Big Carp Legends: Lee Jackson
By Lee Jackson
()
About this ebook
Lee Jackson
Lee was delighted to be chosen for the series and actually took the time to rewrite his whole book so it depicted perfectly his amazing carp fishing career.
Starting in the 70’s, Lee fished locally on the famous Kent waters of the day – Dartford, Horton Kirby and Sutton, and he soon earned a reputation for being a very successful and consistent catcher of big carp. Brooklands and Darenth were next on his list, meeting some great and lifelong friends such as Colin Swaden, Curly Hatchman, Martin Locke and Kevin Maddocks, each one bouncing ideas around and putting together those ‘early day’ jigsaws. His affair with that famous Kent carp, She, is legendary, but it was his capture of the unknown 40 from the Colne Valley that sprung Lee into the headlines. Savay was next on his list with considerable day ticket success, and whereas his campaign on Springwood would last over a decade, most of his captures have never been published, until now.
The Blue Lake, Longfield and Cotton Farm became his next obsessions. That was until he found Conningbrook, where he was one of its most successful anglers ever, catching over 20 fish topped by a new British record! Lee is without doubt a true legend, but he is more than that. Lee has never let his fame go to his head. He is, and always has been one of the sport’s real gentlemen, a great ambassador for the art of carp fishing, and genuinely an all-round nice guy. Now here is your chance to read his life story.
Lee Jackson
Lee Jackson is an Award-winning Motivational Speaker, Author of 13 books and a leading Presentation Skills Coach. He is also the a past President of the Professional Speaking Association in the UK & Ireland. For more information visit http://www.leejackson.org or on twitter @leejackson
Read more from Lee Jackson
Rich: 10,001 Easy Steps to Great Wealth: A Step by Step Guide for the Absolute Beginner Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWitches: Do You Have Hidden Supernatural Powers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGet Good® at Life: Proven, Practical Ways to Stay Connected, Motivated and Resilient in a Complex World Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWitches Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFrom Death Unto Life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Big Carp Legends
Related ebooks
Big Carp Legends: Ritchie McDonald Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsARE YOU KIDDING?: A Life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJeff Bagwell in Connecticut: A Consistent Lad in the Land of Steady Habits: SABR Digital Library, #64 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBand on the Bus: Around the World in a Double-Decker Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Survivor Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAchtung Spitfire: Luftwaffe over England Eagle Day 14 August 1940 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Life on the Fly Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Scotland Yard's Ghost Squad: The Secret Weapon Against Post-War Crime Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSOE Hero: Bob Maloubier and the French Resistance Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEyewitness: Australians Write From the Front-Line Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBig Carp Legends: Pete Springate Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBig Carp Legends: Albert Romp Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBig Carp Hunters Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStrictly Carp: Martin Clarke Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMy Tales and Tips on Fishing Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings36" or Bust! A Pennine Way Challenge Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Making of an Adequate Fly Fisherman: Memoirs of an Angler Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBorn to Fish Forced to Work Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBig Carp Legends: Dave Lane Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBig Carp Hunters: Nick Helleur Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHand-Crafted Boats of Old Currituck: Fishing & Boating on the Carolina Coast Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAll at sea: One Sailor’s Journey Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTales from the Parking Lot Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRobinson Crusoe Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Quality Time?: Celebrating 50 years of sailing & the life of 'The world's greatest yachting cartoonist' Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKissed by a Croc Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsI Fished My Way Through Life: The wild life story of a retired Alaskan fishing guide! Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStaying Alive: A collection of true stories from depth to desert and beyond Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBig Carp Hunters Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFish Tales: THISLDO, too! Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Outdoors For You
How to Survive Off the Grid: From Backyard Homesteads to Bunkers (and Everything in Between) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAlive: The Story of the Andes Survivors Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Emerald Mile: The Epic Story of the Fastest Ride in History Through the Heart of the Grand Canyon Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Travel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Bushcraft 101: A Field Guide to the Art of Wilderness Survival Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Advanced Bushcraft: An Expert Field Guide to the Art of Wilderness Survival Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/552 Prepper Projects: A Project a Week to Help You Prepare for the Unpredictable Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bushcraft Illustrated: A Visual Guide Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Survival Hacks: Over 200 Ways to Use Everyday Items for Wilderness Survival Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Norwegian Wood: Chopping, Stacking, and Drying Wood the Scandinavian Way Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5SAS Survival Handbook, Third Edition: The