Not a bad view

Not a bad view

Wednesday, 24 December 2014

See you soon !

Hello and welcome back to The Eastern Carper's Blog. Today all I have to say is there will be no more blogs until Saturday as I am going away for Christmas and boxing day so I though I would just let you all know. 

This blog is the shortest blog ever I think but that's all I have to say so see you soon. 

The Eastern Carper

Tuesday, 23 December 2014

Tackle Review

Hello and welcome to the third tackle review on this blog, today I am going to be looking at the Shimano Tribal 5500 XTA big pit reel, so lets get onto the review. 


First of all you cannot help but notice that this reel has a very distinctive look, clothed as it is in the distinctive real tree Hardwoods finish. In reality this is the superb Shimano Ultegra 5500 XTB in a shiny dress, and thankfully it is none the worse for its makeover. It still has all of the great aspects that we have come to know and love from Shimano.


This style of mini-sized Big Pit reel is an excellent choice for most anglers, being manageable and yet still capable of casting very respectable distances. Internally it is bomb-proof and boasts superb line-lay, while the baitrunner spool system does give you excellent control for them big super charged fish.

Now to the new bit. The real tree pattern actually looks very good on the reel and the finish appears to be hard-wearing, although only time will tell whether it is up to the rough and tumble of the bank, or scratches off. The pattern is subtle and not stupidly gaudy, and I must admit to actually quite liking it.

For all those people out there that are following in Jan Porter’s footsteps and doing the camo thing, then this is the baby for you. Face it, you get to look the part and get an excellent reel to boot, plus a carrying case and a spare spool. I’m sure these reels will be massively popular. I would give this product a rating of 8/10. A great All round product from a great company. 

Anyway that's it for now so tight lines and keep fishing. If you need to any questions answered then please contact me.

The Eastern Carper 

Monday, 22 December 2014

Hello and Welcome Back

Hello and welcome to the blog again, This will just be a short blog about recent events and why I haven't been uploading in such a long time. 

As you have probably all seen there has been no blog for a while now and that is because I have been on holiday, and unfortunately it was not a fishing holiday, but this is why I didn't upload for such a long time. I should have let you all know what was going on so I apologise for that but I will try and post 2 blogs a day to make up for it.

Secondly, over the past few weeks I have been using and testing various products from different types of fishing from Carp to Sea and this has also been keeping me busy but all of the reviews will be uploaded soon, so look forward to that. 

These testing sessions have been very productive which I can only thank the companies for, you will find out who they are soon, as it was their products that provided me with this success, so thank you for that.

Anyway that's it for now so tight lines and keep fishing. If you need to any questions answered then please contact me.

The Eastern Carper 



Wednesday, 3 December 2014

Fox Easy Mat review

Hello and welcome to the second tackle review on this blog, today I am going to be looking at the Fox Easy Mat which is a new pop up carp cradle. 

The Easy Mat come in its own light weight carry bag which enables you to carry it long distances without it popping undone while you are walking to the swim, it also means that if it is wet and you need to pack up your car wont be covered in lake water and fish slime. It also offers protection from thorn bushes and other damaging plants from putting a hole or ripping the mat itself. 

One you take the mat out of the carry bag then it is in two parts, these parts are the padding to stop the fish injuring itself on any hard ground or sharp rocks that may be around and the other part is the frame to form the cradle shape which most people agree is the best way to keep the fish safe on the bank. All you then have to do to create the cradle is pull the frame out of the holder holding it together with the padding and then simply pull it apart and then it should pop out and form a cradle. Once this is done unfold the mat and place it inside the frame to form the complete cradle and its as easy as that. 

There are two sizes of mat which are the standard and the XL. The standard mat weighs around 2kg and the larger mat weighs around 3kg which is a lot lighter than most other cradles on the market today, although it has the same amount of protection as some of the larger mats available. 

To pack the Easy Mat back up again you simply take the mat out and then twist the frame back into the circle shape it was in at the start and then place the mat and the frame back together with the frame held inside the retaining loop and then simply place it back in the carry bag, this is one of the simplest but most efficient mats on the market at this moment. 

