Craig Middleton recently sent me in a few pics of his successes and his new mk1 compacts sitting on his set up. I must admit the all red sets do look good alongside those daiwa Cast’izm 25 QDA reels. just a nice all round set up. And by judging by Craig's photos he can certainly get amongst the biggies aswel. Craig originally wanted `all purples` off me, but a little chat and discovering he had red tip whippings on his rods and then he mentioned he had these reels with red spool lips it just had to be the `all reds` going out to him!
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Big Carp angler Pete Hall sent in this shot with a few pics of some great big Bedfordshire carp from his mega successful recent winter campaign. I thought this was an inspiring shot where those menacingly green goblin leds are waving their magic over his results...... photos of some of Pete`s Carp to follow this week.
I think a few lads will agree its a great photo. I could of put the title as ...`no carp sheep round here mate....!` but I decided to not be so controversial. lol excellent shot Pete ;) best wishes Scott Edwards / ecu / circa 1980. ;) Dean Marshall of 1d bait developments has had a big old Kent common recently. just look at the colours of this old ancient carp. I bet this brute has seen every rig and bait that's out there. As Kent is one of those famous old counties that's been a melting pot of carp fishing progression and formulation spanning over many decades. a fine old county, producing some stunning old carp and many many prolific big carp hunters come through the ranks in this region of our old England. in fact its one of the draws that's got me doing my own fishing in this county and over the next couple of years I want to dabble more on a few waters that reside in this county. the only details I got off dean was that as soon as he`d taken a quick lucky snap of his set up on the day, one of the rods melted off resulting in this beauty!. well done Dean beautiful old Kent carp that we`d all like to catch i`m sure.
West Midlands specialist angler Bill Woodwards been having some great action between busy work shifts. Bills definitely mr consistent when it comes to getting action when its scratching time and nothings coming out. Bills been on the new bait from dna baits for a few months now and his catches have been outstanding. all I know its called `the switch` and I managed after a little arm twisting get myself a batch to try out for my own fishing.
I believe the bait is due out this march so keep alook out for it. Sebastian Treinat sent me in a shot of a lovely old german carp a couple of weeks back that I thought it would be worth sharing. In fact I've got a lot of photos I will try to upload over this next week that due to work overload I've not managed to post up. seb takes some cracking angling photos and alongside his angling abilities hes a keen photographer also. when I receive photos from seb theres always some that he takes from some weird view point or angle that just make a nice shot. the info I got on the capture was that between sebs busy work schedule making bait for his german bait company (hz-bait) he managed to wrangle a few hours on a short day session on a small pool he knows. Well a few hours later Sebs holding in his arms a lovely old warrior that looks like a proper chunk. Excellent angling Seb job done! :)
I hope everyone gets a stonking big old carp this coming year, that makes your smiles and dreams for many years. everyday carp fishing is memories in the future we will all hold onto, wishing everyone health and good carpy fortune this coming year. 2016s going to be a year full of surprises for ecu and customers that look at my label with interest and what's around the corner. everything is designed by myself and that does mean things can be slow in being released, but I want things to be perfect and top notch. new ecu alarm hanger pouches will be out at the end of February, I think they'll be the best on the market. in design, stitching and materials, I've really nailed the look, but I`ll let you decide, not too long to wait for them. of course in dpm cordura is my chosen material im making them up in. The `Rod Risers` should be on the website this week. postage will be around £5.00 for a set of 3 or 4 pairs and they're for all existing customers who have the mk1 compacts. what's special about them...... well they enable you to fish your rods in a near vertical angle pointing skywards, and you maintain perfect line lay over the roller. great for river fishing and euro continental style fishing. I've also been approached by a very well known uk rod builder to go into collaboration on some custom rod builds. so this is a new venture im undertaking. I've sat on some rod designs for a long time, now ill have the platform to get my ideas out there. 3 rods are planned, all are stunning and you really will find it hard to choose between the three. im excited to see the finished end products as they are stunners. very limited numbers as they're time consuming to build and very expensive components and carbons were using to produce top end rods to give anglers serious choice. 2016 will see me develop also more dpm luggage. this is something im interested in, as always it comes from wanting to have firstly certain tackle items for my own fishing, then I work on their development. its that simple. if I don't like a product or don't need a product I wont make it. everything I design is from experience and my own personal preferences and choices. The alarms..... 1st June 2015 saw the release of the much awaited mk1 compacts, and they were a breath of fresh air for many many anglers waiting on these buzzers. in fact some lads had known of their development spanning back 3 yrs previous. so you can imagine that wait was tortuous! well you'll see another new alarm being released this summer 2016 to add to the line up and possibly a third alarm back end of the summer. I wont give too much away, but rest assured the next alarm is another top end alarm with a lot of surprises on it. I hope it causes plenty of talk and controversy, I wouldn't have it any other way! happy angling, thanks to all the old skool anglers that relentlessly follow my label and wait eagerly for the next new products to be released. lets have a good year ahead, I guarantee itl be interesting to say the least....;) We've done a little competition in this weeks Carp-Talks bumper issue. The Xmas issue is always a little bit special and as a seasonal gesture to the carp talk readership, one lucky angler will win a set of ALL GREEN MK1 COMPACTS!