Ultimate Guide to Surviving Anywhere Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mind Gym: An Athlete's Guide to Inner Excellence Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Grandma Gatewood's Walk: The Inspiring Story of the Woman Who Saved the Appalachian Trail Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Emergency Survival Manual: 294 Life-Saving Skills Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Outdoor Survival Guide: Survival Skills You Need Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Between a Rock and a Hard Place: The Basis of the Motion Picture 127 Hours Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bushcraft First Aid: A Field Guide to Wilderness Emergency Care Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Ultimate Bushcraft Survival Manual: 272 Wilderness Skills Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Field Guide to Knots: How to Identify, Tie, and Untie Over 80 Essential Knots for Outdoor Pursuits Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Ultimate Survival Medicine Guide: Emergency Preparedness for ANY Disaster Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Pocket Guide to Essential Knots: A Step-by-Step Guide to the Most Important Knots for Everyone Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings438 Days: An Extraordinary True Story of Survival at Sea Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How To Be Alone: an 800-mile hike on the Arizona Trail Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Foraging: The Ultimate Beginners Guide to Foraging Wild Edible Plants and Medicinal Herbs Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUltimate Survival Hacks Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5How to Survive Anything: From Animal Attacks to the End of the World (and Everything in Between) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bushcraft Field Guide to Trapping, Gathering, and Cooking in the Wild Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Your Guide to Forest Bathing (Expanded Edition): Experience the Healing Power of Nature Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Total Outdoorsman Skills & Tools: 324 Tips Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for Big Carp Legends
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Big Carp Legends - Lee Jackson
Contents
Big Carp Legends – Lee Jackson
First published in 2010
By Bountyhunter Publications
© Bountyhunter Publications 2010
All rights reserved. No part of the publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior permission of the copyright owner.
ISBN 978-0-9515127-5-3
Printed in Great Britain
Foreword by Rob Maylin
One of Harrow’s finest that I christened ‘Veiny’.
Lee Jackson is one of the most highly regarded carp anglers this country has ever known. He began his carp angling career in the early 70’s fishing the Kent ‘hot beds’ Darenth and Horton Kerby, then tackling the great waters of that era, Brooklands, Sutton and Walthamstow. His obsession with ‘She’ is legendary and makes riveting reading, but it was his move to the Colne Valley in the early 80’s that really brought him into the headlines with the capture of the unknown 40 pounder from the notorious ‘Hertfordshire Club Lake’ where he went on, over a ten year period, to capture some truely awesome specimens, as can be found in these pages.
Lee had a brief affair with Savay and was successful as a day ticket angler, but it was always the Hertforshire water that beckoned him back. As an integral part of the famous Tackle Box fishing tackle shop in Kent and long term consultant for Free Spirit, Lee has always been on top of his game. He used all his knowledge to good effect taking gold medal position in the finals of the British Carp Championships.
Lee has always been heavily involved with the BCSG and the Carp Society and has not only attended just about everything, but organised most of it!
His six year affair with Conningbrook lead to over 20 captures from this testing venue, culminating in the capture of ‘Two Tone’ at the new British record weight.
These days Lee is taking life a little easier, sharing good times with his wife Jane, doing a little carping now and then and devoting much of his spare time to his own syndicate water Cotton Farm.
One of the true gentlemen of carp fishing, Lee became one of the carp anglers favourites. A great ambassador for the sport and I am glad to say, one of my true friends. I am certain you will enjoy a trip down memory lane with this truely special angler.
This is the one I christened ‘Dearmans’.
Introduction
– Into the Valley
I fished for about a year without actually catching a carp
Gazing into the pond.
Looking back, although it has all gone in a flash, it seems as though I’ve been fishing since Noah was around; I’m off the Ark now, they only allowed two animals on there - Pete Springate and me!
Basically my fishing started at a real early age. I lived at New Cross in South East London and out in our back garden we had what originally was an old bomb shelter, and after the war, my Dad caved in the roof and filled it up with water and that was our garden pond. I can remember probably way back to when I was about two or three years old, having a fascination for looking in the pea soup green coloured water to see if I could see any fish. I would spend hours out there, and my mum or dad would drag me in to feed me, but I just spent hours and hours by that pond, just staring into the depths, intrigued as to what lurked below. As I got a little bit older and found my feet a little bit more, I progressed to a little bamboo fishing net over at Blackheath ponds or in the Surrey Docks Canal, fishing for sticklebacks, newts or anything that came along really, all of which usually got taken home in a jam jar only to die a few days later. In the school holidays it was a boys’ adventure time and usually we’d to go down to Blackheath on our bikes and ride around like loons on a hilly bit that we all knew as ‘Cowboy Land’. We’d usually play silly buggers over there for a couple of hours, get fed up with that, and then get the nets out in the pond, that’s if we didn’t end up down A&E at Lewisham Hospital due to crashing the bike that is!
My dad wasn’t ever a fisherman, but having said that, he never held me back in anything I wanted to do. He was a keen footballer and used to encourage me to play football too, but if I wanted to go fishing, he would take me down to the lake.
