br />I once hooked a fish in a junior match; I was fishing a size 20 barbless to 1.5lb bottom and a single maggot on a balmy summer evening. 15 minutes before the ‘all out’, my peacock quill slid away purposely and I lifted into a fish which I played for 45 minutes before the line parted. In that time, I received ‘expert’ advice from umpteen ‘proper’ fishermen and never saw the fish before it got bored with toying with me and decided enough was enough. As the float rig whistled past my ear, the stunned silence of the bystanders was only matched by the ‘unlucky son’ that followed from all of them. I was absolutely gutted that I had lost that fish after so much concentrated effort, and, as I packed up my gear and watched the winner take the £5.00 pot for 1st place, I admit there were tears in my young eyes......<br /><br />All float anglers have sat and watched the orange tip of a quill as it shifts awkwardly, flinches, lifts slightly or bobs downwards. We’ve all seen the ripples that emanate from around the float....but the float never moves....the bubbles which cloud upwards as hungry tench root about below us in the silty bottom, or the cobalt of the newly hatched dragonfly as it rests for a second on our temporarily provided refuge...and we’ve all wished the float would shoot under leaving it stranded! How many times have you spent ages gazing through dappled water at the float tip, then dropped your eyes to the bankside only to find out that the grass starts to move as though viewed through a child’s kaleidoscope?<br /><br />Why does the float move EVERY time we glance away? Why, when you look back up after a cup of coffee or a bite of sandwich is it NEVER there? And why does it ALWAYS ease its way back up as we frantically scout the surface for it? Why, when a spot has been baited solidly for hours, does the sun always move to a position where I can no longer see the float? The glorious evening light that splits into millions of sparkling diamonds, blinding us as it shatters on rippled green waters and makes the float impossible to discern?</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> <img src="images/NorthWestCarp/thinktank/float1.jpg" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Seen one of these before.... the float, that is...!?</span></p>
<p><br /><span style="font-size: 10pt;">All these things are to be cherished, enjoyed, but above all remembered; it’s not just a method for youngsters or inexperienced fishermen, but I still think that in these times, it’s vastly under rated. Stalking big carp with a crystal waggler and a piece of corn on a size 10 is as exciting as hearing the delkims chuckle away, especially if you see the fish approach and pick up your bait. In times before bolt rigs, float fishing was King; it was either that or swingtip! Gary and Paul reminded me of a valuable lesson; it’s great to catch the biggest fish, it’s great to have the shiniest kit, BUT; the most important thing is to remember why we started.......and I’m sure that was to have FUN and catch fish!!<br /><br /><br /></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Clint Walker<br />July 2009</strong></span></p>Bank Side Etiquette – Part 22010-02-20T21:25:20Z2010-02-20T21:25:20Zhttp://www.northwestcarp.co.uk/index.php/features/articles/72-the-think-tank/250-bank-side-etiquette-part-2Stigjulian.grattidge@btinternet.com<p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Welcome to the second instalment of Bank Side Etiquette, which covers further musings surrounding the do’s and don’ts when out on the bank.<br /><br />Civil Rights & Use Of<br />When we are out doing what we do by the lakes we choose to fish, we are not the sole users of the countryside, and anyone we should meet during our time there should be treated with a civil tongue and a cheery hello should they acknowledge your presence.<br /><br />When fishing a certain Cheshire mere many moons ago, I used to fish sat just on the other side of the set of railings which separated the mere from the road and people used to come down park up and let their kids feed the ducks. This particular day I would be in my mid-teens and my fishing partner and I were having a really good day catching quality roach, perch, bream and hybrids. My father appeared at about 10am and watched us catch some fish. About ten minutes after his arrival two pensioner couples came to the railing next to where I was fishing and gave me a cheery hello I just turned my head and said hi. I was asked numerous questions by these people which at first I answered as best I could, but after about 3 or 4 questions being the wise-ass teenager I was, I gave them sarcastic replies to their questions, and all I could hear was my mate sniggering behind the bush that separated our two swims.<br /><br />Eventually the pensioners went on their way, at which point I heard, “I will see you when you get home”. I turned round for the first time in ten or fifteen minutes and saw my dad stood there with a face like thunder. I thought nothing of it and carried on fishing. When I got home later that evening I walked in stinking of fish slime & stale ground bait with a big smile on my face as we had really bagged up.The smile was soon wiped off my face - My dad was sat in his chair with a look that told me I was in for it!<br /><br />“Today you were the most ignorant I have ever seen a lad of your age be! You didn’t even have the decency to take your shades off when those people spoke to you, when you did turn round that was, and then you never even looked at them again - just sat there all smug with your back to them giving them sarcastic answers to perfectly sensible questions. Just because you’ve won a few junior matches you’re not Ivan Marks! And in any case, Ivan is a gentleman and would never treat anyone the way you treated those people today!”<br />“Sorry, I was just…” I was cut short by “If I ever see or hear of you acting like that again, I will take all you fishing gear to the tip and sell your gun.”<br /><br />When fishing there are other people who use the countryside and the public footpaths of our fair nation. Contrary to the beliefs of many, they have just as much right to be there using the countryside for their enjoyment and it’s definitely a like it or lump it situation. In my honest opinion as we are all there and our paths will cross many times, I feel it is best to try and keep a good relationship with ramblers, wanderers and dog walkers. If we were all ignorant or threatening towards them, it wont take to many complaints to the land owner to have an effect - fishing leases can be lost as easily as that!<br /><br />However, dog walkers throwing sticks or balls into the water for their dogs to fetch is wrong, as if we are to treat them with courtesy, they should afford us the same courtesy by keeping their dogs out of our swims and picking any mess their dogs leave behind - but it’s how you go about asking/telling them!<br /><br />How it is or/& shouldn’t be<br />While serving our aprentiships, as mentioned previously, the importance of shutting gates and not damaging fences/hedges was drummed into us relentlessly. One summers afternoon quite a number of years ago we used to fish a small lake owned by a farmer in mid Cheshire. The water was some distance from the farm and we had called at the farm and paid our ticket money and drove to the lane where we parked the car closest to the pool. On arrival at the verge where we parked, we saw 3 cars parked there amongst about eighty cows and a gate left wide open .My pal and I immediately jumped out of the car and began herding the cattle back through the gateway after telling the lad driving to go back to the farm and get the farmer .By the time the errand had been run and our friend returned with the farmer we were coaxing the last ten or so cattle back through the gate. In all honesty it had been very simple once we forced the first few though the opening the majority of the herd followed, just leaving those final 10 or 11 munching the lush green grass by the roadside. The farmer then told us to wait there and disappeared over the fields towards the pool he returned about 15 minutes later along with the six anglers who were fishing the pool on arrival.<br />“Get in your vehicles and do not ever come back to fish here again” he told them. Once they had gone he couldn’t thank us enough and gave us our money back saying<br />“You lads saved me a whole lot of trouble and your money is no good here - none of those who have just left would own up to leaving the gate open - so they all had to go.”<br /><br />The moment we saw those cattle on the road the thought of fishing did not enter our heads our only concern was to get them back in the field where they belonged .These days some of the chavs who call themselves anglers would simply unload their gear and walk to the water probably closing the gate so the cattle couldn’t get back at all.<br /><br />Arrivals & checking in<br />Earlier I stated how I was taught to arrive at a water attracting as little attention as possible. in the past I have seen and heard carloads of anglers come racing up the drive of an estate on which I fish, all with wide bore exhausts, widows open and blasting some inane bass line, and all doing well over the driveway speed limit - Before they’ve even cast a line they’ve already broken every golden rule my father taught me about respecting land owners and other lake users!<br /><br />They all arrive within seconds of each other onto the gravel car park and all screech to a halt Music blaring ‘boom, boom, boom’ & spraying the cars already parked there with stones and gravel . They then vacate their vehicles but leave the doors open with the same boom boom boom blasting over the lake and fields. They then begin to unload the cars while shouting to each other across the car park, with every other word a foul-mouthed expletive.<br /><br />This sort of behaviour may be looked upon as cool on the thug ridden streets of some of our Cities and major towns - but carry on with this behaviour on the banks of a lilly fringed lake, or on a sleepy country estate in the middle of rural England, and it is NOT in any way, shape or form… ‘cool!’<br /><br />After their rave style arrival to the water, they troop half way up the lake passing numerous empty swims in order to find one big enough to house a shanty town of bivvys for the planned nights social. Usually, the space they end up going for is wedged between the only other anglers on the lake at that time! They then produce a lump hammer and begin to pitch their bivvys hammering every peg in until it is 4 inches below the surface. After which the arguments as to who is fishing where ensue – more expletives! Once the pecking order has been established, the dreaded bite alarms come out – never before has there been such a weapon when in the wrong hands! Any anglers unfortunate enough to be on the lake, along with those who happen to be within a mile radius, are then subjected to what could only be equated to a bunch two year olds trying to play an electric keyboard - on full volume, of course.<br /><br />All this continues without a thought for the anglers either side of them. Then more noise while chairs are dragged out of bivvys and erected in some sort of circle. At last however, everything goes quiet and you think to yourself that they have finally settled down. Only then do you hear the ‘pssspp…pssssp…pssssp’ as they begin to crack open 24 pack of Stella.<br /><br />You’re going to be in for a long, not to mention noisy, night.<br /><br />Before I get on my soap box I would like to stress to the reader that I am in no way a non drinker and enjoy a few beers now and then but the consumption of alcohol has never had any real significance to me. However, in my honest opinion, drinking pints of beer is a pastime which is really meant to be conducted in a pub or on a summers evening on a patio while enjoying a barbecue with friends. If you cant get by without having to drink copious amounts of alcohol on the bank, then the A.A. you need to be a member of is not an Angling Association!<br /><br />I see nothing wrong with a can or two on your own as you settle down for the night in your bivvy as long as there are no rules in place banning the consumption of alcohol while on the banks of the water you are fishing, but for gods sake, give a thought to those around you.<br /><br />Space invaders<br />There is nothing worse than being the only angler on a lake, and then someone turns up and jumps right in the next swim, and without even saying a word, makes no end of noise whilst setting up. All that upheaval is then followed by a big bucket of spod mix coming out as he/she decides the lake would look far nicer with another island created in the far bank margin. Then follows all the swishing and cursing as inexperience reveals its latest apprentice - Just as much ends up on your bivvy as it does in the lake.<br /><br />Early doors/gates<br />Driving onto the site and having 2 of your passengers leap out long before you reach the car park with a few bait buckets and place them in the swims you wish to fish is one of the most frowned upon swim hijacking tactics used in the current angling world.<br /><br />A few members recount recent tales;<br /><br />..........<br /> <br />“I managed to get out fishing last week for the first time in a while, what with work, the missus and the little one. I arrived at the lake to find it empty of anglers, so first things first I baited the snags up and then went and fished the other end of the lake, popping back every so often to check on my baited area. I started seeing signs of fish around lunchtime, so moved all my kit down to the snag. By about 4pm I was positive that fish were on it when along comes some young lad with a bucket of bait. Had a quick hello, and then he went off to throw some bait in further up the pit. He sneaked back past me a little while later and hid in the next peg down and started firing bait into the snag that I was fishing. 3 bow waves shot up the lake from my baited area and when I said something he just moved down to the next peg and carried on the same. I would never dream of doing this to a fellow angler”<br /><br />..........<br /><br />“Turned up at the lake on the Friday for a quick recce before I fished on the Saturday, had a look round and spotted a few fish between two island's so I decided I’d turn up 30 mins before it opened in the morning and try and get in the swim nearest to the island’s. got to the lake early and was the 1st there, been there about 10 min's when a van pull's up behind me and 2 lad's get out, had a natter with them before it opened. bailiff turn's up and un-lock's the gate so we drive in as I was loading my gear onto the barrow the 2 lad's past me and started having a look around. With my gear loaded up I set off around the lake to the swim I fancied, as I got nearer to the swim I could see the 2 lad's pointing and talking"ok mate we're just discussing where we are gunna put our bait's".I told them in my best French that they weren't having this swim as I had 1st choice as I was at the water 1st,i then explained about carp etiquette and they walked off mumbling. I was furious at the cheek of them,fair enough we never discussed which swim we fancied but as I was at the water 1st I thought the onus was on them to ask me....!”