if you enter it then your in with a shout, they're going to land on someone's door step this Xmas! Of course you'll also find some of the country's finest and biggest carp making occasional appearances in the magazine and so its always worth getting a copy to find out what's coming out and from what waters. Have a great Xmas, Scott Edwards / E.C.U We've built the 2nd batch of mk1 compacts, well 90% at least as were still completing the `All Red Sets`. and were just starting to re supply the uk carp shops once more and the European outlets.
The sponsored anglers who are waiting to here from me, im maxed out presently with customer orders and builds but rest assured Dec / Jan time now i`ll be in touch. :) 2016s going to be an interesting year for us I've plenty planned and I`ll discuss in detail more in the future. here's wishing everyone a merry xmas, I know my Mrs is getting me a couple of carp books to add to my book case collection so im happy with that. Finally we've completed the 2nd batch of mk1 compacts in GREENS! 3&4 ROD SETS, now once again available to all retail and trade customers. we really were inundated with orders for the GREENS over the summer and we struggled to meet demand. well they're now completed and im making them once more available.
we've also got RED.YELLOW.GREEN. MULTI COMBO 3rod sets available. and also RED.YELLOW.GREEN.PURPLE. MULTI COMBO 4rod sets available. We`re still currently working on the all RED sets that will be available at a later date. EXISITING TRADE CUSTOMERS AND NEW ENQUIRIES ONCE MORE WELCOME! Gio from that well respected European magazine MONKEY CLIMBER has been in touch to say the latest edition is out now. what a tremendous cover shot, like cradling a baby whale! who needs words with photos like that on your front cover! Im looking forward to receiving my copy through the post very soon! Please make a full on replicated English version I know English lads would get behind the mag Gio ;)! Here's what Gio had to say on the current issue.... ``....The magazine is in Dutch, but the writers come from all over Europe really. There is a good number of features on adventure carping, in Italy, France, Finland, etc. An interview with one of Belgian's most underground anglers, a piece by myself, and finally there's this true blue old school piece by a French angler who has seen it all from the beginning...........``
I had to share these photos with you anglers that follow my facebook and website news blog, no detailed info to give you, except the location is Morocco! Terry's a man of few words! But have a look at this Common carp, its like a giant goldfish another stunner that's been banked whilst using the mk1 compacts. A little bit of paradise in the photos im happy to share and look at Terry's smile, now there's a happy man, life doesn't get any better than that. thanks Terry for sharing the info and kindly letting me post it up on my site.
Sebastian Treinat of hzbaits.de has been amongst the fish recently, and on a recent trip to a large working German gravel pit he`s managed to bank some real beauties. The carp look like they've never been banked before, completely immaculate! For me this is one of the big appeals of European fishing is fishing lakes that have fish in them of this pedigree that may of never seen a hook or unhooking mat in their lifetime. If indeed they have, they've been very well cared for as these carp are stunning and really look like they've never been banked! Seb caught a string of fish on his session the biggest being a near upper 30lb mirror carp. Here's what Seb had to say....... ``I fish near an island in the lake. About 8 meters deep, hard sand bottom and a 25mm bait on rig.
