Miles travelled 2880
Red Bulls Consumed 24
Countries Visited 5
Venues Fished 18
Alan new rigs 82 Oli new rigs 4
Cameras lost 1
Number of showers 2
number of carp 32
This Eurobanx 3
As always these trips require so much planning and preparation
But even with the best of plans as usual it all came round so quickly
Lets rock
We hit the road but not before saying a quick goodbye to my girls
Goodbye
See ya
Love you
Even though we were running a bit late we decided a Burger King was essential to get the trip started
This however ensured that we missed our crossing by a few minutes
Because it was peak season we were delayed for 5 hours
Well I have just opened the side door and there are some maggots which means
It has gone from bad to worse
Not only have we missed our crossing but the very limited supply of maggots
Are somewhere underneath that
That is bad times
Not the best start far from it in fact
But we quickly made friends with some fellow travellers to pass the time
Well that is the van reloaded again
I am not pissing I am collecting the flowers for my girlfriend
She likes flowers a lot
Wait a moment
Well if you ain't driving you are tying
Too right this is it mate we are going again
Round 3
We are in France drive on the right let's roll
Our first destination was the incredible Paris
which in the grand scheme of the adventure was only a short trek away
Due to the long delay at the tunnel it was approaching midnight when we finally arrived in the city to meet our friend Sebastien
Sebastien had sorted out the fishing permits and was going to show us a couple of very special park lakes in the heart of Paris itself
I don't know if it's going to be the best coffee you dink in your life
Thank you
We had a good look round before baiting lightly with a few Citruz boilies ready for a return early the following morning
We have got tonight and that is running away with us We are going to go and put the rods out on the river somewhere
but really we have got one day in Paris tomorrow to make the most of it Have a go on these two park lakes and see if the Eiffel Tower is going to be kind to us
We left the park behind us and followed Sebastien across Paris to check out some spots on the mega River Seine
Searching for somewhere to drop in for a few hours until morning came round
We both flicked out the rods and much to my surprise within 20 minutes one of mine was away
6oz lead on a drop off and it has come off on the take and just come straight up in the water
It did feel like a catfish it still does feel like a catfish the way it is fighting
Welcome to Paris
Really nice one
It's not a giant but look at the mouth on it
My first River Seine carp and it took about 20 minutes
Let's go catch a park lake carp
Let's do this
Back at the park lake a little later than we had hoped for we dropped onto the spot we had baited a few hours previously
Two rods out First proper day yesterday was a bit of a write off with regards to fishing
having spent so much time travelling and waiting at the Eurotunnel
It was soon apparent that the spots we had baited were not going to be the one It was time to try and hunt them down
It's a funny old morning
Oli has had to go and put a jacket on
I'm half tempted to put one on
There are fighter jets shooting across the sky everywhere
Army on every roundabout
Men walking round with some serious guns protecting boiling and houses
It's a little bit strange
There is a big military parade I think
So as much as we were going to stay in Paris for another day and night
I think it's time to venture to pastures new
If there were carp here in front of us now I wouldn't be here talking to you
I would have a rod in my hand and we would be trying to catch them
We had pretty much given up hope of catching a carp at the park
But Alan refused to give up and while I loaded the van he went for one last look
There is a carp there two carp
One behind the patch one going that way off the patch
I need to get a stronger rod and stronger line
Hopefully they will be there when I get back
Grab Oli and see if we can get one
It just shows that just another walk round was enough to track some down
I instantly had another chance but my luck really wasn't in
It was a really nice mirror
How's your luck I have lost two this morning and I have just hooked a third one
I'm trying to keep my calm but when you have lost a couple it can really get to you
So I'm trying to keep calm and take deep breaths
A group of fish came through and I have managed to hook another one
Finally things took a change for the better
and with maximum effort the lake had given up one of its jewels
Bonjour
Carp oui
Are you putting it back
Of course
Just taking a picture
Are you a fisherman in England as well
You do that with so much care
Just to get that shot of the Eiffel tower
We did it
Beautiful
Now we will travel to Italy to Bologna Florence and Rome
And you are going to catch a carp
This is the plan
With the sun now beaming down it was a totally different day to earlier on
and I was sure there was another bite to be had