<br />..........<br /><br />All it takes a little bit of communication while waiting in the queue to avoid situation like the above ever happening. Whoever is first in the queue has the choice of swim - its first come first served and to the best of my knowledge always has been . Putting a bait bucket in a swim to reserve it for your mate who may be coming down later or even the following day is a definite NO, NO.<br /> <br /><br />Civil Partnerships<br />We are not the only users of the countryside and do not have a divine right to be the sole users of it. I recently heard of a female dog walker threatened with a stainless steel bank stick for allowing her dog to be off the lead. The dog merely stood at the waters edge looking longingly at the ducks on the water and yelped a little out of excitement. The angler shot out of his chair grabbing the bank stick and stood there pointing it in the poor woman’s face while reeling off a number of expletives as to what he would do to the animal if it put one paw in his swim. The really sad part is that the person wielding the bank stick was only about 15 years old, and was sat in a litter strewn swim - all of which I am reliably informed was his own.<br /><br />Bivvy £200, Rods £300, Stainless steel bank stick for threatening women £9.99 - The look on his face when her two 6ft 4inch sons came round the corner… Priceless.<br /><br />Fishing used to be a great leveller no matter what you did for a living. No matter if tackle cost thousands of pounds or was straight from a car boot sale, once you were on the bank you were all the same - just a working man/woman getting out from the rat race for a day or two and chilling out doing some fishing. Long gone for most are the days when you worked your way up through the Gudgeon, roach and perch until you were skilled enough to handle the heart stopping runs,dives and all round deviousness of the fabled King Carp.<br /><br />Morally Bankrupt<br />The Chav angler is now amongst us and what’s more, they want fish at any cost. What has happened to the old angling community where we helped each other out and looked after the cherished waters we fished? No one I class as a friend would dream of leaving a scrap of litter - never mind the discarded crates of empty beer cans that I find on my walks around certain waters.<br /><br />Much of carp fishing, and angling generally, has become a victim of the ‘I want it now’ and ‘rules were made for breaking’ society we live in. Many think that by fishing in gangs they gain respect. They are kidding themselves - Fear is fear, not respect. Respect is earned and it’s a damn hard job to work your way upwards and onwards to that fabled land platform known as.. ‘Having the respect of your peers.’<br /><br />My dad, god rest his soul, was a very strict task master regarding country pursuits, as were the fathers of many of my childhood friends. However, they taught us well and left us a legacy which we have since passed on to our own kids, and in time, I trust they will do the same to theirs!<br /><br />I have been playing this fishing game since I could first walk and hold a rod, so with over 30 years of days, weeks and weekends on the banks, I’ve seen many sorrowful occurrences. Luckily, these have been equally balanced by the number of positive, funny, or captivating incidents I have also witnessed over the years. My intention with this piece was not to rant, more to try and show a mindset which sadly appears lacking in many who are currently picking up a rod in pursuit of our fine quarry – and if anything contained here makes just one person stop and think, then it’s been well worth the time taken to write down a few thoughts. I could ramble on hours, days, even weeks, but will save the rest for another day, or who knows, maybe a book – it seems to be the in thing:-)<br /><br />Thanks, Dad. Of all the things you taught me about fishing, the most important was TO DO IT RIGHT!<br /><br />Tight lines my friends…<br /><br />Stig.<br /><br />Piscator Non Solum Piscatur – There’s More to Fishing than Catching Fish.<br /><br />Thanks to the few who allowed me to use snippets of their experiences in the writing of this article<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Stig<br />April 2008</strong></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Welcome to the second instalment of Bank Side Etiquette, which covers further musings surrounding the do’s and don’ts when out on the bank.<br /><br />Civil Rights & Use Of<br />When we are out doing what we do by the lakes we choose to fish, we are not the sole users of the countryside, and anyone we should meet during our time there should be treated with a civil tongue and a cheery hello should they acknowledge your presence.<br /><br />When fishing a certain Cheshire mere many moons ago, I used to fish sat just on the other side of the set of railings which separated the mere from the road and people used to come down park up and let their kids feed the ducks. This particular day I would be in my mid-teens and my fishing partner and I were having a really good day catching quality roach, perch, bream and hybrids. My father appeared at about 10am and watched us catch some fish. About ten minutes after his arrival two pensioner couples came to the railing next to where I was fishing and gave me a cheery hello I just turned my head and said hi. I was asked numerous questions by these people which at first I answered as best I could, but after about 3 or 4 questions being the wise-ass teenager I was, I gave them sarcastic replies to their questions, and all I could hear was my mate sniggering behind the bush that separated our two swims.<br /><br />Eventually the pensioners went on their way, at which point I heard, “I will see you when you get home”. I turned round for the first time in ten or fifteen minutes and saw my dad stood there with a face like thunder. I thought nothing of it and carried on fishing. When I got home later that evening I walked in stinking of fish slime & stale ground bait with a big smile on my face as we had really bagged up.The smile was soon wiped off my face - My dad was sat in his chair with a look that told me I was in for it!<br /><br />“Today you were the most ignorant I have ever seen a lad of your age be! You didn’t even have the decency to take your shades off when those people spoke to you, when you did turn round that was, and then you never even looked at them again - just sat there all smug with your back to them giving them sarcastic answers to perfectly sensible questions. Just because you’ve won a few junior matches you’re not Ivan Marks! And in any case, Ivan is a gentleman and would never treat anyone the way you treated those people today!”<br />“Sorry, I was just…” I was cut short by “If I ever see or hear of you acting like that again, I will take all you fishing gear to the tip and sell your gun.”<br /><br />When fishing there are other people who use the countryside and the public footpaths of our fair nation. Contrary to the beliefs of many, they have just as much right to be there using the countryside for their enjoyment and it’s definitely a like it or lump it situation. In my honest opinion as we are all there and our paths will cross many times, I feel it is best to try and keep a good relationship with ramblers, wanderers and dog walkers. If we were all ignorant or threatening towards them, it wont take to many complaints to the land owner to have an effect - fishing leases can be lost as easily as that!<br /><br />However, dog walkers throwing sticks or balls into the water for their dogs to fetch is wrong, as if we are to treat them with courtesy, they should afford us the same courtesy by keeping their dogs out of our swims and picking any mess their dogs leave behind - but it’s how you go about asking/telling them!<br /><br />How it is or/& shouldn’t be<br />While serving our aprentiships, as mentioned previously, the importance of shutting gates and not damaging fences/hedges was drummed into us relentlessly. One summers afternoon quite a number of years ago we used to fish a small lake owned by a farmer in mid Cheshire. The water was some distance from the farm and we had called at the farm and paid our ticket money and drove to the lane where we parked the car closest to the pool. On arrival at the verge where we parked, we saw 3 cars parked there amongst about eighty cows and a gate left wide open .My pal and I immediately jumped out of the car and began herding the cattle back through the gateway after telling the lad driving to go back to the farm and get the farmer .By the time the errand had been run and our friend returned with the farmer we were coaxing the last ten or so cattle back through the gate. In all honesty it had been very simple once we forced the first few though the opening the majority of the herd followed, just leaving those final 10 or 11 munching the lush green grass by the roadside. The farmer then told us to wait there and disappeared over the fields towards the pool he returned about 15 minutes later along with the six anglers who were fishing the pool on arrival.<br />“Get in your vehicles and do not ever come back to fish here again” he told them. Once they had gone he couldn’t thank us enough and gave us our money back saying<br />“You lads saved me a whole lot of trouble and your money is no good here - none of those who have just left would own up to leaving the gate open - so they all had to go.”<br /><br />The moment we saw those cattle on the road the thought of fishing did not enter our heads our only concern was to get them back in the field where they belonged .These days some of the chavs who call themselves anglers would simply unload their gear and walk to the water probably closing the gate so the cattle couldn’t get back at all.<br /><br />Arrivals & checking in<br />Earlier I stated how I was taught to arrive at a water attracting as little attention as possible. in the past I have seen and heard carloads of anglers come racing up the drive of an estate on which I fish, all with wide bore exhausts, widows open and blasting some inane bass line, and all doing well over the driveway speed limit - Before they’ve even cast a line they’ve already broken every golden rule my father taught me about respecting land owners and other lake users!<br /><br />They all arrive within seconds of each other onto the gravel car park and all screech to a halt Music blaring ‘boom, boom, boom’ & spraying the cars already parked there with stones and gravel . They then vacate their vehicles but leave the doors open with the same boom boom boom blasting over the lake and fields. They then begin to unload the cars while shouting to each other across the car park, with every other word a foul-mouthed expletive.<br /><br />This sort of behaviour may be looked upon as cool on the thug ridden streets of some of our Cities and major towns - but carry on with this behaviour on the banks of a lilly fringed lake, or on a sleepy country estate in the middle of rural England, and it is NOT in any way, shape or form… ‘cool!’<br /><br />After their rave style arrival to the water, they troop half way up the lake passing numerous empty swims in order to find one big enough to house a shanty town of bivvys for the planned nights social. Usually, the space they end up going for is wedged between the only other anglers on the lake at that time! They then produce a lump hammer and begin to pitch their bivvys hammering every peg in until it is 4 inches below the surface. After which the arguments as to who is fishing where ensue – more expletives! Once the pecking order has been established, the dreaded bite alarms come out – never before has there been such a weapon when in the wrong hands! Any anglers unfortunate enough to be on the lake, along with those who happen to be within a mile radius, are then subjected to what could only be equated to a bunch two year olds trying to play an electric keyboard - on full volume, of course.<br /><br />All this continues without a thought for the anglers either side of them. Then more noise while chairs are dragged out of bivvys and erected in some sort of circle. At last however, everything goes quiet and you think to yourself that they have finally settled down. Only then do you hear the ‘pssspp…pssssp…pssssp’ as they begin to crack open 24 pack of Stella.<br /><br />You’re going to be in for a long, not to mention noisy, night.<br /><br />Before I get on my soap box I would like to stress to the reader that I am in no way a non drinker and enjoy a few beers now and then but the consumption of alcohol has never had any real significance to me. However, in my honest opinion, drinking pints of beer is a pastime which is really meant to be conducted in a pub or on a summers evening on a patio while enjoying a barbecue with friends. If you cant get by without having to drink copious amounts of alcohol on the bank, then the A.A. you need to be a member of is not an Angling Association!<br /><br />I see nothing wrong with a can or two on your own as you settle down for the night in your bivvy as long as there are no rules in place banning the consumption of alcohol while on the banks of the water you are fishing, but for gods sake, give a thought to those around you.<br /><br />Space invaders<br />There is nothing worse than being the only angler on a lake, and then someone turns up and jumps right in the next swim, and without even saying a word, makes no end of noise whilst setting up. All that upheaval is then followed by a big bucket of spod mix coming out as he/she decides the lake would look far nicer with another island created in the far bank margin. Then follows all the swishing and cursing as inexperience reveals its latest apprentice - Just as much ends up on your bivvy as it does in the lake.<br /><br />Early doors/gates<br />Driving onto the site and having 2 of your passengers leap out long before you reach the car park with a few bait buckets and place them in the swims you wish to fish is one of the most frowned upon swim hijacking tactics used in the current angling world.<br /><br />A few members recount recent tales;<br /><br />..........<br /> <br />“I managed to get out fishing last week for the first time in a while, what with work, the missus and the little one. I arrived at the lake to find it empty of anglers, so first things first I baited the snags up and then went and fished the other end of the lake, popping back every so often to check on my baited area. I started seeing signs of fish around lunchtime, so moved all my kit down to the snag. By about 4pm I was positive that fish were on it when along comes some young lad with a bucket of bait. Had a quick hello, and then he went off to throw some bait in further up the pit. He sneaked back past me a little while later and hid in the next peg down and started firing bait into the snag that I was fishing. 3 bow waves shot up the lake from my baited area and when I said something he just moved down to the next peg and carried on the same. I would never dream of doing this to a fellow angler”<br /><br />..........