Traditional Angling Camping Equipment
With so much stigma associated with the 'Bivvy Boy' image (even though most bivvy-dwelling anglers are perfectly OK) the traditional angler may question whether they should ever fish at night or camp by the waterside. The reality is that nocturnal hours are such a special time to be fishing that it would be unwise to sacrifice fishing at night just because of a traditional persuasion. Camping is great fun and brings out the boy scout in all of us. I champion a way of fishing at night that avoids the Bivvy Boy label and encourages a slower, more rewarding, pace to his time by the water.
The importance of a traditional base camp
The modern specimen angler will select a swim, erect their bivvy and then fish from that spot for the duration of the trip. This doesn’t appeal to me, as I like to stalk my fish and then retire from the water to rest. Instead, I deliberately choose a ‘base camp’ set away from the water. (A wood is the best and most adventurous place to set up camp, although a field next to a hedgerow can be good in rainy weather, so to avoid the drips from trees).
Having a base camp enables me to explore a lake or river, casting into likely looking spots and then returning to camp for meals or to rest or sleep. To do this, you need to be fishing a water where there is no chance that your camping equipment will get stolen in your absence. Fortunately for me, most of the traditional waters that I fish are very remote, enabling peace of mind that my base camp is secure.
If you are lucky enough to fish with other traditional anglers, then setting up a camp together is enjoyable. You can arrange your tents in a circle around, but a safe distance away from, a campfire. If fires aren’t allowed then you can set a Tilley lamp as the central point, or if the rules are vague, you could use a small barbeque or a Kelly kettle (being able to stare into the embers of a fire at the end of a day’s fishing is so atmospheric).
Tents
I love sleeping under canvas. The material is natural, it keeps the inside of the tent cool in summer and warm in spring and autumn. To date I’ve owned canvas ridge tents by Litchfield and Vango, more recently an olive-green ex-army ridge tent. The army one has the right colour (although khaki is my favourite) and unsually has a built-in groundsheet. Without it I would be constantly fending off mice and suffering flooding during heavier rain showers. Experience has taught me that Vango canvas tents are the very best. I will one day purchase a Vango Force 10 Classic CN MkIV. This has all the benefits of the Vango ridge design (A-frame poles so no centre pole blocking the doorway; rubberised built-in groundsheet; super-sturdy construction) and comes in bottle green rather than the usual ‘help, I’m stuck on a mountain’ orange colour.
I’ve always liked canvas bell tents, like the ones used by the Carp Catchers’ Club in the 1950’s, but at 12ft wide they were too big for one angler. I will write to the makers of such tents, asking if they would make a scaled-down 7ft version. This would be ideal for traditional angling, provided you didn’t have to carry it too far from your vehicle.
The downside of canvas tents is their heaviness, in fabric and poles; their zips are usually made of brass and can stick easily; they leak if not regularly proofed, and they can be prone to mildew if packed away when damp. Nylon tents are lighter and easier to maintain, but they create condensation and their modern materials and designs lack the vintage charm of a canvas tent. Nylon tents, especially the dome tent design with fibreglass poles, can look too much like a modern angler’s bivvy (the ‘bivvy boy’ image being, in my opinion, the complete opposite of how a traditional angler should look). If you opt for a nylon tent, ensure that its design doesn’t contradict the rest of your traditional efforts.
Bedding
When camping, I like to be fairly close to the ground. This enables me to put a candle or cup of tea on the groundsheet of the tent and gives me a feeling that I am close to the earth. The latter sounds a bit ‘new age’, but I don’t like framed camp beds. They remind me too much of those suburban campers who dip their toes into the countryside, only if there's a shop, bar and toilet block within 50 yards of their tent. Instead I use a single-size inflatable mattress – a heavy duty rubberised one that looks like a LiLo and nearly causes me to pass out when I inflate it. The downside of using a mattress is that the tent has to be positioned on a level area – something that isn’t always possible next to a lake or river.
