© Crafty Carp 2024
Testimonials
“The wild Carp is an icon that forges a living connection between the past and the present.”
The First Testimonial is My Testimonial.I have been catching Carp since 1986.  My life revolved around Fishing then and now.  I have been privileged enough to have been invited onto some ‘Top Waters’ both at home and Abroad. By trusted Friends. I try to stay under the Radar.  In fact, I stay hidden.  I am blissfully unaware of the latest trends / or marketing Bullshit.  I am a confirmed Carp Angling Luddite. I don’t give a shit about the latest this or that.  Jim Gibbinson & Trev’s made my Carp Rods in the early 80’s. Enough said.    I have gone on to catch some Huge Lumps!  You think you can phase me.  Be prepared to be embarrassed in front of your Peers.  Fishing is my drug of choice.  I’m totally addicted.    Tight Lines.  Bring it on!!!!  TT A total madman. A 24 hour session. No sleep at all! Lots of coffee. Loads of banter. BBQ and a few beers.  I caught a Carp in the early hours, think it was like half one in the morning. Everyone else was snoring in their Bivies.  Never experienced anything like it, or him.  It’s like going into an altered state. Manic, but he is so knowledgeable.Keep it up TT. (You crazy carp fishing lunatic).   Danny B. Lincoln. Guys, if you have never been Fly Fishing for Carp on the surface, you need to try it.  It’s insane.  I have wanted to try it for ages after watching it being done in Canada on Sky TV.  We used TT’s ‘Hardy Wraith’ Fly Rod, Hardy ‘Demon’ Reel,12 pound Tippet, Orange Hackled Dry Fly. Casting a Fly, aint easy,  although TT made it look like a training session. It’s simply not fair mate!!! You made it look effortless. Lol!  I was all over the place, to start with. we laughed till it hurt. Soooo funny.  Great day out, I learned how to cast a fly, eventually.Top food at the BBQ. Steak, Chicken, Corn on the Cob, beer, the lot.   Brilliant session mate and very different, gonna bring some mates and do it again very soon. Ralf S. Scunthorpe. Went out fishing for the first time in years.  Dusted off my old fishing tackle.  Wanted to get active after a crap couple of years, personally.  Couldn’t remember how to do it. One tangle, after another.  I called TT.  We had a chat about what I needed.  Booked in for an afternoon session.  I learnt to cast in a straight line again.  I can tie some of my own rigs now, which we filmed on my phone, so I don’t forget.  Used a Marker & Spod, which is totally new to me.  Fished Tiger Nuts, never seen them before.  Had a BBQ. Bottle of wine.A relaxing, informative afternoons fishing.  TT. Well done my boy, and thanks for the advice.  Dr Stuart B. Woodhall Spa. Learnt to go Stalking for Carp in the margins.  Pool 3 A1 Pits. South Muskham.  It was empty and we just moved about from place to place.  Sticking a bit of bait in lots of swims and under trees.  Never used a baiting pole before. Proper good fun.    We caught some small carp.  Had a great BBQ and a beer.Cheers Tobe.    Good day out my mate, worth every penny.   Jack. Newark. Cheers buddy.  I had tried and failed to fish a long pole up in the water for small F1 Carp on my local match ponds. (Browning Cudmore).  I was all fingers and thumbs and I could not hold the pole and feed pellets at the same time.I can now!!    I took a whole afternoon but we got there in the end.  Like you said, practice makes perfect pal.  And yes I will stick at it mucker.  Top Man.  Gary G. Stoke on Trent. A whole day on Pool 5-A1 Pits-South Muskham.  Learning to fish the Zig Rig.  A class act.  Thanks TT.  Stevie W. Worksop. Hilariously funny, you are ridiculously talented Sir.  Had a great afternoons Wild Carp Fishing on the River Trent.  I can  fish a Centre Pin Reel. At last!  Well done TT.  Aaron C. Nottingham. Not certain what drives this guy.  He can do a 24 hour session with no sleep, just coffee and trust in his ability to catch carp.  Humble, talented, and certainly bonkers about fishing in general!!  Got a glimpse of some of his fish on his camera during my session.   Gob smacked. It’s shocking.  The boy can catch fish.  Thank you TT.It was a riot. Will be back for more you can take me “Guesting in The Valley”!!! Lol.  