Monster Carp Returns With Season 8 at 8pm, July 6th!

Series 8 of the hit TV show, featuring Neil Spooner and Tom Dove, sees them experience as wide a variety of carp fishing as you can get, with plenty of highs and lows along the way, plus some friendly competition, as the show not only documents moments such as several new PBs being landed, but also the struggles they endure when things aren’t going to plan. 

This season is one of the most diverse ever as the dynamic duo experience the most hectic and physically demanding big fish fishing that they have ever done at extreme casting ranges; a trip to the other side of the world where they not only have the fishing to contend with but also some seriously scary local wildlife; a mates holiday at the type of venue that thousands of you visit each year, and which anyone can book; and a finale involving their toughest ever challenge on a huge public water. 

Here is a full rundown of what you can expect from the new series, without giving too much away: 

Episode 1 

Croatia not only holds some of the biggest carp in the world, but also plenty of them, and there is no better venue for this than Lake Zajarki, on the outskirts of Zagreb.  

So, it is no surprise that Neil Spooner and Tom Dove have chosen to kick off this new season of Monster Carp here, and with the chance of catching a carp in excess of 90lb! 

The carp fishing in Croatia is both physically and mentally demanding, and nowhere more so than at Zajarki, where a lot of the fishing involves casting at extreme range, and due to the large numbers of big fish which inhabit this 60 acre gravel pit, they will need to introduce plenty of bait on a regular basis. With the action being fast and furious at times, there will be little chance to sit back and relax, if they are to make the trip a success and achieve their goals - including a chance of them both catching carp well in excess of anything they’ve landed before! 

Episode 2 

If Neil Spooner and Tom Dove are to succeed, not only will they have to outwit the carp, but they will also have to contend with severe weather conditions and wildlife that can potentially kill you, as they venture to a huge, wild lake in South Africa. 

South Africa is renowned for its stunning scenery and many people travel there from the UK to go on safari, but for Spooner and Dovey the main attraction is the large, and particularly beautiful looking, carp that inhabit many of the lakes there.  

The fish don’t grow anywhere near as big as they do in Europe, and catching one of these long, lean, wild commons in excess of even 40lb is going to be a challenge, and even just being there is a real adventure in itself – especially as Dovey is terrified of creepy crawlies! 

During the trip they have to fish at distances far in excess of what they’ve ever done in the past, using boats to place their rigs, and all whilst putting up with the baking hot African sun – when not sheltering in their bivvies from spectacular electrical storms!  

In order for the trip to be a success, they will both have to work together, and anything caught will be a real team effort. 

Episode 3 

It’s carp fishing holiday time, as Tom Dove and Neil Spooner head off to famous commercial fishery, Gigantica Road Lake, in France. 

Every year thousands of carp anglers head to France, and whilst a few of them travel to the large, difficult public lakes, far more of them head for fisheries like Gigantica, where everything, including your food, is laid on for you, and you can sit back, relax, and have a good time with your mates, whilst hopefully catching some carp – and many of these venues are also home to some very big ones as well! 

Many of these lakes receive a lot of pressure from anglers, with the carp being fished for week in, week out, and there is also usually a draw for swims and you’re sharing the venue with lots of other people, so in order to catch consistently, Tom and Neil will really need to think about their fishing, and try and do something different to the norm. 

Normally they fish together as a team when on the difficult, wild venues, but for this trip they will be splitting up and fishing on opposite sides of the lake, and things will get very competitive, with more than just the bragging rights up for grabs, for whoever comes out on top! 

Episode 4 

The series finale sees Neil Spooner and Tom Dove facing their biggest ever carp fishing challenge, as they head off to an inland sea, in France, in search of the biggest wild carp in the world – a massive common carp that was last caught a couple of years ago at 103lb! 

Lac du Der Chantecoq is famous amongst carp anglers all over the world, and has been producing massive fish for decades, but it is also one of the most challenging venues you could ever fish, at around 12,500 acres in size and with a staggering 77km circumference! 

This lake is used as a reservoir and was created by flooding the local area, so it is full of old tree stumps and other snags, and when the water level drops, the banks turn to liquid mud, and as if that wasn’t enough, when the wind gets up you get the sort of waves that you normally only find on the sea. 

Fishing this lake is a massive undertaking, and even more so with a film crew in tow, and Dovey and Spooner will have to really work together if they are to have any chance of hooking, and landing, one of the monster carp that live here.  

But if they do manage to succeed ,they could well end up cradling the fish of their dreams in their arms, and quite possibly the largest carp ever caught on Monster Carp – as well as the big ‘un there are several others that top the 90lb mark, and a staggering 200 or more carp over 30kg (66lb)! This episode really is a very fitting finale to the series! 

The episodes will be aired on ITV4 at 8pm every Thursday, from July 6, and will also be available on ITVX.