The Carp Fishing Podcast

I've been really excited to get this podcast out for so many reasons.

Our guest this month is Jude Ashken, a name some of you may recognise. Jude won the BYCAC in his youth before going on to secure a full year of Korda sponsorship — a dream for many young anglers. But things didn't quite pan out as expected.

This is a thought-provoking conversation that takes us through Jude's early life, the loss of his dad and the profound impact that has had on his outlook on life. Jude's story, perspective and wisdom genuinely caught me by surprise. By the end of our conversation, I found myself reflecting on my own life in ways I could never have anticipated.

My biggest takeaway was actually very simple: be more like Jude.

I really hope you enjoy listening to this one as much as I enjoyed recording it.

As always, there's another Panthers Sermon, while Mark and I get stuck into the impact of early spawning, weight gains, records and what it takes to gain length....

Enjoy.

This month, I join Mark back on the bank to see if he can rectify — and ultimately avenge — the lost carp from last month. And, spoiler alert, we get a live take on the podcast… and this time, he actually lands it!

Mark has also been playing around with a new rig, which he's keeping very close to his chest, but let's just say it appears to be working a treat.

Alongside the live action, we chat about a recent family fishing session that came good, carp growth, and the fascinating hierarchy of stock ponds — particularly when it comes to those top-tier fish that seem to outgrow everything else in the lake. We also get into baiting patterns, and why sometimes doing things differently can give you a real edge.

As always, the wonderful Scandinavian God returns with this month's Panther's Sermon, and last but certainly not least, we have a proper treat of a guest joining us all the way from the USA — Joel Harber.

Joel moved to America in search of a new life, only to discover that he'd landed in a country full of untapped, uncaught carp. Of course, catching them comes with its own unique set of challenges. Having bears for company, for starters, is a rather different proposition to fishing a gravelled swim at Linear!

Thanks for the support as always. So, sit back, turn it up and enjoy another episode of The Carp Fishing Podcast.

Sorry for the delay! We hit a few technical gremlins this month, so we're a few days behind schedule, but we're back with another instalment of Carpy Ramblings.

Spoiler alert: Mark doesn't drop any tackle boxes, lose any fish, or cause any lakeside disasters this time. In fact, for a change, he doesn't even cast out.

Instead, we settle in by the lake and chat about the recent heatwave and its impact on fisheries, catch up on Mark's ADHD journey, and look back at The Wild Goose Chase—the latest film from Gaz and me. We also discuss how some of our bait photos mysteriously found their way onto another brand's social media in what can only be described as a rather questionable attempt to sell products.

The Panther returns with another slice of sermon magic, there's your chance to win a bait bundle, and, last but certainly not least, Jake "The Heron" joins us once again to talk about a huge change in his life. After leaving his full-time role at Prolite Explorer, he's taking the plunge into some exciting new ventures — and we find out exactly what's next. Enjoy.

This month Mark had a nightmare on the bank. We kicked off our usual podcast ramblings live in session. We only had a few hours to try and get a bite live on the podcast mic but lets just say it didn't go to plan. Mark hasn't been fishing for ages, he was rusty to say the least and everything he touched seemingly went wrong. That aside we eventually got to settle down and discuss our movements over the last four weeks, a trip to Holland in 38c sun, carp care and the recent paper that seems to point to it's lack of impact on the fish, we also discuss the benefits of handling carp in the water and how using Ai carp in bait adverts has begun!

The Panther is back in full Sermon flow and our special guest this month is our good pal, the Welsh Choir Boy himself, Luke Kennard. I've been wanting to get Luke on for some time as he recently embarked on an adventure to track down and catch two carp that lived in a remote, Welsh mountain lake. This adventure was captured on his cameras on his YouTube channel - Kennards Reel Adventures, it's a must watch. Enjoy.

It's great to be back recording this month's podcast. Me and Mark haven't crossed paths much over the last four weeks for various reasons but as always we soon start discussing plenty of relevant topics that may just help put an extra carp or two on the bank.This time round we cover ammonia spikes in lakes, the cycle of dissolved oxygen and how this relates to bite times, rancid bait and how this can completely ruin a spot plus our usual dose of life's trials and tribulations.

Then we have the much loved Panthers sermon back as Tim's global "In Pursuit of the Largest" pilgrimage comes to an end before we roll into our guest chapter. This month it's Mr Big Carp Buzz himself, Louis Bernthal aka Berny or berny_tighlines on insta. Now Berney is someone that lives and breathes his fishing however due to family commitments his angling is extremely limited. Despite him struggling to find time to wet a line he's always on hand to congratulate his mates on captures without an ounce of jealousy. His buzz for carp fishing is infectious and when he does get to wet a line, let's just say he makes the most of every single minute of his slice of freedom. Berny is partial to living like a shipwreck survivor in pursuit of big, wild carp and his never give up attitude is an asset that has driven him to extremes to ensure his public lake dreams become reality. Enjoy.

