CCH Articles

Article by Robin Johnson

 Article 6:  Top Carpin'

I have had so many good trips with Canadian Carpin Holiday’s that I feel I owe it to Paul and Lisa to write a little something about my time out with them. It all started back 6 years ago, I had read about Canadian Carpin Holiday’s in an article Chris ball had written, it sounded great but what I did not realize then was how great it really is out there!

The fishing, the St. Lawrence River and all the varied wildlife, I love it! I must love it for I have been there 6 times now and once lucky enough to be out at the same time as Steve Briggs and his really lovely wife Joan. Joan is extremely funny and always laughing and Steve, well I felt really privileged to fish with the best. Paul as you can see on his website has had some really well known carp anglers out with him, so if you book up you never know, you may be fishing next to your hero. Going back to when I had first read Chris Balls article, I had mentioned to my lovely wife (she may read this HA HA) that I  would really love to go out there, and lucky for me I did as she then  told my mate Peter and they proceeded  book it up as a  surprise for my birthday.

Peter kept saying he couldn’t go until the following year, well how pleased was I when I got my surprise! On the flight out there we met Gary, another angler on his way out to fish with Canadian Carpin, he was on his own and we all quickly hit it off and have been very good friends ever since. Last year I met Andy out there, also on his own and we too are very good friends now. We all get together here to fish our local club waters, as well as the ever popular curry nights, which are great for planning future trips out to Canadian Carpin!!! So, even if you are on your own don’t let that deter you from going, it’s a group atmosphere and everyone is so friendly.

I love night fishing and have done quite a few nights out there, but you really don’t need to as the carp feed night and day consistently. My best day was on the High Bank swim,  I had 54 carp from 17lb to 30lb+ all in one day time session and my arms where falling off and couldn’t manage doing the night as well!! You just cant do that in England in one day!!  99.9 % are big commons, very few under 17lb  loads of 20lb+ carp every day  and you would be very unlucky if you did not go home without one 30lb+ at the end of the week. But keep in mind these are hard fighting lean wild river carp much unlike lake fed carp in their appearance and brute strength.  Mirrors are few and far between but I have been lucky and had some very lovely heavily plated mirrors up to 28lb.

 The St. Lawrence river is really a lovely place to fish, the wildlife is abundant with sightings of beavers, otters, lovely fox’s feeding from your hands and I even had a skunk sleeping under my bed-chair!!! Luckily for me it turned out to be a very friendly animal…I must of smelt like him after a 24 hour session! The bird life, well they take my breath away, peregrine falcons, hawks and eagles… the list is endless. Well I could go on and on, just let me say if you are thinking of going out to Canada, trust me you wont get better than Paul and Lisa at Canadian Carpin Holidays, Paul knows the St Lawrence like the back of his hand, he’s a great guide  and Lisa is a lovely host.  Don’t  think about it, if you have read this fare you know you want to go to so just BOOK IT! You will love it and remember it forever; you will no doubt go back again and again for some TOP carpin.