Big Carp Hunters

By Derek Rance

Derrick Rance's name will not be familiar to most of you but throughout the eighties and nineties he caught more big carp than almost any carp angler in the UK. His accolades include a trio of upper forties from Vinnetrow, a huge list of Yateley fish including big ones from the Copse, Match, Pad, Car Park and North lakes topped my Heather 3 times, the Dustbin 4 times, Bazil etc etc the list is impressive by any standards but it was on the Sussex lakes that Derrick came into his own breaking record after record. Wraysbury was dismissed in record time, nobody has ever had so many fish in such a short time, infact 4 sessions was all it took to catch a handful of its residents including the top 2 Mary and Mary's mate. Hortons biggest were also dispatched with ease, the Parrot being his first bite on the lake followed by more of the A team. Mill Lane was next and it was soon game set and match with the biggest and the best falling to his methods, What I haven't told you so far is that my good friend Derrick was deaf and dumb from birth! and that he died at a young age unexpectantly in 2013 not long writing this book. Here is your opportunity to share in Derrick's short but eventful life. Derrick loved carp fishing more than life itself....a true Big Carp Hunter.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BigCarpMagazine
• Release date: Jul 17, 2015
• ISBN: 9780992753115

Book preview

Big Carp Hunters

Derek Rance

First published in 2014

By Bountyhunter Publications

© Bountyhunter Publications 2014

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 978-0-9927531-2-2

Printed in Great Britain

British Deaf Carp Angling

British Deaf Carp Angling was set up by keen carp angler Jack Sturdy from Yorkshire. Jack who is profoundly deaf realised there were many profoundly deaf people around the country who go carp fishing so he wanted to get in touch with them so we can share experiences and fish together. Members of the BDCA are all moderately or profoundly deaf and most communicate by using British Sign Language. There is not a lot of difference between hearing and deaf carp anglers but there are several things that make it harder for us. The main one over the years has been bite alarms. In the past we had to either rely on a hearing colleague to wake and tell us we have a bite or we had to watch the indicators all night (matchsticks between our eyes!). However we now have pagers that vibrate, which, although good, are not perfect.

Many of us also cannot balance in the dark (good balance needs hearing) so things can be difficult when it is really dark. I have ended up in the lake a few times!! We also have the loneliness of not being able to hear the radio or music or phone people. Also we cannot hear what is going on around the lake like splashes that let you know where fish are. Communication with other anglers is also another issue so we miss out on a lot of vital information. It is the same problem at carp shows and gatherings where there is a speaker. Unless they provide an interpreter these shows are inaccessible to deaf people.

Although we only started last year the group is already 70-strong from all over the UK and we currently have three matches a year, two pairs and one singles. The matches are very enjoyable and some good fish are caught like Jack’s 36lb 2oz fish from Baden Hall. Other times we just meet at lakes to have a fish. We also have a European Deaf Carp group and we will be fishing with them in the near future.

If anyone has a moderate or profound hearing loss and would like to join the group please contact us on our Facebook page or by email (address below).

We are currently also looking for some sponsors or help in any way to support our group so if anyone is interested please contact us at [e-mail]

Foreword by Rob Maylin

Chunky’s second capture from the Gate.

I first fished with Derek in the early nineties. I’d heard of his exploits across the road on the Copse Lake some years before and had mixed feelings about how I would socialise with Derek. Derek was deaf and dumb from birth, as was his brother. I found out Derek came from a good family home after speaking to him on the Pad Lake; he had a loving mother and father who encouraged him and his brother to go fishing. Unfortunately, his father was to die while Derek was still young and his mother, sadly, was unable to cope with the two boys and put them into foster care. Derek’s interest in fishing was more than a hobby; it was quite literally his life. In normal life Derek found it quite difficult to mix with hearing people. He was a loud, brash, some would say crazy carp angler and was easily misunderstood. However, if you spent the time and gave him the time he needed to communicate, underneath was a funny, loving, quite unique guy who I became very fond of in the years we spent together down at Yateley. Derek was a great angler despite his disability, and some may not realise how being deaf could influence one’s fishing. When I first met Derek, the poor guy was trying to stay awake all night to watch his indicators, as of course he couldn’t hear his buzzers if they went during the night. After he lost a couple of fish on the Pad Lake I set out on the monumental task of creating the first buzzers for the deaf carp angler. Fortunately, through Big Carp magazine, I knew a guy who was making bite indicators in a small workshop down on the southwest coast, and I called this guy and asked him if he could think of any ideas of how to make this indicator. It was at this time that we discovered a vibrating pad, which was used for deaf people to hear the telephone ringing. It was the perfect solution to Derek’s problem and without a doubt a major factor in the tremendous success that he was to have on the most difficult waters in the country over the next few years. Derek was without a doubt one of the most successful anglers carp fishing has ever known; he went systematically from water to water catching the biggest carp that they held. His accolades include Bazil from the North, Heather I believe three times from the Car Park Lake, Mary and Mary’s Mate from Wraysbury, the biggest fish in Horton, the biggest from the Road Lake, the biggest from Mill Lane and the biggest from the Match Lake. He was without a doubt on par with the best anglers around in the day. Unfortunately, when I left Yateley for pastures new, I ceased to have a lot of contact with Derek. It was very difficult after all, as I could not speak to him on the telephone, and if I did not see him on the bank then the chances are I wouldn’t see him at all. However, I did bump into him on a couple of occasions while he was fishing Mill Lane and using Yateley Angling Centre to get his bits and pieces. It was at this time that he told me that a good friend of his, Gary Hare, was helping him write a book, and he asked me if I would like to publish it. He left the first few pages in Yateley Angling Centre for me, and at the time I thought this was his whole book. I told Derek that there was not enough there for a book and he needed to write more. So poor Gary had to carry on with Derek’s life story. In the end the pair of them did a marvellous job, and I was so pleased when I was able to get the final manuscript and pictures from Gary in 2013 following Derek’s sad passing. I was so sad to hear that Derek had gone; we had such great times on the Car Park together, laughing and joking. Derek was an expert lip reader and we really had some fun together, the two of us. I was not the only one who was a great friend to Derek, but I was certainly one of the only ones who was willing to put a lot of time into our relationship because it was so worth it to see that fantastic smile on his face.

