Big Carp Hunters

By Craig Lyons

Craig wrote this book while I was midway through the Big Carp Legends series, and I thought he fitted the bill, so I asked him if he would like to be part of the Legends series or wait for the next series Big Carp Hunters. He thought that title was more suitable, and to be honest I couldn't agree more. Although Craig is a fantastic carp angler, I suppose he is still only a young man compared to the authors of that series, but he certainly fulfils all the requirements of a carp hunter.
When I first imagined this series I wanted to create a series of books written by carp anglers that should have already had at least one book already on the shelves, but for one reason or another this had not happened. Dave Mallin, Nick Helleur and Derek Rance were three such anglers, and Craig now makes it four.

Craig began his fishing in the seventies, fishing the Kent hotbed during its heyday. Growing up in this area at this time was a massive advantage and his early influences were the great carp anglers of the time: Gibbinson, Jackson and Co. During the eighties he discovered Sutton and Sutton-at-Hone, and such was his interest in all things carp he took up a committee position with DDAPS (Sutton), became treasurer and later Chairman of this huge Kent fishing club, a massive achievement in itself.

He was also very successful on these venues, catching all the big ones.

Soon his desire to travel further afield in search of monster carp took hold, and during the eighties and nineties he concentrated on the London reservoirs around Walthamstow, travelled north to Birch Grove then back down to the Colne Valley for some of its big known fish. Returning to Walthamstow and Sutton as the fish got bigger, he also found time to fish Redmire and The Manor before being crowned Carp Angler of The Year in 1995, a fantastic achievement considering Craig's time on the bank was very limited due to holding down a full time job and being restricted in fishing time.

Craig even went further afield and was very successful in Canada and in France.

These days Craig has settled down. He is an active member of the British Carp Study Group. He fishes their waters in the Colne Valley, once again outfishing many around him. Craig is without doubt a big carp hunter. He's been there, done it and worn out the T-shirt, and I feel very privileged to have him as part of this series. However, whether he should have been in the Legends series is up to you, the reader, to decide.

Now sit back and read the life story of one of England's most prolific catchers Craig Lyons, truly a big carp hunter.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BigCarpMagazine
• Release date: Aug 31, 2015
• ISBN: 9780992753184

Book preview

Big Carp Hunters

Craig Lyons

Foreword by Rob Maylin

Cracking brace.

Craig wrote this book while I was midway through the Big Carp Legends series, and I thought he fitted the bill, so I asked him if he would like to be part of the Legends series or wait for the next series Big Carp Hunters. He thought that title was more suitable, and to be honest I couldn't agree more. Although Craig is a fantastic carp angler, I suppose he is still only a young man compared to the authors of that series, but he certainly fulfils all the requirements of a carp hunter.

When I first imagined this series I wanted to create a series of books written by carp anglers that should have already had at least one book already on the shelves, but for one reason or another this had not happened. Dave Mallin, Nick Helleur and Derek Rance were three such anglers, and Craig now makes it four.

Craig began his fishing in the seventies, fishing the Kent hotbed during its heyday. Growing up in this area at this time was a massive advantage and his early influences were the great carp anglers of the time: Gibbinson, Jackson and Co. During the eighties he discovered Sutton and Sutton-at-Hone, and such was his interest in all things carp he took up a committee position with DDAPS (Sutton), became treasurer and later Chairman of this huge Kent fishing club, a massive achievement in itself.

He was also very successful on these venues, catching all the big ones.

Soon his desire to travel further afield in search of monster carp took hold, and during the eighties and nineties he concentrated on the London reservoirs around Walthamstow, travelled north to Birch Grove then back down to the Colne Valley for some of its big known fish. Returning to Walthamstow and Sutton as the fish got bigger, he also found time to fish Redmire and The Manor before being crowned Carp Angler of The Year in 1995, a fantastic achievement considering Craig's time on the bank was very limited due to holding down a full time job and being restricted in fishing time.

Craig even went further afield and was very successful in Canada and in France.

These days Craig has settled down. He is an active member of the British Carp Study Group. He fishes their waters in the Colne Valley, once again outfishing many around him. Craig is without doubt a big carp hunter. He's been there, done it and worn out the T-shirt, and I feel very privileged to have him as part of this series. However, whether he should have been in the Legends series is up to you, the reader, to decide.

Now sit back and read the life story of one of England's most prolific catchers Craig Lyons, truly a big carp hunter.

Introduction

Where it all started

Staying down there at night, being under the stars was a big thing for a kid of that age.

It all started in the early 80’s, like everyone we don’t actually start with carp fishing, hopefully we do a bit of float fishing here and there, and mine started on the river Darenth, down near Horton Kirby, going down there with a bit of cane as a rod at the weekend in between going to school, trying to catch my first fish. The first fish I can actually remember was about 1978 or 79, going down Franks Lane on the river Darenth, and catching a chub that must have been around the 2-3lb mark. Obviously, at that age, it was one hell of a fish – a monster fish. To be honest with you I just couldn’t believe my eyes, and to think that it was caught on a cane rod with a bit of line tied to the end, if I remember rightly, with a curtain ring, tied to the end, and I just dangled a worm underneath the bridge. I know you read about these sorts of things and it’s often just a story, but it’s not, it’s factual, that’s actually what happened.

