- 5 months ago
The Grand Fishing Adventure S03E03 (29 April 2025)
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CreativityTranscript
00:00This is the most epic underwater footage I've ever watched unfold in front of me.
00:05Prepare to immerse yourself into the underwater unknowns
00:09that obsess anglers across the globe.
00:11Ready?
00:12I'm fishing maniac Ali Hamidi.
00:15And we're off the underwater mark.
00:16And alongside our underwater experts.
00:19This is amazing.
00:22And my angling buddies.
00:23Unbelievable.
00:24Feels like a very, very good fish.
00:26We'll expose underwater myths and truths.
00:30What is the answer?
00:31Want to see what baits carp fluff most?
00:34Now we're talking attraction.
00:36Experience tackle and tech in different scenarios.
00:41It's on here.
00:42And witness the fine lines between success
00:47and failure.
00:48No, no, no.
00:50All is unearthed in the underwater grand fishing adventure.
00:54Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:55We've got ourselves a piggy underwater.
01:00The venue for this two-part special was somewhere we've been before.
01:16In the deep south of France, it's the mighty Ictus.
01:22This free lake holiday venue holds giant fish in every water,
01:26including colourful koi and mahoosive king carp to over 80 pounds.
01:32And on our previous adventure here in 2023...
01:38Oh, that's a...
01:40That's the one that's underwater.
01:42A certain Robert Lester Zamora rewrote the record books by banking the biggest carp ever...
01:50Yes!
01:51Look at the size of it!
01:52...to be caught in front of an underwater camera to date.
01:56An absolute monster weighing 69 pounds and eight ounces,
02:01which was also a European carp PB for Zamo.
02:05Bobby will also be my partner in crime for this trip,
02:08where we're going to be fishing a new lake on the complex for the very first time.
02:14Our mission?
02:14To catch a colourful koi carp each in front of the underwater cameras,
02:19plus a king carp of 50 pounds or more.
02:22The stakes were high, but we always relish a challenge.
02:28The epic sight at the Pyrenees Mountains signified that the fishing destination was closed.
02:34I travelled ahead of Zamora, who was off gallivanting with his old premiership footy mates,
02:39somewhere in Ireland.
02:41For now, I'm just going to relax.
02:42He'd be flying in to join me in a couple of days' time, the part-timer.
02:47After an 800-mile journey, I finally arrived at the venue.
02:51It was late April and the region was experiencing an early heatwave of 30 degrees,
02:57which the carp were clearly enjoying.
02:59I hooked up with our Dutch divemaster general, Mr. Luke Borotiga.
03:04Here he is.
03:06The king of the underwater cameras.
03:08Look at those beautiful feet.
03:11Well, the mills are not done.
03:13We had spotted coloured water on the drone in a bay, signalling carp activity,
03:21so a great place to start.
03:22Here he goes.
03:24Our first mission was to recce subsurface, check out the lake bed,
03:29the clarity and also look for carp.
03:31Plus, we had to work out the best places to position the underwater cameras.
03:36So exciting, because the clarity's good.
03:40Luke is diving in and out.
03:43We're seeing fish.
03:46We've got decisions to make.
03:48Decisions.
03:51Initially, we opted to deploy one recce camera close to an undercut,
03:55snaggy margin that could be viewed live from the bank.
04:00Bicer suites, sell tigers and pellet were spread around the camera,
04:04so we could observe whether carp came back to the spot,
04:08and more importantly, fed.
04:10Very exciting times.
04:14Nine days lay ahead for this trip, and I was up early,
04:17excited to check out the live cam spot.
04:20What I'm seeing, yesterday had some bait on it,
04:24and now I've turned the cameras on at first light,
04:26there is no bait on it.
04:29Next week, decided to place our second live cam.
04:32This one we fancied dropping in the left-hand corner of the bay in the margin,
04:36where we'd spotted a couple of carp during our recce yesterday.
04:40Once in position, we scattered a mix of casters and maggots,
04:44also a few boilies and pellets,
04:47all nicely spread out to hopefully get the carp rooting around.
04:51As well as the two live cams, we also placed two more cameras,
04:56we called these spy cams.
04:58They couldn't be watched live.
04:59Instead, you retrieve them after a number of hours and then review.
05:04Very important when you start these projects,
05:06is don't put all the cameras in, make all the commotion,
05:09and then put your rods straight out, you know,
05:12because you've got to think you've got cables,
05:15there's lots of alien objects going into their home that they're not used to,
05:19electronic objects underwater.
05:22So my dream today is to see a couple of carp on the live cams
05:26and then a couple of carp on the spy cams feeding with confidence.
05:31That's what you want.
05:33And you'll also notice I am completely currently on my own.
05:36I'm not on my own because Lukey, the wingman of all wingmen,
05:40but Bobby, my fishing partner, is currently enjoying a little break.
05:46And here I am, staring at terrapins swimming around.
05:51So just a typical number nine, turn up for the tap-in.
05:55Yes, Al, listen, mate, I'm a bit busy at the minute,
05:58just having a little paddle tournament in Ireland.
06:00So listen, just make sure you set up all my stuff for all your pal,
06:04make sure my swim's sorted and I'll see you soon.