Free offerings were 20mm and 25mm baits. Distance 200-250m. This water is still gravel / sand mined. I fished in the old part of the lake. 3 nights, 300ha lake, weather was crazy, first night of terrible fog, -3 degrees, then the weather got better every day, I caught a lot of fish, but unfortunately only a few large. I fished some secret prototypes and our Belachan black. MK1 alarms worked perfect, and the frost was not a problem.`` Great fish Seb, thanks for the news, im sure most anglers would want these carp in their albums! 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!
Here's a short bit of info off Pete hall who continues to get amongst those Bedfordshire carp on an unnaturally canny ability! five fish catch weights.....31lb 8oz mirror, 28lb 10oz common, 27lb mirror, 25lb mirror, 24lb mirror! I thiks it important to document catches on occasions because we can all pick up bits of useful info, like new hook patterns, rigs used, etc that we may experiment with ourselves for our own fishing. for example I remember 20 yrs back being on a northwest water and a well known carper at the time for the north west `corky` came round to see me and `Dixie` fishing with excitement in his eyes as he shown us for the first time the `hinge rig` that was being used on the quiet on the yateley lakes. this was well before certain well known anglers got in on it. infact I think the origins to the rig were formulated on the yateley`s north lake at the time. So as anglers we never stop learning or gleaning info from catches. it all adds to the bigger picture. and knowledge is far more better coming from a variety of anglers across a broad spectrum rather than a concentrated bunch of numpties under one fishing company. ;)... I wont mention the companies, but you see the same distinctions with anglers within that company click, and its like robot carp anglers!......how boring lol Here's what Pete had to say about his latest result............. ``All the bites came within a 36hr window to 3 rods fished at range over hall,um baits P3 winter mix.
Strong 40mph south westerly gusts made it hard work to get bite indication but the E.C.U Super xl,s with twitcher wheels givin 5 bleeps per inch of line movement made bite detection easy without false wind and line tow bleeps due to using a tried a tested bobbin set up using an indicator with a short arm to stop side movement and a weight to balance out the rock of the water.``...... Marks Lycett`s recent trip to a big French water proved to be a bit of a tough nut. the carp were certainly not playing ball, but as Mark writes he says its a tricky venue at the best of times. nevertheless Marks managed to extract one out on his most recent trip and what a weight it spun the scales around to....i`ll let Mark give the details in his own words..... ``I have just made my third trip to this large gravel pit in the Champagne region of France. This time my friend Gary Walker from Kendal came with me fully equipped with a few rings of Cumberland sausage so a good trip was on the cards already!! This lake is famous for its large scaley carp, hopefully one will grace our nets this week?
This gravel pit is extremley weedy. Fishing is done by spending a few hours out in a boat looking around for clear spots. And not just any clear patches either. You need to look for clean clay patches. Most spots have dead leaves and twigs on them, thats a sure sign that they are not visited by carp. Out of the 4 spots that I fished I would say 2 of them were good clear ones and the other two were maybe good spots. A give away is bait being eaten when you go for a look the next day. I would imagine the weed was up to the top in 8 feet of water a few weeks previous when the water was warmer, but it had collapsed into a thick intertwined mass maybe 3 feet deep which could prove tricky if fish were hooked. My starting set up was 5 oz leads on MCF dumper clips, hooklink was 12 inches long set up with a pop up withy pool style. The bait was my Fenspice Peach and Pepper mix which has been incredibly successful on this lake. This time I increased the GLM level even more and included elevated levels of a meaty type yeast powder that I have been trying. I also had some special cork ball pop ups made from this mix by Mark Blake of Submission Advanced Hookbaits. Mark has his own magic ingredients that he adds as well. As time progressed I soon found out that the carp were in 'clever' mode so I started to vary my tactics. I knew they were throwing the lead off the dumper clip so I put Armaled lockjaw clips on instead coupling them with 6oz gripper leads. I also changed to double bottom baits and increased the hooklink length. I am certainly not afraid to try long hooklinks so I ended up with a 36 inch hooklink on one rod with a Carp R Us longshank nailer hook fished blowback style with a double bottom bait. This was fished locked up 180 metres from my swim on a big clay patch that I found in a very quiet area on the back of the wind. The carp in this lake soon move off pressure so I knew it was the perfect place to fish a bait. My thinking proved correct because at 6am on the friday morning a slow take produced a big fat Italian carp of 50lb 12oz. I could fish other easier waters in France and catch more fish but thats not for me. I prefer hard waters that get the old grey matter ticking. That way your fishing improves over time. Another point. I have just purchased some of the new ECU alarms from Scott. I find them superb, certainly my type of tackle, well made and they do what it says on the tin!!