What to buy a Carp angler for Christmas?

Christmas is a quite time for carp fishing. With only a few of the bravest anglers will get on to the bank regularly through the cold winter months. However that does not mean they switch off their carp fishing brain. Quite the contrary actually, I find the more time I spend away from the bank the more my brain flicks to dreaming about the next session and landing my next fish.

Therefore a carp fishing related present at Christmas is always a big hit. The angler you are going to buy for probably has a list as long as their arm of kit and tackle they still need even though they have a garage full of it already. I am afraid this is just one of those things, there is always new kit coming out with improvements and new venues and situations to try that require a different approach.

So if you are unable to subtly extract their preference from them or want to surprise them here are my suggestions in no particular order:

• A subscription to a carp fishing magazine, this is something they may have already so you could buy something else and suggest they read Carp Nation instead?
• Buy a carp fishing book, look at Angling Publications website for the latest titles. Some must read classics are ‘To catch a carp’ by Tim Paisley and ‘In Pursuit of The Largest’ by Terry Hearn
• A carp fishing DVD, again available from Angling Publications. Some of my favourite must see DVD’s are the Korda Underwater series, ‘5 Days in France’ with Lee Jackson and Frank Warwick and ‘In pursuit’ with Kevin Nash
• A good compass, essential kit for mapping and reading a water.
• On-line subscription to Metcheck.com for advance fishing weather reports.
• Printed Moon Phase calendar
• Tackle shop voucher, you can get these on-line. Get one for one of the major tackle shops or carp specialists are they will have the variety when it comes to spending the voucher. A few good on-line tackle shops are Leslies of Luton and Climax tackle
• A quality pair of polarised sun glasses
• A good powerful small set of binoculars
• A new digital camera, with self take features. Like the Olympus Mui series and infra red remote.
• A light weight stove and pans
• Some casting lessons with Mark Hutchinson
• Some carp fishing tuition from Jim Shelly
• A day ticket for a top carp fishing venue, Yateley or Linear fisheries

If none of the above spark any thoughts then just think about the very simple things. For me a pass to go fishing for a whole weekend is a great gift and that costs absolutely nothing. Or as a final alternative a blank cheque will have to do.