Catch Cult 7- Progression

A couple of short extracts taken from a piece I have written for Catch Cult and was featured in Edition 7, simply the fastest growing angling publication on the market and hands down the best monthly specimen angling magazine available. Special thanks to Rob Shallcroft and Martin Mumby.

"Over the last couple of years I have fallen into a comfortable rhythm of pursuing the same targets season after season. This generally focused around summer on the Tidal Trent focusing on barbel, with winter spent on local still waters chasing the dreams and myths of monster pike. What I realised during a relatively unsuccessful winter campaign of 2016/17 was how my angling hadn't progressed, I was stuck in a rut and needed to push my knowledge and watercraft further. After purchasing a house that needed some serious renovation in early February I purposefully packed away my tackle to avoid the temptation of nipping out for a quick session here or there. Over the next 7 weeks most nights after work were spent stripping wallpaper and ripping down ceilings but my mind constantly flicked back to possible angling challenges that could force me out of my comfort zone. It was one of these evenings with a lump hammer in hand knocking 10 bells of the proverbial out of a internal breeze block wall when I decided that targeting specimen carp would fulfil this goal. Having only ever done a brief one session stint for them before it seemed the most logical step."

"The necessity to be 'carpy' hadn't quite hit home at this point yet, as my rods stood tall on my piking bank sticks and a large 42 inch net lay next to them. The net which had been the victim to many a death roll of some large pike had seen better days, it was a little holy to say the least. Crouching under the overhanging branches as the light disappeared I lowered both rods onto the clear area and fed lightly over the top with corn and a handful of tigers. Settling back into the open bivvy, the night was warm and my bag was far too thick for this time of year."

"The rod hadn't been back on the spot for no more that 40 minutes before it gave a single toner. Springing off the bedchair it felt like I ran faster down the narrow track to the rod than the last run. Lifting the rod from the single sticks the fish was stripping line on a tight clutch, I was conscious to not let the fish run too far under the near bank snags so hit and held the fish allowing the soft tip to absorb most of the powerful lunges. The fish rose in the water under the near margin snags and a huge boil of water erupted to the surface . At this point I got my first glimpse of her flank, it was a mirror with little to no scales and as quick as I had sprinted to the rod it was all over as she went into the net first time of asking. With a big mirror in the net, bigger than anything I had seen or caught previously, there was only one known fish of this size in the pit – Penny. Unzipping the sling on the mat, I unmasked the most characterful old Lincolnshire mirror, every aspect of her had a story to tell."

http://www.catchcult.co.uk/