Watch ALL Monster Carp Episodes on ITVX

With the format of the show changing to two presenters in Series 7 - rather than the three that it has always had in previous seasons - it really has become an adventure with two best mates traveling the world together in search of huge carp, and means that they spend far more time fishing and working things out together, as well as having a laugh and winding each other up along the way. Much like if you went on a fishing trip with your best mate!

In season seven they visit a wide variety of amazing carp fishing venues, which all have something different to offer and cover the whole spectrum of modern carp fishing, from smaller commercials where they will really need to hone their tactics, to inland seas where the biggest challenge is actually putting a bait anywhere near a carp.

There is something for everyone, whether you are a serious carp angler yourself or even someone who has never picked up a rod before, and as well as being packed full of big carp, as you’d expect from this show, it is also highly entertaining with plenty of laughs along the way, and something that you can sit down and watch with the family.

The new series kicks off with a trip to not only one of the most famous carp lakes in the world, but also one of the most epic looking down in the south of France.

Renowned for the red coloured terrain that surrounds the lake – caused by iron ore deposits – This lake has been a mecca for UK anglers since the 1980s and was once famed for producing huge commons, but in more recent times it is now home to some very big mirrors which the duo are hoping to track down.
That task won’t be easy as the lake is close to 2,000 acres in size, and is wild and windswept, as well as being a very popular destination with all type of water sports enthusiasts and holiday makers, but luckily they’ve got some help from one of their local French friends, Damien Simonelli, to increase their chances of success. Whatever the outcome, this will be a real adventure and at the extreme end of European carp fishing, and they will have to work together if they are to have any chance to succeed.

Episode two sees Neil and Tom take on an even bigger challenge when they head right down into south west Spain and the Extremadura province in an attempt to seek their revenge on Embalse de Orellana, a lake that properly beat them up a few seasons back on Monster Carp.

Even with their previous experience, the fishing still isn’t going to be easy as this lake is one of the largest in Europe at well over 12,000 acres and around 37km in length, but this time they do have some local support in the form of Edwin Wout from Angling Escapes, to hopefully help point them in the right direction.

Even then, things won’t be easy as the fish in this water are very mobile and moving around with a film crew in tow makes things a lot harder. The lake has a good head of carp, but plenty of them are in the mid-double to mid-thirty size range, and finding one of the real big ‘uns will need a large slice of luck, as well as all of their skills learned from fishing these big lakes and using boats.

After two very wild adventures on huge lakes, episode three sees them head off to a water totally at the other end of the spectrum, as they arrive in Italy to fish commercial water, Parco del Brenta, but as they quickly discover this presents its own set of challenges – one of which relates to an ‘error’ made by one of them in terms of organising the fishing!

Parco is home to some of the largest carp in Italy, the majority of which are massive commons that run to around 88lb (the lake record is 39.7kg) and with several that top 70lb, so they are never going to be very far away from one of them given that the lake is only around 35 acres.

These fish present a totally different challenge though in that they have seen everything before and are fished for week in, week out, throughout the year as this lake is very popular with anglers from all over Europe, and they will really have to work at it and tweak their approaches if they are to succeed.

Given the title of the show – Monster Carp – it seemed only fitting that Neil and Tom finished this series with a visit to the lake that holds the largest king carp on the planet, has produced all of the recent world records, and looks set to continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

That of course meant a trip to Euro Aqua, in Hungary, which is home to the current record fish, a mirror which weighed a staggering 112lb 14oz and was caught back in 2018, but also holds several over fish over the magic 100lb mark!

They’ve timed their trip shortly before spawning is likely to start, so the fish should be at their peak weights, but it also gives the added risk that they might not be in the mood to feed.

Euro Aqua is at the pinnacle of commercial lakes, both in terms of the incredible stock that it holds, helped by the breeding and feeding programme of the owner, and also the range of facilities that are on offer to anglers who come to fish there.

Every time the buzzer sounds Tom and Neil are well aware of what could be on the other end, which further adds to the excitement, but with so many fish, plus competition from the other anglers as the lake is fully booked, they will also need some good fortune.

All Episodes are available NOW on ITVX and a new series is coming in July 2023.
https://www.itv.com/watch/monster-carp