Ashley Francis

Founder of Tackl · Tackl Academy reviewer

Ashley Francis is the founder of Tackl and a UK angler. He reviews every Tackl Academy guide before it is published. [Bio placeholder — Ashley to add his angling background.]

Guides reviewed (44)

• Baiting Strategy: Singles, Patches and SpreadsHow and where you introduce bait often matters more than adding an expensive attractor. Feeding should match what you know about the fish, bottom and duration of your session.
• Bite Alarms, Bobbins and Reading Carp TakesBite indication is more than setting an alarm volume. A correctly positioned rod, sensible line tension and an angler ready to respond are essential.
• Boat Fishing Rigs: Booms, Gilling and JiggingBoat fishing lets you lower or work a rig beneath the vessel, but drift, tide and depth still shape the presentation. Booms, bait traces and worked lures each solve different problems.
• Boilies for Carp: Choosing and Using ThemBoilies are convenient carp baits made in different sizes and formulations. Choosing between them matters less than fishing a suitable bait in the right place with sensible quantities.
• Bottom-Bait Rigs: Choosing a Simple PresentationBottom baits remain a reliable approach when carp are feeding on or close to the lakebed. A presentation that settles cleanly and leaves the hook point clear is the priority.
• Carp Care: Landing, Unhooking and Safe ReleaseFish welfare starts before a bite. A safe rig, ready landing equipment and calm handling should be part of every carp session.
• Carp Fishing in the UK: A Practical Beginner's GuideCarp fishing rewards anglers who observe carefully, prepare their tackle properly and change their approach when the conditions demand it. You do not need an enormous collection of gear to start. You need a suitable venue, equipment you can use safely, a reliable presentation and enough patience to learn what the fish are doing. This guide brings those foundations together before you move on to individual knots, rigs and baits.
• Carp Fishing Through the SeasonsCarp behaviour changes with water temperature, daylight, food availability and fishing pressure. Seasonal patterns are useful clues, but real-time observations should guide decisions.
• Carp Lead Systems: Running, Lead Clip, Inline and HelicopterThe lead arrangement influences bite indication, casting and how the hooklink settles. More importantly, it must be configured so a broken line does not leave a carp trailing a dangerous tether.
• Carp Watercraft: Finding Fish Before You CastWatercraft means reading the lake, conditions and fish behaviour. Finding carp consistently is one of the biggest improvements an angler can make without buying new tackle.
• Choosing Carp Hooks for Bottom Baits, Wafters and Pop-UpsThe best hook is the one that works safely with your chosen hookbait, material and presentation. Pattern names offer a starting point, not a guaranteed result.
• Choosing Carp Rods, Reels and Landing EquipmentGood carp equipment should suit the venues you fish and help you land fish confidently. You do not need the longest rod or biggest reel to begin.
• Clipped-Down Sea Fishing Rigs: Bait Clips and DistanceClipped-down rigs hold bait closer to the rig body during a cast, then use a release system to let the hooklength fish freely. Correct clip geometry matters as much as the rig name.
• Coarse Fishing Close Season: When and Where You Can Fish in England & WalesThe close season is the period when you can't fish for certain species on certain types of water. For coarse anglers, the big one is the river close season from 15 March to 15 June, which protects fish while they spawn. Here's how it works and where it doesn't apply.
• Fish Catch and Size Limits in England & Wales: What You Can KeepYou're only allowed to keep a certain number of the fish you catch, and they must be the right size. Anything you can't keep must go back unharmed. Taking too many fish, or fish of the wrong size, is an offence and you can be fined.
• Fishing Tackle Rules in England & Wales: Rods, Bait, Lead and NetsThere are national rules on how many rods you can use, which baits and lures are allowed, which lead weights are legal and how keepnets, keepsacks and landing nets must be made. Here they are in one place, with the exact measurements.
• Flapper and Paternoster Rigs for Sea FishingA paternoster places hooklengths above a terminal lead. An unclipped flapper is a familiar shore-fishing version, with its baits free to move after the rig settles.
• How to Build and Fish the Hinged Stiff RigThe Hinged Stiff Rig is a well-established pop-up presentation that combines a short, curved, stiff hook section with a longer boom. The hook section gives the pop-up an upright working position; the boom is selected to settle across the lakebed and maintain separation from the lead. A swivel between the two sections allows articulation, which explains the word hinged in the name.
• How to Tie a Knotless Knot: A Step-by-Step Carp Fishing GuideThe knotless knot is one of the most useful connections an angler can learn. It secures an eyed hook to a hooklink by binding the material around the shank, and it can leave a separate length of line - the hair - to carry the bait. That simple arrangement underpins many conventional carp rigs. Learn it carefully and you will understand not only how to tie a hair rig, but why eye direction, whipping and bait position matter.
• Mackerel Feathers and Sabiki Rigs ExplainedFeathers, hokeyes and sabikis place small lures on short droppers along a trace. Their appeal is simple presentation, but multiple exposed hooks need careful handling.
• Main Line and Hooklinks: Mono, Fluorocarbon and BraidLine choice affects casting, sensitivity, abrasion resistance and the way your hookbait settles. The right selection depends on the venue and the whole rig, not just the advertised breaking strain.
• Method Feeder Fishing for CarpMethod feeders carry dampened groundbait or pellets close to a short hooklink. They are widely used for commercial fisheries and smaller carp, with safe setup and appropriate tackle essential.