<br /><br />“Turned up at the lake on the Friday for a quick recce before I fished on the Saturday, had a look round and spotted a few fish between two island's so I decided I’d turn up 30 mins before it opened in the morning and try and get in the swim nearest to the island’s. got to the lake early and was the 1st there, been there about 10 min's when a van pull's up behind me and 2 lad's get out, had a natter with them before it opened. bailiff turn's up and un-lock's the gate so we drive in as I was loading my gear onto the barrow the 2 lad's past me and started having a look around. With my gear loaded up I set off around the lake to the swim I fancied, as I got nearer to the swim I could see the 2 lad's pointing and talking"ok mate we're just discussing where we are gunna put our bait's".I told them in my best French that they weren't having this swim as I had 1st choice as I was at the water 1st,i then explained about carp etiquette and they walked off mumbling. I was furious at the cheek of them,fair enough we never discussed which swim we fancied but as I was at the water 1st I thought the onus was on them to ask me....!”<br />..........<br /><br />All it takes a little bit of communication while waiting in the queue to avoid situation like the above ever happening. Whoever is first in the queue has the choice of swim - its first come first served and to the best of my knowledge always has been . Putting a bait bucket in a swim to reserve it for your mate who may be coming down later or even the following day is a definite NO, NO.<br /> <br /><br />Civil Partnerships<br />We are not the only users of the countryside and do not have a divine right to be the sole users of it. I recently heard of a female dog walker threatened with a stainless steel bank stick for allowing her dog to be off the lead. The dog merely stood at the waters edge looking longingly at the ducks on the water and yelped a little out of excitement. The angler shot out of his chair grabbing the bank stick and stood there pointing it in the poor woman’s face while reeling off a number of expletives as to what he would do to the animal if it put one paw in his swim. The really sad part is that the person wielding the bank stick was only about 15 years old, and was sat in a litter strewn swim - all of which I am reliably informed was his own.<br /><br />Bivvy £200, Rods £300, Stainless steel bank stick for threatening women £9.99 - The look on his face when her two 6ft 4inch sons came round the corner… Priceless.<br /><br />Fishing used to be a great leveller no matter what you did for a living. No matter if tackle cost thousands of pounds or was straight from a car boot sale, once you were on the bank you were all the same - just a working man/woman getting out from the rat race for a day or two and chilling out doing some fishing. Long gone for most are the days when you worked your way up through the Gudgeon, roach and perch until you were skilled enough to handle the heart stopping runs,dives and all round deviousness of the fabled King Carp.<br /><br />Morally Bankrupt<br />The Chav angler is now amongst us and what’s more, they want fish at any cost. What has happened to the old angling community where we helped each other out and looked after the cherished waters we fished? No one I class as a friend would dream of leaving a scrap of litter - never mind the discarded crates of empty beer cans that I find on my walks around certain waters.<br /><br />Much of carp fishing, and angling generally, has become a victim of the ‘I want it now’ and ‘rules were made for breaking’ society we live in. Many think that by fishing in gangs they gain respect. They are kidding themselves - Fear is fear, not respect. Respect is earned and it’s a damn hard job to work your way upwards and onwards to that fabled land platform known as.. ‘Having the respect of your peers.’<br /><br />My dad, god rest his soul, was a very strict task master regarding country pursuits, as were the fathers of many of my childhood friends. However, they taught us well and left us a legacy which we have since passed on to our own kids, and in time, I trust they will do the same to theirs!<br /><br />I have been playing this fishing game since I could first walk and hold a rod, so with over 30 years of days, weeks and weekends on the banks, I’ve seen many sorrowful occurrences. Luckily, these have been equally balanced by the number of positive, funny, or captivating incidents I have also witnessed over the years. My intention with this piece was not to rant, more to try and show a mindset which sadly appears lacking in many who are currently picking up a rod in pursuit of our fine quarry – and if anything contained here makes just one person stop and think, then it’s been well worth the time taken to write down a few thoughts. I could ramble on hours, days, even weeks, but will save the rest for another day, or who knows, maybe a book – it seems to be the in thing:-)<br /><br />Thanks, Dad. Of all the things you taught me about fishing, the most important was TO DO IT RIGHT!<br /><br />Tight lines my friends…<br /><br />Stig.<br /><br />Piscator Non Solum Piscatur – There’s More to Fishing than Catching Fish.<br /><br />Thanks to the few who allowed me to use snippets of their experiences in the writing of this article<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Stig<br />April 2008</strong></span></p>Bank Side Etiquette – Part 12010-02-20T21:23:58Z2010-02-20T21:23:58Zhttp://www.northwestcarp.co.uk/index.php/features/articles/72-the-think-tank/249-bank-side-etiquette-part-1Stigjulian.grattidge@btinternet.com<p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Over the many years I have been an angler, the nature of the sport has changed and even more so some of those who are now amongst our ranks that cannot understand how things used to be and why it was like that. Question is, how it should be?<br /> <br />Where have all the years gone; it only seems like last week that once July arrived we were all on tenterhooks awaiting for that last day of term and the six whole weeks of freedom plus the odd day or two if we were lucky. Plans amongst my brethren and myself as to just where our push bikes were going to be taking us through the summer. Laden down with all the fishing tackle we had acquired over the few years of Christmases and birthdays we had experienced so far in our short lives. Pre-arranged family holidays usually meant we were all away at the same time leaving us 4 or 5 weeks of solid summer freedom and so what if it rained - we came from south Manchester where they go out for picnics in the rain! If we didn’t go out in the rain we wouldn’t ever go out never mind eating sandwiches and stale-ish pork pies while sat on gingham table cloths!<br /><br />Our little gang of 7 to 10 contained three of us who had fathers who were avid anglers, mine was also a shooter of pheasants, etc., and all 3 to varying extents were of a military background. Therefore we three had served our long hard angling apprenticeships and were all well versed in how we were expected to behave when guests on farmers/estate owners land. Also drummed into us was that we should show these landowners or their tenants /agents the utmost respect when approached or challenged as to our presence on their land, as how we conducted ourselves when out roaming the countryside of north Cheshire would reflect directly on our fathers good names with said farmers and land owners.<br /><br />That left 4 to 7 members who were some what uneducated in how you should conduct yourself while out roaming rural areas. When 1 or more of them stepped out of line, then the fathers pupils had to step in and become teachers in how to conduct yourself while visiting ponds, pools, lakes, rivers and streams, whilst on other peoples land. A hasty countryside code was passed on very quickly, allowing enough for us to get by for the moment - the polish could be added to finish the education at some point in the future.<br /><br />My now late father drummed into me the importance of shutting gates and not damaging fences, along with the good manners I should show to other users of the countryside, but most importantly the respect I should have for other anglers while actually on the bank fishing. So often this was told to me when I was out fishing or shooting with him, that it became simply a natural thing to do - like putting on your boxers before you put your jeans on! Another thing he also told me was if you are ever unsure as to whether or not you have closed a gate, no matter how far away that gate may be back across the fields or down the track, you must go back and check to be certain you have not made what could be a very costly error to the farmer who has been good enough to let you fish on his land or cross his land to get to where you want to fish.<br /><br />The place he first told me this was a wild and desolate Scottish loch named Loch Fionn, up in the highlands near the town of Gairloch about 15 miles south of Ullapool. We arrived at Fionn after what seemed like a 4 mile very slow trundle up a very rough gravel road during which I had to get out of the car and open and close numerous gates to enable us to proceed on our way . As we arrived, mum got the kettle on for a brew to go with a sandwich before my father and I started fishing. It was then that my dad said;.<br /><br />“Did you close that last gate when we came through it?“<br /><br />I thought I had but was not certain and said so, “Well get yourself back down that track and either check it has been shut or go and shut it. Make sure its shut properly”<br />“It’s miles away" I moaned”<br />“It’s 7 tenths of a mile away” I was told in a stern voice. How does he know that? I thought. The tone of the voice said it all to me - Get your butt back down that track and check that the gate is shut! So, off I trundled, I rounded a corner and the gate came into view about 50 yards away I looked and saw the gate shut and turned to walk back when the “ Make sure it’s shut properly!!” echoed through my head. A quick about turn and I scampered the 50 yards to the gate to find that I had in fact not put the chain loop back over the gate post so the gate was merely pushed to and not shut properly. So with the chain loop correctly over the gate post I trundled back up to the loch to find my parents enjoying their sandwiches and coffee.<br /><br />“Was it shut?”<br />“Yes”<br />“Shut properly? Did you walk right up to the gate and check?”<br />“Yes”<br />“And what did you find when you got there?” Hmmm - Should I just say I found it shut properly or tell him that I had forgotten to put the chain loop over? Something in my head told me to tell the truth, probably because I had been grounded the week before for telling a porky pie, so I said, “The gate was shut but the chain loop had not been put back over the gate post to close it properly”<br />“I know”<br />“How?”<br />“Well why do you think I sent you all that way there back to shut it?”<br />“If you knew, why didn’t you tell me when we were back there then?”<br />“Because I know the importance of shutting gates, and I’m not the one learning like you are son. I don’t think you will make that mistake again will you?”<br /><br />A good days fishing we had in the end, I caught my first Ferox along with my 2nd and 3rd, plus several sea trout and some brown trout. As night fell we trundled off in the car opening and closing gates as we went and I made sure the chain loop was over the gate post or the bolt was pushed home every time, as I really didn’t fancy a walk back in the dark to make sure I had shut a gate properly!<br /><br />I see little of the above in the majority of up-and-coming anglers today. Perhaps carping has become a victim of its own success? Some of the stories I hear about run- ins fellow anglers have had on the bank beggar belief. When I arrive at a water I do so attracting as little attention to myself as possible. Even when we used to arrive all those years ago on our push bikes, we did so in silence, especially if anyone lived anywhere near our proposed venue. These days I roll the car up as quietly as I possibly can, then open and close doors as quietly as possible, load up the barrow and move off silently, usually cursing every time I break a dry branch underfoot!<br /><br />Trash Talk<br />Always be very conscious of litter, rubbish or trash - whatever you want to call it. Now this should again be a natural reaction to anyone & everyone who calls him/herself an angler. I now tie a bin bag to an old rod rest by the side of where I am fishing; anything and everything I either no longer want or is just rubbish like old cans or spent line goes into that bag - and the bag taken away!<br /><br />A friend and I once arrived at a farm where there were a couple of pools we used to fish. The farmer charged a pound a day and only let those on who he knew. In our case he knew someone’s dad,uncle or whoever, and because of this we were allowed to fish. Once we had stumped up our quids, the farmer handed us a couple of old blue fertilizer bags, saying, “Give the place the once over, I’ve noticed some litter around the big pool”<br />“It’s the first time we have been here this year so any litter can’t be ours” Said my friend.<br />“It donna matter whose litter it is. My pools, my rules. Leave the bags by the fence and I will pick ‘em up later, or you could ‘ave your pounds back?”<br /><br />So we trekked over to the bigger of the pools and my pal set off one way round and I set off the other way picking up anything we found. We met at the far end, each clutching a blue fertilizer bag about half full of plastic bags, tin foil, hook packets and many yards of spent line. We both looked at each other and both said at the same time “Was I bit of a mess wasn’t it?”<br /><br />We then placed the bags by the fence that surrounded the pool, clambered down to our swims and got set up and fishing. An hour or two later another lad arrived panting a bit after carrying his gear the long-ish trek from the road. We had seen him on there the year before so knew him well enough to let on to and pass the time of day with.<br />“Hiya, had owt?”<br />“Had a few” I replied, then added “The farmer gave us two bags and told us to give the place the once over for litter, we haven’t been on here this year so any rubbish aint ours”<br />“No, but you fish the place and in his eyes we are all responsible for any rubbish no matter who leaves it. I see you have done the litter pick” He said nodding towards the two bags by the fence.<br />“Yeah, wasn’t really a problem only took five or ten minutes walking round in opposite directions and meeting at the far end”<br />“If you hadn’t done it you would never have got back on here again. I bet you got the ‘my pools, my rules’ speech?”<br />“Yeah” And the three of us laughed together.<br /><br />Many anglers I know spend a good amount of their bank time picking up rubbish and generally clearing up after those too inconsiderate to do the right thing and remove their rubbish from their swims when leaving . Also too selfish to remove any debris left by anglers like themselves from adjoining swims.