Back To The Future

We join carp angling royalty LEE JACKSON on the banks of a special Kent venue that he first visited some 30 years ago and has rekindled his love for carp fishing.

- Lee Jackson

ED: So Lee, it has been a while since you have really done anything in the magazines, especially Total Carp. What have you been up to and where have you been fishing?

LEE: To be honest Dan, carp fishing has taken a bit of a back seat over the last two or three years. As you get older, and with certain things going on in your life, fishing sometimes doesn’t seem as important as it perhaps once was.

I recently got married and I’m still enjoying working in The Tackle Box, and most of the fishing I have been doing is the occasional trips abroad. I love heading out for a weeklong session, which is more of a holiday, and enjoying the whole aspect of being outdoors if you like.

Also, as I’ve got older, and having predominantly been a short-session angler for most of my carp fishing life, I don’t really want to travel too far to get the rods out, especially if it means battling the traffic jams on the M25, which simply isn’t any fun.

In recent years I find lakes to be a lot busier. As much as it is great for the trade, I have opted to take a back seat and just enjoy talking to anglers and hearing about their sessions. I have struggled to find a venue where I can enjoy the peace and quiet as well as having the chance of catching a big fish.

ED: You have brought me to an incredibly stunning little venue known as Tip Lake on the Darenth complex. I understand you have history here. When was the first time you wet a line here?

LEE: It really is a blast from the past, having first set foot on these banks in the late 1970s. The last time I fished here would have been around 1984. Even back then I honestly felt it was the most beautiful and enjoyable venue that I had ever fished.