Well done mate
Yes Paris
I lost two and then landed two and I'm absolutely made up with this one
A real chunky park lake mirror
Simple tactics a size 4 Uni a Bread Bomb and a big chunk of bread
The adventure continues and we still have many more days ahead of us
Buzzing absolutely buzzing
Thank you
Au revoir
Today has been un bon jour
Merci
We were literally going to drive off
The weather was appalling it was freezing cold with drizzly rain and a big chop on the water
Just not appealing
I didn't even want to fish myself and that is me saying that
It was a case of lets go somewhere else where we might have a better chance
One walk down the other bank and a little bit of sunshine coming through
Buzzing man
They are certainly receptive to a bait if you can get it in front of them
I wish I had filmed that take as he turned round when he decided to take it
Most of the bites I have had has been a 3 lap thing with them looking at it
maybe nibbling or knocking a bit of the bread off
And then eventually they come up and when they nail it they proper nail it
He knew what he was doing from 10 feet away
He was eating that piece of bread
We are going to get on the road I need to get out of these clothes
big up France lets hit the road
After just 12 hours in Paris we were back on the road
Heading south on the next leg of our journey with our victory souvenir proudly displayed on the dashboard
While Alan ate up the miles I backed up the memory cards
So back in the motor and we are heading to Italy
However what with the lack of sleep last night we have decided wisely I think
To pull over and get some sleep tonight rather than try and make it all the way down to Italy
We are definitely getting there absolutely shattered
So Oli has done what wise people do in this situation and get on the phone to Nick Helleur
Nick has very kindly recommended like he did last time somewhere for us to stop off
Where are we going
We are going to somewhere blue
That was a pretty mammoth van tidy there
We have a bit of a problem
Will it not shut
No
Lets go fishing
How comes you have so much less stuff than me
Look you have a tiny barrow
Bloody hell
After no sleep in Paris and a long day on the road we finally got to the Blue lake just on dusk
We flicked the rods out and got our heads down for some well needed sleep
So we find ourselves rudely awoken by the bailiff this morning
You say that but since I have been up he has been over there looking over and waiting for us to wake up
So thank you sir for letting us have our sleep before coming round
and nicking 42 Euros off us for a day ticket
It's not some big public French lake it is OK to pay
And we caught well you have done alright and had a couple
I've had a couple yeah one 20lber and one maybe not quite that big
Disappointingly I lost two half decent ones
One was certainly a 20 plus mirror right at the net
As you do in fishing you have to evaluate where you are going wrong
First one I got the rig back on the spot
The second one Oli has looked at me and growled let me see that rig
Is that the same rig as you lost one on before
Yeah exactly the same rig Ol
Citrus Cultured hook bait in a bag chucked out and I'm getting the bites really quickly
What size hook
A small one
Get a big hook on they have got big rubbery mouths
1am there I am tying more rigs to add to the list of rigs I have tied
Big hooks size 5 and stronger braid
Cast back out and caught 2 skimmer bream
I doubled the hook bait size and size of the hook and caught two skimmers
Anyway I had a little mirror and more importantly we got some sleep eh mate
It's not Bream Banx It's definitely not Skimmer Banx
Lovely little starburst mirror
Thank you fella lets have a look what Oli caught
They are a bit larger than you but I'm very happy
Mini carp
Number 1
They go like trains and you can see the size of the fins and tail
This one was on a TG Cultured I had the smaller one on a Citrus pop-up
Over about half a kilo of bait as well
So last night's hotel came complete with carp
Let's hit the road
Well you are definitely in Italy when one of them pulls up next to you
After another long day on the road we arrived in Northern Italy in Bologna
where we met our good friend and Italian Nash manager Matteo at a very special lake up in the mountains
Matteo has treated us all to a pizza
It is very good Matteo
Bolognese
Yes pizza with bolognese
Pizza al ragu for Englishman
When in Italy and all that
Do something completely English
Night Alan
Night Oli
Well we are in Italy we got set up really quickly as it started raining
The boys brought us a pizza
Which was lush I hasten to add
The rods are out two each and it has been a long day
I know what I am dreaming about
All those photos those lads showed me on their phone
Big commons big mirrors beautiful backdrops
It's certainly an amazing place
Welcome to Italy
Get some sleep mate see you in the morning
The night was very quiet not just on our rods but in general
With no shows and nothing to really go on