<br /><br />Then there are those who think that by bagging up all their rubbish and either hiding it in a bush or carrying it to the car park and leaving it there, they have somehow done their bit!? The hiding in a bush angler is not much better than those who just leave their swims like a pig sty. Whether your swim is strewn with rubbish when you arrive or spotless, leave it the way you would like to find it - and that would be litter free – just as nature intended!!!<br /><br />Courtesy and Space Invasion<br />When I arrive at a venue and see other cars parked in the car park, with my tendency to fish swims furthest away from other anglers or if I have a specific swim in mind, I always walk the bank before hand usually carrying my rucksack or/& rod holdall to place in whichever swim I fancy. I then walk along the bank passing the time of day with any other anglers I meet, and should there be anglers in the adjacent swims to the one I feel is the best on offer I will go and talk to them and find out where their baits are positioned etc as I don’t want to be getting anyone’s back up by crossing lines etc.<br /><br />Also, if I ever get it into my head that I will prebait a water I will find a swim which is a long way from the car as there is less chance of anyone stumbling upon my prebaited swim and should there be anyone else fishing the water when I go down to bait up I put all the necessary bait in my big poachers pocket of my barbour coat. If I am intending to put a large amount in, I put the bait in a small rucksack along with my mug and a small flask and will walk the bank passing any anglers saying hello, had anything, etc, until I reach my chosen prebait swim. I will have a chat, tell them I’m just down to see what’s going on and ask if there is anyone further up the bank. I then pour myself a brew out and offer a brew, thus giving a reason for me carrying a small rucksack. After my brew I will wander off up the bank to my isolated swim and do what I came to do; put down a bed of bait for the following morning.<br /><br />If there are anglers in the swims either side of you or within a few swims of you, you should only really fish the water in front of you and not cast across another angler to put a bait in on the lillys or snags that are 2 swims distant on the far bank - even if the angler in the next swim is fishing the margins - as they may decide to put a bait out in the middle or on that same bed of lillys or snags. You should never purposely disturb the water in another anglers swim or encroach on their space with any of your actions unless he’s a good mate, then go sit on his bed chair and fish his swim properly! Classic example being when I arrived at a water to find a good pal of mine fishing (well, a few good pals to be exact). I set up next to my mate and he told me there was a bed of bait over near the island & I was welcome to share it. So there we were both fishing the same bed of bait using identical end tackle and line and both using maple boilies - over the day he had 16 carp to upper doubles I had one bream and that was on his rod - So yes yet again I blanked!<br /><br />Opening Times<br />Due to the popularity of angling, especially carping, some waters become very sought after and swims are in big demand. Many land owners allow anglers to camp overnight while fishing however just as many do not allow night fishing and lock the entrances at a certain time, by which everyone has to be off the water, and then reopen again at a certain time in the morning. These opening times vary from month to month being as early as 3.30-4.00am in the summer months and as late as 7.00 or 8.00am during the long nights of our winter. Come half an hour before the gates are due to open, and being a nation of queuers, a queue will often start to form at the main gate. The anglers waiting in line may get out of their vehicles and have a chat and in an ideal world they will discuss which swims they wish to fish and obviously the anglers in the first car will have pick of the swims. On the occasions when I have found myself in situations like this, I broach the subject with others waiting in order that I don’t tread on anybody’s toes.<br /><br />There have been occasions when other actions have been taken, but I will discuss more of these in the next part,<br /><br />Until Then,<br /><br />Tight lines my friends…<br /><br />Stig.<br /><br />Piscator Non Solum Piscatur – There’s More to Fishing than Catching Fish.<br /><br />Thanks to the few who allowed me to use snippets of their experiences in the writing of this article<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Stig<br />April 2008</strong></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Over the many years I have been an angler, the nature of the sport has changed and even more so some of those who are now amongst our ranks that cannot understand how things used to be and why it was like that. Question is, how it should be?<br /> <br />Where have all the years gone; it only seems like last week that once July arrived we were all on tenterhooks awaiting for that last day of term and the six whole weeks of freedom plus the odd day or two if we were lucky. Plans amongst my brethren and myself as to just where our push bikes were going to be taking us through the summer. Laden down with all the fishing tackle we had acquired over the few years of Christmases and birthdays we had experienced so far in our short lives. Pre-arranged family holidays usually meant we were all away at the same time leaving us 4 or 5 weeks of solid summer freedom and so what if it rained - we came from south Manchester where they go out for picnics in the rain! If we didn’t go out in the rain we wouldn’t ever go out never mind eating sandwiches and stale-ish pork pies while sat on gingham table cloths!<br /><br />Our little gang of 7 to 10 contained three of us who had fathers who were avid anglers, mine was also a shooter of pheasants, etc., and all 3 to varying extents were of a military background. Therefore we three had served our long hard angling apprenticeships and were all well versed in how we were expected to behave when guests on farmers/estate owners land. Also drummed into us was that we should show these landowners or their tenants /agents the utmost respect when approached or challenged as to our presence on their land, as how we conducted ourselves when out roaming the countryside of north Cheshire would reflect directly on our fathers good names with said farmers and land owners.<br /><br />That left 4 to 7 members who were some what uneducated in how you should conduct yourself while out roaming rural areas. When 1 or more of them stepped out of line, then the fathers pupils had to step in and become teachers in how to conduct yourself while visiting ponds, pools, lakes, rivers and streams, whilst on other peoples land. A hasty countryside code was passed on very quickly, allowing enough for us to get by for the moment - the polish could be added to finish the education at some point in the future.<br /><br />My now late father drummed into me the importance of shutting gates and not damaging fences, along with the good manners I should show to other users of the countryside, but most importantly the respect I should have for other anglers while actually on the bank fishing. So often this was told to me when I was out fishing or shooting with him, that it became simply a natural thing to do - like putting on your boxers before you put your jeans on! Another thing he also told me was if you are ever unsure as to whether or not you have closed a gate, no matter how far away that gate may be back across the fields or down the track, you must go back and check to be certain you have not made what could be a very costly error to the farmer who has been good enough to let you fish on his land or cross his land to get to where you want to fish.<br /><br />The place he first told me this was a wild and desolate Scottish loch named Loch Fionn, up in the highlands near the town of Gairloch about 15 miles south of Ullapool. We arrived at Fionn after what seemed like a 4 mile very slow trundle up a very rough gravel road during which I had to get out of the car and open and close numerous gates to enable us to proceed on our way . As we arrived, mum got the kettle on for a brew to go with a sandwich before my father and I started fishing. It was then that my dad said;.<br /><br />“Did you close that last gate when we came through it?“<br /><br />I thought I had but was not certain and said so, “Well get yourself back down that track and either check it has been shut or go and shut it. Make sure its shut properly”<br />“It’s miles away" I moaned”<br />“It’s 7 tenths of a mile away” I was told in a stern voice. How does he know that? I thought. The tone of the voice said it all to me - Get your butt back down that track and check that the gate is shut! So, off I trundled, I rounded a corner and the gate came into view about 50 yards away I looked and saw the gate shut and turned to walk back when the “ Make sure it’s shut properly!!” echoed through my head. A quick about turn and I scampered the 50 yards to the gate to find that I had in fact not put the chain loop back over the gate post so the gate was merely pushed to and not shut properly. So with the chain loop correctly over the gate post I trundled back up to the loch to find my parents enjoying their sandwiches and coffee.<br /><br />“Was it shut?”<br />“Yes”<br />“Shut properly? Did you walk right up to the gate and check?”<br />“Yes”<br />“And what did you find when you got there?” Hmmm - Should I just say I found it shut properly or tell him that I had forgotten to put the chain loop over? Something in my head told me to tell the truth, probably because I had been grounded the week before for telling a porky pie, so I said, “The gate was shut but the chain loop had not been put back over the gate post to close it properly”<br />“I know”<br />“How?”<br />“Well why do you think I sent you all that way there back to shut it?”<br />“If you knew, why didn’t you tell me when we were back there then?”<br />“Because I know the importance of shutting gates, and I’m not the one learning like you are son. I don’t think you will make that mistake again will you?”<br /><br />A good days fishing we had in the end, I caught my first Ferox along with my 2nd and 3rd, plus several sea trout and some brown trout. As night fell we trundled off in the car opening and closing gates as we went and I made sure the chain loop was over the gate post or the bolt was pushed home every time, as I really didn’t fancy a walk back in the dark to make sure I had shut a gate properly!<br /><br />I see little of the above in the majority of up-and-coming anglers today. Perhaps carping has become a victim of its own success? Some of the stories I hear about run- ins fellow anglers have had on the bank beggar belief. When I arrive at a water I do so attracting as little attention to myself as possible. Even when we used to arrive all those years ago on our push bikes, we did so in silence, especially if anyone lived anywhere near our proposed venue. These days I roll the car up as quietly as I possibly can, then open and close doors as quietly as possible, load up the barrow and move off silently, usually cursing every time I break a dry branch underfoot!<br /><br />Trash Talk<br />Always be very conscious of litter, rubbish or trash - whatever you want to call it. Now this should again be a natural reaction to anyone & everyone who calls him/herself an angler. I now tie a bin bag to an old rod rest by the side of where I am fishing; anything and everything I either no longer want or is just rubbish like old cans or spent line goes into that bag - and the bag taken away!<br /><br />A friend and I once arrived at a farm where there were a couple of pools we used to fish. The farmer charged a pound a day and only let those on who he knew. In our case he knew someone’s dad,uncle or whoever, and because of this we were allowed to fish. Once we had stumped up our quids, the farmer handed us a couple of old blue fertilizer bags, saying, “Give the place the once over, I’ve noticed some litter around the big pool”<br />“It’s the first time we have been here this year so any litter can’t be ours” Said my friend.<br />“It donna matter whose litter it is. My pools, my rules. Leave the bags by the fence and I will pick ‘em up later, or you could ‘ave your pounds back?”<br /><br />So we trekked over to the bigger of the pools and my pal set off one way round and I set off the other way picking up anything we found. We met at the far end, each clutching a blue fertilizer bag about half full of plastic bags, tin foil, hook packets and many yards of spent line. We both looked at each other and both said at the same time “Was I bit of a mess wasn’t it?”<br /><br />We then placed the bags by the fence that surrounded the pool, clambered down to our swims and got set up and fishing. An hour or two later another lad arrived panting a bit after carrying his gear the long-ish trek from the road. We had seen him on there the year before so knew him well enough to let on to and pass the time of day with.<br />“Hiya, had owt?”<br />“Had a few” I replied, then added “The farmer gave us two bags and told us to give the place the once over for litter, we haven’t been on here this year so any rubbish aint ours”<br />“No, but you fish the place and in his eyes we are all responsible for any rubbish no matter who leaves it. I see you have done the litter pick” He said nodding towards the two bags by the fence.<br />“Yeah, wasn’t really a problem only took five or ten minutes walking round in opposite directions and meeting at the far end”<br />“If you hadn’t done it you would never have got back on here again. I bet you got the ‘my pools, my rules’ speech?”<br />“Yeah” And the three of us laughed together.<br /><br />Many anglers I know spend a good amount of their bank time picking up rubbish and generally clearing up after those too inconsiderate to do the right thing and remove their rubbish from their swims when leaving . Also too selfish to remove any debris left by anglers like themselves from adjoining swims.<br /><br />Then there are those who think that by bagging up all their rubbish and either hiding it in a bush or carrying it to the car park and leaving it there, they have somehow done their bit!? The hiding in a bush angler is not much better than those who just leave their swims like a pig sty. Whether your swim is strewn with rubbish when you arrive or spotless, leave it the way you would like to find it - and that would be litter free – just as nature intended!!!<br /><br />Courtesy and Space Invasion<br />When I arrive at a venue and see other cars parked in the car park, with my tendency to fish swims furthest away from other anglers or if I have a specific swim in mind, I always walk the bank before hand usually carrying my rucksack or/& rod holdall to place in whichever swim I fancy. I then walk along the bank passing the time of day with any other anglers I meet, and should there be anglers in the adjacent swims to the one I feel is the best on offer I will go and talk to them and find out where their baits are positioned etc as I don’t want to be getting anyone’s back up by crossing lines etc.