The MasterBlanker

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Some of you may have heard of ECHO, the English Carp Heritage Organisation, and the work that they do in representing the views of us -  the ordinary carp anglers. Their stated aim is to support programs that maintain the health and welfare of the the carp in t he UK. Now for those of you thinking that carp are not native to the UK. You are right, the group is not trying to stop any carp being imported, even the famous “Leaney” carp were imported from Holland back in the 1930′s, they want to ensure that the carp that do come over ( if they do) are free from disease and do not cause disease outbreaks when they get over here. As well as representing the voice of the carp angler in the wider issues that surround the sport. Too many fisheries have bee destroyed by uncontrolled importation of carp from different world wide locations were KHV is endemic. Think of foot and mouth disease, in some countries it is a fact of life and the whole nation heard has it. Well in most EU countries this is not the case and I think that we all agree that it is a good idea ™. Echo want to ensure that the same protection is in place for our carp stocks.

If you are a carp angler you really should join, for your membership you not only get a fancy ECHO badge as above but also the quarterly magazine with articles form many famous carp anglers and even the odd article from me

SO what are you waiting for ? if you care about your fishing get on over to their website and join now, it is only 20 pounds and so for less then a couple of KG’s of bait you can make a difference for the future of carp fishing. By the way you don’t have to be based in the UK, I was a member when I was based in the Netherlands, if you are carp angler you need to be a member. If you are still not convinced pop over to Carp-Forums.com to the ECHO section and have a read around, the people there are super friendly and will always answer your questions.

Image from http://www.telegraph.co.uk click image to go to their article

After the rather sad posting about Amsterdamse bos, it is nice to get a bit of positive news. Recently Martin Locke head honcho for Solar Tackle caught a word record mirror carp at Rainbow lakes in France. The beastie weighed in at 94lbs ( 42.6kg’s) and recently the video of the capture has been put up on Solar Tackle’s website here.  This carp beat the previous fish from les Graviers The size of the fish has to be seen to be believed and he struggles to lift it due to the sheer size and weight. Even if you are not into carp fishing check it out and marvel that fish that size swim in European waters. The fish was caught in the winter at 94lb, will it top the 100lb mark if it is full of spawn ? When will the 100lb barrier be broken ? Will if be from France or from elsewhere ? Will the 91 from Luke Moffats Les Graviers take the title again ?

Anyway click here to see the video in all its glory