Reality check.. making the move back in the direction of civilisation. In seven Madine events my partners and I drew boat-trip swims every single time! At the end of the 2011 event we got drenched on the run back in.


my attitude to them, and our itinerary,


are unchanging. Make the plans, get there as early as possible to enjoy the crack with your close – but all-too-rarely met – carp world friends, then brace yourself for the draw prior to going carping or camping for a few days. The fact that I have caught two fish in 13 years of trying is almost immaterial: in fact I thought it was immaterial until I caught that one last year, but that was such a memorable capture that it has whetted my appetite for another fish in a future event. And therein lies the approach


to these big matches; the majors they would call them in golf. It is like the pursuit of a target carp but on a massive scale. If you want to win a carp-fishing major then you go, and keep going, irrespective of your luck with the draw. The forecast from those in the know is that 40% of the Lake Bolsena swims will produce carp, which is probably on a par with the last two Madine Classics. But that is not to say that 40% of the swims are in with a chance of winning, because carp being the creatures they are it will be unusual if there are not areas of Bolsena where they prefer to be, irrespective of pressure and bait availability. The main hope for possible future events at the venue is that the lake comes up with a number of swims which are known to have the potential to produce a winning weight. But the real beauty of this year’s event,


beyond the fact that it is in lovely Italy, is that for most of us the lake and its swims are unknown quantities and we will all leave the draw with our dreams and aspirations intact. For many of us reality will set in at a later date! At Madine we had reached a situation where, for better or worse, reality set in immediately after you


had drawn your peg. Each year when this event is


approaching I reflect on what has gone before. Three or four years at Lac de Madine; two or three years at Lac Amance; then a couple of events on the mighty Orient; and then back to Madine for the last four years, and now Italy. It’s just as well that the fish and the result are les important than the event itself. Here are the frightening statistics for all those 13 years of involvement: 15,000 miles of motoring; 26 ferry crossings; a number of serious hangovers as a result of the pre-event crack; and over 60 days and nights of fishing for just two carp. On the other hand thanks to our teammates we have won the team title four times, including a threepeat in 2008, 2009 and 2010. And now we are about to add two more ferry crossings, a 3000-mile round road trip and one or two more hangovers to our Classic CV! Bring it on… I think it’s fair to say that the guy the


world of carp fishing had never heard of when he arranged the first World Carp Classic in 1998 has followed through to some effect!


Ross Honey has a remarkable team around him and since the mid noughties the scale, organisation and professionalism of the Classic has improved year by year. The fact that Ross has been able


to persuade the French authorities to let us use major venues like Madine, Amance and the Orient for these events speaks volumes for his diplomacy and persuasiveness, and his enthusiasm for this latest move to Italy is just an extension of every development that has followed down the years. I think you had to be at the first opening ceremony (there wasn’t


one; just a low key draw!) to appreciate how far the event has come in terms of scale and razzmatazz. The World Carp Classic is a celebration of carp fishing like no other carp event that my friends and I have attended, and, simply put, we have one man’s vision to thank for that. Take a bow, Ross. The Carpworld team for this year’s


World Carp Classic event at Lake Bolsena in Italy is as follows: yours truly and Steve Briggs; Lee Jackson and Ian Chillcott; Tom Duncan-Dunlop and Martin Locke. We are in the team because we are all good friends, get on very well, all enjoy the social crack, and when it comes to fishing major matches we know what makes them crack. Between us we have five major wins to our credit; two World Championships for me and Steve, a World for Jacko and Chilly, and a Classic for Tom D-D (with Rob Tough); in addition to which Lockey


30


‘The World Carp Classic is a celebration of carp fishing like no other carp Magazine sponsored by Pescalis www.pescalis.com


13 years of the World Carp Classic


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64