<br /><br />Also, if I ever get it into my head that I will prebait a water I will find a swim which is a long way from the car as there is less chance of anyone stumbling upon my prebaited swim and should there be anyone else fishing the water when I go down to bait up I put all the necessary bait in my big poachers pocket of my barbour coat. If I am intending to put a large amount in, I put the bait in a small rucksack along with my mug and a small flask and will walk the bank passing any anglers saying hello, had anything, etc, until I reach my chosen prebait swim. I will have a chat, tell them I’m just down to see what’s going on and ask if there is anyone further up the bank. I then pour myself a brew out and offer a brew, thus giving a reason for me carrying a small rucksack. After my brew I will wander off up the bank to my isolated swim and do what I came to do; put down a bed of bait for the following morning.<br /><br />If there are anglers in the swims either side of you or within a few swims of you, you should only really fish the water in front of you and not cast across another angler to put a bait in on the lillys or snags that are 2 swims distant on the far bank - even if the angler in the next swim is fishing the margins - as they may decide to put a bait out in the middle or on that same bed of lillys or snags. You should never purposely disturb the water in another anglers swim or encroach on their space with any of your actions unless he’s a good mate, then go sit on his bed chair and fish his swim properly! Classic example being when I arrived at a water to find a good pal of mine fishing (well, a few good pals to be exact). I set up next to my mate and he told me there was a bed of bait over near the island & I was welcome to share it. So there we were both fishing the same bed of bait using identical end tackle and line and both using maple boilies - over the day he had 16 carp to upper doubles I had one bream and that was on his rod - So yes yet again I blanked!<br /><br />Opening Times<br />Due to the popularity of angling, especially carping, some waters become very sought after and swims are in big demand. Many land owners allow anglers to camp overnight while fishing however just as many do not allow night fishing and lock the entrances at a certain time, by which everyone has to be off the water, and then reopen again at a certain time in the morning. These opening times vary from month to month being as early as 3.30-4.00am in the summer months and as late as 7.00 or 8.00am during the long nights of our winter. Come half an hour before the gates are due to open, and being a nation of queuers, a queue will often start to form at the main gate. The anglers waiting in line may get out of their vehicles and have a chat and in an ideal world they will discuss which swims they wish to fish and obviously the anglers in the first car will have pick of the swims. On the occasions when I have found myself in situations like this, I broach the subject with others waiting in order that I don’t tread on anybody’s toes.<br /><br />There have been occasions when other actions have been taken, but I will discuss more of these in the next part,<br /><br />Until Then,<br /><br />Tight lines my friends…<br /><br />Stig.<br /><br />Piscator Non Solum Piscatur – There’s More to Fishing than Catching Fish.<br /><br />Thanks to the few who allowed me to use snippets of their experiences in the writing of this article<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Stig<br />April 2008</strong></span></p>Do We Condition Fish?2010-02-20T21:21:18Z2010-02-20T21:21:18Zhttp://www.northwestcarp.co.uk/index.php/features/articles/72-the-think-tank/248-do-we-condition-fishHAWTHORNjulian.grattidge@btinternet.com<p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">This article was brought about by Julian asking for opinions on prebaiting a three-acre water on which he was going to have very limited time to fish. In fact it was not even his target water for the year but it was a water where he had spotted a particular fish which he very much liked the look of.<br /><br />My initial response was to Julian’s problem of how to tackle this water under his restricted circumstances was to bait a couple of areas, one on the back of the prevailing wind and one on the end of the prevailing wind. After several of the Monkeys had offered some good advice, it still did not quite fit the bill for Julian’s limited time.<br /><br />This really got me thinking, how to optimise the time available? Then I remembered, we were in a similar situation many years ago and the answer was to condition the fish. Before we go any further it’s worth pointing out that the conditions for this have to be as near right as possible, or be in your power to make them right.<br /><br />Intentionally or not we do condition the carp which we fish for. In simple terms we try to condition fish into taking our bait, we try to condition them via bait application, be this by pre-baiting certain areas over a long period of time or by using the same bait over and over each time we visit the water - you try to condition the fish to take your bait above anyone else’s. We even condition them to feed where we think they should feed, by putting a food source there for them.<br /><br />The key to Julian’s problem in my opinion was conditioning. This conditioning is based on two things; the available food source and secondly, timing - not “the time” but timing.<br /><br />I am going to give some examples of things which have happened to us over the years, see if it rings any bells for you.<br /><br />First of all, I made a statement about making them feed where we think they should feed. Let me try to explain. Years ago on Horseshoe Lake, a seventy acre gravel pit owned by the Carp Society, there was a stretch of bank on the Winter Bay between the Winter Disabled swim and Winter point. This area was not the most angler friendly area to fish, so it was decided to open it up, by clearing trees and bank side vegetation and putting a double swim in the centre of the bank. This at the time was christened “Choppy`s Swim” after Terry “Choppy” Walton, (long suffering angling companion of John Claydon), the reason being, Choppy did most of the work, as usual!<br /><br />When this swim was first created you were able to catch fish at about thirty to forty yards range, and hold them there. Such was the amount of bait being put in. The fish kept this area clean, coupled with the odd strand of weed or two brought in by the anglers. The fish continued to be caught, Horseshoe fish love their feed. So what is the point? The point is this, anglers not so familiar with the water when fishing the swim could find the “Marks” (direction) ok, they were all pretty obvious points on the horizon but not so the distance! You know the old Chinese whispers; did he say forty yards or fifty? Or was it sixty? And you all know how superbly accurate we anglers are at judging distances. So the food source (the bait) started to move away from the bank and along with it went the fish. The old clear areas at thirty to forty yards were once again taken over by the weed and believe me the weed in there can be horrendous.<br /><br />If you want to catch fish from this swim now, take your casting boots with you, as you will now have to spod and cast ninety to one hundred and ten yards! And we anglers put these fish out there!<br /><br />Perhaps you think my reasoning is wrong and the fish moved due to angling pressure? I can assure you this is not the case, the fish like their feed too much to be put off by a few lines in the water. We anglers conditioned the fish to go where the food is.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> <img src="images/NorthWestCarp/thinktank/hawthorn_1.jpg" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Can we dictate where and when they feed?</span></p>
<p><br /><span style="font-size: 10pt;">A couple of seasons ago Ade Furber conditioned them to stay there as well, due to the phenomenal amount of bait he was putting in, despite the weather conditions telling the fish to shift around to the Summer arm of the lake!<br /><br />The second story about conditioning goes back again a few years. Lymm Angling club used to operate a closed season on some of their waters. One of these was Grimsditch Mill Pool another was Village pool. What I am about to tell happened on both pools every year. During the closed season these waters used to be fed with floating trout pellet. Why floating trout pellet? It was so as the fish (carp) would get the feed and any residual was cleaned up by the bird life, leaving none to degrade on the bottom. Anyway, the fish used to be fed every evening at the same time. By the end of the fist week of the closed season, you could walk into peg one, tap the metal feeding scoop on the (convenient) scaffolding pole a couple of times and by the time you were chucking your third scoop out, you would have every carp in the lake on the surface in front of you. After a few more days you only had to tap the scoop on the pole and they were there.<br /><br />On one occasion the water keeper on Village Pool was just about to start his evening feeding session, when two anglers turned up for a mooch around, after a bit of a chat, the water keeper told the guys he must get on with the feeding, “you can stay and watch if you like” he said and with that he tapped his scoop on a post and started to whistle like you would for your dog, sure enough the fish turned up. The two anglers had a fit! “Jesus he’s got em trained to come to the whistle” one of them said, fully believing that was the case. Trained fish? Yes, conditioned fish.<br /><br />Food - the same place, same time, day in day out.<br /><br />Incidentally, if you tapped the pole once the season had opened it had no effect, I think it was disconnected.<br /><br />Staying with Grimsditch Mill Pool, we got catching fish there down to an art, in winter! It never used to be the easiest of waters at the best of times but in winter it was tough. I know that each water is different but by and large waters have a feeding spell around the middle of the day in winter. We put bait into the same area on a regular basis at the same time every day, we would have the rods out by eleven thirty, start catching between twelve and one, wind in at one thirty and on our way home. If we could not get into that swim, we still applied the same bait in other swims but never caught! Conditioned feeding? Timing?<br /><br />Last year, and I know I am going to write about some Monkey’s pet hates but bear with me to make the point, we were fishing in France on an eighteen acre estate lake, just the two of us and our bait boat. This is a new acquisition, after many years agonising the pros and cons. I was fishing at about sixty yards in open water, could I cast it, of course, could I spod that far? Please! So why the boat? Presentation, I wanted a tight baited area without the disturbance of the spod. It certainly worked, as I was taking my share of fish.<br /><br />We as anglers can become conditioned; we tend to be creatures of habit. So every morning at about nine thirty, having deemed the morning feeding spell to be over, I would bait up, same time every day.<br /><br />On the fourth day, out went the boat, dropped the bait and set the boat for home. As the boat was coming towards me the line was starting to click off the reel, my first thought was that the hopper doors had failed to open (more like operator error) so I turned the boat back out again, opened the doors and started to bring the boat back once more. The line started to click click off the reel again, there was no alarm as I had not got that far yet, no movement of the indicator, as again I had not got to that yet (I know you are well ahead of me here), oop`s (or words to that effect) it’s a fish. So I struck into it, the rod hooping nicely into it’s fighting curve, only to have the rod pulled down into a straight line and nearly pulled out of my hands, did I mention the lake has catfish in it? They go up to one hundred and three pounds. I am not saying that this was that fish but I certainly know now where that phrase “screaming reels” came from. Anyway after about twenty minutes it fell off, thank goodness.<br /><br />The point again, is food and timing! That flippin catfish was sitting there waiting for the bait! Took it on the drop! All very amusing, until the same thing happened the same time the following day!<br /><br />So to sum up, what I am saying is this, if you can put food into an area at the same time every day, not too much and do it unseen by others, don’t be tempted to put a rod near it, for a while, let the fishes confidence build, then you stand a very good chance of conditioning the fish in your favour and catching at a time of your own making.<br /> <br />I know the thought is running through your head is that the fish on your lake don`t feed in that spot at that time of day, they may not but they will, once you condition them to. They will find the bait at sometime and once that has been eaten, keep returning to that area until they find some more. Very soon they will catch on to when the food is available and start visiting the area more or less when you are putting the bait in.<br /><br />Due to the early hours Julian intends to be at the lake and the lack of other anglers and the opportunity to bait at the same time every day, this I feel is his best chance.<br /><br />Just a last thought, if you are not convinced, think about this. When you fish a lake, small or large, you always try to line up with something on the other bank or sky line to cast at, we even make little drawings in our note books so as to remind us for next time we fish there. Is it not a coincidence that the fishes feeding spots also, by good fortune or by magic, just happen to be in line with what you are using as your mark? Amazing? No conditioning!<br /><br />Tight Lines...<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>HAWTHORN<br />March 2007</strong></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">This article was brought about by Julian asking for opinions on prebaiting a three-acre water on which he was going to have very limited time to fish. In fact it was not even his target water for the year but it was a water where he had spotted a particular fish which he very much liked the look of.<br /><br />My initial response was to Julian’s problem of how to tackle this water under his restricted circumstances was to bait a couple of areas, one on the back of the prevailing wind and one on the end of the prevailing wind. After several of the Monkeys had offered some good advice, it still did not quite fit the bill for Julian’s limited time.<br /><br />This really got me thinking, how to optimise the time available? Then I remembered, we were in a similar situation many years ago and the answer was to condition the fish. Before we go any further it’s worth pointing out that the conditions for this have to be as near right as possible, or be in your power to make them right.