06:07As Bob batted a few balls about on his island mini break,
06:11I spent most of the day sat in the control tent, glued to two live screens,
06:16hopeful of the first glimpse of a carp.
06:19And after a very long wait, it finally happened.
06:23And the first carp have come in on camera two, the right-hand spot.
06:30Free carp, they definitely hate cameras,
06:32and it's going to take them a little while to get accustomed to it.
06:35Did you recognise any of them?
06:37I recognised one, the one with the funny back, to be honest.
06:41Yeah?
06:41Yeah, yeah, I saw it in the snacks over there.
06:44What, yesterday?
06:45Yeah, yesterday, yeah.
06:47So Quasimodo the carp was obviously liking this bay,
06:50but him and his mates were tiddlers by this lake's standards at around 15 to 20 pounds.
06:56Only one more carp of a similar size was spotted over the next couple of hours.
07:01Where were the lake's big guns?
07:03And talking of guns, another video message from Zamora on his trip to Ireland was incoming.
07:10Yes, Al, you go and do all that hard work for me, mate.
07:14I've got a little paddle match for me pals.
07:17You're a bit soft enough.
07:20It is good to be set up for him. Rod's set out, perfect.
07:22Good man.
07:23Put all the fish in me bay along.
07:27Bob, JT, Sidders.
07:29I've already set this up, right?
07:33Enough room for all three of you, plus me, can have a right old party.
07:37Don't you just come over, Bob.
07:39Get them all over.
07:40Bring your paddles.
07:41Bring your balls.
07:43And bring your kahunas, because we're going to catch some big ones, Amo!
07:47We were all set up perfectly in swim 25 at the end of the bay,
07:52but it was becoming pretty clear the bulk of the carp weren't there.
07:55Word on Leroux, see what I did there, was that a local French angler on the lake called Patrick,
08:02fishing in the main section, was hauling from the deepest part in the centre,
08:07in about eight to nine metres, fishing into mud.
08:10We also spotted carp topping there on the drone.
08:13I was really worried at this stage.
08:16I was expecting to see more carp on camera, but I guess,
08:20with all the commotion of the underwater cams going in, Luke swimming about,
08:23them carp literally went back to the centre of the lake, their default safe zone.
08:29As the live cams were currently carp-less,
08:32Luke and I decided to go on a recce in to swim 24's water,
08:36another area we had booked if needed.
08:39It's always good to have a plan B on a big underwater project like this.
08:44First, we checked out all along the treeline margin.
08:47Ah, some good carp in here.
08:49Then we scoped out a central area close to swim 24's boundary,
08:54and we found a plateau we'd not spotted on our original recce.
08:58Just found the spot.
09:02Found an H-block marker.
09:04It looked hard and slightly shallower than the rest of the area.
09:10Luke is diving it now.
09:12This looks a great potential area and we decided to place a spy cam for research purposes
09:20and threw some free bait around it to see if we'd later spot carp visiting.
09:26That evening, we retrieved the spy cam from the plateau,
09:30which revealed a couple of bigger carp had visited the spot.
09:34We also saw a few smaller scamps feeding on the live cams back in Base Camp Bay,
09:40and also the spy cams situated in the mouth of our bay too.
09:44At least some carp were eating, just like someone else I knew.
09:49Listen, this is going to be like this on the old bank.
09:54Cheers, cheers.
09:55Cheers.
09:56Cheers.
09:57Cheers.
09:57Cheers.
09:58Cheers.
09:58I expect it.
10:00To be honest, at this stage I was really happy that Bobby wasn't there,
10:04because I was already feeling the pressure.
10:06Something in my gut was telling me our location was not the one.
10:11I certainly had a lot of food for thought as we went into the night.
10:15I felt big decisions were on the cards.
10:19By first light and after hearing carp jumping out at distance before dawn,
10:24my gut was telling me what I needed to do.
10:28Camp is all asleep.
10:29I think even before rods are going out, we'll be moving.
10:36But we've got a big pack down to do before we move.
10:40There was no time to dilly-dally.
10:43We had to move and fast.
10:45I linked up with Luke out at sea in the water of Swim 24, with the initial job being to place
10:52the first live camp on the open water plateau where we'd seen bigger carp yesterday.
10:59The second live camp we positioned along the margin to the right of Swim 24,
11:04where Luke had seen several decent carp the previous afternoon.
11:09And within minutes of it going in, carp started to appear a great sign.
11:14We just placed our cameras in our new position.
11:17Look at this.
11:18They've no bait down, but a couple of Victor's beauties cruising past.
11:24With time already lost in our first swim, I decided to take a big gamble
11:31of starting to fish in front of the cameras in this new swim from the off.
11:36Hopefully, this wouldn't freak the carp out too much.
11:40Well, I feel like being here an eternity, we've already moved, not even put a rod in the lake,
11:45and now the baits are going out for the first time.
11:48Proper team effort to move camp and get into a new area which we're really excited about.
11:53So it's time to start fishing.
11:55I was starting with identical setups.
11:57Lock hook spinner rigs with half a tiger nut, half almond pop-ups,
12:01a self-triggering lead system with isosweet paste around the lead.
12:05The hook baits were also all critically balanced.
12:08Carp were now showing on both the live cams,
12:11so operation rig deployment began in earnest starting with the plateau.