As the temperature rose to almost unbearable levels it was clear the fishing was going to be tough
Well Alan being Alan it was a bit boring sitting round
It was getting that way mate
No carp about but lots of other little fish
Look at that little beauty nailed on a fly
Well we are going for a quick drive round the lake
Very little happening where we are fishing
I have seen one fish show tight to the dam in god knows what depth that was
One fish late last night but other than that it was quiet Matteo
Because of the quick change in weather
Hot to cold
15 degrees less
Last night was it really that cold
The water is coloured
So maybe carp
Don't know
So have I been minding the rods
We have been for a drive round
I say we have been to look for fish but actually I just wanted a nice drive in Matteo's Maserati
Through the mountains
So we have had a good look round and the lake is really busy
Matteo says the nice weather and the fact it is Saturday has brought out many Italian anglers
Anyway so we went back round the dam and all the way down this part of the lake
and I might have found a few fish
There is a back channel with a big pipe across it
On one side of the pipe I noticed the water to be a different shade
The more I studied it the more I started to see bubbles and sets of bubbles coming up
It's difficult to say but I'm pretty sure there are some better sized fish down there
I'm in a bit of a dilemma as I have come back and they have seen one show here
When do you sit on your hands and when do you move
Me personally I am moving I have sat on my hands for long enough here
For sure we can come back here later on
but I think for now I would like to go and have a look where the water is a bit different
Potentially something to go on so I'll give it a go
What have you caught there
I was just kicking back on the air cradle up there almost drifting off
And after a series of beeps I nailed one
I'm actually quite buzzing about that
That's an Italian carp yes mate well done
It certainly wasn't the 20 kilo carp that I was dreaming of but it was a bite in very tough conditions
The only fish to have been caught from the lake while we had been there
I also found a group of small fish right in the corner but they were very spooky
We ended up going back to the original spot for the night
Well it has been a long but enjoyable day in the sun and there has been some sun
I don't know quite how hot it has got but 28 to 30 degrees
Certainly I have caught a bit and Oli has done really well
I'm back round in the swim that we fished in last night
There is not a lot to go on or any places to fish to be frank
The lake is very busy
I have had a play around with the marker float and rather than just chuck them out there anywhere
I have located what I can feel to be a much smoother area
If I keep coming I hit rock and it starts coming up
I am fishing in 20 to 25 feet of water on both the rods
One of them down to my right here
In case any fish do come in and out of this bay
I'm going to fish a pop-up and just spread a few boilies around it
This one out here is in slightly deeper water
It's about 26 feet but again it is that nice clean bottom and I will fish a bottom bait out there
Matteo is sorting out some dinner for tonight
He very kindly offered to arrange food tonight and presented us with two options
One option was cheese and olives bread and this antipasti type dish
The second options this traditional Italian pasta dish
I told him how it is
I need both Matteo
You can't offer me two amazing things and then expect me to pick one
So I'm looking forward to sitting down with the lads later on and having a bit of tea
and soaking it all in really
But for now lets get those rods out
In spite of finding the perfect spots the carp were just not playing ball
At first light we packed the van and headed into the historic city of Florence to fish the River Arno
So we have left the lake driven down the mountain and we are on our way to Florence
All in all very quiet
The most amazing place to chill for a couple of days
I think at a different time when it wasn't so busy with the flexibility to move about
and a bit more time there are some special fish in there to be caught with beautiful backdrops
But for now lets go to Florence and see Giambastiani
There are carp about but Matteo is saying not so many
But Sebastien said the same on the river Seine and Oli went and banked one
So I'm staying optimistic about it
Got my shorts on the suns out going to have a Cornetto later
And we are actually on the right road
This the road
This is the one where we had a massive detour the wrong way
Theres that bridge
We are going the right way now
Off to Florence
Hey cats fancy meeting you here
Florence one of the best cities in Italy
Beautiful city
Urban Banx in Florence
See man driving Italian whip
Another Ferrari
How is that bucket treating you Al
It's crippling me I didn't realise it was a 500 metre walk
I could have travelled a bit lighter in hindsight
But we are nearly there
There is a beautiful bridge just up in front and we are going to pitch up there for a couple of hours
