We are the Mistral Team!
The Mistral team are a collection of successful anglers – some of them household names, some not, but all are equally important for varying reasons. Lets take a closer look....
Allan Parbery, the owner of Mistral Baits, Tim Wagner and Roy Wyeth have been around for years and seen it all. Between them there is more than 100 years carp fishing experience – the sort of back up a professional bait company needs.
Readers of carp magazines will know of Alex Bransby due to the regular features he appears in. We also have Richard ‘Fat Bloke’ Adams, Richard Bester, Duncan Arrundale and Malcolm Grice, all excellent anglers with the pedigree that is learned through being successful at many forms of fishing.
Who could possibly be better than Bob Roberts, Matt Brown and Karl Emmerson to provide us with feedback on the specimen scene. Anybody who has seen one of Bob’s Barbel Society slideshows and his new DVD’s just couldn’t fail to be impressed with the solid dedication and hard work he and his friends have put in. Bob and Matt fish together regularly as part of the Don Valley Specimen Group.
The 2008 World Carp Classic winners Pete Truckle and Andy Judd have many years experience of continental fishing as has Malc Miller– who is awesome on places like St Cassien where he has taken many carp over 50lbs in weight.
Ian Gemson & Stef Hanff are our qualified PAA coaches who earn their living by teaching the novice and experienced angler alike, to fish effectively with their available time, and baits from Mistral have been chosen for their reliability. Stef is also a very successful Enduro (Carp match) angler.
Alex Osborn is our sole junior angler and he has been showing the grown ups a thing or two. His UK pb is a whopping 40lb plus common that is backed up with many twenties and thirties.
Allan Parbery, the owner of Mistral Baits, Tim Wagner and Roy Wyeth have been around for years and seen it all. Between them there is more than 100 years carp fishing experience – the sort of back up a professional bait company needs.
Readers of carp magazines will know of Alex Bransby due to the regular features he appears in. We also have Richard ‘Fat Bloke’ Adams, Richard Bester, Duncan Arrundale and Malcolm Grice, all excellent anglers with the pedigree that is learned through being successful at many forms of fishing.
Who could possibly be better than Bob Roberts, Matt Brown and Karl Emmerson to provide us with feedback on the specimen scene. Anybody who has seen one of Bob’s Barbel Society slideshows and his new DVD’s just couldn’t fail to be impressed with the solid dedication and hard work he and his friends have put in. Bob and Matt fish together regularly as part of the Don Valley Specimen Group.
The 2008 World Carp Classic winners Pete Truckle and Andy Judd have many years experience of continental fishing as has Malc Miller– who is awesome on places like St Cassien where he has taken many carp over 50lbs in weight.
Ian Gemson & Stef Hanff are our qualified PAA coaches who earn their living by teaching the novice and experienced angler alike, to fish effectively with their available time, and baits from Mistral have been chosen for their reliability. Stef is also a very successful Enduro (Carp match) angler.
Alex Osborn is our sole junior angler and he has been showing the grown ups a thing or two. His UK pb is a whopping 40lb plus common that is backed up with many twenties and thirties.
Ask The Experts
If you have a particular burning
question then why not submit it to one
of our Experts.
Select here for the Ask the
Experts Section >>>
question then why not submit it to one
of our Experts.
Select here for the Ask the
Experts Section >>>
Hints and Tips
Find out how to get the best out of Mistral baits.
Select here for the Hints and
Tips Section >>>
Select here for the Hints and
Tips Section >>>
Magazines, DVDs and Video Clips
Keep up to date with what Mistral and our Team are doing.
Select here for the Magazines, DVDs and Video Clips Section >>>
Select here for the Magazines, DVDs and Video Clips Section >>>
Team Members
Allan ParberyI have been carp fishing for around 35 years and at times have been quite successful.
