World Carp Classic - Official Global Website
Lake Bolsena 2nd - 8th September 2012

side, whichever we chose to follow.

At the time, being only 15, if I’m totally honest, just wanting to slip the net under some carp, this talk was far from getting the rods out and bagging a few. Nevertheless, I kept hold of a prospectus as I had always wanted to own and run my own fishery, ever since the age of 12 when I got my first taste of carp fishing on a local club water. I agree this may have seemed a bit ambitious and more of a fantasy than anything else, but that was all that me and my fishing buddies ever used to talk about. Discussing how we would have the bigges

t and best looking carp in a picturesque lake away from the daily antics, never actually thinking it would materialise into something that could actually happen.

It was this prospectus that popped up a year or two later, when I was finishing my compulsory education and I was pondering on the thought of what I was going to do next year. It was a split decision between carrying on my education at the local 6^th form which has a great history for producing quality A-level results and from there going to Sparsholt and enrolling in the BSc Aquaculture and fishery management. On the other hand the temptation of a Sparsholt national diploma in fishery management was also vivid in my mind.

Eventually I decided to stay local and stick at my A-levels, giving me a wider base of qualifications and a broader array of skills. That was the plan anyway. Yes, I left Didcot 6^th form with decent A-levels, with decent results in my chosen studies; Physics, maths, geography and photography, but what had I actually gained in the last 2 years? This perhaps was the wrong decision and sitting here now I wish I could go back and change things, meaning instead of being in my first year at Sparsholt, I would now be nearing the end of my third. But that’s just the way things go and we have to live by our mistakes and mishaps and make the best of what we have, and that is what I plan to do with my time at Sparsholt over the next 2-3 years.

I am fully committed to making the absolute most out of my time at Sparsholt and even though only being there for 6 months so far, it has already made me much more aware of what is going on around me when I’m sat on the bank, rods in front of me, and it has changed my style and methods when fishing as you are constantly thinking about the “what ifs” and how what you are doing will affect not only your fishing, but also the water and surroundings of where you are fishing. Although throwing a small amount of left over bait into the edge of the lake upon your departure might seem like a harmless act which results in no left over bait and may even feed the fish with the possibility of building the fish’s confidence in the bait, beyond these harmless thoughts are the true events that take place... If that bait isn’t consumed by the fish, it will begin to decay and have effects on the water quality, even though it seems like a small amount and this will not have an effect on the total water body. Think how many times you do this yourself and how many other anglers are doing the same thing after their sessions on the bank?

All of these little events add up to a total change in the water body and these are the sort of consequences that can occur as a result of the small things that anglers carelessly do, totally oblivious to what they are actually doing.  These are just a few of the things I have come to learn about whilst at Sparsholt and with another 2 years left I am hoping to learn a whole lot more.

Tight lines,

Sam cooper