Seen a catfish seen a carp so it's looking positive
Our great friend Giambastiani had organised for us to fish an inaccessible stretch of river
right beneath the famous Pont de Vecchio bridge in the grounds of an exclusive rowing club
where there was the chance of a monster river carp
It is deep and there are many rocks
So you can fish on the bottom or on the surface
You think they will take on the surface
They eat bread
Behave
Hopefully they are doing some carp spotting for us
Seen any carp guys
Well just as it was looking like it was going to be all quiet
Giambastiani has one I don't know quite what
What is it
Its a catfish a very small catfish
Well its not what we came for
Small channel cat
Pretty fish well done
We did get the big net but it wasn't required
We gave it a couple of hours at this picture postcard spot
but with the temperature in the mid 30's and rising and no shelter to get away from the blistering heat
we were forced to seek a shadier spot for the afternoon
This is mental
They must be good at rowing
I think they have won a few trophies by the looks of things
We stepped out onto the busy streets and Alan was instantly recognised by an angler
It's a small world
Good to meet you man
Ciao
Random
Seen the back of that T-shirt
I like that
Four tuna salad
After lunch we were invited to join Giambastiani's friends Tiziano and Yamuna at a spot further upstream
Here there was welcome shade from the relentless sun and hopefully some obliging carp
Tiny but it is a carp though a real carp
Well it's like a carp Al only smaller bless him
Grow up to be a very big carp
He has got a lot of combatting to do out there first
He is catfish sized and there are big cats in here
Well done mate
I was just putting out that other rod and this rod here has gone off
I'm in a right pickle here
Bella bella
Not so small
Have you got a better one
He is a bit bigger than the pound and half one
No photo then
Another awesome baking hot day
I managed to catch myself two fish and now I'm sitting here loving life
I'm pretty confident we have got all the rods in position
I've even stuck a cat rod up by the bridge
I'm going to get some sleep because I need to get up early to head on the next leg of the journey
We are going to Rome
I have never been to Rome
It's been good A hot day and the fishing has been hard
Florence in July isn't really top carping conditions
But hey you have managed to bag one well two
We spent a very pleasant evening with our new friends talking the universal language of fishing
With just as small catfish to add to the tally the following morning it was time to leave our new friends
and head off on the next leg of the mission
Got our souvenir from Florence our little David
Bellisimo
I had a lovely time and I'm a bit sad to be leaving
The fishing wasn't great but the company was exceptional
Really nice people really looked after us
And of course we have learned a little bit of Italian
Molto Bene
What is good luck
Bocca al Lupo
In the jaws of the wolf
I like it big saying
We are driving through Florence now and we have a 2 and a half hour hop to Rome
How many times have you played this tune
Mate hundreds
It's a banger it's amazing
That's a yard
Yardage
Finally got settled for another evening down on the river in Rome
Got here at about 11am and met up with David and Michele
We went and saw three amazing river spots all quite different in their own way
Along the way we had a guided tour through Rome and I had to up my game with the driving
It was bedlam and chaos
You did well mate
We went to visit these three river spots and in amongst all that also stopped off at a park lake
A really big lake with a lot of boat activity that take place there
I did an entire lap of it and found them at the far end
I met back up with the boys and we had a bit of lunch under a tree in the shade
It was too hot to do anything for more than an hour
After that you had to wind down for a little while and get your breath back
I headed back down to where I had seen the fish but only saw a couple of small commons actually roll
I couldn't see them drifting beneath the surface like I had previously
David and Michele had a walk down on the bottom bank and noticed a couple of fish so I shot round there
Very quickly I managed to catch myself a nice Roman park lake common
Good angling mate
Opportunist
I had to do it
I could easily have sat in the shade somewhere but I had to do it
I got the bite second or third cast
I've got myself an Italian park lake common
Again it's no monster but I'm absolutely made up
We then went to the supermarket and we have ended up back here
This is actually the first spot we came and looked at
There is a bridge here and what is the bridge up there called lads
Ponte Milvio a beautiful bridge up there
You have a nice fast run here and it drops off into some deeper water
You have the football stadium just up here yeah we are in the middle of Rome
Oli got his rods out nice and quickly
I set up underneath the bridge
