ACF MEETS... Mike Willmott - Essential Baits

CARP LIFE // ACF MEETS... Mike WillmottAngler: Mike WillmottUK PB: 52lb 10ozSponsors: Essential Baits,Daiwa Sports, Gardner TackleMike is hugely respectedwithin the carp scene. Hisbait knowledge is awesome.62Meets...MIKE WILLMOTTACF is granted a glimpse into the carp life of bait guru MIKEWILLMOTT. He tells us about his views on otters, sponsorship andthe lure of the unknown monster.

Mike poses with a secretcommon before slippingit back into the darkwaters of its home.ACF: Mike, what are your hopes for theremainder of 2010?MW: That I’ll be able to carry on enjoyingmy fishing. In terms of my target hopes, abig common would be nice, especially fromthe river. My biggest common still stands at38lb 10oz from 15 years ago so, yes, a 40lbcommon would be good. Even better if it’s arare or uncaught one!ACF: You must get hundreds of anglersapproaching you for a bait deal. Who was thelast one to truly impress you?MW: It wouldn’t be fair for me to mentionnames of some of the anglers who haveapproached me over the years for a bait deal,but there have been plenty of big namesamong them for sure.In terms of catching so many bigfish on Essential Baits, I wouldhave to say Jon McAllisterwould be right up there. In fact,Jon won Carp Angler Of TheYear for such a consistent runof success using the ShellfishB5 throughout 2007.Another one would be MartinFinan who recently banked threedifferent UK fifties on the B5. Martinis a very successful UK angler who hasvery little time and keeps a fairly low profile.Rick Golder also springs to mind. Since usingEssential Baits Rick has caught big fish fromeverywhere he goes and has a very impressivephoto album to prove it!High-profile anglers often approach us butour company policy is such that we do not payanglers to use our bait. We would rather investthat money into product development and strictquality control for the anglers that really count,that is those fishing for their own enjoyment,not pounds, shillings and pence!ACF: Can bait make rig choice irrelevant?MW: Good question! Without a doubt, and I’vewitnessed this on numerous occasions. If youcan give them a bait that they really like andestablish it properly, they can throw completecaution to the wind and feed with suchconfidence that their rig awareness becomessecondary. This is emphasised even more if youcan create competition for the food source fromother carp. When this happens, their naturalinstinct seems to take over and they becomegreedy in their quest to consume more of thediminishing food source due to the surroundingcompetition. Multiple captures are often theresult of this happening.Of course, it should go without saying thatyou still need to get the basics right, such assharp hooks and effective presentation, but inmy book a good food bait established properlyis far more important than using the latest socalled‘wonder rig’.One indicator that should give you an idea ofhow confident they are feeding on your bait isthe position of your hook-holds. Fish hooked onI’d loveto have acrack at TheBurghfieldCommon but Idon’t havethe time.the extremities of the lip or consistent hookpullstells you that they are not feeding withcomplete confidence. Conversely, any hook-holdfurther back than an inch points towards moreconfidence in their feeding and acceptance ofthe bait.A classic example of all the above happenedto me last year on the river. I was baiting upwith the B5 and it was obvious that the carpwere eating the bait big time due to the fishactivity that I was witnessing before and afterbaiting up. Instead of rushing in and fishing,I decided to just keep the bait going in for alittle longer to build up the competition forfood. There was little if any angling pressureon that stretch and being such a high-qualityfood source I was confident that thecompetition for food would increase.As soon as I started fishing, theaction came thick and fast andit wasn’t long before one of mytarget fish graced the net – asuperb 37lb 2oz mirror, but,amazingly, the hook was lodgednine inches back! It was by farand away the deepest-hookedcarp I have ever witnessed inover 30 years of carping. I had tocut the hook link at the edge of thelips before phoning my son Lee to bringme out my pike forceps to remove the hook itwas that far back! Such a hook-hold could onlyhave happened due to such frenzied feedingactivity, achieved by giving them a good foodbait and plenty of ‘free’ feeding time.ACF: After banking a certain big ’un in July2008, is there a touch of anticlimax toeverything else?MW: I wouldn’t really class it as an anticlimaxbecause that would be a little disrespectful toother carp and I’ve always had great respect formy quarry, big, small or indifferent. It is true tosay that the capture of The Black Mirror reallyblew me away and it took me a while to adjustafter that. The whole campaign took so muchout of me, particularly considering my timelimitations coupled with the distances I hadto travel to achieve my goal. I suppose I justwanted to sit back and relax for a while beforegetting back into the groove.ACF: What direction will your fishing takenow?MW: Well, due to family commitments andbusiness pressures I don’t have the time to fishas much these days, so I can’t set my sightstoo high. I was fortunate enough to get backonto Frampton last year and was rewarded withsome fantastic fish, including a brace of forties– not a bad welcome-back present!I would love to have a crack at The BurghfieldCommon but I just don’t have the time tocommit myself. I will have to leave that onefor the full-timers because I don’t see it as achallenge that would be possible with the timelimitations I have. Besides, I’m not getting any63