12:15Although Luke did manage to knock off the tail rubber in the process.
12:19Right, the first rod is in position.
12:21We're calling this camera one, live cam one.
12:24It's actually the one out on this sort of almost lovely gravel hump that comes up
12:29from six metres up to a pinnacle of three metres.
12:33And we're actually now on the sort of outer side of it,
12:37sloping off into the big centre of the lake,
12:39which is where the bulk of the fish seem to be.
12:42Everything looks good.
12:43I can see my hook bait.
12:44The clarity is incredible.
12:46You can tell by the energy in my voice.
12:49You've got one very excited angler, even though there are no carp currently in sight.
12:56Oh, Koi carp just shot through camera two.
12:58Let's mark that at high speed.
13:01Shortly after the next rig was placed on camera two,
13:05the margin spot with a bag of free offerings scattered around it.
13:09With the two live cameras now with baited rigs in front of them,
13:12we also deployed a third rod on a spy cam out in open water,
13:16also on the plateau, about a metre to the right of the live cam rig.
13:21Three rods in the drink. Come on.
13:38Three underwater cameras now had a rig in front of them,
13:41and I was plotted up in the mission control tent waiting for Zamo to arrive,
13:46but more importantly, also the first signs of life on the live screens.
13:51Sturgeon in the area.
13:54Would rather not catch one of those.
13:58No offence to sturgeon anglers, but been there, done that.
14:03Got the sturgeon T-shirt.
14:06Bobby and I had both caught sturgeon on our last trip here,
14:09but this species wasn't on the tick list this time around,
14:12although I did have a fish wish list.
14:16I would really love a big, bright Koi carp.
14:20Would really love that.
14:22On my own.
14:24Really fluorescent.
14:25Oh, just as we talk,
14:28a carp is swimming over the top of that.
14:31Oh, there's carp on the other spot.
14:33Just coming in from the...
14:34Oh, my God, it's all hot enough.
14:35I don't need a co-presenter on this show.
14:44I just want to be on my own.
14:45But in typical striker's style, just as things started to get really juicy,
14:50Zamora casually rocked up.
14:55I don't reckon...
14:56Who are you?
14:57I am your better half.
15:00I do appreciate all the hard work you've put in, though.
15:02And I'm so looking forward to this.
15:04It's such a number nine.
15:06I just do the tapping.
15:08You do all the hard work for me.
15:10You ten running around here.
15:11Do all the hard work for me.
15:12I'll come and just tap it in.
15:14All right, look.
15:14I don't care who scores the goals as long as we get a win.
15:18Is that all the football analogies out of the way?
15:20We're done now for the week.
15:20Please leave it alone.
15:25Listen, you focus on today.
15:27Nice little sleep for me.
15:28Stretch off?
15:29Some morrow, yeah.
15:30Oh, a stretch off as well, yeah.
15:31Paddle was a little bit of hard work, but good.
15:34So, I was on the rods for the rest of the day.
15:37It was more on the bench till tomorrow.
15:40Question was, could I utilise my time and catch a carp on camera
15:44before he even got on the pitch?
15:46Well, we were moving into the witching hour.
15:49And although the open water spot had gone dead,
15:52but the margin camera was now getting colourful.
15:55This is what my dream fish was, a koi first.
15:58He saw that, and again, he's going down, head down.
16:00That's what he's feeding at the back.
16:01Yeah.
16:02It's the witching hour.
16:03Count one, small koi.
16:07Oh, oh, white koi.
16:10Come on, spook straight up.
16:12As we headed into the last 15 minutes of filmable light underwater,
16:16my treeline margin area saw the carp visits increase
16:20as they seemingly checked out the baited area.
16:23But it didn't take long for the light to fade,
16:25and the opportunity soon passed for a capture on camera.
16:29Seven more days lay ahead to hit our targets.
16:34Overnight, Luke and I had gone out on the boat and baited up,
16:38and at first light, the cameras revealed it had all but gone on the margin spot.
16:43The open water still had some bait left, but it was now getting hoovered up by a hungry sturgeon.
16:48While Bobby finished prepping his rigs, my rods went out with the exact same setups as yesterday.
16:56The first was placed on the right-hand live cam margin spot, with the second going out to a spy cam in open water,
17:04but this time it was going out in the bait boat.
17:08Luke helped to locate the area which I marked on the boat's GPS,
17:12meaning I could now find the exact spot with ease and use the bait boat to drop extra bait or rigs with pinpoint accuracy whenever needed.
17:23Old speedy Gonzalez finally finished prepping his rigs.
17:26For the anglers out there, these were German lock-hook spinner rigs, which sat up nicely and neutrally balanced on the lake bed,
17:33ready to fly up into the carp's mouth for the slightest suck.
17:38After some scouting about for an ideal area, Bob's first rod went out to the far left margin.
17:43Bob and Luke found a clearest spot where the rig was dropped in front of the spy cam with a mix of sweet corn,
17:49cell and ice of fish boilies.
17:51Samo's second rig was deployed in front of a live camera in open water off the back of the bar where the gravel met the mud.
17:58That was now all four rods fishing in front of underwater cameras.
18:03We were ready to rock and roll, baby.
18:06So we've got lovely sounds with the gravel works, the atmosphere is electric, the rods are out,
18:12four in total, two live, two super spies.