An angler’s sleeping bag should be an earthy colour. Green is most popular, but brown or fawn would suffice. Fishing tackle shops sell a variety of warm and comfortable sleeping bags, but the best place to get a traditionally styled one is from an army surplus store. Here you will get a green, feather-downed bag for a fraction of the price of a modern one from a tackle shop. The best ex-army sleeping bags are the ones with rubberised backing (built-in groundsheet) and have press-studs to attach an army poncho to make it completely watertight. Army surplus stores also sell heavy wool blankets that provide an extra layer of warmth for those early or late season camping trips.
Tea-making equipment
One of my most essential items of traditional tackle, that I’ve used for twenty years, is a Kelly kettle. I wouldn’t be without one when fishing. These wonderful devices boil water in a chimney above a contained fire. They are fuelled by anything combustible that you can find nearby – dry leaves, twigs, moss, bracken, reed stems, etc. I love the ritual of gathering dry kindling and fuel for the Kelly. In wet conditions the task becomes a personal challenge – to find dry twigs sheltered from the rain and build a fire powerful enough to boil the kettle.
Kelly Kettles are available in 2.5 pint and 1 pint sizes. Mine is a 2.5 pint one; its size accommodates drop-in visits from friends fishing nearby (the smoke signal from a Kelly is a great advertisement for ‘tea up’). It also has a chimney cavity large enough to transport an extra bottle of water inside. Accessories are available such as a saucepan and toast grill, though I’ve not had any success with these – it seems that once the Kettle’s chimney is removed from the fire, and the draw of air is lost, that the fire quickly goes out before the contents of a saucepan will boil
I use newspaper to start the fire in the kettle. Placing three sheets (screwed up into balls) into the base of the Kelly, I then place the kettle on top before feeding fine twigs through the top of the Kelly’s chimney. Once the chimney is full, I light the fire through the hole in the base, then blow gently until the convection of the rising flames pulls more air into the ‘furnace’. I then feed larger sticks into the top of the chimney, adding them until the water boils. The kettle is then removed and the water poured into a teapot. (I’m a big fan of loose-leaf tea and so use a metal teapot that I rest on the embers to keep it warm. I get my tealeaves via mail order from The Mecca in Aberystwyth. My usual blends are Ceylon Pekoe and Blue Lady Earl Grey.)
A book could be written called The Art and Craft of the Kelly kettle – users will know what I mean by this. They are so alluring. I’ve often found myself boiling a Kelly for enjoyment’s sake, without any desire to make a cup of tea. My fishing clothes have taken on a musky, smoky scent that the washing machine just can’t remove but which makes me yearn to be fishing every time that I smell them.
Candles
I’m a big fan of candles – especially traditional beeswax church candles. They smell ‘traditional’ and produce a soft amber light that’s so relaxing to see. I also use tea lights in jam jars when fishing at night (they burn for ages and, with the jam jar, provide reassurance that they won’t incinerate my tent). I also have an old tin can with an oval cut into the front, into which I place a candle. The can shields the flame from the wind and helps to reflect light where I want it. I made this candleholder when I first fished at Redmire Pool, so it’s become sentimental to me; the can has accompanied me on most of my carp fishing trips of the past 15 years.
I used to have a paraffin Tilley lamp that provided more light than a candle but it was prone to leaking oil everywhere, coating my fingers and thus tainting my bait. The glass in it was fragile and eventually broke. I replaced it with a brass miner’s lamp from a souvenir shop in Wales. This was a most beautiful item of tackle, especially once the brass dulled down to a bronze colour, but its glass would quickly become coated in soot, rendering it ineffective for anything other than ‘mood lighting’.
I’ve recently purchased a UCO Candle Lantern (original design, in brass). It’s a brilliant invention, burning a candle in a controlled environment to ensure a drawn and consistent flame height. It also has a hook and chain to hang it from a branch, so it has less risk of toppling over. Candles have definitely won the battle to illuminate my tent.
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