Bill Woodward`s braved the recent storms and paid a day visit to the famous Cuttle Mill Fishery in the Midlands.
Just fishing a day session he was greeted with the aftermath of severe storm weather, with debris littering the banks and surface of the pool, 6 anglers on the water had only one 12lber between them in the last 48hrs so it was looking bleak and unwelcoming.
Bill`s been raving onto me all autumn about his  bait and suggesting I get on it, admittedly his catches he's sent  in have impressed me, because at times he's had hits when anglers around him have struggled to get a bite. DNA bait is his chosen bait, and he's used most in their range and done well on all the mixes in their stable. 
Bill takes up the story about his recent cuttle mill session.......
``It was the day after the storms and the surface of the pool was covered with debris, from branches to leaves, that were an inch thick in places resting on the pools surface.....I had to use very heavy back leads to cut through the debris, and by holding the tips in the air I managed to get the back leads a bit further out into the pool and ensuring I was bedding all my lines down on the lake bed sufficiently . Tiny pva mesh bags with 12mm dna test baits  compressed in a stick style was my chosen method.
I knew only a 12lber had been out in the last 48hrs so it wasn't looking good, but careful line lay and tight mesh bags were getting me bites. I managed 3 fish. the biggest being a gorgeous ancient Cuttle Mill Common Carp of 23lb+. These carp date back to the early 70s so they're very special whatever there size.
Your fishing for a bit of history and in this day and age that's increasingly hard to come by........ ``

Have a look at some of these photos emailed / texted in by customers using the mk1 compacts. Its always nice to see where people are fishing and enjoying their times chasing some big old English or European carp. Or sometimes even further afield....check out the Moroccan picture, the one with the awesome backdrop. The photo almost has a Jurassic feel to it, what a backdrop and can you imagine the fish that are getting caught from there... They're a bit special hopefully we will see some photos if I can twist the anglers arm! 

Check out this December issue 2015 of advanced carp fishing magazine. the lads in the office have had the mk1 compacts all summer to play around with and test out on the banks.

As I have a quick flick through the mag yet again they've delivered some great articles. Oz Hollness is in the issue with his 4 seasons of carp monthly series. and Myles Gibson caught my eye also in the mag always worth a read. the quality of both anglers photography in there articles is really impressive and these boys can catch against all the odds!

I thought id give a brief! lol update on ecu as I get asked weekly how things are going and what else is planned or being released in the future.
we`re now very low on stock off the 1st batch of alarms  we built. that's a good thing for us as a small label but its frustrating for customers that want certain colours and our trade retailors I want to support that are banging my door down wanting to get more colour range!
Were building the 2nd batch of alarms and I will release them when they're fully completed. I anticipate early December I will have news to share on this. I've been humbled this year by how much lads have really got on the alarms and how much the carp fraternity in general have got behind my label. for me its all been a continuing process, some lads think as ecu as a new label as they've never heard of us and some lads consider my  label as established but more in the public domain now.
well were not a new label in any form, its just for a long long time I've kept out of the limelight and just cracked on with doing all the optonic upgrades and stainless.
it was always my intention to bring out a new alarm, but did I want those bigger companies knowing about my label? no thanks! I was determined to do the development on the mk1 compacts and let a few customers know about what I was doing, but I very much kept things quiet.

The MK1 COMPACT range will grow over time with new additions added to give all anglers choices and options. the development plan has started now with this 1st alarm that is at the top end and over the next few years I anticipate a small family of various mk1 compacts completing a healthy range all varying in functions and pricing. one comment that has made me chuckle is lads expecting a mk2 compact?. some anglers don't get the name, the mk1 compact name is here to stay, you wont get a mk2! lol ! the mk1 compact is a banner name that I plan to develop several alarms under. 

Stainless anyone? im always asked about stainless. and yes I plan to bring out a range of metal ware in 2016, its high on the priority list and to re develop the dmx snag pod.
I've got loads of surprises planned on the metal ware a lot will go against convention, but I don't mind that, I don't build gimmicks but I do push boundaries. I was the first company to produce the ecu alarm hanger pouches. and such a simple idea but very handy for storing those hangers away and avoid isotopes cracking.
some lads will remember my brass insert feature on the dmx snag pods, it enabled you to align every thing up and then just nip up the grub screw to lock the brass insert in place on the front of your sticks. 
whose made alarm and receiver programming as simple as I have on the mk1 compacts. you look at those other company alarms and you need a degree to get through there tech spec, its laughable! 
There's loads of features, accessories and functions on alarms I want to develop, some will stay just as ideas but some will get developed.  im going to be releasing early new year a FREE  accessory for the mk1 compacts that is vital in some fishing situations. its going to be completely free to all existing and new customers. I cant say to much as I don't want to give too much away. but the function these accessories perform in certain fishing situations is very impressive. they'll be free to all customers, all I want is pre paid sae sent in then ill post them out. ill make an announcement  early new year time as they should then be available and their production complete.