18:16Apart from feeding, this is as good as it gets, right?
18:19Yeah, I'm just bracing myself, ready for, you know, tell me kids, don't just sit staring at the screen all day,
18:26go out and do something.
18:28Yeah, watch this back and have something to say to me.
18:31Listen, the rigs are out there now, I am excited.
18:33It can go from nothing to everything in a split second.
18:37Yeah, really excited to get those rigs out.
18:40I love watching the carp, whether it's on the drone, in the edge, love seeing them on the bank
18:46and I do like seeing them on our screens as well.
18:49But I do get a little bit bored if nothing's happening.
18:53Well, it was motionless rods and screens for the next few hours,
18:57so I feared an early head loss for Zamora was on the cards, but then...
19:01Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, that's a carp in the background.
19:06Zamora suddenly went from, like, almost falling asleep to nearly awake.
19:11Yeah. Thank you, coffee.
19:15Next, one of the residents, Sturgeon, rocked up on Bob's spot.
19:19This could liven him up.
19:21What's our first fish going to be?
19:23If I was a betting man, I'd say Sturgeon.
19:26Sure, armed footballers are not allowed to get done for betting, don't they?
19:30Can you bet on yourself?
19:31I'm not a footballer.
19:31Oh, no.
19:34Is this a football?
19:36Oh, it's debatable if you ever were.
19:39What, if this is football?
19:40No, no, no, if you...
19:41No, it's just...
19:42Fans are going to punch me in a minute.
19:43I'd better start putting my mouth guard in.
19:4715, 25 great fans.
19:52Probably football.
19:55About Bobby's extremely average football career.
20:03It wasn't average.
20:04I would have signed you if I was a Liverpool manager.
20:08If I had no money.
20:10I would have tried to get you on a free transfer.
20:16Oh, this is...
20:17Oh, God, what's happened to me?
20:19And one cap for England.
20:24Oh, I'm over-making myself.
20:26It's not even funny.
20:29Correction, Ali.
20:31It's not one, mate.
20:32It's two.
20:32With nothing happening in the mission control tent, well, apart from me entertaining myself
20:39at Bobby's expense, we thought it was the perfect time to review the day's footage so far
20:44from the spy cams to see if they threw up any surprises.
20:48Come on, Lukey.
20:50Dive in, though.
20:51Dive.
20:51Do a dive for us.
20:52Oh, that's so nice.
20:53Are you wet?
20:53You're still wet.
20:55You're still wet and cold.
20:56Oh.
20:56You said it to me, yeah?
20:58Oh, I hope you're wet for all the right reasons.
21:00Come on.
21:01This is your rod.
21:03God, it's green.
21:04Yeah, it's really green because it's quite deep.
21:06Oh!
21:07That's sturgeon.
21:07Oh, that's your lead.
21:09No, yeah, my hook bait's here.
21:11And the same sturgeon comes in again.
21:14Go away, sturgeon.
21:16Oh, it touches the lead.
21:17Look at the paste coming up.
21:18It's very green, isn't it?
21:20That's right.
21:20Come on, then.
21:21Bobby's spy cam.
21:22Oh, wow.
21:23Look at that.
21:24That's good.
21:24That's a decent.
21:25Oh, wow.
21:26Oh, Bobby.
21:27Just what?
21:28Your mix is just boilies and corners here, Bob.
21:30It is, mate.
21:31Yeah.
21:32Wow, there's a few there, Bob.
21:34Good decision, Bobby.
21:36There's a few feeding here.
21:37Wow.
21:38Oh, you are going to catch one, I think, Bob.
21:39Keep playing.
21:40Keep playing.
21:40Any more clips?
21:41Bobby Dazzler, you're going to get a ripper on this rod, I reckon.
21:45OK, that's good.
21:47Encouraging.
21:48Encouraging.
21:49The time flew past and no rippers on Bob's spy cams as of yet.
21:54Plus, his live camera spot was now more like a graveyard.
21:57But just before dusk, my margin area came alive.
22:01Oh, my God.
22:02It's turned on a sixpence here.
22:04Why'd you wait so late, Carp, man?
22:06What is wrong?
22:06Bedtime soon.
22:08Yeah.
22:09Oh, they're eating.
22:09This is...
22:10OK, how much time?
22:12I reckon we've got 15 minutes to get an unpixelated bite.
22:16Yeah.
22:17Yeah?
22:18At max, maximum.
22:19Max.
22:20Yeah.
22:22Oh, oh.
22:23Oh, wow.
22:24That's eaten by the camera.
22:27That's good.
22:27Turn around.
22:28Eat my hook bait.
22:29Eat my hook bait.
22:29We might not see you eat my hook bait.
22:31We're close here.
22:32We're close.
22:33No, it's eaten to the right.
22:35See, the thing is as well, all the attractions gone out of the hook bait after all this all day.
22:40Turn, turn, turn.
22:43Turn.
22:45Oh, it's action stations.
22:49Oh, terrapin.
22:50Hello.
22:51Oh, carp.
22:51Two terrapin.
22:52Carp and two terrapin on the spot.
22:54And another carp coming in the back.
22:56Wow.
22:57We might as well have just put the rods out a half hour ago and just kipped for the day.
