"Old School" scamping

 Bev had plans to have a "girlie" shopping and luncheon outing with Debbie (her daughter) and Emily (our granddaughter) so too good an opportunity to ignore? I headed off down to the "Carp Puddle" to have some fun. Under no circumstances is this fishery to be taken seriously, you could catch Carp using sawdust or cement, they really are that easy. I took a single rod, my usual particle mix with flavoured chickpeas as my hook baits. Eight sections of the Nash Bushwhacker baiting pole meant that my rig would be accurately positioned at 12m without any undue disturbance from a crashing lead. Usually when fun is the primary objective, I'd have taken the floater fishing kit but, because of my recent exploits, with the "D" rig on a helicopter set-up, I thought it would be worth exploring the possibilities further.

Ten years down the line and these Dragon Carp bite alarms
are still functioning perfectly. £1.66 each - no Carp Tax involved.

Home made "Stow" bobbin. 
Carp Tax? Only those with less intelligence than the fish they
seek would pay Korda prices for such an item.

Today it was a very simple blow-back rig, using a 1 1/2 oz lead, with two chickpeas on the hair. Simplicity personified. The rest of my kit does warrant a mention. The rod was one of my 11' Duncan Kay Carp rods, complete with cork handle, my Fred Crouch "Match Aerial" centrepin being the reel of choice. I'd actually loaded it with fresh line, this morning, and had done so because I wanted the line to come off the reel parallel to the blank. Basically, I'd be winding in backwards should I get a bite? Even better was the ability to incorporate my Kevin Maddock's rod-pod into the mix. I've owned a couple of these items because they were a perfect answer to positioning rod rests on the concrete banks of Wilstone Res, way back in the early 1980's. That one still resides in the back of the van is testament to how revolutionary the concept was.

Fred Crouch played a massive part in my angling journey during the mid-80's. 
I purchased this reel from "Mr Barbel" in 1985 for the princely sum of £25. That
I now own an original Alcock's version matters not a jot. This centrepin is where this
particular adventure started.

I had five hours at my disposal yet had to pack up, within four, because I ran out of bait. Eleven Carp were landed and a couple of others managed to throw the hook. Not a single "double" came my way, although 9 lbs 14 oz is pretty close, I drove home extremely pleased with how the session had panned out. There are so many lessons which can be learned whilst fishing at the venue, I just hope that I'm able to use the time to maximum effect?

That simple piece of black metal, between the two rod rests, is an
original Kevin Maddock's rod pod.
Bet there ain't many still being used today?

The month ahead is full of possibility, as I now have to see where my angling takes me. The flatlands aren't a write off, but other options are a very viable alternative.