Bad angling really I should have not just sat there because the picture would look amazing
People have been living under there in numbers
The guys have explained that they have had a government policy where they all have to go
and all these people living under there have all been sent away elsewhere
but the remnants of them are still there and it's pretty grimy
So I've moved up here with Oli and we are going to have a social
Oli got his rods out quickly and managed to catch an incredible common
A really dark beautiful fish
First Italian carp and it's a banger
And we are at the Urban Carpfishing spot yes we are
hashtag urbancarpfishing
I've also lost two myself
I set up the barbel rods
We were both keen to catch a barbel and they are overgunned for barbel really being 3lb Scopes
But they are just not up for the job here
Carp yeah
You have a lot of flow running down through the middle
The first one did me in a snag and the second stripped 20 yards of line before again doing me in a snag
No more barbel fishing barbel rods going away
These are 3lb Scopes with 20lb hook link and size 8 hook
Small hook again barbel rods bye bye
The big guns have come out
I'm going to get some heavier gear out there
Bigger hooks and longer stronger hook links
Look forward to the night ahead
It's so snaggy out there
It's a really nice one
Scalded pellet
Whacked the kettle on and scalded it up
I have just been moulding a bit around the hook bait protecting the hook point as well
and also wrapping a bit around the lead
It releases loads of attraction off down the river pulling these bad boys up onto the hook bait
And what a background with the angry urban carp over your shoulder
I'll take you a couple of stills
We were going to stay the night here
but it turns out there are a load of people living in the bamboo behind us
We are going back into the city itself
We are on the outskirts a bit here like I said the football stadium is just up there
but we are going right into the thick of it now
Scarf you
I'm not a big football fan but for any of you guys and girls that love football this quite a big deal
Roma
Big team
Do you know them
Yeah
I don't I'm naive to the world of football
I'm a fisherman thats all I know
There is football and there is fishing
Roma
Forza Roma
This is a bit more of an upmarket bridge
Just slightly
It's ok to go upmarket sometimes
It's alright slumming it
Yeah that was slumming it though
Real different gravy
The river is just there and we are actually driving right along it now
This whole trip I have been longing to fish out of the van
Up until now it has been nothing short of mission after mission
Gear in and out
Upstairs downstairs upstairs downstairs
Look at that
With the party boat just downstream pumping out the tunes we got to work tackling up
But what I didn't need was alan tipping the contents of my tackle box into the dust
Where many of my swivels and rig rings still lay buried to this day
Right so here we are in the posh part of town
It's lush but why I think I was getting so much interest at the last spot
I was taking my hook bait and this is some scalded smaller micro pellet
Give it a good squeeze
Bit of paste
Basically mate
A bit of flow and few smaller fish pecking way at it
Lots of scent and attraction tumbling downstream
I do exactly the same to the lead
I also find it helps not only with the casting but when it goes down the extra weigh helps hold bottom
and lets everything get settled
Usually by the time it is dislodged your lead has found it's grip on the bottom
Dead simple
Good morning Italy
Good morning David good morning Michele
I was just having a mega van sort out showing the boys my new scooter
and it absolutely buckled over
We were literally on our way really
Just getting packed up
It looks like a better fish
It might just be the flow
There is a far old flow
It's whacking through there
The water has come up
Same as last night a big long hook link and a size 4 Twister
It's not a bad one
Double take
Go on Michele
Fish
You alright there mate
Fish or flow
Na flow
Well the second one wasn't a bite
That might not have been a bite
But we have got one in the net
It's pretty safe to say this will be my last Italian carp of the trip
We haven't been here very long
In and out of most places we have been to but thoroughly enjoyed it
Good company beautiful food and incredible carp from some really special places
Made up big up Italy
Definitely couldn't have done it without these lads
You know I said that would be my last Italian fish well Rome wasn't quite done yet
Alan should have reeled in
Another ripper nearly had the rod out of the pod
They are the most violent takes out of absolutely nothing
When in Rome you go fishing
With the van loaded we decided it would be rude not to see a few of the sights
and sample some of the local delights before we said goodbye to David and Michele and headed North again
Serious cake
In Italian you would say a or avete just one word
You have or do you have
Our 24 hours in Rome had flown by and although we hadn't banked any monsters
