TOTAL CARP MAGAZINE - APRIL 2025 ISSUE

FREE INSIDE! - 32-page Sticky Baits Ultimate Spring Bait Guide

CONTENTS

12 EVERY SECOND COUNTS

Oli Davies reflects on some successful spring fishing!

20 BIG-CARP MINDSET

In Simon Crow’s big-carp series he touches on the things that grace us all, something you may only sway in your favour but can never fully learn or harness.

27 CATCH A CARP A MONTH

Neil Spooner reveals two of his favourite tactics for spring – solid bags and zigs.

32 TOUR DE DAY TICKET

Ian Russell and Jake Addison kick off a new series down in Essex!

38 STARTING FROM SCRATCH

Scott Lloyd is here with all the answers and heaps of advice on the best practices of hitting the ground running!

45 IN SESSION

Freezing temperatures, frozen lakes, fishing conditions don’ get much tougher than this. But can George Treadwell manage a bite down at the Go Catch venue, Blasford hill?

52 CARP SCENE

If you’ve caught a big carp, a PB carp, your first carp… or just a nice carp – we want to see it, and you could win a prize from Sticky Baits!

60 COMPETITION

Here’s your chance to win a Thinking Anglers luggage bundle worth £329.89

62 Q&A

You supply the questions about your 
carp fishing, our experts supply the answers, and Dynamite, Carp Spirit and Okuma supply the prizes!

68 TALKING POINT

We asked five top anglers how they go about selecting the right swim.

72 JULES’ MONTHLY MUSINGS

Julian Cundiff thankfully waves goodbye to the winter and looks ahead to spring.

74 RIG ANATOMY

Big-Carp Mindset star Mark Holmes ties up his weighed hook rig, certainly an unconventional rig but one that’s caught him loads of big carp, and with the popularity of other weighed rigs like the ‘shot on the hook’ rig, you can see why!

78 THE GEAR PAGES

Kickstart your spring with some new gear for the new season.

108 VENUE FILES

Three more great venues to try, in association with Catch, the booking website and app.

110 COPY AND PASTE

Baitworks Manager, Mike Holly sheds light on a forgotten but effective method – paste. Not a rig or tackle tweak, but a baiting edge that’s rarely talked about.

114 A MONTH IN THE LIFE

John Flewin is a wealth of knowledge both in front of, and behind a camera so sit back and enjoy his first instalment of this new series.

120 INSIDE THE MIND

With the weather warming, and the weed growing, the need for leaders increases by the day, Matt Eaton talks all things leaders inside this months article.

126 HOW TO…

Learn how to Tie Cashy’s Low Rider Rig

128 TALES, EDGES & REFLECTIONS

Oz Holness goes on a guest trip to the famous St Ives Lagoon with his good friend Tom Stokes.

134 ICONS

The history of Longfield and the Longfield 40 that was once part of the famous Yeoveney brace.

136 HAVE YOUR SAY

Loyal reader Paul has some questions about an upcoming France trip.

138 QUICK QUESTIONS

This month Nash angler and content creator, Henry Lennon answers our quickfire questio