MARTIN RICH INTERVIEW FOR AMERICAN CARP SOCIETY

Martin Rich is an American Carp Society member from San Antonio Texas… He has recently been using some of our products in the Barnaby’s Revenge Bait range and having some terrific success. A constant flow of pictures on his social feed had us reach out to him to see what was happening…. He was kind enough to give us some feedback on his experience to share with everyone. It’s important for us here at The American Carp Society that you, the Anglers investing your hard earned money on the bait products that we produce, give us your honest feedback on your experience and results so that we can share with other Anglers who are looking for a crafted US made bait. The reception and the results to the bait range has been overwhelming and we will continue to improve to bring you more high quality products, that will put more fish on the bank. In his own words…Mr Martin Rich!

First off Martin many thanks for all of your support and taking the time to do this for us… As mentioned above you have been using the bait now for a few months, Can you give us a brief history of your experience with the bait and when and why you started using it?

MARTIN:
So my first experience of the bait was when I was fishing a session on Lady Bird in Austin, TX around a year ago. Brid Caveney, another American Carp Society member, had just come back from The Mill Creek event and had some on him, which he showed me. I was, at that time, going through a transition from fishing tiger nuts almost exclusively to wanting to fish more boilies. The reason behind this was I’d become aware of a number of mid to high 30’s in the lake that, with a little help, I think could break the 40lb barrier. Finding a good boilie at that point became very important to me. I’d already been down the road of making them myself and actually had some great success, but due to work and home commitments I just didn’t have the time to make enough myself. When I examined the baits Brid had shown me, my first impression of them was they had a good smell, they were not too hard or soft and looked to be made of very high quality ingredients. Something else I’ve noticed about them is the weight, they’re heavy… heavier than most boilies I’ve used, which in a river is definitely an advantage for me. When baiting up they don't get washed down in the current as easily as the mass produced boilies, they also go a bit further in a catapult due to the weight as well.

You had some beautiful fish on it last year …. Can you give us some insights as to your approach? Many anglers the crumb for their stick mix with either a pop up or Tiger on the hook and some fish the boilies straight through with a few free offerings . Can you tell us how you approach a water with the bait. Do you pre-bait or approach it differently than with particle?

MARTIN:
So my approach to angling here is more of a ‘continental approach’ I think, as opposed to tactics I’d employ in the UK. The water here is vast and almost never ending it seems on some of the venues I fish. I’m using a lot of bait, with the average fish in the lakes I fish being 20lb plus commons and 40lb plus buffs they do eat a lot.

Plus you factor in nuisance fish like catfish and your 5 gallon bucket looks like a drop in the ocean and will barely last 30 minutes if a group of big commons or buffs roll up on it. For this reason I go heavy on bait. I also have to fish within a time constraint due to work/life commitments so my sessions have to be well planned and I have always found that preparation is one of the keys to being successful. I tend to fish over large beds of bait often at the same spot for weeks and even months in some cases. The addition of the boilies has certainly increased the size of the fish I’m catching, slightly fewer runs maybe…but on average the fish are much bigger. I also increased the size of my baits and started doubling them up…ultimately fishing the Asterbury snowman or a variation of it but always with that nice heavy bottom bait on there as a base. 

What do you look for in a specialized carp bait? We all know that carp can be picked up on pieces of plastic and items that have no nutritional value to them as a ‘pick up’….have you noticed a difference in quality of fish at all when using the bait and what are your thoughts on the nutritional value of a bait and if it is important to you?

MARTIN:
So nutritional value of a bait is important to me as I feed large quantities. As I mentioned before there definitely seems to be a size increase in the fish since switching to the boilies. I feel the bait should be of high quality also since they will be consuming a fair amount of the stuff and I want them to be healthy and thrive. I’ve run sustained baiting campaigns for months with great success but I’d feel terrible if that were to be to the detriment of the fish. Then of course the price is a factor as well…. but I feel the ACS bait is both well priced and a very high quality product, so it fulfills both needs for me.

How often do you get to fish Martin? Lakes or rivers?

MARTIN:
I try to get out and fish once a week if possible, usually mid week as I find it a little quieter but I’m currently fishing Lady Bird which is always kinda busy with the odd trip to Decker thrown in just to mix things up. So in regards to the question both Lakes and Rivers… and I enjoy both.

What prompted you to become a member of the American Carp Society?

MARTIN:
I joined the American Carp Society as its members share more than just a common interest but also a high respect for the fish and their environment. Carp fishing is an obsession for me… it consumes far more of my time than it probably should but I can live with that. 

What is it about the species that draws you towards them do you think?

MARTIN:
So I’ve been fishing for carp since I was a boy, it was a progression from silver fish on the river…Dace, Roach and Rudd and catching some good Chub and then my grandad took me to a match lake. This was where I first encountered the carp. I believe this is when I went down the rabbit hole… The next week I was back with a heavy feeder rod, new reel and a load of other stuff I’d convinced my grandfather we needed. The rest is history, I’ve been chasing the beautiful beasts ever since but after moving to America another fish came onto my radar.

After moving here I’d tried fishing a few local lakes but without much success, so I figured finding some local carp fishermen would be a smart move. After looking on Facebook I attended a social at Decker, not really knowing about the buffs, but I assumed there would be carp. After a couple of hours a few of these giant white / grey fish had been caught and I wanted a piece of the action… luckily for me before the end of the session I’d banked my first Small Mouth Buffalo at just over 32lbs and there it began again. Buffs have weird eyes, it’s like they’re looking into your soul. I fished Decker almost exclusively then for a couple of years only stopping as I was planning on fishing the ATC, so I thought it maybe a good idea to have few sessions on Ladybird. I then became aquatinted with the ‘river buffs’, these looked similar to the ones I’d caught before but we’re much more streamlined, less belly and fought so much harder. The first 40lb+ I had I honestly thought I had some kind of lake record on the end. My love for the buffs is only growing over time and the more we learn about them the cooler they are.

How do you see the sport growing in the future and what can we do at The American Carp Society to help in this regard?

MARTIN:
I see the sport growing here in Austin and San Antonio, there’s definitely more people fishing for carp now than when I first came here and there’s a couple new faces each year which is a positive sign. Friendly competition last year seemed to engage more folks, the central TX guys had a big 4 running all year a but the organizer stopped updating the board after 6 months… but for the six months it was pretty popular. As far as getting new people in to the sport these social events seem pretty good. I know that’s how quite a few of the American guys got involved around here.

Thanks so much for your support as a member and taking the time to do this Martin and many congrats on the results that you have been getting….Are there any final words that you’d like to share with others?

MARTIN:
Work hard at it…and fill it in with bait!