CarpTV DVD Magazine

My old contact Joe Morgan, formerly of Korda, sent me an email the other day asking if I’d like to review for Fishingmagic the latest offerings from a new DVD magazine entitled ‘Carp TV’. Two days later the DVD magazines came through the post.

Now I’ve seen your normal magazines printed on paper and they can be a little dull at times, particularly certain carp ones where the ‘shots’ are often of different carp all held the same way by the same captor in front of the same bush (so as not to give away location) and frankly, they’re boring to me.

We also have on-line magazines, FishingMagic being the best (I believe so!), where members can interact, question the author, and comment on articles and even arrange meetings between each other. I find these (as you will have guessed) the best so far.

However, this new one, Carp TV, is something different again. A full 90 minute DVD in the form of a magazine. Why there’s even a small section at the front with your latest catches, and YOU could be in there!

There’s what appears to be a ‘main feature’ plus product reviews, bait pieces and a small interview with popular carp anglers as to their likes and dislikes. Not everything on the DVD will suit everybody and some might even call many portions ‘advertising’, but look, you’re not going to get 11/2 hours of video entertainment for £ 4.99 without some advertising included. You buy a paper magazine and it’s full of it.

What I found was that even in the bits I considered ‘Advertorial’ (a cross between the advertising and editorial) there were some good sound tips and recommendations. There are slots on the two (June and July) Joe sent to me featuring Shaun Harrison (Quest Baits) who has written some excellent pieces for FM on baits and presentations. The main feature on the July issue features Danny Fairbrass who never fails to mention Korda once or two dozen times, but for heaven’s sake, it’s his company and he’s talking about how he started it up.

The DVD is very well produced and exceedingly well filmed, plenty of cut-away shots to nature and previous action sequences whilst the dialogue continues unbroken. Best of all – it’s all in w-i-d-e-s-c-r-e-e-n! Why would you buy a modern widescreen TV and then want to watch 4/3 videos?

You might say, well it’s £ 4.99 and once you’ve watched it, that’s it. How wrong you could be, I have an inkling to watch bits over and over again and I want to keep them as a future reference point, more storable than paper magazines too. The old saying goes “A picture’s worth a thousand words”, but these videos are worth much more than that.

Items in paper magazines (and even some Internet ones) can sometimes leave me confused as to how a rig works, how it’s assembled, etc. So long as these people cover all the angles and show how the rigs works and how they’re made up, I think that learning by DVD is a much better and clearer way of showing this. I’m certainly looking forward to future issues and we’ll be reviewing them for you on FM every month from now on.

There’ll also be monthly competitions (we haven’t decided how or what yet) whereby five FM members can win a copy each month. If you can’t wait to get your hands on the latest, go to www.carp-tv.com and subscribe now or phone their subscriptions hotline on 01206 827338.

Copies are also sold at leading newsagents and tackle dealers. At £ 4.99 per month it’s a bargain and after 12 months you will have approx 18 hours or more of viewable library information.

Remember though, DVD piracy is a criminal offence so NO COPYING for your mates!

I’d give this a rating so far of 10/10 if only because this is not only a top quality fishing DVD and magazine combined, but it represents a different approach and fresh thinking outside the box.

Postscript note – If you can get your hands on a back copy of their June issue there’s an extra treat. On it there is also, in addition to the 90 minutes magazine, a copy of ‘The Obsession of Carp’ featuring Mark Holmes and Richard (Cash) Farnan. This video is 50 minutes long, narrated by a Colin Day (who sounds not too dissimilar to John Nettles) and directed by Nick Read and it is ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT!

Again, it’s in widescreen and the direction and editing is simply wonderful. It looks almost as if it’s not been made for the angler at all, but instead to educate the non-angler, very much in the mould of ‘A Passion For Angling’. Having said that, you will be enthralled with the entire experience of joining these two as they fish one absolutely gorgeous lake over two nice late spring days.

There isn’t any action on the day of their arrival nor overnight. The day after, Cash goes stalking and lands a new personal best (I think it’s a 46 pounder) and then Mark goes and lands a massive 61 lbs fish from off the top. Put aside that action and it is one beautifully made film that will have you salivating, yes, even you non-carpers will feel envious.

So try and grab a copy free with June’s Carp TV. ‘The Obsession of Carp’ DVD normally retails for £ 14.99. More of them please.