Dave Lane

I first started fishing with my Father in the mid sixties and captured my first ever carp on floating crust around 1970. I used to fish for most species in those days and I became a very competent Tench angler during the summer months, turning my hand to Pike throughout the winter.

I grew up in Sussex and spent a lot of time fishing the gravel pits around the Chichester area; it was here that I started to get a taste for the bigger pits and targeting particular fish. In the nineties I started fishing in the Colne Valley which, at the time, was considered the Mecca for UK carp anglers and I learned a great deal on waters such as Pit 4 and Harefield, where I caught my first thirty pound carp.

From here I progressed to Horton where I became the first UK angler to land two, three, and then four different fish in excess on forty pounds. I also won the carp angler of the year title a couple of times during this period. After Horton I moved on to Wraysbury and captured my first fifty pound fish, around this time I also started consulting for bait and tackle firms and this would lay the foundation for my employment in the future. I also had my first book 'An Obsession with Carp' published and wrote regular articles for most of the leading carp fishing magazines. My second hobby has always been photography and this proved the perfect partner for my growing career as an angling writer.

Over the next few years I travelled around the country targeting big carp from extremely difficult waters and, by 2004 I had notched up five different UK fifties, a feat unequalled at the time in this country. My fifth fifty was the infamous Black Mirror from Colne Mere, one of the most sought after fish in the land. In addition to my regular writing and consulting career, over the next eight years, I became heavily involved in product development and travelled all over the world to ensure samples of carp fishing tackle were made to my requirements. During this period I also launched a bespoke range of carp equipment, designed packaging, catalogues and advertising and had my second book 'A Flick of the Tale' published.

I now live in Suffolk with my wife, children and carp dog Paddy, and continue to share my working hours between fishing, writing and product development. I have an writing output of around 10-15 thousand words a month and I am just starting to put together a third book, hopefully to be ready for publication within a year, hopefully being the operative word!

I am currently working on the 'Hardcore' range of products and intend to use all my experience to create a range of tackle that I can be proud to put my name to, and happy to use in the pursuit of my next monster carp.