Thanks to all who view and contribute to this blog,the title "The Ultimate Carper" may be a bit boastful,I for one only aspire to being one.The blog is dedicated to the carping fraternity and any of the latest developments.I apologise for not answering comments(just found a load in the spam folder,oops).I'm also either at work or fishing ,blogging is more for reference and hopefully a reference or brainstorm for other carpers.
I'm carping at some new venues this year and will provide feedback on this.

Carry on Carping,tight lines.
Shaun Pickerill

According to Angling Times Mr Crabtree is to make a TV comeback.Angling writer John Bailey is to appear as the legendary Mr Crabtree in a new channel 4 series.I look forward to this series with great anticipation thumbing through Bernard Venables cartoon strips was a great inspiration to me as a child,there may be some poetic license as the fishing is perhaps a little behind the times but if it can capture the charm of the books it can't fail.Angling Times will reveal details of when the show is due to go out.

I know its a pain but I'm now in the position of having to review comments,also you have to enter a word/be a registered user to leave a comment.This is because my personal email is being spammed to death by anonymous people abusing the noreply-comment@blogger.com to comments on my blog posts,don't know how or why they do this.This is a carping website I don't need sex aids/drugs or links to unrelated sites,you get the picture.

It seems like every week a new product comes out helping you to catch bigger and easier.Many of the old school refuse to use these,let's give fish finders/Bait boats as an example.I understand the frustration when times limited.When does this technology go too far though or it's just plain common sense to use it.Most have watched the Korda Underwater series,"How great is that!" to genuinely see how the rig is lying if there are fish in the swim/etc.I read a somewhat over the top rant in pub talk(Angler's Mail) which outlined some future extremes.We know how expensive some of these big carp are and how some of them end up in near-by rival waters.In an effort to control some have been chipped similar to chipping pets.Take this to the extreme and add tracking transmitters and geekology you're now sitting in a bivvy that looks like the bat cave with a bleeping monitor giving you the exact GPS position of the water's resident monster carp,click on another window it gives you feeding info,it's typical patrol routes,when and where it was last caught(you get the picture).Why stop there virtual on-line carping directing someone else to cast some rods out and catch the carp for you! Where will it end?

I won't go into minute detail why big carp follow the wind but basically this boils down to food,oxygen,comfortable temperatures and cover,for more detail check this out
http://www.carp-fishing-tactics.com/why-follow-wind.html.You can save time by mapping out your lake N,S,E,W points.If you're having problems with compass points check this link http://www.compassdude.com/compass-reading.shtml.You can now get wind forecasts and current wind direction via the internet directly to your mobile here for GB http://www.xcweather.co.uk/GB/forecast.With a few clicks you can know or roughly estimate the windward end of your venue and go straight to it,might be all the edge you need.Get on the wind.