I thought id share a few photos with you lads, the left is the Chichester golden common /Chinese common comes out around 30 to 35lb from whyke 2 lake Chichester, it may be even bigger now, im not sure. caught by me around 1999 time?
the middle photo is the Chichester fully scaled from whyke 2 lake again around 1998-99 era.
the far right is the grey mist linear from the north west Warrington anglers association club water grey mist mere. I caught it float fishing mixer next to some lilies and had a few others that day also. I was up in the northwest at the time visiting family and I did a weeks fishing on the mist. just day fishing one summer, but it was great to see old carp angler friends and indeed it was the northwest that was my old stomping ground before moving to Sussex. and the north west had a profound influence on me getting into carp fishing at the age of around 14 I think? im now 44!  
you see some of the old stainless below I did years ago, I think about 6-8 odd years back possibly, but again, I sold out of it all in no time. and its the stainless machining I want to develop once more now that the alarms are out. in fact a few lads have reminded me of this fact that I always said id re release the stainless after I released the alarms. and I will honour this promise.

Carp fishing some have said to me is going down hill with all the hype and crap some companies spill out, and I think its true on some levels. some of these companies really do believe their own bullshit they make. anglers have really got behind my label and I've been told its  refreshing to see an old skool type label doing well and offering something in carp fishing that's been lost. its not  just about selling a few products, its being sincere, honest to yourself and honest to your customers. and true to carp fishing values. what you see as ecu is my personality in every form it takes, that's what makes a label, not a board room or being owned by an out of touch PLC group. its being on the ground level as a carp angler and speaking to carp anglers that are friends and customers in equal measures. Thanks for all the continuing support, I think a few will find my writings interesting and enlightening, and hopefully given a few of you lads an insight into what's happening, my thoughts and what's planned for the future. 

Best Wishes Scott Edwards / ecu / edwards custom upgrades / circa 2015!

Here's another company that contacted me a couple of weeks back. In fact some of the ecu customers have been getting mk1 compact alarm pouches made up off them, due to me being presently out of stock on my ecu alarm hanger pouches. I will be doing myself more ecu pouches but as we`re just so busy getting the 2nd batch of alarms built to meet trade and customer orders some things I had to prioritise over. Consequently our ecu alarm hanger pouches we will release early new year 2016 I predict. But this company total camo carp accessories ran by Brent Parkinson is worth a look, not just for alarm pouches but if you need dpm camo bags made up for any item of tackle im sure Brent will have something to offer. find them on face book under total camo carp accessories

Graham Larkom has been on the mk1 compacts for a few months now and he's snared a couple of lovely beauties on them from the Vinnetrow syndicate on the south coast. Renowned as an ultra moody and at times rock hard venue, and then at times for a short window these cagey carp can seem to lower their defences, well briefly at least! Grahams an old skool angler that's chased and outwitted some of the finest carp in the uk for well over 20 years. he's tasted Yateley success  catching the biggest from the Car Park and caught the once mythical Blackscale from Runcton that incidentally was on the missing list for a number of years.  and has numerous big fish under his belt that are as iconic history fish as much as the waters they've been caught out of. Getting any info out of Graham is not easy, he fishes on his own terms, holds down full time jobs and still manages to get amongst them. well here's a lovely 34lb 4oz fully scaled caught from Vinnetrow known affectionately as `The Scaley One`. Grahams informed me earlier on in the season christening the mk1 compacts he caught an even bigger one! I`ll try and extract the info out of Graham and share the info on here in the future to lads that appreciate history fish, rock hard challenges and just doing your own thing. Top angling!  

Pete Hall had a nice autumn result on a Beds Syndicate. Taking a stonking 35lb Common Carp, a 31lb 4oz Mirror Carp that has some gorgeous scaling to it like big apple slices and a 24lb Mirror. I thought it was a great news piece especially as Pete had all his fish on his newly acquired but very very old ecu super xls!

Infact Pete was on the blower to me asking what optonic bits I've got he could have for the alarms.
 Well im going to dig out some more sensitive disc vanes I have somewhere in a box for him but I said on the condition you let me know if you get a result!....... well he's had a great autumn result and I thought it was worth mentioning on the news blog. 
What a great session to christen your old history alarms with. top angling Pete!