If you would like to see a video on the Easy mat to make sure this is the product for you then you click on this link (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_3k3XEdXDAand this will take you over to FOX international Limited where you can watch a video on the mat 

Rating - 8/10 
Value for money - 9/10

The Eastern Carper

Tuesday, 2 December 2014

Carp fishing in france

Hello and welcome to the blog again, this time I am going to have a look at something that a lot of people are doing now which is fishing holidays to France. 

In this blog I will look at tips and tactics to use in France while also giving you my top three destinations to visit. Hundreds of UK and Dutch carp anglers visit French lakes every year, and this means that the carp are not easy to catch at all. This means that you need to step it up a gear to see the best results possible. So lets get onto the tips and tactics. 

Bait choice
Twenty years ago cheap carbohydrate-based semo boilies and maize etc, were perfectly good carp baits in France, and on occasion the likes of maize still can be when used in the correct way. However on lakes that see new anglers on every week of the year, the use of high quality boilies and pellets sees many more carp banked than other lower quality baits.

I would always advise people to use whatever boilie they have the most confidence with in the UK as long as it is known to catch fish, coupled with whatever pellet the fishery feeds the carp with throughout the year. 
Most sensible fishery owners have banned the use of nuts and particle baits such as hempseed as they do the fish and fishery no good whatsoever so make sure you check bait rules before going.

If I had to choose one bait to use in France it would be the Sticky baits The Krill ready made in 20mm and 16mm. When it comes to frozen or shelf-life it depends whether the lake has a freezer to store your baits in and  although I find the readymade just as good and more flexible as I don’t need to worry about freezers I would always use frozen when ever possible. I prefer the 20mm version, but the 16mm are often good where the fish are being a bit more finicky.


Tackle Choice
Unless you are fishing the inland French seas such as the Lac de Orient or Chanteqoc, for the vast majority of French fisheries conventional English tackle in terms of rods and reels etc in use on your local pond is perfectly adequate, providing the rod is at least 2.12oz t.c..and the reel of good quality such 
as the Daiwa big pit reels (such as the Emblem or Emcast) which you can pick up new for around £50 nowadays. 




Main things to think about are main line breaking strain, hooklink strength and hook strength. These three tackle items tend to be the problem area as the fish tend to be alot bigger than the fish in the UK and many visitors to French lakes are under-powered in these aspects and lose fish as a consequence and throw in any possible French Wels’ catfish you may catch on many lakes on boilies and you really need to focus on strength.

I’d recommend no less than 15lb b.s. main line, a hooklink of 15lb -20lb b.s. (where allowed) and a very strong hook with a minimum of size 4. I would use a Standard KD rig on a visit to France as I know I 
can rely on it if I get a pick up and manage to hook a very large and angry French carp

Other Essentials


Accidents do happen and you may become ill so make sure you obtain your free European Insurance medical cards which you can send for on-line from www.ehic.org.ukIf you need hospital, dental or other health treatment you may initially have to pay but then you can claim the costs back if you have your medical card once you return to the UK.

Always take more euros than you need in case of unforeseen circumstances, or take a credit card with you. Cash dispensers can be found in all French towns today and they all take MasterCard, Visa etc.

Always get car breakdown cover when travelling to France such as Green Flag see www.greenflag.comwithout breakdown cover you could end up paying out lots of cash if you car breaks down as
 well as having to delay your return to the UK!

But always, always, remember, y
ou are supposed to be on holiday!


Top 3 holiday destinations 

Golden Oak Carp lakes - They are located within a 40 minute drive from Limoges Airport, They have on site accommodation with English TV and DVD player as well as Parking, Barbecue, 7 bedrooms and showers as well as a pool. The fish go up to 63lb with the lake around 5 acres. 

Le Quis -The complex has four lakes with fish up to 40lbs and over coming out of the lakes very often the lake offers great fishing all times or year. 

