What’s happened to Winter?

Croix Blanche 2010: What has happened to Winter this year?

Its funny how the years pass and are so different. One year we have a heatwave in the summer and the next it’s cold and wet.
Take the Winter; this time last year we were in the north pole, we had several feet of snow. In fact it was the heaviest in living memory for most of the people in my village. The temperatures plummeted well below freezing and the lakes were solid for well over a month.

So how different it is this year. 2012 comes in with the warmest start in over 100 years. In fact 2011 was the warmest year on average since records began. We are still yet to have a significant frost…
Its strange that we don’t seem to have regular and proper seasons any more. If proof were needed 2011 is a good case study. We had a spring that was not only exceptionally dry, but the hottest on record. Temperatures were up as high as the mid thirties by mid May.

The summer then quite simply didn’t happen. After a rainy, cold July, August was barely better. The Autumn however did give us some fine and sunny weather.

Carp Fishing « EDC » Kit

Most of us that are into carp fishing are also into most other things ’outdoors’, hunting, camping, hiking etc. With all these activities its important to be well equipped, and in carping there is no shortage of gadgets.
Recently I’ve been looking at some of the ‘Bushcraft’ videos on Youtube by a guy called Dave Canterbury and his Pathfinder School site .He’s also doing a survival show on Discovery Channel called ‘Dual Survival’.  His Youtube site is full of good info that also has a utility for carping and camping out in general. One of the items I particularly liked was his ‘EDC’ or “Every day Carry” kit. (I guess this is a US military acronym.) It basically consists of a mountaineering ‘Carabiner’ with a selection of useful gadgets hanging from it that can be clipped onto ones belt or tackle bag. All the items are quickly and readily available at a seconds notice.

Anyway I figured this would be a really good idea for us carpers to have such a selection of kit. As I already had a large carabiner, I decided to add a few items to it to make my own EDC. This is just my own preference but naturally one can add any tools one finds useful…

Croix Blanche Snow Gallery 2010

Coolest Carping Accessory Ever!

Well now we have all seen « Realtree », clothing, bivvies, rods..Well everything imaginable in the ubiquitous camo pattern.

Everything?

Well perhaps not quite. I came across this accessory in a French tackle shop “Realtree” seat covers for my 4×4. Now as I was in the market for a set of front seat covers to help protect the upholstery from wet dog, dirty fishing clothes and all the junk I end up carrying in the car,  these Browning camo covers seemed just the ticket.

The sales blurb reads:

BROWNING: UNIVERSAL SEAT COVER
» Universal bucket seat cover fits most standard bucket, seats including GM seats with built in seatbelts
» High quality, heavy polyester fabric is treated for water repellency and dirt resistance
» Foam backed fabric keeps seat coller and helps it breathe in hot weather
» Browning logo on a quality woven patch is prominently displayed
» Patent Pending custom fit

Anyway I couldn’t resist them so now have a set what has to be the coolest Realtree accessory ever for my car.

Cheers
Gareth

Five Best Fishing Vehicles!

by Gareth Watkins
Over the years I’ve had a whole range of different vehicles that I’ve used to get myself fishing. In the early days it was my parent’s cars, so whatever they had at the time, and varied from an Audio 80 to a Triumph Dolomite. Not always very practical… Since then I’ve had several different types of car and they all have advantages and disadvantages. Here then, is my choice of Carp fishing vehicles. My latest car is a Nissan Terrano, that replaced my beloved camper… the camper was great but not a practical car for working around the lakes.

Vans :
The first type I had when starting my own fishery was a small compact Renault Express van. Now in the UK the Escort Van was virtually de rigueur in carp fishing circles.. I saw so many of these. These type of vans are small, compact and carry a vast amount of gear. Only real draw back is they are two-seaters. If you have more people to carry you need to look to a larger vehicle.