CARP LIFE // ACF MEETS... Mike Willmottyounger and as Lee Jackson said to me whenI was chasing the Black Mirror: “It’s a youngman’s game.” I’m glad I proved him wrong onthat occasion, though!The fi re is still burning strongly, though,and I’m still hungry. My Dinton ticket hasjust become available after nine years on thewaiting list so I can see a few trips headingtowards Reading on the horizon. I will continuefi shing the river systems until my back fi nallygives up and I have an appointment with one ortwo large commons from a tricky Devon estatelake to meet up with one day!ACF: What drove you to create your ownfishery?MW: I suppose it was just a dream thatmost carpers have at one time or another.Fortunately, I happened to be in the right placeat the right time and asked the right questionsto the right person! I’m a great believer infate, but I think you make your own luck inlife. Nothing comes to you, but everything isachievable if you really want it. If you don’tachieve your goal, it’s normally due to the factthat you didn’t want it enough.We knew when we purchased the lake about11 years ago that it would be a lifetime projectand I still believe this. We’ve moulded it toalmost perfection and have built our whole lifearound it. Next month we submit the plansto build our lakeside house and if the localplanning authority accepts them, we will bewaking up in paradise every morning.ACF: How much of a problem do otters presentto the modern fishery owner? Collectively,what can be done?MW: In short, an absolutely massive problem. Isaid this eight years ago when Ashlea Pool waswiped out and we had a huge otter problem onmy lake but people thought I was overreacting– now look! In fact, I would go as far as sayingthat in less than 10 years many of our waterswill be wiped out. It’s hard for people to acceptthis, I know, but I really don’t think the majorityof anglers realise just how serious this problemis. The only waters capable of surviving theincreasing onslaught from otters will be thosewith otterproof fencing.We solved the problem here by installingone but this solution just isn’t viable on manyfi sheries. The numbers of otters are expandingrapidly and because they are territorialcreatures they are now settling down in placesthat they have never done so before. Theirpreferred habitat is rivers and streams andtheir staple diet is eels and mussels. However,due to having no choice, they will soon destroyall fi sh stocks in order to survive. It’s not theirfault, of course, just the naivety and apathyfrom conservationists to accept the problem.5ABOUT MIKE WILLMOTTFACTS•In a previous lifeMike used to be a roadsweeper in London.•Mike’s favourite fi lmis One Flew Over TheCuckoo’s Nest and hisfavourite song My Way byFrank Sinatra.•Chelsea FC is Mike’sother great love afterfi shing.•Like many anglers hisdream was to own hisown fi shery. This one hasactually come true forMike.•Mike’s fi shing and baitmaking has not come atthe expense of his familylife - he has been happilymarried for 27 years.A river-caught 37lbmirror that Mikebagged after getting itfeeding confidently.64

ACF: You’ve lost anglers to ‘bigger’commercial outfits, how does that sit withyou?MW: I’m glad you said bigger and not better!In all honesty this has never bothered me. Ourpolicy is that we will not pay anglers to useour baits and I wouldn’t expect any angler tocontinue using our bait if he was being offeredcopious amounts of money from another baitcompany. Further to this we’ve never noticed adrop in sales following the departure of a highprofile angler being lured to another companyfor fi nancial reasons. In fact, quite the oppositebecause the majority of our customers prefer touse bait from a company that has morals andlooks after their real customers, as opposed tofi nancing full-time anglers! There’s far too much‘jumping ship’ going on these days and thegeneral angling public are not gullible enoughto believe that these so called ‘famous anglers’use certain bait companies because they likethe bait!I really respect loyalty but unfortunately youdon’t seem to fi nd too much of it these days.I’m happy to say that we have quite a fewanglers that have been using our bait year afteryear for more years than I care to remember.The B5 has built up a very enviable reputationacross the board and it’s probably caught morebig carp than any other bait developed, yet thedemand continues to grow every year. Now thatdefi nitely tells you something.Further to this, unlike some of the ‘bigger’commercial outfi ts you alluded to earlier, wedon’t have to keep launching a new ‘wonderbait’ every year. It reminds me of all these newimproved washing powders they keep bringingout each year. How much whiter than whitedo we want? Are the paying public really thatgullible?Mike’s first book, CarpLife, was well receivedand still sells well. Lookout for a follow-up in thenot-too-distant future.The rig that snared the37lb mirror opposite.Then you get the real grafters who put anenormous amount of effort into their fi shing.One of my customers, Eddie Johnson fromNorth Wales, regularly puts in 550-mile roundtrips to fi sh his chosen waters, but boy doeshe catch them! He has to have 100 per centconfi dence in his bait and is a B5 user throughand through.He caught The Fat Lady last year at 55lb 3ozand I was over the moon for him. He’s recentlyhad a rake of big fi sh from another demandingvenue and it’s these guys who are the realheroes of carp angling, not the ones who liveon the lake with all their permits, bait andtackle paid for them.Enjoying the companyof family on theWillmott’s favouriteBelgian stretch of river.ACF: It must be an incrediblebuzz when someone banks abig carp on your bait…MW: Yes without a doubt, butsize is only relevant to eachindividual. As I said, I thinkthe Shellfi sh B5 has probablycaught more big carp than anyother bait developed. Its bigfish track record is phenomenal,but whether it’s a well-known anglerbanking a UK sixty or an angler catchinghis fi rst twenty, the buzz is the same.In fact, I probably get more of a buzz whenI get e-mails or letters from anglers that havejust caught their fi rst twenty or thirty. Theyalways seem to be far more appreciativebecause they haven’t been caught up in thebig-fi sh scene, which can get quite ‘bitchy’ attimes. I received a lovely letter only last weekfrom a chap in Staffordshire that had justbeaten his previous PB of 25lb 10oz with a trioof carp weighing 29lb 6oz, 29lb 8oz and 31lb10oz in just four hours’ fi shing. It’s lovely whenthat happens and it really means a lot to mewhen they take the time to let me know.Onecustomer putsin 550-mileround trips tofi sh his chosenwaters.A lovely welcomeback to Frampton– 48lb 8oz!65

