Angling Publications presents
‘An Evening of Carp’

Report by Carl Sharp for UKMA 2011

On Friday 28th January Doncaster’s Holiday Inn Hotel opened its doors to the Annual Angling Publications’ ‘An Evening of Carp’. This annual event deserves recognition as proceeds of the night were going towards the newly formed Predation Action Group. With Predators such as cormorants, otters and signal crayfish now seriously affecting fish stocks up and down the country, many big names from the world of angling includes John Wilson, Tim Paisley, Danny Fairbrass, Martin Bowler, Tony Gibson, Keith Wesley, Ruth Lockwood of ECHO and Mike Heylin of The Angling Trust, have formed this voluntary group hoping to bring awareness of this problem to the government.

The evening itself was presented by Tim Paisley, and in attendance were some of the biggest names in the business including Terry Hearn, Ali Hamidi, Julian Cundiff, Rod Hutchinson and Bill Cottam. The queues were long, the drinks were flowing, and at 6pm we were finally were allowed entry into the Conference suite. Upon entry we were greeted by the book stall, which were selling a fine selection of titles, with their respective authors on hand for a signed copy and obligatory photographs.

Walking further down the corridor we came across The Nutrabaits stand, with all manors of baits, dips, and clothing on offer for the public to handle, and also purchase. Next came the Trakker stand, showing off the latest gear on offer for the coming 2011 season, including the new Tempest bivvy and a fine selection of other products from the companies huge range.

The first part of the show was a Q&A session presented by Tim, and featured Carp-Talks’ Simon Crow, Kordas’ Ali Hamidi, Nutrabaits’ Julian Cundiff, and the Northern legend Rod Hutchinson were all on the panel, with a chance to ask your angling hero’s their views on such topics of your choice, covering numerous angling topics including pop-ups vs. bottom baits, favourite hooklengh materials, and also their most memorable captures. There was plenty of good honest advice available and definitely had something to offer anglers of all abilities. After we had taken a short break, the evening really came to life.

Terry Hearn captivated a packed out room of more than 500 people with a slide show journey through his recent adventures on London’s River Thames.

Terry presented the captive audience with image after image of fish up to and over the magical 30lb barrier, proving to the masses that he is no one trick pony and can catch fish of all sizes and species from anywhere in the land.

The evening was then capped off with a mega raffle draw that included prizes from many of the leading tackle giants including Nutrabaits, Nash Tackle, E.S.P, Chub, Trakker, Carpworld, JRC, Solar, Rod Hutchinson, and many top day ticket waters also made donations offering 48 hours sessions to the lucky winners.

A magnificent night was had by all, so a big well done to Tim and his team for putting on such a great angling spectacle once again.