CHRIS APPLEBY
I’ve been fishing for just over 33 years now, I started out match fishing until the age of about 12 before the lure of bigger specimens really got its teeth into me, I’m probably more well known for carp fishing these days but like to class myself as an all-rounder enjoying many forms of angling from trotting in the winter on the pin for grayling to float fishing for tench on a summers morning, it’s all about the thrill of the chase and the unknown of what the day might bring.
I’d say my strongest angling skills lie in watercraft, bait application and the psychological side of the past time, I’m a deep thinker regarding angling and often I use this to give me the confidence to succeed by seeing out an idea or intention, where most might of changed approach with an unknowing detrimental effect.
After watching carp feeding on gin clear pits for many years now I have continually tweaked and moulded my presentations to suit most angling situations but always looking to develop for the future as carp fishing seems to follow some kind of natural evolution process and therefore the learning curve is ongoing, I think keeping one step ahead and recognising changes is key.
I’ve also worked a lot with carp baits over the years, rolling my own bait from the age of 12 brought me and invaluable experience in how to compile a good bait and a understanding of attraction and digestion which for me are the most important two things in any bait, I’ve worked and helped various bait firms over the years develop their baits with great success, during my time with Nash long conversations with Gary Bayes (bait guru) was very interesting to say the least, it was amazing how many the best attractors we agreed on…
MEMORABLE CATCH:
Catching two 30+ commons (2 of the 3 biggest fish in the lake) in 15mins from a very low stock venue, think prebaiting with 6kg of boilies every day for 7 days had something to do with it, think I fished for a total of 2 hours that trip.
I’ve seen loads of funny stuff on the bank over the years, all the obvious stuff!!! People falling in, blowing rods on the cast, bivvies on fire, people fishing up trees all night, people arguing over swims………loads of other stuff, one thing I do when fishing is enjoy myself and keep smiling, people that have fished with me over the years know there’s never a dull moment when I’m on the bank…. Cheers Apples