• Particle Baits: Sweetcorn, Hemp and Tiger NutsParticles can add variety to a carp feeding approach, but preparation and venue rules are essential. Some raw or underprepared baits can be unsafe for fish.
• Pellets and Groundbait for CarpPellets and groundbait can introduce scent, fine food particles and a feeding signal around the hookbait. Their breakdown rate and suitability depend on water temperature, product and preparation.
• Pennel Rig: Two Hooks for Larger Sea Fishing BaitsA pennel uses two hooks along one snood to support and present a larger bait. Its upper hook may be movable or fixed, depending on the arrangement.
• Planning a Carp Session: From Arrival to Pack-DownA little planning saves time, helps protect fish and makes your session more enjoyable. The best plan leaves room to adapt when the lake tells you something new.
• Pop-Ups and Wafters: Buoyancy and BalancePop-ups float; wafters are designed to partly counterbalance rig weight; ordinary bottom baits generally sink. Those broad categories are useful, but actual behaviour changes with the complete rig.
• Pulley Rig for Shore Fishing: How It WorksA pulley rig uses a freely moving connection so that tension during retrieval can draw the lead closer to the hooked fish. It can help with snaggy ground, but cannot make a rocky mark snag-proof.
• Reading the Lakebed: Gravel, Silt, Weed and DebrisThe bottom you fish over affects whether the rig settles cleanly and how easily carp can discover the hookbait. Location and safe presentation must be considered together.
• Rod Fishing Licence UK: Prices, Types, Rod Limits and How to Buy (2026)If you're 13 or over and fishing for salmon, trout, coarse fish, smelt or eel with a rod and line in England or Wales, you need a rod fishing licence from the Environment Agency. That applies on private lakes and club waters too. This guide covers who needs one, which licence to buy, how many rods each allows, current prices and how to get one.
• Rotten Bottom Rigs: Weak Links and Casting SafetyA rotten bottom is a weaker connection intended to release a snagged lead. The crucial safety issue is how the lead is retained during casting—not simply how weak the link is.
• Running Leger Rig for Sea FishingA running leger uses a sliding weight carrier with a separate hooklength. It is a bottom-fishing arrangement, not a guarantee that a fish feels no resistance.
• Sea Fishing Float Rigs: Fixed, Surface and SlidingSea float rigs suspend bait in the water rather than relying only on a bottom lead. Select the float and loading for the depth, bait and conditions you intend to fish.
• Sea Fishing Rigs: Choosing a Shore or Boat SetupChoose a sea fishing rig by the ground, depth, bait and presentation you need—not by how many components it contains. This guide separates shore bait rigs, float setups and boat methods.
• Spawning, Hot Weather and When Not to FishKnowing when to stop fishing is part of responsible angling. Carp can be particularly vulnerable during spawning, extreme temperatures and oxygen stress.
• Surface Carp Fishing: Safe Floater PresentationsSurface fishing can be exciting because the angler sees carp approaching floating baits. Success depends on calm observation, controlled feeding and suitable tackle.
• The Carp Hair Rig: Components, Construction and PresentationThe hair rig helped change modern carp fishing by separating the bait from the hook. Instead of covering the hook point with a boilie or piece of bait, the bait sits on a short extension of the hooklink. That gives the bait some freedom to move while the hook remains exposed. It sounds simple, and a basic version is, but its performance still depends on sound construction, appropriate tackle and accurate presentation.
• The Chod Rig Explained: Components, Setup and Safe UseA conventional bottom-bait rig needs somewhere reasonably clean to settle. On a lakebed covered by broken weed, leaves and light debris, its hookbait may be buried or the hooklink may lie awkwardly. A Chod Rig approaches that problem differently. It uses a very short, stiff, curved hook section carrying a buoyant pop-up, usually as part of a compatible helicopter-style arrangement. The hookbait can sit above some of the debris rather than following a long supple hooklink into it.
• The Ronnie Rig (Spinner Rig): A Practical GuideThe Ronnie or spinner-style rig uses a swivel-mounted hook section that can rotate independently of the boom, usually with a pop-up bait. Good component compatibility is essential.
• UK Commercial Fishing Methods ExplainedHow are fish and shellfish caught commercially? Explore the main nets, lines, pots and dredges in this introduction to UK commercial sea fishing, based on Seafish’s Basic Fishing Methods.
• UK Freshwater Fishing Laws and Byelaws: The Complete Guide (England & Wales)Every angler fishing freshwater with a rod and line in England and Wales must follow national rules and local byelaws set by the Environment Agency (and Natural Resources Wales). They exist to protect fish stocks and keep fisheries sustainable. This guide brings the national rules together in one place, covering licences, close seasons, what you can keep, and the tackle you're allowed to use.
• Understanding Carp Hook AnatomyThe shape of a hook determines how its point, eye, bend and shank behave as the hooklink tightens. Learn the parts before worrying about brand names or specialist patterns.
• Wide Gape Hooks for Carp: How to Choose and Use ThemWide gape hooks are a staple of modern carp fishing because they provide generous clearance between the point and the shank without needing an unusually long hook. They can be used with several straightforward bait presentations and are an excellent pattern to understand before experimenting with specialist rigs. The important thing is not to assume every hook labelled “wide gape” is identical: eye angle, point style, wire gauge and actual dimensions vary between ranges.
• Zig Rigs: Fishing for Carp Off the BottomZig rigs suspend a small hookbait above the lakebed, targeting fish holding at a chosen depth rather than feeding on the bottom.