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River Carping 3
River carping encapsulates many of the attributes of old school carping. It still adheres to the old close season, ending as it does on the 14th of March and reopening on the 'glorious 16th' of June each year. But more importantly to many, river carping offers the angler the element of the unknown, even though, as time goes by, more and more is known of our river stock, and for certain there are monsters swimming in the depths yet to be caught by our enthusiastic river carpers.
As we know, virtually all river carp are escapees from lakes in flood or lakes that have been joined to the river system to form marinas. Nick Helleur's Thames record of last year is almost certainly of the Dinton strain, but how many more escaped that year during the flow? In fact there could be some huge surprises still to be uncovered. There was always talk of the Sonning Eye somehow ending up in the Thames, and what of Savay's most famous carp, Sally, and her mates ending up in the Colne the year of the flood? We already know of one or two being caught from the adjoining canal. The fact is, we really don't know where these fish are, and when I say these fish, I mean carp throughout the land that have somehow found a new home in a nearby river.
So this month, following on from our highly successful Thames Carping issue, we look at captures from all our rivers. For starters, a handful of new Thames articles from Tony Sweetapple, Jordan Hawkins and Graham Stevens, some awesome creatures amongst them. And quickly, whilst on the subject of the Thames, look out for our new Thames Carping book out later this year. We are currently looking for chapters, so please get in touch if you would like to be part of it.