23:01Go on.
23:02Come on, man.
23:02You know you want that ting.
23:04Yeah, he likes it.
23:04Sucks some puffing paste out.
23:06Did he like it?
23:06This is insane.
23:08This is insane.
23:09This is the taste test, isn't it?
23:10Yeah.
23:11He tasted it.
23:11Go on, mate.
23:12Go on, mate.
23:12Turn around, turn around, turn around, turn around.
23:15Eat that pink thing.
23:16Eat that pink thing.
23:17Eat that pink bit of tiger nut.
23:19Eating through the rocks.
23:20Nah, he's nowhere near it.
23:21It's good.
23:22It's 25 centimetres away.
23:24Okay, come on.
23:25Come on, turn around.
23:26Oh, oh.
23:27No, he's on the rock behind.
23:28Oh, come on, man.
23:34This is close.
23:35But unfortunately, that was the last carp that fed during the remaining filmable light that evening.
23:43Oh, there you go.
23:44That's the clock.
23:45When the light goes and there's carp in your swim, it's an absolute gutter.
23:50Everyone thinks, you know, having a diver take out your rig,
23:53doing underwater stuff's all glory and fun.
23:56But it can be so frustrating.
23:59We must go to attend camera retrieval and baiting up business.
24:06See you in manana.
24:15Six full days now remained for Zamo and I on our underwater camera project in southern France.
24:22Last night on dark, Luke and I had baited up an area the size of a tennis court
24:27over the open water spot and my right-hand margin area.
24:32From first light this morning, we could see on the live cams that the right-hand margin spot
24:37had been totally cleaned out.
24:39But carp were currently all over the bait on the open water camera.
24:42They were going mental, hitting the lens coming from every angle.
24:46It was a total feeding frenzy down there.
24:50Consequently, we decided we just had to move Bob's live cam slightly because it was so clouded up
24:56where it was on the sandy bottom with all the carp activity.
25:00If he got a bite now, there was very high chance we wouldn't even see it on camera.
25:04Adjusting the camera, diver out there, placing the rigs, so there's quite a lot that goes into
25:11this spot and how it's going to affect the fish.
25:16So after an underwater search, Luke managed to find a more gravelly bottom,
25:20slightly further up the plateau in about four metres of water.
25:26We just hoped the carp would still feed on the slightly shallower deck,
25:30but visibility was key, so we didn't really have any choice.
25:35The other three rod positions remained the same.
25:37The only difference was I super-powered my hook baits and leg paste even further
25:43to try and keep the attraction going until later on in the day,
25:46when the carp tended to come in on my margin rod around dusk.
25:49Busy morning there. Moving cameras. Rods are out. We've made progress.
25:56Since those carp and yesterday evening, we've made progress.
26:00We're on the pathway to success. I think. I hope.
26:06Either way, as long as Bobby and Luke are well-fed, camp will be stable.
26:11As I wondered what could happen next subsurface, plus also a cheeky little prey to the carp gods,
26:17Zamora was checking out what he could have won.
26:20So I am reviewing a bit of spy cam footage from my left-hand rod, which is down in the margin.
26:25It is unbelievable footage as well.
26:29There is a big pack of carp that come in, hoover up a few bits of bait and then shoot off.
26:37But so often, so close. And it makes you think, do I need to put that much bait out?
26:42Am I trying to set just a little tiny trap? Or am I just going to play the waiting game?
26:48Big bed of bait. And this big pack will eventually, eventually come across it.
26:53Unfortunately, we don't fish at night. I'm pretty sure they would have, they would have taken my bait.
27:00Great to see them.
27:01So close. Oh, that common was so close. I am relieved, though, that none of them have taken my hook bait in their mouth and got away with it.
27:13So there is a positive out of all of this for sure. My rigs haven't been done. They just haven't been selected yet.
27:23Meanwhile, back to Zamora's live cam screen on his new spot.
27:26Oh, here they come behind cam two. Just at the time we had new company in the control tent.
27:37As you can see, Luke has shrunk and has turned into Lucas from Denmark, our new carp spotter.
27:44Don't worry about a helicopter flying overhead. That's just merely spying on us.
27:50It's for goddamn so brilliant. Here, yeah. Here, yeah.
27:57Lucas, a young Danish angler, and his mum, Mete, had come to help out.
28:01Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. He's seen it. He's seen it. He's seen it. He's seen your bait.
28:06It's good. Luke. Hold up. Here we go. Oh. Oh, my God. That was too close to mention.
28:16Oh, my lordy ladies. Oh, that was so close.
28:19That near miss was definitely worth a VAR replay.
28:25You're lucky omen. Yeah, yeah. Hell yeah. Let's do it. Hell yeah again.
28:29Hell yeah. Hell yeah again. Yeah.
28:31A few more carp drifted over Bob's live cam, but no hook bait pickups.
28:36We presume much of the free bait in the area must now be dwindling,
28:40so we thought it was best to top it up again with the use of the bait boat.
28:44In an attempt to draw the carp back in numbers, get them competing again, spur them into feeding,
28:49and hopefully achieve our first bite on camera. Although Bobby wasn't happy with the free
28:55kilos of bait I just put out, let the great bait debate commence.
28:59I think they need more food on that bloody thing.
