Dan Shipp
LOCATION
OCCUPATION
Bristol, UK
Tackle Shop Assistant
BIOGRAPHY
I was exposed to fishing at a very early age with my dad being an England International match angler. When I started heading out fishing by myself, I quickly found my way into carp fishing as it was the easiest way for me to access fishing, I needed to carry minimal kit as I was relying on lifts to local lakes or walking to them.
I now work in a tackle shop in Bristol, and have been able to drive for the last couple of years so that has given me freedom to target the venues I want to and broaden my horizons from my previous time on limited local venues.
I have spent the last two years targeting The Carp Society's Horseshoe lake in Lechlade which is a 60+ acre gravel pit and have really enjoyed learning about fishing bigger venues and have also been able to use some of my knowledge from fishing for wary carp on my local lakes to extract some of the lakes gems.
ACHIEVEMENTS
Landed over 50 carp in my first year on Horseshoe up to 34lb+
Coach for The Carp Society's Junior Carp Camp
UK PB - 34lb 6oz Common
French PB - 56lb 4oz Mirror
Floater PB - 27lb Mirror
TOP TIPS
Preparation - Rigs, bait and all my other tackle is always prepped as much as i possibly can before I leave the house, I have a limited time to fish each week so I need to spend the maximum amount of time with rods in the water once I've found fish to make the most of my time on the bank.
Accuracy - I need to know in my head that my rig is presented ready for when the fish feed over me, it doesn't matter whether it takes me 50 casts to find a spot I'm happy with or get the right drop with a rig. If I'm not 100% happy with it, it's coming back in and I'll recast it till its spot on.
Confidence - For me, I need to approach a session with a level of confidence in what I'm doing, whether it's on a high stocked lake or a venue I've never fished before. If you doubt yourself and your methods you will make mistakes and make unnecessary changes. If you have confidence in something, as long as it is appropriate for the situation then there is no need to change. I use two rigs for 90% of my fishing and will happily cast them out on even the trickiest of waters.
FAVOURITE STYLE
Floater fishing / Stalking
ANGLING HOPES
Continue enjoying my angling for all different kinds of carp on different venues and continue building knowledge and skills to target any venue I come across.
Gradually move on to harder and possibly lower stocked venues and target specific fish that I really want to catch.
Help pass on some of my knowledge from my experience to help others catch fish and improve their angling.
SOCIAL LINKS
DAN SHIPP