Another month of life has gone past in a blur. Time goes so fast and I must admit I'm not sure what I've achieved apart from chasing my tail like a headless chicken. That said, one date in the diary that I always enjoy is our podcast chats and this month me and Mark kicked off our chat covering a post Gaz popped up on his socials recently about time. How much do we get, are we sometimes camping rather than carping due to slotting into busy lakes, the stark difference between UK and European space and freedom and generally how much do each of us get to actually angle compared to juggling life.

Our chat covers content also, what can feel aspirational v's what is often totally unrelatable. We also delve briefly into a trip that me and Gaz recently did in Europe (film pending) that ended in me nearly giving poor Gaz a heart attack.

Sadly we have no Panthers Sermon this month. His good friend Jamie tells us that Tim " Panther" Harris has been on a Pilgrimage - Spreading the written word of our lord T.Hearn through his cult classic "In Pursuit" to the natives of the South Indian Ocean. Yateley angling Center has reported already seeing an uptake in Neville stainless orders.....

Alongside our usual ramblings we have a great guest on, Liam Maccartney or in social slag 140_DPM aka one half of the team behind the brand - A.B.G - AntiBreamGang. Liam does things his way, his honest account about life and how his fishing has changed over the years was refreshing to hear. Starting a brand from scratch is tough but Liam is a creative wizard and it shows in his video edits, his content and his constant drive to push himself to the utter limits with his fishing adventures. To coin his own phase and one his life mantras the sums him up pefectly - "Search & Distroy" enjoy, he's one of lifes good guys!

We recorded this one in the van while heading back from a tough trip to France last week. As usual the conversation flowed as we discussed alternative baiting approaches and how not rushing into getting the rods out might work better in the long run. We also delve in Mark's recent ADHD diagnosis and how this has transformed his life. Men in general aren't the best at opening up on personal matters but if Mark's experience over the last few months helps just one person listening to our podcast it was worth it. We also have our resident sermon reading from the Swedish leney, Mr Tim "Panther" Harris, can he make it three months on the trott that no one has guessed his passage? Our special guest this month is a lovely chap called Jody Bourton. Now you'd have to have lived under a rock to have never come across the highly successful River Monsters series. Jody was part of the production team so as you can imagine has some epic stories of monster fish, adventures, risks and ultimate rewards. In addition Jody is a carp angler who loves to travel. It's a great chat with one of life's good guys. Enjoy!

Tim Rowland is someone I've wanted to get on the podcast for a while. Carp fishing's biggest asset is time, if used wisely but that isn't a currency Tim deals in. To help put Tim's carp fishing into context, it's usually one trip a month, after work on a Friday, once all the family demands and other life duties are in order. Over the last few years his angling adventures have been solely focussed around the Linch Hill complex, mainly Stoneacres. Many would think it just isn't worth even attempting to tame such a water without the luxury of time but Tim did it in style, fishing his own way and catching some of the best carp on the complex. In addition I caught up with Mark while he was fishing to discuss the joys of spring, the rise of Ai catch reports and some spring tips based on the carps body clock. Enjoy and as always we appreciate all your support, reviews and comments. You can find us on Spotify, I-tunes and all other podcast apps.

We're back with another great guest this month, Terry Barrett. Now like many of us, Terry is a working man, with a family, has limited time but walks the path of no mercy.... chasing old, big carp from demanding venues. What I enjoyed about this chat was Tel was brought up fishing in the competitive match scene before making the transition to carp fishing later than most. Despite a late start he hit the ground running and immediately got stuck into some of the best carp in the valley. It was fascinating to talk about his approach to angling, how stealth plays a vital role and how his match days have taught him the importance of correct bait application and how reading a swim before you start will often be the difference between success or failure. We're pleased to have the Panther aka Tim Harris back with another Sermon reading and we also chew the fat and cover what's been happening in our world since the last podcast. Last but not least, as always Mark has a rather embarrassing story to tell that saw him with his pants down in the pantry. Enjoy!

We're back, a few days later than normal due to the festive break but we have a fantastic podcast to kick start 2026. This month we have two great guests, first up is Jake Davoile, a Fisheries Management Advisor who works for the Angling Trust on a variety of predation projects including the one I really wanted to discuss, seal predation. Yes you read that right, it's a far bigger issue than many even know and Jake plus others have been working tirelessly to re-home seals that ended up in the river Nene with devastating impacts to fish populations. This really is a must-listen as seals in our freshwater systems are on the rise and sadly seal predation has decimated many freshwater river sections in recent years, including a section of the Thames that I was fishing only last year.

We follow that with a thoroughly enjoyable chat with Simon Hartop. Now in my opinion Simon once caught a carp that rocked the angling world, almost unknown at the time but equally as impactful as the Black Mirror but this one was even harder to catch. We get an insight into that incredible campaign, as well as his time on the Thames and how fishing for odd uns, carp with very few captures has consumed him over the years. It's not all carp, it was wonderful to touch on Si's editorial work with the BCSG magazine and his involvement with Gaz's Subsurface journals too. To add a little slice of nostalgia to the mix I got to record this chat on Si's old Thames boat, the "Griffin" as by some strange turn of fate my good friend Liam now owns it and it's taken on a new chapter in it's angling life. Hope you enjoy it and Happy New Year to all our listeners.