it had been an amazing experience in this incredible city
sampling some of the often overlooked urban fishing
Romeo done
We drove north back across the border to France chasing the setting sun
and hoping to arrive in the French Alps before dark
to meet Bastl and Robin who had travelled up to meet us at some very special lakes
You are off road now boy
I was busy looking at the map then
Mega peaceful well other from a Yout on a moped
We didn't fish that night choosing to have a social and a catch up and half decent night's sleep
Ready for an early start the following morning
So first morning in the Alps with the man like Bastl
And the man like Savage
A beautiful dark Alpine mirror
Bastl is this your first French carp
It is my first French carp
The first of many my friend
I hope so
And hopefully the smallest
Thats a pretty one
It's a lovely one
This was followed shortly after by another even bigger one
I can't believe it
Look at it
The boys have come down
The boys have dragged themselves out of bed
A better description
After a couple of hours sleep
Look at that sun though Ol
There's big dirty mark on that lens a big fingerprint
Shower I'm going to be jumping in the lake in a minute
That's what I mean mate au naturel
It's a really mad one
That's a lovely one
Yes Bastl second French carp
Step by step to a 25kg fish
Thanks for helping
We love it wet
About time those socks got washed
And this is Savage chasing a Snake across the lake to go and catch it
Beat him
It was a viper
Savage by name savage by nature
Watching Robin having a swim and in dire need of a shower I couldn't resist having a dip myself
However the local wildlife was less than welcoming
What is that
Is it biting you
Put your little toe in
He has got a little nip on him
He is the winner
Look he has reinforcements
Pop-up rig tying
Bastl is going to join the pop-up team
As usual after a couple of hours I started to get itchy feet
I went off to do a bit of stalking on the intimate lake next door
Bad times straight out of it's mouth
With no further bites that morning we headed into town to pick up a few essentials
Time for a bit of shopping
Top of the list was a disposable barbecue which proved a challenge to locate in the giant hypermarket
Victory
I'm so hungry
Going to chill out with the boys now and get the barbecue on and flick a couple of rods out
See if we can get a monster
In the heat of the day there was nothing else to do
but get the rods out fire up the barbecue and chill out
That's got to be a bite hasn't it
No
Yes
Only a small one
Yeah I can see it's a small one
I've been picking them out
Oh mate we came to the Alps to get a monster
It's a bite and I've really had to work for it
God knows how many miles I have walked and how much sweat has dripped out of me today
A little pineapple crush Fluoro pop-up and just a smattering of Pineapple Crush boilies over the top
That's the only one I had on a brighter hook bait and that's nailed it
Selecting bigger fish is an art in itself
Mate you have just got to fish for bites at the end of the day
At the moment most of the bites are coming from the mosquitos
You ain't wrong
As the day came to a close Bastl joined Robin and Oli who were set up on a big wild lake nearby
chancing their arm for a public lake whacker
At first light Bastl left the boys on the big lake
and we joined forces again for our second day in the Alps
It will be a monster one day
A stunning little Alpine mirror
Certain it's been born in the lake
One day it will grow to be a really impressive beast
Well we have just released that small mirror
We have looked at each other and thought it ain't really happening up there
There are definitely a few fish boshing out further down
I think we are going to get the rods in drive down this track here
and have a go down the bottom end where Bastl caught that amazing mirror yesterday
I put quite a bit of bait out there yesterday evening and managed to catch one just on dark
I think it's well worth going and checking down there
It's really quiet up here
Let's do it yeah
After a move back to the area we had baited Bastl quickly bagged a nice mirror
I said half an hour
You said 30 minutes
Key again 20mm
Perfect
It's not that small
what is it about 11 kilos
Yeah something like that
Number 3 for the lucky boy
Nice one mate
Lets get him back
Bye bye
There is nothing exciting about tying bait to the hook
Do you use bait floss
No
How do you do it then pierce it
Just using some cut off Chod Link
And then burning it
The fish won't mind
It's a good method mate I have done it loads
It's quick it's simple
Do Nash sell bait floss
Yeah
Oh bait floss is way better then
There were definitely more fish up at this end
and again it was Bastl that had the next take
You got it on tape
Yeah
You are very quiet Bastl
Sorry my body doesn't know what to feel
It is huge
Good fish
Big battle
We have to call the boys
My phone
Last year a Gopro
The back
Is this one filming
Yes
Now your phone
It's dead
Was it worth it
Yes
Come and look at this
20 kilo
45lb 8oz
How much is that
20 kilo
I don't know how much that is