Eden's Lakes - This complex has 3 lakes which all have excellent features both above the water and below, and with fish to almost 60 lbs how can you resist a trip here. 

Anyway that's it for now so tight lines and keep fishing. If you need to any questions answered then please contact me.

The Eastern Carper 




Monday, 1 December 2014

Carp fishing Games - Your thoughts ?

Hello and welcome to the blog, and this time I am going to have a look at something that has only come about in the last year or so, Fishing computer games. 

Over the last year, as some of you may know, two computer games have come about in which you are fishing for carp and general course species. Now I don't know what you think but when I heard of this I thought there could be nothing worse or more boring even though I love fishing, but having been lucky enough to play one of the games I couldn't have been more wrong. 

Carp Fishing Simulator

The first game is Carp fishing simulator which as far as I can see is made by one person compared to other computer games where up to 100 people or even more could be working on in at one point, and this is amazing to me as the game is so detailed and easy to understand so he has done a great job. The game enables you to fish from a variety of swims around a lake with gravel bars, mud and weed all present if you know where to look with the marker float in the game. The main aspect of the game, the catching of fish is where the game comes into its own, with the fish fighting as they would in real life as well as other events, that most of us have been in at some point, such as line breaking as well as losing the fish. Overall I think this is one of if not the best simulation games on the market, and even better it means that even when you cant get on the bank you can get on the virtual bank and still test you skills. 


Korda and Dovetail's Fishing Game

Now everyone has heard of Korda before and we all know people either like their products and we all know people that wont use them if they were given to them for free, but now they are teamed up with Dovetail Games to create a fishing simulator. The game is very similar to Carp Fishing Simulator but as their company is so big they have had the choice to throw money at the game and this has led to the creation of an almost realistic game. The game will offer the best quality available for this type of game as well as very real looking fish movements, character moments and also very detailed scenery around the lake itself. 

A quote from the website of Dovetail Games said “As well as providing an opportunity for fishing fans to practice fishing when it’s not possible outdoors, one of our aims is to encourage more people to get into real fishing through playing our game,” said Paul Jackson, CEO of Dovetail Games. “So working with a partner like Korda, who mirror our aims with their own carp academy programme which is helping to bring more young people into fishing and create the fishing stars of the future, feels like a perfect match.” 


Now after reading these two paragraphs I hope you have been inspired to try out one or both of these games, and if you do I guarantee you will become addicted in no time at all.



Anyway that's it for now so tight lines and keep fishing. If you need to any questions answered then please contact me.

The Eastern Carper 

Sunday, 30 November 2014

Top 5 Videos this week

Hello and welcome to the last blog this week, and this time I am going to post my top 5 fishing related videos this week So sit back and I hope you enjoy.

My top 5 videos this week

Video 1 - Carl and Alex - Carl and Alex are right up there with my favourite YouTube channels, and this video has shown what amazing videos they film and upload for everyone to see and watch . 

Video 2 - Carl, Alex and Alan Blair - This is another video from Carl and Alex but this time they are fishing with one of the best young anglers out there, Alan Blair who you might know from Urban Banx. This is a great video once again so check it out. 

Video 3 - Angling Lines - This is a fairly new channel with around 2,000 subscribers but if they keep uploading videos like this they should be one of the best channels on YouTube. What other videos offer 3, yes 3, 50lb+ carp in one video. 

Video 4 - The Carp Catcher - What top 5 video count down would be complete without a video from this guy. This video sees him fishing Linford Lakes which is a stunning complex and once again the video is full of tips and advise to help you with your fishing as well as some cracking stories. Don't be confused by the mention of the World cup final is was uploaded on November the 23rd. 

Video 5 - From the waters edge - Now here is one for you sea anglers, this video sees them fishing for cod from the beach, with plenty of tips and advise for you to try out this video had to be in this count down. 

That's it from me for now, and I know its only a short blog but there is plenty of videos for you to watch so I hope this makes up for it but for now tight lines and keep fishing. 

The Eastern Carper