The Carp Fishing Podcast

We're back, a few days later than normal due to the festive break but we have a fantastic podcast to kick start 2026. This month we have two great guests, first up is Jake Davoile, a Fisheries Management Advisor who works for the Angling Trust on a variety of predation projects including the one I really wanted to discuss, seal predation. Yes you read that right, it's a far bigger issue than many even know and Jake plus others have been working tirelessly to re-home seals that ended up in the river Nene with devastating impacts to fish populations. This really is a must-listen as seals in our freshwater systems are on the rise and sadly seal predation has decimated many freshwater river sections in recent years, including a section of the Thames that I was fishing only last year.
We follow that with a thoroughly enjoyable chat with Simon Hartop. Now in my opinion Simon once caught a carp that rocked the angling world, almost unknown at the time but equally as impactful as the Black Mirror but this one was even harder to catch. We get an insight into that incredible campaign, as well as his time on the Thames and how fishing for odd uns, carp with very few captures has consumed him over the years. It's not all carp, it was wonderful to touch on Si's editorial work with the BCSG magazine and his involvement with Gaz's Subsurface journals too. To add a little slice of nostalgia to the mix I got to record this chat on Si's old Thames boat, the "Griffin" as by some strange turn of fate my good friend Liam now owns it and it's taken on a new chapter in it's angling life. Hope you enjoy it and Happy New Year to all our listeners.

We have a whopper of a podcast this month for you to enjoy. We recorded this live "in session" over at Embryo's Baulking lake in Oxford. Me and Mark had already caught a couple each so we discussed our approach, especially in depths of over 35 feet. This certainly added a few new challenges to think about. Another topic of conversation was bait application, the art of stealth and we ask ourselves can you ruin a session before you've even really started. This is also a special episode as we have carp fishing royalty on as our special guest, Mr John Carver. John is a man who was present when Chris Yates caught his iconic Redmire record, fished with Jack Hilton, caught his first Redmire carp on a slice of ginger and even went on to run the syndicate. This one really is a trip down memory lane....

It's great to be back behind the mic once again with a new episode of The Carp Fishing Podcast. Our special guests this month are a carp fishing comedy duo, in fact trying to get the pair of them to be serious for an hour or so wasn't easy but it worked. Jon Miller aka The Swedish Godfather and Jake Bromley aka The Housewife's favourite join me for a good old natter, just like the ones most of us have while sat round a kettle on the bank. Jon especially would have never agreed to come on if it wasn't for Jake's gentle encouragement but I am glad he did as Mr Miller has been around the block. His album is bursting at the seams with big carp yet most of them rarely see the light of day. Jake is also a ninja when it comes to catching big uns so I tried my best to extract some pearls of wisdom along the way.
Their humour was infectious but sadly some of the Essex slang was lost on me, they call each other potato, what is that about? We also have the usual dose of mine and Marks ramblings and this month we touch on the subject of content over exposure. Specifically if you're making content without awareness of these issues. We discuss the impact content can have on venues, locations, the fish and discuss a recent film that dropped called "Bon Sens" from the guys at Brakass. This film hit hard recently and without spoiling the discussions it's one to check yourself. Lastly, we have our resident Scandinavian Leney aka The Panther reading his monthly sermon. Get your answers quickly to win a Baitworks prize. Enjoy.

What a treat to have Pete Orchard as our guest this month. Pete's been the river keeper at the famous Longford Estate for decades. The Hampsire Avon runs through his soul and so does some pretty crazy punk music. Pete has been known to sport a mohawk and a cravat on the same day, he's a really colourful character with endless stories to tell but it was the discovery of giant carp in this crystal clear river that became our talking point. Pete's tales of uncaught giants gliding between the streamer weed were wonderful but like many things in life you have to make hay while the sun shines, as nothing lasts forever. In addition Mike and Mark talk in depth about watercraft, the changing of the seasons and how this impacts tactics and of course we have another sermon drop from the Panther aka Tim Harris and if you're the first to get it right, you'll win a Baitworks bait bundle! Enjoy.

This month we have a great guest and one angler we've been longing to get on the podcast for some time, James Parry. James first came on my radar when a picture surfaced of a giant carp, one that had a stature like the iconic Black Mirror. This fish was as good as it gets and became etched in carp fishing history as one of the best we've ever seen. James recounts his adventure that ended with his dream carp in the folds of his net, a story that won't fail to get you buzzed up for an adventure. James also tells of his discovery of a record sized carp back when big carp were rarer than hen's teeth, proper pioneering stuff. That aside, me and Mr Bryant discuss rigs, water levels, low oxygen issues and touch on a recent trip that had us both paddling our own canoe down a river for 6 hours in 37c heat........ enjoy!