Just over 20 kilos
Yes Bastl
I don't know what to say
I fell dropped my iPhone
Out of nowhere
It was the next rod to reel in
Happy days
It was a big fight
Basil is so modest he is going to put his T-shirt on
You are looking good Bastl
That's what no sleep no eating and many fishing does to you
It keeps you trim
Let's go
Feed the fish
The Key and Pineapple Crush unbeatable
C'est bon
Pour les grande poisson
I never used to fish pop-up rigs
I tried years ago but never felt good using them
This time Robin was saying go for a pop-up
A huge 20mm pop-up and it worked 4 times now
I used pink but we ran out of pink pop-ups
I just brought 3 or 4 as I caught 4 fish now
That's it
Oh well
Alan brought everything but no Key pop-ups
I brought the leftovers from Austria
Did you get that
This is our second day here now and though I have managed to catch a couple of small fish on pop-ups
Bastl has done incredibly well and only a little while ago he banked
an impressive monster of 45 pounds
I thought I'm going to try and catch them right in the edge
While Bastl had about 3 hours sleep earlier I have been up and down this lake
Just priming areas with pellets and tigers
Eventually I got a few fish grubbing around here
I refined my rig and took the choddy off
I put a nice short hook link on and two little tigers
Yeah go on the Alps
I managed to get about 10 fish grubbing around
None of them were monsters
I just wanted to get a bite
So I have gone a little bit shorter and fished a double tiger nut on there on a blowback like so
I don't think it's the tigers it's the pellet
It's definitely the pellet
They love pellet carp love pellet
I'm sure that attracts the crays
First thing tomorrow morning they are going to get whatever pellet I have left
Bring as many cray and poisson chat in as possible
Let's have a party and hopefully there will be a few more of these incredible fish along with it too
Just look at that for a common
He doesn't want his picture taken
Is it a carp
Yes a common carp
Would you like to come and see
Big fish
Stroke his scales
Splash him
Say bye bye
Au revoir
5 second rule
The heat had brought the locals out in force and in spite of the disturbance the fish were still feeding
Bastl was starting to make it look easy
So we left Bastl on his own for a while and look what happens
Those rigs
Pop-up rig strikes again
He is nice one man
Maybe not quite 30 but not far off
Still don't believe in pop-up rigs but they have been working
Sorry it's gone
We are having a really nice time
Robin is sticking it over on the big forgotten lake
Oli is going to go back over there this evening and chuck the rods out with him
Bastl and I are going to go on then stalking pond and in the morning head off north back to the UK
One final stop though and I'm looking forward to it
We are going to do a bit of canal fishing in central Amsterdam
Meet up with everyone on Saturday evening and have a barbecue and a social
There are a few people meeting from various parts of Europe
and on Sunday we are going to go to a festival to unwind
Ready for a big reality check when I get back to the UK
And a big box full of emails
But don't worry about that now cos look where we are
All that matters now is trying to get the next bite
Bonjour Bastl
My body is aching everything is
Yeah the back of my legs are aching
Too many mosquito bites
You boys are hardcore
It's only you and Oli who can do this
No one else can is as crazy
It is starting to kill me though
We got up again this morning at silly o'clock
There has been lots of rain and we haven't caught anything
But we are smiling
Fake smile
It has not worked out this morning bizarrely
Put a bit of bait out last night
To be fair everything looked really good
I don't know if it's the constant changes in the weather
Anyway I have just had a phone call from Oli and Robin
They have packed up on the super duper special lake and they have not caught anything either
Not really the ending we were hoping for but we had a really great time
As we packed the van almost ready to bid the alps farewell it very kindly gave us one more carp
This is the future
As Scopes are
Then we have a 10 hour drive up to Holland into Amsterdam
and the boys are coming with us
I wasn't sure they would
To be honest we weren't sure we would
It's such a beautiful place we were going to stay
I thought the boys were going to stay as well but they are coming with us
We are going to have a party and try and catch some Dutch canal carp
Let's see what happens
I think you are the first one to catch him
I have caught three that I was the first one because I catch so many small ones
Let's do this
See you later
Address change country
Holland
654 miles its a short one
We can do this
After over a week on the road exhaustion was kicking in
and we reached a point where Haribo and strong coffee were the only things keeping is going
This is a picnic
We are having a little road trip picnic
I have just done a very dangerous thing
Went shopping when hungry
Hungry man went to supermarket
