If you are like most anglers or even parents of anglers, then around your thought are on fishing and presents. But what to buy? What will have the greatest impact on the satisfaction and enjoyment and actual fishing results of a person? Education is the answer, but real life experiences are the most exciting and informative when put down in words; so read on now!

Fishing is like a drug; as in the more fishing you do, the more you want to go fishing. It is like a growing need for more and more. This feeling can be surprisingly strong whether you are in a stage of great success or consistent failure. In fishing you know that time is on your side and that eventually, given enough learning, refinement and practice you will achieve all your goals. But to actually achieve your goals you need material that motivates you!

These days plenty of magazines have produced a crop of what are now put on a pedestal as cult heroes, fishing celebrities. But they were not always there; they were struggling anglers who nobody neither cared about nor had ever heard about! The reality is that many anglers who are not at all well known today, have been just as accomplished as those in the public spotlight today, but these anglers have either come and gone, or prefer to keep a low profile in their fishing!

For one example, I will not mention his name here because he preferred having a low profile, but in the days in the late seventies and early eighties when people would idolize and befriend people like Kevin Maddocks, well this person was held in awe. Today I do not know anyone still fishing who has even heard of him, yet in his prime he was easily as good as people like Kevin Maddocks and others of that era; he was literally a fishing machine, and a creative genius who very seriously inspired anglers around him!

The most powerful thing that I noticed about this angler was how he thought! His fishing tackle was often pretty rudimentary and he often borrowed tackle and rig components, but he knew exactly how to leverage his tackle to maximum effect. He designed his own bait recipes and made his very own highly successful homemade boilies too. He really thought about every single minor detail of all his actions and entire mental approach to catch his fish, and he always strove to be different, a leader and definitely not a follower! He generated his own secrets of success through his own extraordinary efforts.

So many so-called average anglers today just copy and follow whatever new fashion appears. But that is not the fast track to maximal success!

Think about this for some moments! You and your actions are the direct product of your thoughts and you levels of fishing success are an obvious example of this! One tip I can tell you that does not really translate in magazines today, but really came across in the books by the genuinely innovative pioneering anglers from the eighties, seventies and earlier, is the level of passion and sheer obsession these people had. I can contribute all my big fish success over the past 30 plus years to the inspiring writings of the anglers who inspired me.

My big carp success began long before the Terry Hearn, Ian Chillcott, type of era of readymade boilies and monthly carp magazines all over the shelves. In my early days you aspired to become successful enough to join the British Carp Study Group; which I did I am proud to say. But back in those days you did not aspire to catch fish to make money. In fact the few that did make money in fishing were extremely rare indeed, and most commonly were the fishing shop owners. Even many of those anglers who made specialist carp fishing equipment generally did their fishing thing alongside another business, as in the case of Cliff Fox, founder of Fox International. In the early days that I fished with him at Shotgate Reservoir (in Essex) he was still producing products such as specially engineered shelving. But back then at that time around ninety nine percent of us carp fished for the sheer love, joy and richness of quality of life carp fishing gave us!

Back at that time fishing magazines were yet to become available to the wider public and were just not present at all on the newsagent shelves. Magazines on offer came via the C.A.A or B.C.S.G. for example.

One of the most inspiring books I read was called Quest for carp by Jack Hilton who was among the most very well respected and most innovative big carp anglers of his generation. It was due to him that in my younger years I made the decision to dedicate my life to fishing and design my life so that I could give myself the best opportunities to achieve my fishing goals. For the past 30 years that is exactly what I have done and loved it!

Anything worthwhile takes extraordinary amount of work and consistent dedication, but if that work is the thing you love to think about and do, then it is not work at all! I am very pleased to say I have had the opportunity to correspond with one of his fishing friends from that time and you really get the picture of how literally everything was custom made, and custom designed for the fishing situation and chosen pitch etc that was required for any particular water. At the time he fished places such as Redmire and Ashley Pool; far from easy waters for the majority of anglers, yet Jack Hilton and some of his friends did exceptionally well!

I read many carp fishing books over the years but too often you can read a whole book and not find that crucial answer, the central keys to success that you are lacking! After reading loads of books over the years one thing is very clear. If you strive for fishing success, you can spend years going in circles and not really reaching the breakthroughs that you need to succeed. Fishing magazines have been as much a confusion as a help. Part of the reason for this is the vast variety of differing opinions and such incredible commercial biases confuses readers so greatly!

Also often misguided advice that is not based on a genuinely deeply proven expert knowledge is offered. I might add that a great many anglers using readymade baits have comparatively little genuinely sound knowledge of the baits they use even if they know what is within them to a degree. Far too many so-called carp fishing experts do not understand what their baits do in reaction to water nor to carp internally or externally; so many readers just get lost and confused and even mislead! Should they use this rig or bait or method or rod or be like this person or that person etc?

Most of the best in any field are the best simply because they think about what they do and refine what they do more than the massive majority ever does. Doing that leads to doing things in pretty unique ways, and even if methods and rigs may be simple, you can be sure that the amount of thinking and even conditioned intuitive actions are exceptionally refined and of an exceptionally high level. Ordinary weekend anglers hoping to emulate their cult heroes are in some respects in regards to some of these anglers trying to beat Olympic champions simply by attempting to copy their running style. But the champions do not achieve their goals merely due to style, and not even due to thousands of hours of daily practice. They are top achievers because of their thoughts!

I knew Kelly Holmes granddad, and he was obviously so proud of her continuing through all the trails and injuries to win double gold at the Olympics, but underneath all that talent, training and personal coaching from the age of 10, it was mindset and thought that won those gold medals!

Personally I have known enough people over the decades that are now in the forefront of angling, to laugh about all the hype and commercial pressures and bias. At the end of the day if you want to be the best angler you can be you need to do it in your very own way. That really means thinking for yourself and finding information that is not commercially biased but is genuinely based on a deeper knowledge that is only focused on two things; what truly works, and why!

Learning how to actually think about fishing to be the most successful angler you can be is not specifically something you will read about much if at all in a carp fishing magazine today, but you will discover this elsewhere! Revealed in my unique readymade bait and homemade bait carp and catfish bait secrets ebooks is far more powerful information look up my unique website (Baitbigfish) and see my biography below for details of my ebooks deals right now!

By Tim Richardson.