Carp Fishing with a Difference

A Video from UncutFishing.co.uk

When I was asked to review this offering from UncutFishing.co.uk I must say I was a little taken aback. Although I am an angler (of sorts), I'm not the sort that occupies a bivvie for days on end in the search for that one-and-only enormous carp.

I thought I might not do justice to the producers of this video if they were talking in a carp-catching language that I didn't understand, but I decided that if this video could entertain and educate me then it would probably do the same for all those thousands of middle-ground anglers.

This little gem, put together by Andy Commons (who, from his accent, hails from the Manchester area?) is a video in that shady area that is better than a home movie but not so pretentious as to require a professional production crew.

From the start, at an unproductive (and bleak looking) Shimano Lakes in Oxfordshire it's obvious that a carp angler's lot is not always sunshine and, well . . . carp. For, at this venue, our intrepid angler couldn't tempt a single fish, and a lot of time was apparently spent in discerning this fact.

However, with a change of venue, the situation improves and the required quarry are soon splashing their way into Andy's net.

This sort of action is repeated at a number of venues up and down the country and is presented in such a way that I didn't find it boring at all. I did find myself trying to look around Andy's back to get an early sight of the net-bound fish, but this is an amateur video and photography is not necessarily an angler's art.

You might say that 100 minutes of filmed carp-catching would test the boredom threshold of the most ardent angler but this video is judiciously edited, with Andy's obvious enthusiasm for his subject lifting it well out of the mundane.

There is good voice-over, highlighting the sites of the various venues, and the costs involved to fish them, and an entertaining cameo piece where Andy interviews a local bureaucrat on the banks of a northern canal that is being restored to leisure use. And all paid for by European Union money.

Your video host supplies lots of tips on looking after fish and, indeed, shows how to tie the different end tackle required to catch them; even on one occasion going after a specimen eel.

Although the early sound quality is poor, this video is lots of fun for under a tenner. Witnessed by Andy's often uttered and gleeful "Jurassic Park!" it shows the delight that angling can bring, and if this is Andy Commons' first video venture I, for one, can't wait to see the next.

Regards to you all

David Wheat

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Many thanks to Dave for this review, you can learn more about Andys' adventures on www.uncutfishing.co.uk