Rest in peace, old mate! I hope you like your book, and I am sure that everyone who reads it will appreciate what a hard time you had…

Life Begins with Forties

(Derek’s original title)

Compiled by

GARY HARES

In memory of

DEREK RANCE

My notes as a carp angler date back to 1978

– a whole lifetime of carp fishing.

Introduction

Carp fishing turned into my obsession and my life

Like most children, fishing starts with a net and a small stream, where they learn the wonders of the occupants that live there from sticklebacks, gudgeon, small rudd and roach. With me, destiny lay in the years to come when I was going to catch much larger quarry.

This book is about the ups and downs of carp fishing and the rigs and methods that I have used in my forty-three years as a carp angler.

Being deaf, I feel that it makes the fishing more challenging and the results more fulfilling. Hopefully this book has some tips, showing why fishing has turned into my obsession and my life.

Carp Talk, May 1998.

Chapter 1

How it all began

We spent many glorious long summer days watching the sun glittering on the fast ripples of the river wondering what creatures were there below the murky depths.

My brother Barry and I were born in London so for our holidays my mother and father used to take us to Exeter where we both spent most of our early childhood. I remember my mother and father bought me a bamboo rod with a wooden reel, which was great for going down to the nearby river. We spent many glorious long summer days watching the sun glittering on the fast ripples of the river wondering what creatures lived there below the murky depths.

One particular day I went to the river with my rod and reel, and in my pocket I had my tackle and bait, which consisted of a small tin of worms that I had dug up from the garden. I settled myself down on the banks of the river where I was at my happiest; just me, my rod and reel and my little tin of worms. I didn’t have many worms so I would break them into pieces so that I could get more casts. In those days life was good and simple pleasures went a long way, but unfortunately it wasn’t to last, as my father passed away, and, unable to cope, my mother put us both into foster care.

One occasion I particularly remember, I was trotting my bait down the river with the worm hanging below the float, which consisted of a swan’s quill cut down to a four-inch piece, and I let this go with the flow of the river. After some time, I could feel the fish nibbling on the line and away it went. I struck the rod and reeled with all my might, and on the other end, to my delight, there was a small trout. As I was reeling in, suddenly something a lot larger grabbed the little trout and all hell broke loose.

My bamboo rod arched into a large curve, and all I could do was hang on; the fish was the boss this time! My heart was beating ten to the dozen when after about twenty to twenty-five minutes I finally got the better of it, and to my surprise it was a huge salmon! Well to me, being just a boy it was a very big fish; over ten pounds, which I guess is a good fish by anybody’s standards. I was totally surprised that my rod and reel stood up to the task of landing a large fish like that.

I packed my fishing tackle up and ran home with the salmon over my shoulder and a smile on my face; I was chuffed to bits and very proud of myself. (That’s when I knew I was going to be an angler when I grew up).

When I was eleven years of age we moved to a little village called Felpham in West Sussex not far from the seaside, and that opened up a variety of other aspects of fishing for me. I must admit though coarse fishing was my first love and so I had to find some local waters to fish.

I discovered a canal in a city about seven miles away from Felpham called Chichester, and that is where I started to fish more seriously. Any spare time I had I would go over to the canal and learn the water to find out where I thought the best places to fish were, and in time I built up my water knowledge.

I fished Chichester Canal from 1961 to 1964, and in that time I caught plenty of fish but my main quarry were the wild carp. They really gave a good account of themselves, offering good fun and good sport at the same time. My favourite method of catching these hard fighting fish was by using a piece of floating bread crust. I’d watch to see their lips appear and suck the bread down, and then they would run to the nearest cover, and that’s when the fun began!

Being born deaf and dumb, I had to rely on my other senses to aid me, such as sight and touch, which made the fishing all the more exciting. I didn’t miss many takes but of course I did miss some; I’m not perfect, but who is?

When I wanted to go night fishing with my brother Barry,