The Ricoh Carp & Coarse Spectacular
18th & 19th of February 2012

After the good reports and feedback that the Norfolk Show in January received and after the great success of the Brentwood Carp Show, you would have never known that there was a recession. So with great expectations UKMA headed West on the A14 to the land where men drink Bovril, to attend the first Carp & Coarse Spectacular to be held at the very impressive Ricoh Arena, situated just outside Coventry. Upon arrival the first thing to catch your attention was the more than ample Tarmac covered  parking that is only 100m away from the main entrance (no getting stuck in the mud here). Once inside the venues huge entrance hall, you only had to walk another 20m and you were in the main arena where it was all happening. On first impressions things looked and sounded good.

The stands that really caught our attention during our visits on both days were the very large and impressive Free Spirit stand, which also incorporated their very own lecture area which was permanently busy with large numbers of anglers enjoying the very high standard of information and products that the huge team of celebrity anglers willingly talked you through and demonstrated with total expertise. Also flying the flag for the carp fraternities were Aqua Products, Matrix, Rigmarole, Atomic Tackle, Korda, Thinking Anglers, Angling Intelligence all flying the tackle flag with Ace Baits, Baitcraft, Sticky Baits, Bait Zone, Spa Baits and many more all having something slightly different to offer the reasonably sized crowds that had made the effort to attended this free entry event over the two days.

The world of coarse and match fishing was supported by many of the visitors to the event with Maver displaying there wares on a massive stand with many top names including Andy Kinder in attendance to offer advice and tips to all who visited. Just around the corner you had match angling legend Bob Nudd on the Browning stand holding a sizable crowd for most of the day. Steve Ringer and Dean Macey were representing the superb GURU range of products, with both receiving rapturous applause from the huge crowd that filled the lecture arena during and after their well presented lectures on the finer arts of catching fish in both specialist and match fishing situations. With the coarse and match presence along side the carp exhibitors, this did created a well balance selection of products for the visual stimulation of the visiting crowd looking for variety.

Final Thought

The turn out was reasonable over the two days, and the numerous companies in attendance put on a very good show of tackle, bait and accessories for the angling public to drool over. With so many top brands and legions of celebrity anglers in attendance you would have expected a great atmosphere but it felt a little flat at times but that might be just me being a miserable git. UKMA spoke to Redwood Events front man Lee Apps who told us ‘we are very pleased with the attendance over the two days and feel that this is going to grow into a huge event. With the majority of exhibitors already booked for next year and with the second arena near on fully booked we are positive the Ricoh event will really take off’.

For the first event at the Ricoh Arena it was OK, may be after attending 3 other shows over the past 6 weeks I’ve become numb to the atmosphere but to be totally honest it wasn’t really there for me. May be it has something to do with the current financial climate or may be having three shows in just six weeks is one show too many for the already chocker-block angling show calendar, only time will tell.