I can remember my first ever fishing trip was to Keston Ponds near to Bromley in Kent. We went down there in my dad’s old but immaculate Ford Anglia; I must have been about five years old at the time. No one else was fishing and I can remember hanging out this tree trying to tempt these tiny jack pike. I was using a great big bobbin float and 18lb line, which at the time I thought I had to use, you know how it is, I was completely naïve about fishing and thought that you needed to be using ‘big tackle’ to catch big fish! I was desperately trying to catch one of these pike when all of a sudden this fella, who put me in mind of the Ranger out of the TV programme Yogi Bear, as he wore a brown suit and had a brown hat on with ‘Ranger’ written across the front, said, The fishing season doesn’t start until tomorrow so you’ll have to pack up and go.
My dad had a little bit of a row with him, saying, We aren’t doing any harm,
but the Ranger said, No, sorry, I can’t let you fish, the season doesn’t start until tomorrow.
So we had to pack up and go home, and I thought to myself at the time, how unlucky can you get; you don’t know anything about fishing, you don’t know anything about the seasons, and the first time you go proper fishing and its June the 15th and you get thrown off!
From there really I suppose it progressed to fishing with mates from school, bearing in mind that when you lived in Deptford and places like New Cross, going out to Dartford Lakes and Horton Kirby was like going out on a trip to the country, because in comparison, it was. We were surrounded by tower blocks and Dartford at the time was still quite a nice area. We used to go off on the train, get a train from Deptford station, the first train down to Dartford, and I suppose really most of our early fishing was on Dartford Lakes, fishing for anything that came along. You couldn’t help notice along the way that there were these mysterious looking characters fishing, with floppy hats and all that, fishing very quietly and keeping themselves to themselves, but we never really used to take too much notice of them, and to be honest, they would never talk to you even if you did, they were like a little secret service. I suppose at the time it was people like Jack Hilton and co, but we would sit there, merrily fishing away with our little floats, catching loads and loads of roach and what-have-you and not really care or take too much notice of what other anglers were doing.
My best mate at the time was a boy called Ronny Angel, and he was really good at all sports, and in particular boxing and was the schoolboy champion of Great Britain for two or three years on the trot and also good at football and most other sports. But, the one thing he couldn’t beat me at was fishing and there was always a little bit of competitiveness between the pair of us. Then we progressed to fishing further afield to Horton Kirby, which is still fairly near Dartford but involved getting a bus from Dartford railway station.
Horton Kirby at the time was probably the hot bed for carp fishing, and we started seeing quite a few people fishing for carp, and occasionally catching some as well. What really gave me the bug was when I was fishing the bottom lake at Horton Kirby one day and I heard a bit of a commotion going on up on the other lake. I went up there, saw this guy catch a 14 pounder, and I was really impressed with the way it fought. I went back to my swim on the bottom lake, and about half an hour later, he caught another one; another 14lb pounder as it happens. I went back to my swim after seeing that, and my float went under, and I thought, what’s the point, it’s another two inch roach. So after that, I nagged my mum that I wanted a carp rod and reel, this would have been around about 1966-67, no sorry, it was a little bit later than that, probably about 1969. Anyway, I nagged my mum for a carp rod, so she got the Bennett’s of Sheffield catalogue and bought this Davenport and Fordham Farstrike glass carp rod. In actual fact it was a carbon copy of the Gerry Savage rod, but it was a honey yellow colour whereas the Savage rod was green. I also got a Mitchell 324 reel, and off I marched down to Horton Kirby and Dartford, all the gear but no idea, and I think I fished for about a year without actually catching a carp. I would cast the carp rod out in hope that a carp would come along, and continued to float fish with the other rod, but that really was a mistake, because I wasn’t paying full attention to the carp rod. I think I hooked a couple, but in that first year I didn’t actually manage to land anything on the carp rod. Anyway, the following year, which by now is 1970, I decided that I was going to go for the carp properly, so my Mum sent off for another rod. This time I had the stepped-up version, which was probably about 1½lb – 1¾lb test curve, and I was going to have a serious go at it, but again, I failed really. Bear in mind that our season was probably June 16th up until the end of the school holidays, and then after that we would do the things that normal boys do at that age, and terrorise girls for the winter.
One day, I think it was the following year, 1971, myself and a mate of mine, Mark Ilbury, were up on the top lake at Horton Kirby, fishing an area called the ‘Long Chuck’. It was probably about 60yds, but at the time it was a long cast. I think the bait we were using was Kit-E-Kat mixed with Pomenteg ground bait and various bits and pieces sprinkled in to make it more attractive - great