Some of theSpringwood syndicatemembers that havehelped turn the lakeinto their little paradise.the appetite or passion for angling that I’vehad, though. I fell in love with fi shing and neverlooked back; Lee never fell in love with it in thesame way I did but he still likes it, of course.I think that’s a good thing because he canget his priorities sorted out better. I grew upbelieving that fi shing was the most importantthing in my life and later found out that I waswrong. It’s all too late then; you can’t turn theclock back and put things right.ACF: Do you have a water in mind to ‘retire’onto when you’re happy to get away from theday-to-day running of the bait firm?MW: I know exactly what you mean and it hascrossed my mind on a number of occasions. Isuppose it would have to be Frampton. Not onlybecause of the magnifi cent carp it holds, butalso due to the wonderful memories I’ve sharedon its banks with so many good friends over theyears. It has some very sentimental memoriesfor me as well.My lake is another, of course. One day, whenall the work has fi nally fi nished, I might justbe able to sit down with a nice glass of chilledwine and refl ect on how far we’ve come and,who knows, even retire from work overlookingthe place!The thing with carp fi shing, and life in general,is that you don’t know what’s around the cornerand it’s diffi cult to plan for anything really. I’velost too many family members and friendsin recent years to take anything for grantedanymore. Just live life to the full and be gratefulthat you can wake up and hear the birds sing.That’s my motto anyway.ACF: Do the foreign waters still fire you?MW: Yes they do, but nowhere near like theydid 20 years ago in the early days of venuessuch as the Orient, Chantecoque and Madine.They were the days! All there to be explored;vast and windswept. I even caught Rainbow’sfi rst forty believe it or not. Things have certainlychanged since then!Unfortunately, those days have gone andI have no desire to catch massive carp fromcommercial venues that resemble bivvy cities.I’ve been to a few good ones over the years.I loved it on Luke Moffatt’s place, Graviers, aproper big-carp venue and a pleasure to fi sh.I’ve also enjoyed it on Sky Lakes’ RootswoodFishery a few times. These days I’m morethan happy to sit it out and relax on the riversystems catching uncaught twenties andthirties. That does it for my family and me.ACF: You’ve hardly made it easy for yourselfover the years, fishing a dodgy public park; agin-clear, weed-infested one-acre pool; and asecret mere. Which fish were the hardest totarget?MW: They were all diffi cult for different reasons.Unfortunately there are plenty of waters suchas the ‘dodgy park lake’ you refer to, but if youwant to catch the fi sh you have to persevere, nomatter what it takes. Weed-infested waters canbe diffi cult but you just need to make sure thatyour presentation is effective and you are usingsensible enough gear to actually bank the fi shwhen you hook them.It’s all about horses for courses. Carp onsmall waters will always be easier to locatebut will often be very ‘rig wise’ due to the factthat they will usually be subjected to plentyof angling pressure. Ten carp in 50 acres,however, will be a lot more diffi cult to fi nd, butlikely to be less rig shy. The secret is aboutlearning to adapt to each situation by adoptingthe correct methods and there’s no substitutefor experience.ACF: Would you like to leave a carp anglinglegacy?MW: I’m not egotistic in that sense so Isuppose the answer would be no! In the perfectworld it would be great if everyone could adoptthe same philosophy by leaving only footstepsand taking only memories, but unfortunately theperfect world doesn’t exist!ACF: Where will your next trip take you, whenwill it be and what do you expect to catch?MW: Somewhere nice and quiet and away fromthe madding crowd. As for expectations, therewouldn’t be any, other than to enjoy the journey!67