Bev Clifford - Nash Tackle Off The Hook Podcast - S2 Episode 53
Joining Hassan in the podcast studio this week is our first solo female carp angler, Ladies Carp Team England Captain, former Carp Talk & CarpWorld editor it's none other than Bev Clifford.
Bev has achieved so much in her angling career from incredible carp captures both home and abroad, editing the iconic Carp Talk and CarpWorld magazines, captaining her country in international competition as well as being an all-round pioneer for female carp angling. In this podcast we delve into it all as well as get a real understanding of the lady herself in terms of her mindset and ambition.
Starting with Carp Talk Bev shares stories about her father Kev Clifford (who founded the magazine which she later took over editorship) Simon Crow and various other “great and good” anglers that were part of this immensely popular weekly carp publication. She divulges the story behind the end of the magazine as well as various humorous stories about the carp scene at the time and her dealings working in a very male dominated world.
Bev then talks about her mindset and how she overcame her “party days” to find direction and meaning through running. She is frank about her time spent burning the candle at both ends working and partying hard and how drugs and alcohol were a part of this time for her. She now competes in ultra-marathons and has very much taken a huge positive step in her life with an incredible mindset for success and bettering herself. She talks about a recent SAS weekend and her continued quest to push herself to her very limits in whatever she chooses to do.
When it comes to fishing Bev is incredibly modest as she shares her success over the years fishing abroad on venues such as The Ebro and French public lakes. She also talks about a large variety of UK waters that she’s had success including RH fisheries Western park, Acton Burnell and our very own Church Lake.
Bev talks about the formation of the Ladies Carp Team England and how representing her country and captaining the first ever Ladies World Carp Cup in France two years ago was such an honour despite a disappointing bronze medal place finish. She is open about how the match didn’t go to plan and talks about the future of ladies’ international carp fishing.
Finally, Bev talks about the realities good and bad of being a lady involved in carp fishing. She talks about her work with the Ladies Carp Academy (which she founded and runs) getting more new female anglers into the sport as well as a fair few stories and options on how things can improve further in terms of women and carp fishing. This is a great insight from a leading female anglers’ perspective into how incredible carp angling is and how its appeal knows no boundaries, it’s really a sport for all.
If you are looking for a podcast that will not only fill you with admiration, humour and make you think a little deeper about the sport we love than look no further and a huge thanks to Bev for sharing all her wealth of information and stories with us.