<br /><br />Intentionally or not we do condition the carp which we fish for. In simple terms we try to condition fish into taking our bait, we try to condition them via bait application, be this by pre-baiting certain areas over a long period of time or by using the same bait over and over each time we visit the water - you try to condition the fish to take your bait above anyone else’s. We even condition them to feed where we think they should feed, by putting a food source there for them.<br /><br />The key to Julian’s problem in my opinion was conditioning. This conditioning is based on two things; the available food source and secondly, timing - not “the time” but timing.<br /><br />I am going to give some examples of things which have happened to us over the years, see if it rings any bells for you.<br /><br />First of all, I made a statement about making them feed where we think they should feed. Let me try to explain. Years ago on Horseshoe Lake, a seventy acre gravel pit owned by the Carp Society, there was a stretch of bank on the Winter Bay between the Winter Disabled swim and Winter point. This area was not the most angler friendly area to fish, so it was decided to open it up, by clearing trees and bank side vegetation and putting a double swim in the centre of the bank. This at the time was christened “Choppy`s Swim” after Terry “Choppy” Walton, (long suffering angling companion of John Claydon), the reason being, Choppy did most of the work, as usual!<br /><br />When this swim was first created you were able to catch fish at about thirty to forty yards range, and hold them there. Such was the amount of bait being put in. The fish kept this area clean, coupled with the odd strand of weed or two brought in by the anglers. The fish continued to be caught, Horseshoe fish love their feed. So what is the point? The point is this, anglers not so familiar with the water when fishing the swim could find the “Marks” (direction) ok, they were all pretty obvious points on the horizon but not so the distance! You know the old Chinese whispers; did he say forty yards or fifty? Or was it sixty? And you all know how superbly accurate we anglers are at judging distances. So the food source (the bait) started to move away from the bank and along with it went the fish. The old clear areas at thirty to forty yards were once again taken over by the weed and believe me the weed in there can be horrendous.<br /><br />If you want to catch fish from this swim now, take your casting boots with you, as you will now have to spod and cast ninety to one hundred and ten yards! And we anglers put these fish out there!<br /><br />Perhaps you think my reasoning is wrong and the fish moved due to angling pressure? I can assure you this is not the case, the fish like their feed too much to be put off by a few lines in the water. We anglers conditioned the fish to go where the food is.</span></p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Can we dictate where and when they feed?</span></p>
<p><br /><span style="font-size: 10pt;">A couple of seasons ago Ade Furber conditioned them to stay there as well, due to the phenomenal amount of bait he was putting in, despite the weather conditions telling the fish to shift around to the Summer arm of the lake!<br /><br />The second story about conditioning goes back again a few years. Lymm Angling club used to operate a closed season on some of their waters. One of these was Grimsditch Mill Pool another was Village pool. What I am about to tell happened on both pools every year. During the closed season these waters used to be fed with floating trout pellet. Why floating trout pellet? It was so as the fish (carp) would get the feed and any residual was cleaned up by the bird life, leaving none to degrade on the bottom. Anyway, the fish used to be fed every evening at the same time. By the end of the fist week of the closed season, you could walk into peg one, tap the metal feeding scoop on the (convenient) scaffolding pole a couple of times and by the time you were chucking your third scoop out, you would have every carp in the lake on the surface in front of you. After a few more days you only had to tap the scoop on the pole and they were there.<br /><br />On one occasion the water keeper on Village Pool was just about to start his evening feeding session, when two anglers turned up for a mooch around, after a bit of a chat, the water keeper told the guys he must get on with the feeding, “you can stay and watch if you like” he said and with that he tapped his scoop on a post and started to whistle like you would for your dog, sure enough the fish turned up. The two anglers had a fit! “Jesus he’s got em trained to come to the whistle” one of them said, fully believing that was the case. Trained fish? Yes, conditioned fish.<br /><br />Food - the same place, same time, day in day out.<br /><br />Incidentally, if you tapped the pole once the season had opened it had no effect, I think it was disconnected.<br /><br />Staying with Grimsditch Mill Pool, we got catching fish there down to an art, in winter! It never used to be the easiest of waters at the best of times but in winter it was tough. I know that each water is different but by and large waters have a feeding spell around the middle of the day in winter. We put bait into the same area on a regular basis at the same time every day, we would have the rods out by eleven thirty, start catching between twelve and one, wind in at one thirty and on our way home. If we could not get into that swim, we still applied the same bait in other swims but never caught! Conditioned feeding? Timing?<br /><br />Last year, and I know I am going to write about some Monkey’s pet hates but bear with me to make the point, we were fishing in France on an eighteen acre estate lake, just the two of us and our bait boat. This is a new acquisition, after many years agonising the pros and cons. I was fishing at about sixty yards in open water, could I cast it, of course, could I spod that far? Please! So why the boat? Presentation, I wanted a tight baited area without the disturbance of the spod. It certainly worked, as I was taking my share of fish.<br /><br />We as anglers can become conditioned; we tend to be creatures of habit. So every morning at about nine thirty, having deemed the morning feeding spell to be over, I would bait up, same time every day.<br /><br />On the fourth day, out went the boat, dropped the bait and set the boat for home. As the boat was coming towards me the line was starting to click off the reel, my first thought was that the hopper doors had failed to open (more like operator error) so I turned the boat back out again, opened the doors and started to bring the boat back once more. The line started to click click off the reel again, there was no alarm as I had not got that far yet, no movement of the indicator, as again I had not got to that yet (I know you are well ahead of me here), oop`s (or words to that effect) it’s a fish. So I struck into it, the rod hooping nicely into it’s fighting curve, only to have the rod pulled down into a straight line and nearly pulled out of my hands, did I mention the lake has catfish in it? They go up to one hundred and three pounds. I am not saying that this was that fish but I certainly know now where that phrase “screaming reels” came from. Anyway after about twenty minutes it fell off, thank goodness.<br /><br />The point again, is food and timing! That flippin catfish was sitting there waiting for the bait! Took it on the drop! All very amusing, until the same thing happened the same time the following day!<br /><br />So to sum up, what I am saying is this, if you can put food into an area at the same time every day, not too much and do it unseen by others, don’t be tempted to put a rod near it, for a while, let the fishes confidence build, then you stand a very good chance of conditioning the fish in your favour and catching at a time of your own making.<br /> <br />I know the thought is running through your head is that the fish on your lake don`t feed in that spot at that time of day, they may not but they will, once you condition them to. They will find the bait at sometime and once that has been eaten, keep returning to that area until they find some more. Very soon they will catch on to when the food is available and start visiting the area more or less when you are putting the bait in.<br /><br />Due to the early hours Julian intends to be at the lake and the lack of other anglers and the opportunity to bait at the same time every day, this I feel is his best chance.<br /><br />Just a last thought, if you are not convinced, think about this. When you fish a lake, small or large, you always try to line up with something on the other bank or sky line to cast at, we even make little drawings in our note books so as to remind us for next time we fish there. Is it not a coincidence that the fishes feeding spots also, by good fortune or by magic, just happen to be in line with what you are using as your mark? Amazing? No conditioning!<br /><br />Tight Lines...<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>HAWTHORN<br />March 2007</strong></span></p>Olfaction or Fiction?2010-02-20T21:14:41Z2010-02-20T21:14:41Zhttp://www.northwestcarp.co.uk/index.php/features/articles/72-the-think-tank/247-olfaction-or-fictionDean Toweyjulian.grattidge@btinternet.com<p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">The following piece was written back in 1997 and first published in the March 2000 Edition of 'carp fisher', the magazine of the Carp Society. Current thinking along with my own knowledge on bait has progressed somewhat since it was first published, but much of the content remains as relevant today so I thought it would be better left in its original context for the pleasure of the reader;<br /><br />A number of years ago, Alan Smith wrote an article entitled ‘Food Sources etc’ (Carpworld 66). For those of you who did not read it or, like the rest of us, have forgotten what it was about (this by no means suggests that it was a poor article!), the article addressed the issue of cyprinid memory span. Now consider what you have just read.You may well remember what you read last week or even last year, but I would guess that most of us cannot remember the exact contents of that particular article, but nevertheless we can still remember something that we did when we saw that particular article, and that is how to read! The reason for this seemingly bizarre opening paragraph will soon become clear. Why can we not remember the article? Simple. If we remembered everything we saw or did in life our heads would be, not to put too fine a point on it, full of bull!<br /><br />Some of you reading this may well already have your doubts as to my sanity after reading this short passage, but I assure you that what I am trying to convey is a perfectly sane and logical concept. Our brains have two major filing systems; one is recyclable- the short term filing cabinet- and the other is where learned skills (reading, driving etc) are stored permanently until we need to use them again. In the latter cabinet we also store learned things which help us to recognise things again at a later date, such as smells. Consider blind people. They may well recognise particular people by their scent- not in the way a dog might, but by their aftershave or perfume. On a more basic level we recognise what the wife, girlfriend or mother is cooking when the smell drifts into the sitting room.<br /><br />Now that I have hopefully set the scene, or not as the case maybe, I will start to put this into context with regard to angling. Mr Smith disagreed with the scientific belief that carp have a memory span of little more than the four seconds attributed to its ornamental cousin the goldfish. Now I myself agree with Mr Smith, but the way in which he substantiated this statement was somewhat lacking in scientific basis. He said that if this was true then a carp which had fed longer than 4 seconds ago would not be able to remember how to feed or what food was.<br /><br />Consider the humble pond snail, Lymnea stagnalis. This creature does not even have a brain just a simple nervous system, but nevertheless it can still feed in response to encountering food and even alter the rate at which it feeds in response to the abundance of food in its aquatic environment. Simple experiments, which I myself conducted whilst gaining my BSc, show its so called ‘Bite rate’ is markedly elevated if the concentration of sucrose is increased in its environment. In its natural environment this elevation could be due to a broken stem of a lily pad allowing the sucrose rich fluid to leak out.<br /><br />This recognition process does not occur via a conscious thought process but is due to molecular interactions at specific sites of sucrose recognition within the snail’s nervous system known as receptor sites. The recognition of the sucrose molecules within the environment occurs via a common mechanism in the living world known as the ‘lock and key mechanism’. This works in precisely the same way as a lock and key in that the sucrose molecule (the key) fits into the receptor molecule which is the lock. This will result in a small but detectable transmission of an electrical neural signal. In the case of the snail the signal is an increased firing rate of the nerves controlling the mouth. This then results in a concomitant increase in the feeding rate.<br /><br />Well where is the significance of this fact in relation to carp fishing? The answer is that the carp shares this ability with the snail, the main difference being that the snail possesses little or no memory in the conventional sense but does possess the inherent ability to remember what food is via the ‘lock and key mechanism’. The carp also being an aquatic creature is much further down the evolutionary pathway than the snail, and therefore it too must possess this inherent ability to recognise food sources in its environment. However since the carp does have a proper brain, it must also have a memory of some sort, given that small mammals such as rats and mice can learn tricks!<br /><br />Since the snail is part of the carp’s natural diet then whatever the snail ingests then a carp may use to recognise the snail. This may not be strictly true but it serves to highlight the simplicity of the system e.g. a snail recognises food via sucrose concentrations and a carp may also recognise food in this way leading it to the snail. A carp or any other fish for that matter, has evolved to survive in an aquatic environment and in order to do this has developed an inherent ability to recognise the smell of food. This therefore requires no memory but is an inherent ability developed by evolution. Put this into context, the ability has not been learned in the strictest sense but we can still put this skill into the long-term filing cabinet in the carp’s memory.