The Big Fish!

The mega fund raising ‘The Big Fish’ is back again on 03 September 2011 at Great Linford Lakes, Milton Keynes to raise some serious dosh for sick children.

From Organiser Dominic Morgan:

The Big Fish, for those of you not in the know, is a new kind of carp fishing event for the modern carp fishing enthusiast and was born from the desire to raise much needed funds for charities who provide for critically ill children in the UK's hospital system following the tragic death of my twelve-year-old daughter Jodi early in 2010.

This year we are again fundraising for The Sick Children’s Trust  an amazing charity who provide ‘home from home’ accommodation for families who have children being treated for serious illnesses within the UK hospital system.

We are specifically raising money for Acorn House at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, who put us up free of charge whilst Jodi was critically ill in hospital there. This beautiful communal home can accommodate up to 15 families with exceptional home comforts and even has direct telephone lines to hospital wards in all bedrooms. This amazing facility allows families to be seconds away from their child in times of intense trauma, is offered completely free of charge and costs around £70,000 per year to maintain - most of which must be raised through charitable donation.

We are also planning to donate at least 4 laptops and internet dongles to Addenbrooke’s children’s wards to help keep sick children entertained and connected whilst receiving hospital care.

So back to THE BIG FISH 2011...

Comprising of a 48 hour big prize carp angling tournament and culminating with a huge fishing show on Saturday 3rd of September... boy does this year's show promise to be spectacular.

We'll rightly start off by acknowledging the fact that we have secured probably the best venue in the UK for our event - the stunning Linford Lakes Complex in Milton Keynes, and the equally beautiful on-site Marle Inn for event hospitality. This has all been donated completely free of charge by owners David and Nicola Marle. They are also providing a free hog roast for our tournament anglers and a £500 cash bounty for the fish they call 'Lumpy' if it graces the bank. This is a truly awesome gesture and they should rightly be bestowed with our humble respect for it - thank you so much David and Nicola!

It is also of paramount importance to draw attention to the fact that we have over fifty tournament anglers who are all working unbelievably hard to raise a minimum of £250 for their peg as single competitors and tournament pairs. These anglers are critical to our fundraising efforts and in thanks for their dedication we are offering them the opportunity to win some mind boggling prizes from our event sponsors.

The first place anglers in each category will walk away with in excess of £2500 of top carp fishing gear, a carp fishing holiday in a leading foreign resort and a money-can't-buy fishing session with a top profile carp fishing celebrity. The Big Fish is absolutely nothing without our generous sponsors, fundraising tournament anglers, industry publications who offer us free advertising and the celebrities and individuals who support our cause.

Extra special thanks to our title sponsors - NASH, WYCHWOOD, KORDA, CARP FISHING GRAN CANARIA, CARP ANGLERS DREAM, MRBAITSBOILIES.CO.UK, and our media sponsors BIG CARP MAGAZINE , CARPOLOGY, ONLINE FISHING TV , THE ANGLERS MAIL and any publication or internet based company or forum who supports us through promoting our event.

Anyway back to the show...

Devised by carp anglers, for carp anglers, The Big Fish 2011 is a free public entry event with all proceeds raised going towards the amazing charity The Sick Children's Trust and, from this year, to buy much needed laptops and internet dongles for Addenbrooke’s Hospital children's wards. We say free entry because it is; there are no hidden extras like parking fees etc. Great Linford Lakes has ample on-site parking for cars and coaches and is also very accessible for the less able bodied amongst us. So it's free... but we will encourage any donation at the gate and throughout the event.

So what do you get when you take time out of your busy schedule right at the end of the summer holiday just before the kids go back to school? Hopefully some good weather! Last year's show wasn't so great in that respect so we've pushed the date back to the end of the summer to see how that favours us. All the major retailers are housed under cover and the Marle Inn balcony overlooks Blackhorse Lake, where the majority of the casting displays and talks will be held. 'Nash Village' and the 'Wychwood Arena' are under marquee so there will be plenty of opportunity to keep dry if we are hampered by a summer monsoon.

The usual show formats are here - casting, rig making and bait demonstrations, together with a selection of top angling celebrities: including Del 'The Don' Ritchie, avid carp angler and Eastender's actor Scott Maslen, big carp hunter and Olympic decathlete Dean Macey (TBC), TF Gear's Dave Lane, Jonny Banister, top female carp anglers Samantha Collins-Ratcliffe and Wychwood’s ten-year-old angling sensation Phoebe Stuart, casting champions Hywel Morgan and Terry Edmonds, Jerry Hammond, Rich Wilby and several other top names yet to confirm their attendance...

We've got our exclusive DIY bait boat building clinic this year, live cooking on the bank demonstrations with Master Chef of Great Britain Scott Ratcliffe (and friends) and several other highly innovative displays, workshops and talks that you won't find at any other show.

We’re also enhancing the kids fishing element this year (hosted last year by John Wilson MBE). We are happy to announce that NASH TACKLE will be hosting the free kids fishing camp along the Great Linford Lakes Canal and offering some cool prizes for the juniors with expert tuition for budding anglers.

Because at The Big Fish we like to do things differently we offer what the 'average Joe' angler wants from a show and then also turn it on its head to create fundraising madness; so take the aforementioned celebs, a mechanical rodeo bull and the burning question of "who might survive the longest on a wild bucking bronco?"... Well there's only one way to find out. That's right, this year we have 'Bronson'!!! These celebs might be experts at pulling huge carp from some of the toughest waters in the land but let's see how many seconds they stay on a raging bull. You can get in on the charity sweepstake and even have a go yourself to win some seriously cool sponsor kit in categorized time trials.

This year's motto is 'challenge yourself': we've got 'Bronson', laser clay shooting, archery display, casting challenges and the ever popular steady hand test - the giant fairground buzzer. All challenges offer some great prizes from our sponsors and it all helps towards our fundraising target and offers a truly interactive element to our FAMILY SHOW.

But we haven't forgotten the main element that we all want from a fishing show is to be able to buy the latest gear at the best possible prices. We feel that we've excelled ourselves this year by mixing up the likes of Nash, Wychwood and Korda with pre-owned tackle giant 'Tackle Fanatics' and some great independent retailers like Rigmarole, Spomb, AP Angling, Colchester based Snags Tackle and several others who will be offering great show deals that you wouldn’t normally be able to get.

It's not all about us hardcore fishing types though- bring the family along too. We've got an awesome aerial falconry display, an amazing reptile display where you get to hold creepy crawlies... and they're even bringing along a real Alexander Meerkat for the kids to pet. And, of course, there'll be the obligatory bouncy castle, traditional hog roast, all day restaurant and bar, and an exclusive activity crèche/club for toddlers, right up to big kids.

The day finishes off with the ticketed ‘Evening of Legends’ event. An informal meet and greet with some of the top anglers of our generation, who will entertain with their fishing stories over a basket meal (and first drink free). This evening event from 6-9pm also incorporates the ‘For Life Experiences’ National carp quiz, a free entry round based angling quiz with some serious prizes up for grabs. This is strictly limited to 100 tickets- fairly priced at £25 per head. Advance booking is recommended and can be done by emailing Dominic at admin@thebigfish.tv to reserve your ticket.

But what about the lovely Mrs. Carp angler? Why the hell will she want to come along to the show? Why? Because Jack Branning from Eastenders is gonna be there... that's why!

Please support us on September the 3rd and help The Big Fish grow and continue to raise funds to benefit children who are receiving treatment for life threatening illnesses in our hospitals, and the families who support them. We are counting on your support.

Dom Morgan