29:02Don't be silly. I do.
29:03Look, it's eating. Let's about tip down and eat. What more do you want?
29:06Look at that. I want more food on there, so they go,
29:08oh, this is, this is the food place. This is where I am coming for breakfast and lunch.
29:14There is. There's a tennis court of bait out there.
29:17Hold up. Hold up.
29:19Still want more bait, Bob? Yeah, I do, mate. I do.
29:22What difference will it make there for you? Come on, get your head down.
29:25There you go. Just eat it to shut Bobby up on the amount of bait you need to get a bite.
29:32Put more bait down, that would be a massive difference. It would.
29:35I was sticking with the big baiting up theory, and later on in the trip,
29:39I get to secretly test it out, hoping to prove Mr Hamidi wrong.
29:44Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, you're going to, oh, wow, that's close.
29:51We'll have to eat that one.
29:52It's more bait. Put more bait out.
29:54I want bait out. Put more bait out there.
29:56Put more bait out there.
29:57Maybe if his hook bait had a bit more attraction, he might have got taken.
30:01The next couple of hours saw a few more near misses on Bob's live cam spot.
30:05Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, that's such a hook bait.
30:09But all he could think about was banging in more bait.
30:13As light levels started to fade, Bob's spot slowed down,
30:17but my treeline margin area began to come alive again.
30:21Although time wasn't on my side.
30:23He's not scared of that camera. It's always the old link.
30:25Not now, because I've thrown so much.
30:27Most of my bait's landed on it, I think.
30:29Go to that hook bait.
30:30Get us a bite before dark.
30:32Get us a bit.
30:34Come on, mate.
30:35That is the most attractive thing in the swim.
30:37Why are you not going to it?
30:38You're just eating the other stuff.
30:41It was hotting up like a witch's cauldron,
30:43but the light was fading fast.
30:46Oh, good line.
30:49Oh, and a new koi.
30:50A new bright.
30:51Oh, oh, my God.
30:54Go on, mate.
30:54Go on, mate.
30:55Turn around.
30:56If we didn't get a bite before dark,
30:58we'd already hatched a backup plan.
31:00These are constant.
31:01One of these is getting caught.
31:03Like, they're feeding right.
31:05They're coming.
31:05Look.
31:06Go on, koi.
31:06Oh, look at the light.
31:08It's just gone.
31:08Oh, no.
31:09It's just that rod staying out now anyway.
31:11Yeah.
31:11So we'll see how long it takes to get a bite,
31:13if we get a bite.
31:14In the name of scientific research,
31:17entertainment for you folks,
31:19and our sanity,
31:21we decided to leave the rods out for the night
31:23to see if we could actually still catch carp.
31:27And in the dead of the night...
31:28This could be our very first carp,
31:32if we can get this in.
31:33Not a monster,
31:34but it was a carp from his far-left-margin spot.
31:37Get in, Zamo.
31:39I was also up and even on night-time filming duties.
31:42Oi, Bridger, get out of the way.
31:44Yeah.
31:45Yes.
31:50Real confidence boost,
31:52although it was at night.
31:53Not on the underwater cameras,
31:55but I know the rigs are working.
31:57Thank you very much, Mr. Carp.
31:58We will see you in the morning.
32:00Have a nice little relax in the marjan.
32:03As it was our first carp of the trip,
32:05we placed it safely in a retention sling till daylight,
32:08so we could then have a proper look.
32:12And to cement the fact we could both still catch,
32:15I also had a bite on my margin rod just before dawn,
32:18although it's still a bit of a blur, to be honest.
32:21Whose idea was it to leave rods out?
32:24Yours, Al.
32:26Zamora has got a fair point, I suppose.
32:29We've had no sleep, but we've got some bites.
32:32This French mirror would also be kept till daylight,
32:35allowing for one more kip of about an hour and a half for Bob and I.
32:42Not long after first light, we got to check out Zamo's night-time capture,
32:46and it turned out to be an old acquaintance.
32:49Now, a nice little VAR story for this.
32:52Bobby, we've fished into the night.
32:54This was actually on your spot feeding in the day yesterday.
32:59What have you learnt?
33:01They like a night-time feed for sure, but we don't want to catch them at night, do we?
33:05We know that's going to be easier.
33:08Day-time bite in front of the cameras is what we want.
33:10So, but yeah, confident and pleased that they're coming in feeding on my spot.
33:14That's the main thing.
33:16Bobby's forgot the most important part of fishing in the daytime.
33:20We're getting old, we don't want to catch them at night.
33:22The mirror cart weighed 29 pounds, and our mission was catching one of 50 pound plus,
33:30but also it needed to be on an underwater camera.
33:33Hard, but by no means impossible.
33:35My cart weighed in at 33.4, but was it a regular to my spot?
33:40Did you think it was one of the feeders, Bob?
33:42I do, yeah. I think I half recognise it, so hopefully though,
33:46because that's a great fish feeding on the spot.
33:49We know they're going to come back tonight as well, hopefully.
33:51Oh, don't care. Touch wood. Touch wood.
33:54Never take fishing patterns for granted.
33:57Any change of conditions, new anglers on the lake, can totally affect cart behaviour.
34:02Similar to us catching at night makes us knackered.
