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‘26/06/1996’  Simon Hartop   It was June 21st 1996, I'd recently finished my degree against all the odds and I was pottering around the Royal parks of West London on my bike enjoying my freedom and musing on what life had in store for me next. Richmond Park was in my sights on this occasion as Ritchie Macdonald had banked an incredible 40 pounder a few seasons before so I cycled off down there for a scope. There was only one angler fishing and we hit it off straight away; his name was Ritchie Curtis, 'Little Ritch' or 'Motormouth' as...

A few years ago we spent a season or so fishing alongside Darren on White Swan, our regular chats carried out typing questions and answers into our phones, or via basic hand signals and drawing diagrams in the dirt were always welcome and enjoyed – Darren’s big smiles and positivity always bringing a quiet calm to the bustle of the park. If you don’t know Darren, he is profoundly deaf, and has been about on the big carp scene for many years now, catching some of the best in the land. We caught up to see how it changes the...

What Really Matters Luke Stevenson Each issue we ask someone to order the following headings, in order of importance, and to tell us a bit about why they matter. This is big fish supremo Luke Stevenson's list of 'what really matters'. Enjoy   Quality/heritage of our quarry  With so many carp out there to fish for nowadays, picking the ones to angle for isn’t as easy as you might think. Actually choosing the ‘ones’ to target is massively important to me, and they’ve got to be unique – be it size, looks character or age, or a combination of those...

With thanks to Paul Mallinson for the words, and Alex at Chunk On for allowing us to share it; This week the carp world was shocked with the news the Jim Wilson had passed away at the age of only 42. Being the same age myself, it really made me sit back and take stock of life and be thankful for my heath and the things that matter around you. Amazingly, despite being from the same home town of Scunthorpe and both being lifelong anglers, Jim and I never actually met. We spoke on the phone a few times and sent...