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Those of you who have been involved in carp fishing for some years may well have read about the experiments conducted by Kevin Maddocks in a large fish tank in his own home. These simply involved the release of amino acids into the tank via tubes, which permeated the gravel on the bottom of the tank. Varying concentrations of varying amino acids produced startling reactions from the carp in the tank. The fish began to dive at the gravel and appeared to be trying to feed on the invisible food source. This reaction was undoubtedly attributed to the interaction these amino acids with the carps olfactory systems, via the ‘lock and key mechanism’. In nature these amino acids or smells would come from aquatic creatures such as bloodworms or crayfish or other aquatic plants or creatures for that matter. Thus the carp is able to recognise what is food and what isn’t.<br /><br />Therefore if we are designing a bait to catch carp, it is a logical progression that we try to include some of these smells, or ingredients which mimic or emit these smells. The current trend of using natural ingredients in base mixes and baits has not been reached by coincidence but because of these early findings by people such as Kevin Maddocks. Ingredients such as green-lipped mussel extract, liver powder and molasses all contain molecules such as sucrose and amino acids, which the carp has evolved to recognise as having nutritional value.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">This equation is a simple one to which we can all relate, however in our case we can be sure that the outcome is under our conscious control. For example, it is a Saturday night and you have had a few (not that I drink of course!). Next stop is Al Shieks Balti House but this is your first visit (you have only just started to drink by the sounds of it). Now it just so happens that your system rejects a 45in Naan bread and a Chicken Balti upon attempting to shovel it all in in under 5 minutes. This is made apparent by the regurgitated mess which greets the waiter when he brings you the bill. However you can gain some consolation from the fact that you managed to eat about half. That is until 10.25 a.m the following morning when you are stuck on the convenience and stuff is coming out of both ends, accompanied by a sensation much the same as rubbing half a tube of Fiery Jack over your anus. Now unless you are completely mad, you are not going to repeat this ritual of imbibing a gallon followed by intestinal sand blasting for at least a week .Well, maybe some of you could or even do, but believe me, if you wish to sustain such habits then their frequency is best kept to a minimum.<br /><br />Again I apologise for slightly digressing but the above interlude does have direct relevance to the carp. For example, if a carp- which is a creature far less intelligent than ourselves (ugh, sorry, just a bit of chicken Balti stuck in my teeth from last night)- ingests something which is not conducive to long term survival, you can bet he probably wont eat it again in a hurry. For example your mate Dave (nothing against Dave’s) buckets in a load of peanuts which haven’t been soaked properly and proceeds to catch a few, I am confident in saying that he wont catch the same fish again for a while. This is because they will still be recovering from eating Dave’s nuts. However if he had opted for the use of a good nutritious boilie containing more natural attractors than the humble peanut, he may well go back to the same water and catch the same fish the next day. ‘Why?’ I hear you ask. The reason is simply that nine out of ten carp when asked to express a preference prefer boilie to Balti. No seriously, it is because if the boilie contains natural attractors such as green lipped mussel extract or kelp extract, in addition to good quality protein, such as fishmeal, then it will have a far greater nutritional value to the carp than peanuts.<br /><br />In addition to this it will already be one step ahead of the peanut in that the carp has evolved to recognise this food by nature and thus it will be more attractive to the fish. Although the peanut will be emitting substances which stimulate the carp’s olfactory system, including lipids, sugars and amino acids, these will not necessarily be mimicking natural foods such as mussels, crayfish and weed.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">This 22lb 9oz fish was taken after a bait containing green lipped mussel extract was heavily baited during the closed season. This choice of attractor was used as over the years the lake has been home to large numbers of swan mussels.<br /><br />Some of what I have written is scientifically proven and much of it I can substantiate through personal experience. For example on the first water I seriously fished for carp, I began to use my own bait which contained natural ingredients and was of high nutritional value. I designed the bait using the basic HNV principle proposed by Fred Wilton, but followed the in vogue trend of replacing the vast majority of the milk proteins with a good quality fishmeal. In addition to this I also included some known attractors which I thought would enhance the bait even further. The final recipe consisted of the following major ingredients<br /><br />White Fishmeal<br />Full Fat Soya Flour (binder)<br />Lactalbumin<br />Rennet Casein<br />Robin Red<br />Seaweed Extract<br /><br />The bait was an instant success on the water, resulting in an opening night catch of 7 fish for 102lb including fish up to 20lb 6oz. Now this was a good result for the water and I totally out fished all the other anglers on the water that night.<br /><br />Unfortunately due to work commitments and a loss of interest in the water I did not fish many times that season but when I did the bait out fished the others again (after a little prebaiting).In addition to this I fished another new water and the bait was an instant success there without any prebait and fishing against an established bait. In a quick overnighter I took an upper double and a scraper when the regulars took one fish of 9lb’s.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">The bait was an instant success taking this mid double and a scraper on a quick overnighter.no prebait was done and regular anglers were also fishing on an established bait, which only accounted for a 9lber on the same night<br /><br />Last season again I fished the old water on opening night and although only two of us were fishing in close proximity I took 5 fish to 19lb to his one tench! This year I have revisited the old water once again using the same bait and got three runs unfortunately resulting in only one fish to the one run of my companion who was coincidentally using ready-mades.<br /><br />Let us go back to the issue of memory and the recognition of foodstuffs by the carp. The vast majority of carp anglers these days use boilies due to the obvious advantages they have over conventional baits, such as resistance to nuisance fish and ease of catapulting over long distances. However I personally think they have far greater advantages than these, given the vast array of knowledge and ingredients available to today’s angler, which I shall discuss later. Now concerning memory, when a situation arises where our bait is catching really well on a water to the exclusion of others, what is the reason?</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">A switch to an already established fishmeal bait produced this my first 20 within a matter of weeks. Previously, using an inferior bait, I was mainly catching mid double fish.<br /><br />No doubt many anglers will have varied opinions on this but there are certain prerequisites which I feel the bait must meet in order to be consistent fish catchers. First of all they must be metabolically friendly, by this I am simply referring to the curry catastrophe analogy used earlier. Once eaten the bait the bait must make the carp feel better than the other available options if it is to be taken in preference to these over prolonged periods of time. This will only be achieved if the ingredients meet the fishes dietary requirements. A well nourished carp will for all intents and purposes be a healthy carp. Granted, individual fish may be more predisposed to illnesses by their genetics, just as humans are, but just as we can influence our health by our diet so can carp. The fundamental difference is that we consciously control what and when we eat whereas a carp is a slave to its system.<br /><br />The carp is an exothermal, or cold blooded, animal whereas we are not, maintaining a constant body temperature of 370C. Now, like all cold blooded creatures the carp’s metabolism slows down if the ambient temperature is lowered. This is reflected in a reduction in the frequency and rate of feeding and vice verse if the temperature is increased. This perfectly highlights the carp’s lack of control over dietary intake; it simply feeds when its system tells it to. This process is under hormonal control. Without going into vast detail, the levels of certain hormones fluctuate in the carp’s blood system depending upon its fed state. These in turn send messages to the carp’s brain which result in the fish either actively seeking food or, if we are unlucky, refusing point blank to feed even if food is available.<br /><br />Now the question is, even if the fish is hungry and a nutritionally sound bait (which it has encountered before) containing some natural attractors is offered, does it remember this is a good source of food or does its inherent ability to do this tell it to feed on this? I will not even attempt to answer this one way or the other because too many variables are involved. However what I will say is that the likelihood of the fish taking this bait is far greater than it would be if it didn’t contain natural attractors which the carp is genetically predisposed to recognise. Some may argue that they have watched fish home in on their bait and therefore they must recognise the smell of it. Now this maybe so, I don’t know. Personal experience has on a few occasions led me to believe this when runs have occurred instantly when using a bait that has been prebaited. Being of a scientific background, however I prefer to explain it away using the natural attraction theory along with the metabolically friendly theory. If we employ these then they can in turn be used to explain this phenomenon fully.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Repeat captures can and do occur when using a good quality bait.This 19lb+ fish was taken twice within the space of a few weeks on the same bait<br /><br />For example, you have introduced a few pounds of a well designed bait into a 3 acre lake every 3 days for two weeks prior to fishing. Importantly no one else has been fishing either but they have been prebaiting. Now if your bait is the best, with respect to its nutritional value and natural attraction, then the carp which have been feeding on it will still avidly feed on it when you start to fish, provided conditions are favourable and your approach to the situation is sensible. Therefore even if no memory is involved, as the fish have become confident in eating these little balls of food they will readily accept them again when they come across them in the future because its whole system is working efficiently whilst running on this fuel.<br /><br />In addition to this just as the birds will return to the garden where they regularly find bread so will the carp return to the area where they have found food. Now you may argue that this does require memory because how can the fish remember where it found food? This is true and I think they have a memory for such things otherwise why would we always lose them in the same snags? That is another article anyway, which I might try should this one go down well! Back to the food. I prefer to think that fish will remain in the area if food is presented regularly or at least visit the area on a regular basis. Well that’s my theory at least, and it sounds sensible to me!<br /><br />Hopefully this piece may help some of the more inexperienced anglers design a bait for themselves and save a few quid. However this saving of a few quid does mean that bait making will involve more than just opening a bag and adding eggs, but nevertheless, it does introduce a new dimension to your hobby. In addition I hope to have introduced a few new ideas and facts to the minds of the more experienced students of the science of carp fishing out there.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Dean Towey<br />Feb 2007</strong></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">The following piece was written back in 1997 and first published in the March 2000 Edition of 'carp fisher', the magazine of the Carp Society. Current thinking along with my own knowledge on bait has progressed somewhat since it was first published, but much of the content remains as relevant today so I thought it would be better left in its original context for the pleasure of the reader;<br /><br />A number of years ago, Alan Smith wrote an article entitled ‘Food Sources etc’ (Carpworld 66). For those of you who did not read it or, like the rest of us, have forgotten what it was about (this by no means suggests that it was a poor article!), the article addressed the issue of cyprinid memory span. Now consider what you have just read.You may well remember what you read last week or even last year, but I would guess that most of us cannot remember the exact contents of that particular article, but nevertheless we can still remember something that we did when we saw that particular article, and that is how to read! The reason for this seemingly bizarre opening paragraph will soon become clear. Why can we not remember the article? Simple. If we remembered everything we saw or did in life our heads would be, not to put too fine a point on it, full of bull!<br /><br />Some of you reading this may well already have your doubts as to my sanity after reading this short passage, but I assure you that what I am trying to convey is a perfectly sane and logical concept. Our brains have two major filing systems; one is recyclable- the short term filing cabinet- and the other is where learned skills (reading, driving etc) are stored permanently until we need to use them again. In the latter cabinet we also store learned things which help us to recognise things again at a later date, such as smells. Consider blind people. They may well recognise particular people by their scent- not in the way a dog might, but by their aftershave or perfume. On a more basic level we recognise what the wife, girlfriend or mother is cooking when the smell drifts into the sitting room.<br /><br />Now that I have hopefully set the scene, or not as the case maybe, I will start to put this into context with regard to angling. Mr Smith disagreed with the scientific belief that carp have a memory span of little more than the four seconds attributed to its ornamental cousin the goldfish. Now I myself agree with Mr Smith, but the way in which he substantiated this statement was somewhat lacking in scientific basis. He said that if this was true then a carp which had fed longer than 4 seconds ago would not be able to remember how to feed or what food was.