34:05So that particular experiment had now definitely been concluded.
34:10Five days remained to catch a colourful koi each and a team carp of 50 pounds plus all in front of our underwater cameras.
34:27The rods all went out onto the same spots.
34:30The only difference was Zamora was now fishing a bright yellow pop-up on a Ronnie rig that was sitting proud on the plateau.
34:38And I'd switched to a self-flavoured paste around my lead, but with the addition of a few paste balls around the rig too,
34:45for even more attraction and solubility around my hook bait.
34:48This day had a super slow start with us waiting hours before the first signs of carp.
34:58About time.
35:00And on my live cam, just a greedy sturgeon swam by and snaffled one of the paste balls.
35:07Where were all the carp?
35:09To try and cause a bit of carp commotion, I made up some bait bombs with crushed boilies, tigers, sweet corn, worms, maggots and ground bait.
35:22These depth chargers were dropped in the open water area scattered around Bob's live cam and where I had a spy cam too.
35:31If I was fishing on my own, I would definitely, definitely be getting loads of these balls in.
35:37I'd be heading them in, bollying them, little chest down. The whole place would be covered with balls.
35:43Bob, you wanted some balls on your spot? Here you go.
35:48How's it?
35:52He's definitely buying into this now. He knows there needs to be more bait in there.
35:56We then spent the afternoon staring at blank screens. Not a single carp came in on either live cam.
36:03We concluded that the carp for some reason had moved back into deeper water as the other angler on the lake, Patrick, was now constantly catching in the deepest part of the lake.
36:13It was only about 50 yards from our open water spots.
36:17I think he's had nearly 50 carp and he can see his best rod is that middle area, isn't it?
36:23Yeah, not far from that.
36:24It's so close to us, mate. It's like 50 yards away.
36:27Yeah.
36:27They must be mob handed feeding down there.
36:30And why do they love it there so much?
36:33And the main difference is the depth, right?
36:36Well, the depth and the fact that he's able to fish into the mud where we can't because you just cannot, we wouldn't see anything.
36:45So we might as well not even put underwater cameras out and just play carp and not do what we're doing, you know?
36:52Oh, is he going home tomorrow?
36:56Yeah, he goes home tomorrow.
36:57Oh, there's another little twist in the old...
37:00Well, for one day until another angler arrives and another one goes over there.
37:04Suddenly there'll be three of us in this same big zone of water.
37:10In the old Bermuda Triangle.
37:11Yeah, so that'd be interesting.
37:15Even for the last 30 minutes of filmable light, my usually busy evening margin spot only saw a couple of carp.
37:23He's very close. He's on a run.
37:25Next one's a hook bait.
37:27Go on, mate. Just turn.
37:30Blown the bait out.
37:31Is that... Oh, no, he's sucking.
37:33Now he's sucking the lead.
37:34Wow.
37:35There you go.
37:35He loves that paste.
37:37Oh, look at that.
37:38But that was as close as we got a worryingly quiet day.
37:44Where's your other mates today?
37:46That was the million dollar question.
37:53We awoke the following morning to see Patrick continuing to haul from the deep water out in the
37:58middle of the lake where the bulk of the carp seemed to be residing.
38:03Bob and I were now into the fifth day with our rods out, but we were still to catch a carp in front of
38:09the underwater cameras.
38:10We just needed to keep our heads, focus and continue to fish to the best of our abilities,
38:16hoping the carp would move back into our water.
38:20Luke was on form, placing our rigs at speed onto the spots.
38:24Bob's left-hand margin rod first with a new addition of a PVA stick full of goodness on the hook link.
38:30Followed by his live camera rig on the plateau in open water, a yellow pop-up sitting loud and proud.
38:41My spy cam rig went out next into open water, very close to Bob's live cam spot.
38:48Next, I topped up my margin spot with free bait, but my new plan was to not actually place a rig there until later,
38:54so the hook bait kept maximum attraction for when the carp tended to visit later on in the evening.
39:02We did, however, find a new additional spot a little further out where we placed another rig
39:07surrounded by bait balls on a spy cam.
39:11Our four rods were all strategically in position and our Lukey was taking a well-earned rest as we
39:17waited for the carp to hopefully start visiting our baited areas once again.
39:23Three hours later and we had our first visitor and surprisingly it was on my margin rod with no rig.
39:32Live cam one, fish are down there early.
39:35No lines in the water, sunshine, wowzers.
39:40What I love about you, even though you're secretly really bored, right,
39:45but as soon as a fish appears on any camera, it doesn't matter if your rod's on it or not,
39:49you're game on. I actually think your head stayed on far longer than I thought it would.
39:56Little did Ali know I'd actually been scheming with Luke for a while.
40:00I was just a little nervous and had to break the news to him.
40:04I've got a little bit agitated. I haven't said it as yet, Al.
40:07I've said it to myself four or five times, I've talked the conversation through.
40:12I don't want to kill Ali.
40:13No, no, I've talked the conversation through three or four times and I've bounced it off of Luke as well.
40:20How do I approach Ali about this? But listen, if we don't catch for a day or two,
40:24don't take this wrong, can we just, as an experiment, go long and into the deep just for six hours,
40:34just to see if we can nick a bite in the day, just to, just, I don't know what that will, but.