From there, my fishing just developed, and I got hooked – I just wanted to go fishing every weekend. Obviously school determines how much time you’ve got to do that sort of thing, but I decided that I wanted to join a lake or do something along those lines to catch some bigger fish, because the river Darenth was quite limited in to what it had species-wise and size, although size in those days didn’t really matter, and to be honest with you, it doesn’t today. What I found out was that just down the road from where I was fishing on the river was Horton Kirby, which was on day ticket at the time, and was controlled by Dartford and District Angling and Preservation Society. At the time I lived in New Barn, which was a good mile away from the nearest train station, and unfortunately I had no way of getting to that train station on a Saturday morning other than actually walking. It was probably the same for most people, but unfortunately I didn’t have parents who were willing to drive me down there at half past four on a Saturday morning.

So I loaded myself up, with the old seat box, rod bag, a few sarnies, cup of tea etc, etc. I would start off walking early on Saturday and Sundays every single week, all the way down to Longfield station. It was a long walk, whatever way you look at it, with all the gear on your shoulders. I’d get down to the station and wait for the train to pull up, but obviously the guards van didn’t always stop exactly where you were standing, so you had to quickly look left and right and see where you could get your gear on, as nine times out of ten the carriages were full up with people.

Having loaded the gear on, the next stop was Farningham station, which was obviously where a lot of famous lakes are today – Sutton at Hone, Sutton Leisure Sport, Darenth, Horton Kirby, etc. So I got off at the station at Farningham, walked down the hill, which again was about a half mile walk with all my gear, walked along the river Darenth, and came to the gate. To be honest with you, I can’t remember the first time I did it, but the excitement that I had, and still have, walking down there and going down memory lane, walking up to the gates there, and thinking that I have fished it for so many years.

Horton Kirby, as a lot of you will know, has got so much history; a lot of people started fishing there. You had a lake to the left hand side, Westminster Field, which is half members only, but the rest of the complex at that time was day fishing only, and what a place it was! At that time if I remember rightly, it held carp to the mid-20’s, decent pike, tench, and roach – most of the species that people go after. At that time I wasn’t specifically looking to catch carp; I was coarse fishing, enjoying myself, getting a take, and seeing the float go under.

Time progressed a couple of years, up to about 1981, and I had spent all that time down there catching most species; bream, carp, tench, roach, whatever came along, and I decided that I wanted to specialise in carp fishing. I remember the reason behind that decision, and it’s a shame I can’t remember the person’s name, but, I was on the lake one morning on a Saturday or a Sunday, and this bloke had a screaming take on the old Optonics. You looked round and everyone was excited, wondering what was on the end. To be honest with you that thrill is still there today, and it should be for everyone, because knowing that you may have some big fish that you have never caught before on the end, or whatever; it doesn’t really matter. Anyway, he was playing this fish, and he slipped the net under what to me at the time was a monster, just something I had never seen before. It was a 25lb-plus mirror; I’ll never forget it as long as I live, and I was hooked from then on.

I think at that time I must have been very close to a birthday or Christmas, because as far as I can remember, very soon after that I had a pair of carp rods – they were the old Jerry Savage Horton Kirby rods funnily enough, in green glass. They would have been second hand, and I had a pair of Ryobis, the first decent reel that I owned and in those days it was all top of the range to be honest with you. We didn’t have the sophistication and baitrunners and god knows what like you have today. You’d fish with the old monkey climbers and reel spinners, and many times you’d get a take and you’d nigh on break your knuckles where the handle would spin round so fast, or you’d keep your fingers on the spool and you’d strike, and the bobbin, the old monkey climber, would get stuck on the needle, or the washing up liquid bottle top would get jammed in the front of the buzzers. I don’t actually remember what buzzers I had in those days and to be honest with you; I would have thought they were Magnatronics or the old Optonics, as I don’t know whether the Magnatronics were out then. I remember having a set at one time, but so many things have moved forward, and we’ve progressed and moved too quickly I think personally, and forgotten about what’s really important in carp fishing. Those days to me still are the best in respect of nostalgia; you went fishing to catch carp and it didn’t matter what you caught; you went home happy. I think that’s of major importance in carp fishing today; it doesn’t matter whether that fish is 9lb or hypothetically 90lb – you must enjoy your fishing, go out there, and de-stress from work, and enjoy yourself. All the banter that goes on within carp fishing today, isn’t needed to be honest with you; we’ve all got something in common and that’s carp fishing, and I think we should enjoy it and remember that a lot of the time.

I’ve digressed a bit there, so we’ll go back to Horton Kirby as a kid. You’ve got four lakes there, and at the time, as I said, the left hand lake was mainly members only, but the rest of it was day ticket fishing, with a good head of carp. I remember having probably four or five 8-9lb commons (which at that time were very common, hence the word I suppose), in that venue. I probably met a lot of people that I know today down there, but never realised who they were. It’s close on 20 acres, and it had a lot of nostalgia. It’s one of the waters where carp fishing began; Jerry Savage and the like fished there on a regular basis. You read a lot of the old books and articles by Jim Gibbinson etc, and Horton Kirby is always mentioned; a lot of people started on Horton Kirby and Sutton at Hone. I think it was probably two or three years that I fished Kirby, and I’d not fished anywhere else. I would pay my day ticket when the bailiff would come round, and I can’t even remember how much it was to be honest with you, maybe a couple of quid, but no comparison to today’s prices. I remember asking someone about joining the club. It was hard paying a day ticket when you’re that age; I think I did a milk round or a paper round to pay for it, or you scraped your coppers together, but you had to pay for your fishing whatever happened.

I wanted to go every weekend, and I eventually somehow got into the Dartford club. I’m