<br /><br />Consider the humble pond snail, Lymnea stagnalis. This creature does not even have a brain just a simple nervous system, but nevertheless it can still feed in response to encountering food and even alter the rate at which it feeds in response to the abundance of food in its aquatic environment. Simple experiments, which I myself conducted whilst gaining my BSc, show its so called ‘Bite rate’ is markedly elevated if the concentration of sucrose is increased in its environment. In its natural environment this elevation could be due to a broken stem of a lily pad allowing the sucrose rich fluid to leak out.<br /><br />This recognition process does not occur via a conscious thought process but is due to molecular interactions at specific sites of sucrose recognition within the snail’s nervous system known as receptor sites. The recognition of the sucrose molecules within the environment occurs via a common mechanism in the living world known as the ‘lock and key mechanism’. This works in precisely the same way as a lock and key in that the sucrose molecule (the key) fits into the receptor molecule which is the lock. This will result in a small but detectable transmission of an electrical neural signal. In the case of the snail the signal is an increased firing rate of the nerves controlling the mouth. This then results in a concomitant increase in the feeding rate.<br /><br />Well where is the significance of this fact in relation to carp fishing? The answer is that the carp shares this ability with the snail, the main difference being that the snail possesses little or no memory in the conventional sense but does possess the inherent ability to remember what food is via the ‘lock and key mechanism’. The carp also being an aquatic creature is much further down the evolutionary pathway than the snail, and therefore it too must possess this inherent ability to recognise food sources in its environment. However since the carp does have a proper brain, it must also have a memory of some sort, given that small mammals such as rats and mice can learn tricks!<br /><br />Since the snail is part of the carp’s natural diet then whatever the snail ingests then a carp may use to recognise the snail. This may not be strictly true but it serves to highlight the simplicity of the system e.g. a snail recognises food via sucrose concentrations and a carp may also recognise food in this way leading it to the snail. A carp or any other fish for that matter, has evolved to survive in an aquatic environment and in order to do this has developed an inherent ability to recognise the smell of food. This therefore requires no memory but is an inherent ability developed by evolution. Put this into context, the ability has not been learned in the strictest sense but we can still put this skill into the long-term filing cabinet in the carp’s memory.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Those of you who have been involved in carp fishing for some years may well have read about the experiments conducted by Kevin Maddocks in a large fish tank in his own home. These simply involved the release of amino acids into the tank via tubes, which permeated the gravel on the bottom of the tank. Varying concentrations of varying amino acids produced startling reactions from the carp in the tank. The fish began to dive at the gravel and appeared to be trying to feed on the invisible food source. This reaction was undoubtedly attributed to the interaction these amino acids with the carps olfactory systems, via the ‘lock and key mechanism’. In nature these amino acids or smells would come from aquatic creatures such as bloodworms or crayfish or other aquatic plants or creatures for that matter. Thus the carp is able to recognise what is food and what isn’t.<br /><br />Therefore if we are designing a bait to catch carp, it is a logical progression that we try to include some of these smells, or ingredients which mimic or emit these smells. The current trend of using natural ingredients in base mixes and baits has not been reached by coincidence but because of these early findings by people such as Kevin Maddocks. Ingredients such as green-lipped mussel extract, liver powder and molasses all contain molecules such as sucrose and amino acids, which the carp has evolved to recognise as having nutritional value.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">This equation is a simple one to which we can all relate, however in our case we can be sure that the outcome is under our conscious control. For example, it is a Saturday night and you have had a few (not that I drink of course!). Next stop is Al Shieks Balti House but this is your first visit (you have only just started to drink by the sounds of it). Now it just so happens that your system rejects a 45in Naan bread and a Chicken Balti upon attempting to shovel it all in in under 5 minutes. This is made apparent by the regurgitated mess which greets the waiter when he brings you the bill. However you can gain some consolation from the fact that you managed to eat about half. That is until 10.25 a.m the following morning when you are stuck on the convenience and stuff is coming out of both ends, accompanied by a sensation much the same as rubbing half a tube of Fiery Jack over your anus. Now unless you are completely mad, you are not going to repeat this ritual of imbibing a gallon followed by intestinal sand blasting for at least a week .Well, maybe some of you could or even do, but believe me, if you wish to sustain such habits then their frequency is best kept to a minimum.<br /><br />Again I apologise for slightly digressing but the above interlude does have direct relevance to the carp. For example, if a carp- which is a creature far less intelligent than ourselves (ugh, sorry, just a bit of chicken Balti stuck in my teeth from last night)- ingests something which is not conducive to long term survival, you can bet he probably wont eat it again in a hurry. For example your mate Dave (nothing against Dave’s) buckets in a load of peanuts which haven’t been soaked properly and proceeds to catch a few, I am confident in saying that he wont catch the same fish again for a while. This is because they will still be recovering from eating Dave’s nuts. However if he had opted for the use of a good nutritious boilie containing more natural attractors than the humble peanut, he may well go back to the same water and catch the same fish the next day. ‘Why?’ I hear you ask. The reason is simply that nine out of ten carp when asked to express a preference prefer boilie to Balti. No seriously, it is because if the boilie contains natural attractors such as green lipped mussel extract or kelp extract, in addition to good quality protein, such as fishmeal, then it will have a far greater nutritional value to the carp than peanuts.<br /><br />In addition to this it will already be one step ahead of the peanut in that the carp has evolved to recognise this food by nature and thus it will be more attractive to the fish. Although the peanut will be emitting substances which stimulate the carp’s olfactory system, including lipids, sugars and amino acids, these will not necessarily be mimicking natural foods such as mussels, crayfish and weed.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">This 22lb 9oz fish was taken after a bait containing green lipped mussel extract was heavily baited during the closed season. This choice of attractor was used as over the years the lake has been home to large numbers of swan mussels.<br /><br />Some of what I have written is scientifically proven and much of it I can substantiate through personal experience. For example on the first water I seriously fished for carp, I began to use my own bait which contained natural ingredients and was of high nutritional value. I designed the bait using the basic HNV principle proposed by Fred Wilton, but followed the in vogue trend of replacing the vast majority of the milk proteins with a good quality fishmeal. In addition to this I also included some known attractors which I thought would enhance the bait even further. The final recipe consisted of the following major ingredients<br /><br />White Fishmeal<br />Full Fat Soya Flour (binder)<br />Lactalbumin<br />Rennet Casein<br />Robin Red<br />Seaweed Extract<br /><br />The bait was an instant success on the water, resulting in an opening night catch of 7 fish for 102lb including fish up to 20lb 6oz. Now this was a good result for the water and I totally out fished all the other anglers on the water that night.<br /><br />Unfortunately due to work commitments and a loss of interest in the water I did not fish many times that season but when I did the bait out fished the others again (after a little prebaiting).In addition to this I fished another new water and the bait was an instant success there without any prebait and fishing against an established bait. In a quick overnighter I took an upper double and a scraper when the regulars took one fish of 9lb’s.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">The bait was an instant success taking this mid double and a scraper on a quick overnighter.no prebait was done and regular anglers were also fishing on an established bait, which only accounted for a 9lber on the same night<br /><br />Last season again I fished the old water on opening night and although only two of us were fishing in close proximity I took 5 fish to 19lb to his one tench! This year I have revisited the old water once again using the same bait and got three runs unfortunately resulting in only one fish to the one run of my companion who was coincidentally using ready-mades.<br /><br />Let us go back to the issue of memory and the recognition of foodstuffs by the carp. The vast majority of carp anglers these days use boilies due to the obvious advantages they have over conventional baits, such as resistance to nuisance fish and ease of catapulting over long distances. However I personally think they have far greater advantages than these, given the vast array of knowledge and ingredients available to today’s angler, which I shall discuss later. Now concerning memory, when a situation arises where our bait is catching really well on a water to the exclusion of others, what is the reason?</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">A switch to an already established fishmeal bait produced this my first 20 within a matter of weeks. Previously, using an inferior bait, I was mainly catching mid double fish.<br /><br />No doubt many anglers will have varied opinions on this but there are certain prerequisites which I feel the bait must meet in order to be consistent fish catchers. First of all they must be metabolically friendly, by this I am simply referring to the curry catastrophe analogy used earlier. Once eaten the bait the bait must make the carp feel better than the other available options if it is to be taken in preference to these over prolonged periods of time. This will only be achieved if the ingredients meet the fishes dietary requirements. A well nourished carp will for all intents and purposes be a healthy carp. Granted, individual fish may be more predisposed to illnesses by their genetics, just as humans are, but just as we can influence our health by our diet so can carp. The fundamental difference is that we consciously control what and when we eat whereas a carp is a slave to its system.<br /><br />The carp is an exothermal, or cold blooded, animal whereas we are not, maintaining a constant body temperature of 370C. Now, like all cold blooded creatures the carp’s metabolism slows down if the ambient temperature is lowered. This is reflected in a reduction in the frequency and rate of feeding and vice verse if the temperature is increased. This perfectly highlights the carp’s lack of control over dietary intake; it simply feeds when its system tells it to. This process is under hormonal control. Without going into vast detail, the levels of certain hormones fluctuate in the carp’s blood system depending upon its fed state. These in turn send messages to the carp’s brain which result in the fish either actively seeking food or, if we are unlucky, refusing point blank to feed even if food is available.<br /><br />Now the question is, even if the fish is hungry and a nutritionally sound bait (which it has encountered before) containing some natural attractors is offered, does it remember this is a good source of food or does its inherent ability to do this tell it to feed on this? I will not even attempt to answer this one way or the other because too many variables are involved. However what I will say is that the likelihood of the fish taking this bait is far greater than it would be if it didn’t contain natural attractors which the carp is genetically predisposed to recognise. Some may argue that they have watched fish home in on their bait and therefore they must recognise the smell of it. Now this maybe so, I don’t know. Personal experience has on a few occasions led me to believe this when runs have occurred instantly when using a bait that has been prebaited. Being of a scientific background, however I prefer to explain it away using the natural attraction theory along with the metabolically friendly theory. If we employ these then they can in turn be used to explain this phenomenon fully.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Repeat captures can and do occur when using a good quality bait.This 19lb+ fish was taken twice within the space of a few weeks on the same bait<br /><br />For example, you have introduced a few pounds of a well designed bait into a 3 acre lake every 3 days for two weeks prior to fishing. Importantly no one else has been fishing either but they have been prebaiting. Now if your bait is the best, with respect to its nutritional value and natural attraction, then the carp which have been feeding on it will still avidly feed on it when you start to fish, provided conditions are favourable and your approach to the situation is sensible. Therefore even if no memory is involved, as the fish have become confident in eating these little balls of food they will readily accept them again when they come across them in the future because its whole system is working efficiently whilst running on this fuel.<br /><br />In addition to this just as the birds will return to the garden where they regularly find bread so will the carp return to the area where they have found food. Now you may argue that this does require memory because how can the fish remember where it found food? This is true and I think they have a memory for such things otherwise why would we always lose them in the same snags? That is another article anyway, which I might try should this one go down well! Back to the food. I prefer to think that fish will remain in the area if food is presented regularly or at least visit the area on a regular basis. Well that’s my theory at least, and it sounds sensible to me!<br /><br />Hopefully this piece may help some of the more inexperienced anglers design a bait for themselves and save a few quid. However this saving of a few quid does mean that bait making will involve more than just opening a bag and adding eggs, but nevertheless, it does introduce a new dimension to your hobby. In addition I hope to have introduced a few new ideas and facts to the minds of the more experienced students of the science of carp fishing out there.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Dean Towey<br />Feb 2007</strong></span></p>