40:38Oh, he's just going to bite.
40:39Well, you won't be able to go that long because you'll be out of your boundary and there'll be another guy in that swim.
40:47Well, actually, he's just packing up now, so technically...
40:49Oh, you mean today you will?
40:50Oh, if that means the window's only today, then okay.
40:55An hour later, with Patrick now packed up, Zamora was like a rat up a drain pipe and into immediate action,
41:02all encouraged by Luke.
41:04Here they are, the headloss brothers.
41:07We're going very, very well, actually.
41:09Yeah, hold me your rig up.
41:11Right, so for this underwater project, you're about to go and attempt to film
41:17not underwater so you can get a bite, correct?
41:20Well, it is underwater, but it just hasn't got a camera there.
41:24So, technically, I am doing a little bit for research as well,
41:28that if we go a little deeper into the murky water, we are able to catch a fish.
41:33We're not actually really crap anglers that just cannot do that.
41:36It's all about positioning.
41:38So, the headloss brothers sprang into action to retrieve the rig from in front of Bob's live cam,
41:44then move it to deeper water where it wouldn't be on a camera due to the extreme depth
41:51and a muddy bottom giving zero visibility.
41:54The mission is underwater.
41:57Bobby just wants to catch fish now.
42:00Sometimes you just cannot control children.
42:03I had little choice but to go along with it, but I did give them a caveat.
42:07They could only use a handful of bait as freebies so as not to draw more carp away
42:12from our main spots and underwater cameras.
42:15What Ali didn't know was Luke was actually filling it in with five kilos of bait
42:19and not just a handful as he'd requested.
42:22But if you're going to break the rules, you might as well do it properly.
42:26So, Zamora's long rod had no underwater camera and his live camera had no rig on it.
42:31Absolutely genius. I'd purposely waited till later to put a rig on my live cam,
42:37so I'd have a super attractive hook bait once deployed.
42:40But carp were now appearing on the spot and the time was right.
42:44Blue pizza styley, I had a third rod and rig standing by which Luke was about to deploy,
42:50along with some pace balls and a little pace mascot too, that I'd named Selman.
42:55I've not put a rod in there all day because I wanted my hook bait to have maximum attraction.
43:02So when fish do turn up, it's the most attractive thing in the swim,
43:06not similar to the freebies. So it's a tactical decision that we are now deploying.
43:12He's about to dive down. Bobby will probably see him appear.
43:16Then, just as Luke appeared on the margin live camera to place the rig and Selman...
43:21Bobby's away. Bobby's away while Luke's diving.
43:27On the long rod that doesn't have an underwater camera, everyone stay stable.
43:31Luke at the time was totally oblivious Bobby was in. He was still positioning my rig and freebies.
43:38Oh, he's put the hook bait there. There's our mascot. Bobby's playing the fish at the same time.
43:44With the rig all sorted young,
43:46Luke has kept watch of the screens while I signalled to Luke that Bob was in.
43:50Bobby's in on the long rod. I think Bobby has a fish on the spot where he baited up quite a lot
43:59without really noticing it. So interesting, interesting things.
44:04Just want to get it in now. Really excited. Daytime fish for us.
44:09Bob was slowly bringing the fish in while Luke quickly made his way to it with his camera.
44:14Now concentrate, Zamora. You've already gone off-piste and hooked this with no underwater camera present.
44:21Last thing you want to do is lose it. It was proper giving him the runaround.
44:27Oh, and don't get it tangled in my lines either.
44:31See, he can't see.
44:32It's underneath here. Just pull. Is that the other way, Bob?
44:35Yeah, yeah, yeah. There we go.
44:37There is your daytime experiment complete. Thank you for the carnage and the headache.
44:43Well done. Hope you enjoyed that.
44:44I did, yeah. Experiment complete, like you say.
44:46Yeah, there you go. Enjoy it? Yeah.
44:48Good, good.
44:49Put the bait and they will come.
44:51No, put very little bait and use a little hook bait.
44:55And a little, you remember all that? And only a little portion.
44:58And they came very quickly. Ding, ding, tip, tip.
45:03Shall we tell him? Shall we tell you, Early?
45:07We might have smuggled half a bucket out of there.
45:10Maybe.
45:10It's all good.
45:14It was at this stage we realised we had two number nines in the ranks and not just one.
45:21And all they cared about was catching carp and not the mission in hand of catching carp
45:26in front of underwater cameras.
45:27£27. Daytime bite. Not on the cameras, but it's brought me 24 hours of happiness.
45:34Only three more days remain to complete our tricky mission of catching a koi each
45:39and also a team £50 plus king carp all in front of an underwater camera.
45:45If we were to do it, Zamora would need reining in. Have a word, ref.
45:52Yellow card. Only fish to underwater cameras.
46:01Next time on the underwater grand fishing adventure,
46:04we're still at Ictus for the final push. It kicks off big time.
46:09This is insane.
46:10Let's go get a double take.
46:14You got it, you got it.
46:15Oh, yes, please don't come off.
46:18Go on.
46:19Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
46:20Unbelievable.
46:22That's me.
46:23Ooh, it'll get off.
46:30We got ourselves a pinky. Oh, yeah.
46:32Yeah, man.
46:33Let's go.
46:45Transcription by CastingWords