So while i drive and film Alan is making lunch
When you don't have knife just use the top bit
I have had to do this many times
Thats about done
That's a good sandwich nice one mate
Give it to me
Feed me
And for desert
Well we have arrived in central Amsterdam
The day is coming to an end really
We have watched the sun go down as we were driving along and we are here in the thick of it
Lot's of people about going out for dinner
It's Friday evening so it's going to be pretty busy
I have just made a quick phone call to Timon one of the lads from the Benelux Nash team who we are meeting
We are going to go and chuck the rods out with him for the evening down the canal
So lets get the rods out here tonight get a few ours sleep and get up bright and early and head over to some park lakes
See where the day takes us a few of the nash lads from the uk are coming over to have a party on sunday
Timon will be here somewhere
There's our man
Got a bream mate
This is not Bream Banx
Arriving just before dark we met up with Dutch consultant and top lad Timon
who was already set up in the centre of Amsterdam at the junction of five canals
We have got a park bench and a bin
Luxury
I bet you close by there could even be some toilets
Living the dream
Check it out porcupines
Baby zebra
Many beautiful birds
A swan sorry queen
The queen doesn't own the ones in Holland
True that
We grabbed a quick bite to eat but wasted no time in getting the rods out
Loving it absolutely loving it
Isn't it funny we went from the busyness of Rome to the tranquility of the Alps
and now we are back in the city again
It's been a real rollercoaster
A mad adventure
And now we are in Amsterdam
Plenty of bream tonight Timon
Well we are off
Didn't catch one well none of us caught one
Timon had 11 bream I had 4 Bastl had 3 and the wise man Robin had none cos he fished with double 20mm
I didn't go to sleep until about 4.15am
I ended up changing to double 20mm and I didn't catch another bream
There is a major tip for you there guys
If you don't want to catch a bream stick two 20mm baits on
On one rod I had two 20mm pop-ups on the other I had two 20mm Cultured hook baits
Perfect no bream
Timon is up in front we are following him around central Amsterdam looking for some carp
Here it is I am not going to try and pronounce it I'd be better off spelling it to you
but it starts with B and I think it ends in M
It's a park lake and I wouldn't say it was the ghetto
Some people have described it to me as the Ends
Not the nicest part of town but I think it's quite affluent
That house there is lovely
Anyway it looks like a gorgeous park
You have got a kids play area a couple of connecting canals so lets go for a walk round
Find some fish and try and nick one bite
We spent a few hours exploring the maze of waterways in the park
and although we found the carp we couldn't quite tempt them into feeding
We decide to call it a day and meet up with some friends at a massive lake on the outskirts of the city
That's it boys where we are going to spend the night
The barbecue is already on
There is something on
Yeah there is something
It's stuck in a snag but you can still feel it Dave
So Alan just because he is bored
He has got some balls man
Never a dull moment hey
He's out
This is not Bream Banx
What have you got there
I caught some kind of cloth
Well done Dave
PB cotton
I think that's for the blooper section then
What we have over here is some Englishmen and some Dutch people for some nice celebrations
Do a trick
It's a fishing scooter Rachel
Please do not tell me
It is a fishing scooter
The Sawn off net goes in there and then you wrap it round there
No man
you put your R3's in the front of it like that
You pop this up
It's a rod pod as well
Where are your front stabilisers Al
My man Neil Stanley check him on Facebook he went in
Clip your Sawn offs in
Ah man I'm building a rod pod I can ride on
Surprise surprise Bastl is now in charge of the food he loves his food this boy
Oh yeah that's looking good
Of course Savage can't help but touch a sausage
With his bare hands
Touching all the sausages
Czech style
We had an evening filled with good food fun and laughter and of course the rods out too
It was the perfect way to end a sweltering summers day
Sometimes it really is about more than just the fishing
It actually turned out to be quite a productive night
In the hours of darkness I managed to bag one as did Bastl and Dave
With the others sleeping off their hangovers
I was up bright and early to try and stalk myself a final carp
Hopefully the lads will be up soon
Nice one Dave sorry to wake you up buddy
No problem man
Lovely times
Let's go party
Let's go and have a shower
I need a shower
For our final night we had booked a hotel mainly so we could have a shower
before we hit the festival later that day
We treated ourselves to a proper meal with knives forks and napkins
The dancing shoes went on and it was time to party
Here we go
It was an amazing way to end the best adventure roll on eurobanx 4
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