``............. 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
I was contacted about a week ago by Darren White who informed me he's recently started selling isotopes direct to anglers. Darrens direct email addy...... darrenwhite713@btinternet.com
He sells through ebay and I've added a link to the ebay image for his online ebay shop. They're full power isotopes so you'll get the ultimate brightness possible from any of your chosen colours. and he also sells reduced isotopes in price and power to cater for everybody's budget. 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! Many old skool anglers in the uk will at some point of heard about cuttle mill in the midlands, a famous old water that I knew myself about in the early 80s, god knows how far back than that the history went on the place. But its a small water steeped in history and many a famous midlands angler has cut his teeth on this small pool. under threat from the hs2 `bloody urban jungle project` it closed its doors to fishing, but has now reopended on a day ticket basis atleast for the time being. Bill Woodward has revisited the place for a little bit of nostalgia and to soak up its history. and he kindly sent in his short piece to me for me to put up on the site if I thought it was worthy. ofcourse its worthy its carpfishing history that`s shaped the midlands carp scene, well ofcourse there was Blackroot and Pool Hall but Cuttle Mill was there also forming part of the `A` list midlands waters to fish at pinnacle periods that have alas now gone by. Here`s Bills own words..... It was with some nervousness that I decided to return to Cuttle Mill after 28 years away, with the threat of HS2 slightly less the fishery in now leased out and is run on a day ticket. The beauty of it is that there are now only 8 anglers allowed on at a time. As I drove down the lane I was surprised by the emotions and memories came flooding back. I was worried that it wouldn't have the same magic or wouldn't look the same, no worries on either of those counts, it looked superb. It still has the same 'feel' about it, a truly historic water. The fishing? Well I used DNA Baits 'test bait' and over a couple of days took 5 20's to 28.4 and a 19.14. The lake was fishing very difficult the days I was there but they certainly had a liking for the new bait. All the fish fought their hearts out and were in top condition. Bill used a new bait on test from DNA Baits ive put the link up to their bait site. im sure youl agree its a beautiful water and that mirror of Bills is a lovley looking cypry. Well its here, alittle insight into these awesome alarms with just some of their features highlighted in this short 5 minute video clip. The video and digital editing skills is courtesy of jonjonesfilms.uk enjoy! Scott Edwards / E.C.U Sebastian Treinat of hz baits de, contacted me a few weeks ago with an interest in buying some mk1 compacts. after a few email exchanges he was in receipt of some new alarms and im kindly going to receive some of his own bait range to try out in the uk here. im not linked to any bait firm and where possible I will support any that approach me with free exposure. as I know myself being an independent label any coverage is good coverage. Sebs promised to on occasions send a few photos my way on his own fishing. im interested to see what German carp he catches. as I know in his country the carp grow to stunning weights and really are like freshwater dolphins! im also interested to see what arrives in the bait package he's sent me. Ive included a link to his website on his companies hz baits logo. ive seen a few of sebs photos from his facebook site and he really is an unconventionial angler, where he prefers classic carp gear to the ultra modern state of art carp tackle. the photos here are all taken by seb. and im sure youl agree, it`ll be nice to have a german angle and perspective on carp fishing and indeed looking through the camera lense as he takes in all his surroundings in his personal day to day carp fishing. can you spot the `monkey climber` iconic bobbin in his set up shot. nice touch Seb :)
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