The Carp Fishing Podcast

We recorded this one in the van while heading back from a tough trip to France last week. As usual the conversation flowed as we discussed alternative baiting approaches and how not rushing into getting the rods out might work better in the long run. We also delve in Mark's recent ADHD diagnosis and how this has transformed his life. Men in general aren't the best at opening up on personal matters but if Mark's experience over the last few months helps just one person listening to our podcast it was worth it. We also have our resident sermon reading from the Swedish leney, Mr Tim "Panther" Harris, can he make it three months on the trott that no one has guessed his passage? Our special guest this month is a lovely chap called Jody Bourton. Now you'd have to have lived under a rock to have never come across the highly successful River Monsters series. Jody was part of the production team so as you can imagine has some epic stories of monster fish, adventures, risks and ultimate rewards. In addition Jody is a carp angler who loves to travel. It's a great chat with one of life's good guys. Enjoy!

Tim Rowland is someone I've wanted to get on the podcast for a while. Carp fishing's biggest asset is time, if used wisely but that isn't a currency Tim deals in. To help put Tim's carp fishing into context, it's usually one trip a month, after work on a Friday, once all the family demands and other life duties are in order. Over the last few years his angling adventures have been solely focussed around the Linch Hill complex, mainly Stoneacres. Many would think it just isn't worth even attempting to tame such a water without the luxury of time but Tim did it in style, fishing his own way and catching some of the best carp on the complex. In addition I caught up with Mark while he was fishing to discuss the joys of spring, the rise of Ai catch reports and some spring tips based on the carps body clock. Enjoy and as always we appreciate all your support, reviews and comments. You can find us on Spotify, I-tunes and all other podcast apps.

We're back with another great guest this month, Terry Barrett. Now like many of us, Terry is a working man, with a family, has limited time but walks the path of no mercy.... chasing old, big carp from demanding venues. What I enjoyed about this chat was Tel was brought up fishing in the competitive match scene before making the transition to carp fishing later than most. Despite a late start he hit the ground running and immediately got stuck into some of the best carp in the valley. It was fascinating to talk about his approach to angling, how stealth plays a vital role and how his match days have taught him the importance of correct bait application and how reading a swim before you start will often be the difference between success or failure. We're pleased to have the Panther aka Tim Harris back with another Sermon reading and we also chew the fat and cover what's been happening in our world since the last podcast. Last but not least, as always Mark has a rather embarrassing story to tell that saw him with his pants down in the pantry. Enjoy!

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....