Dave B. Windsor Thank you for a top days Carpin on Cromwell’s dude.    I am new to the sport and live in Witham St Hughes.  So my closest Big Fish water is Cromwell’s Fishery.  I have fished it a dozen times with no success at all.  In fact I was close to jacking it in and selling me gear.  Nathan (Owner) advised me to call TT, an old school regular back in the day, when the old owner Gary owned it.  Apparently TT, used to empty it?  Well, what a total show off you are Mr T…... We fished on “Windy Point”.  2 fish!!! A small 26lb Mirror and a 32lb well known “Common”.  My new PB!!  Thank you mate, honestly it would have taken me a lifetime to learn how to tie them rigs what reset themselves and get them out to a clear spot.Weedy aint the word for the place!!  Mate, you are a legend.  Jackob P. Witham St Hughes Call Rampton Hospital.  One of their inpatients with a serious addiction to Carp Fishing may have escaped.  TT, I do not know how all that knowledge is even teachable in 20 sessions.  Wow!!!!  The best £80 quid I have ever spent on fishing stuff.  1 day session. I reckon you spent 50% of my money on the BBQ. Stunner Bro!!  Mind blowing old school bait advice, new nothing about Casters, Lobworms, Tigers, Maggots etc.  I just stuck Boilies in everywhere I went.That new bait advice will stick with me always.Cheers Man. Seriously!  PJ Davies. Horncastle. TT. Took me from being scared to turn up to my local Carp Lake, due to the pressure I felt, to being confident enough in my fishing ability to simply get on with it, in a couple of lessons.  He is a “Master” of all methods. He helped me to learn what it actually takes to catch carp. Without all of the usual nonsense.  You can tell he is Ex Forces, if you get it wrong he makes you do it again & again & again!!!!! Until you get right.  In-fact we spent a whole afternoon just casting on a sports field. By the end of the day I could cast. Trust me! Thank you mate.  JK. Kettering One of the best Carp Anglers in the mix.  I would pay to watch the so called Big Boys go against him.    Film it!!  It would be a Box Office sell out.  Mate you are different class.  Come back to Germany ASAP please.TT. Eine Meister Verk!!!!  Simon Night. Paderborn-Germany. The River Tay Perthshire is mi favourite place, but always rock had.  I had fished the Tay on many family holidays with the missis & kids, and a had a bit of success catching Trout & Pike on the Loch, but mi target was a proper Salmon. TT, is a mate of a mate, so I called him for some advice.  This was his advice.  ”See you up there Baz, it’s about time I visited”.  We organised a long weekend.  Spay Casting / Spinning / Fly Casting and walking the usual routes along the river.  From The Kenmore Hotel to the Chinese Bridge at Tay-mouth Castle & back again!   Well now. A 12lb young Grilse Salmon in the net. It hammered me “Orange Ally Shrimp” in the Dairy Pool.  We weighed it and returned him to the drink. We packed up, collected mi family and drove to Aberfeldy for a curry and a few beers in the Fountain Pub to celebrate.  TT,You are simply the best my Son.  Thank you Canny Lad!!!  Barry ‘The Geordie’ H. Newcastle upon Tyne Lol.  Thought that I knew it all.  Been at it a while. Giving it large.  Got truly shown up by an ambassador of the sport.  Could not fish the old fashioned Zig.  Not the new Bubble Float nonsense.  Everything just tangled and turned into mess after the cast.  We all know that the carp spook seeing the bubble float!! It’s shit & just marketing bullshit!  TT showed me the trick to casting the old school rig out!  Thank you mate. Seriously thank you brother.  Burnie S. Wakefield. Went Carp Fishing today.  Actually fishing, not sitting in mi bivy looking at social media on mi phone, like I usually do. TT, set me up on my rods.  Like, on mi rods, sat on a chair.Rods between mi legs.  Mate….You are different class.    1 bleep and movement = pick it up!  Drop back = Pick it up!Rod tip bangs down = pick it up!  4 small carp in the sack in an afternoon.  Crazy how lazy I have become.  I knew all of this before. Just stopped doing i reckon. Cheers for the wakeup call TT.  Robbi S. Skegness.