My first carp came in 1973 and took a bait intended for tench. It weighed about a pound and a half and came in a bag of tench with many over 4lbs. These were big tench then but the carp stuck in my mind. They were supposed to be difficult to catch but I got one by mistake.
Very soon the roach rods were cut down by 18 inches and I was in business. Quite a few carp came my way to just under 20lbs in those years but the high light must have been when I met the legendary Jack Hilton. This was part of an Angling Times feature and not only did I make the paper I even landed his last ever carp for him...
Tim WagnerI started fishing when I was 5 which was 37 years ago but more importantly I have spent the past 29 years in search of our beloved carp. One of my very first carp sessions in 1980 saw me catch three fish by design on a home made bait. The biggest fish was just over 24lb which was a big fish for then, that fish went on to become very famous indeed at over 50lbs now and called ‘The Pet.’
I have been lucky enough to fish some of the country’s best venues including Yateley, Horton, Kingsmead, Linch Hill and Wellington. Contrary to popular belief I actually hold down a full time job and only manage to fish a maximum of two nights per week which normally only results in an over nighter if I am honest.
Alex BransbyI have been a keen angler for well over twenty years now, with I guess the last fifteen of those geared around the pursuit of carp. Much of my angling takes place in and around the Nene valley area where i live, although i am starting to look further afield searching for my next target fish.
For me it all started way back in the mid eighties at the age of seven fishing my local stretch of the Nene. Those early years learning and applying the art of watercraft on the rivers really was a great foundation for years to come, taking some fabulous specimen roach and chub in the process...
Malcolm GriceI am proud to be part of the Mistral team and very excited about the top quality bait they produce. This has helped me catch lots of good carp over the past 2 years.
I started carp fishing by accident while tench fishing the local canal in Milton Keynes. I caught a 10lb Mirror carp on sweet corn one Saturday night on 4lb line, from then on I was hooked...
Duncan ArrandaleI started fishing at the age of 6 when my father took me out to the local canals and rivers around Worcestershire. My interests progressed from there to catching as many fish in a day as I could, to wanting to catch bigger fish.
My first carp came from a local canal on floating crust over 20 years ago and weighed in at 2lb. The fight was like nothing else I had ever experienced and the spell was cast – my passion for carp had begun. The following year I set out to pursue carp on a local 20 acre gravel pit, where I caught many doubles and the largest fish in the lake graced my net twice in my second year....
Rich Adams "Fat Bloke" My first memories of fishing were way back in the 70’s when I can remember my Dad sorting out his cane rods and centre pins ready for an overnight session on the fens in search of eels. How I used to pester him to take me with him, I never did go on one of those trips but did eventually start going with him to local canals and gravel pits at the tender age of five. We caught all kinds of species and my knowledge of angling grew as did I and by the age of thirteen I had spread my wings and was fishing for the local junior angling club, a good way of travelling further afield on the many matches they arranged. I believe these early experiences have made me the angler I am today....
Richard BesterI have had a relatively short fishing career. I cut my teeth at local day ticket waters, until catching carp lite something inside of me. It suddenly wasn't a hobby anymore it was something that I had to do every minute of the day, think, talk, bleed carp fishing, that was 9 years ago now.
Since those days have passed I have learnt a lot about my strengths and weaknesses in my quest for bigger and more difficult carp across the land. I have fished local day ticket waters, which can be fished by anyone like Linch Hill (before it went all syndicate) Linear Fisheries and many more....
Bob RobertsSome folk endorse baits for money, some because it's fashionable and one or two may even do it because they catch fish. As a long standing friend of Allan's (Mr Mistral!) you might feel I'm biased. I am, but possibly for different reasons to those you might expect. I've used Mistral baits regularly for ten years and will continue to do so because I know and have seen what goes into them. There is and never will be any compromise on quality and that's all that matters to me.
I don't get paid to use them, I am not tied to an exclusive deal, I just use them because they work. Having appeared regularly in newspapers, magazines, DVDs and on TV for the past 20 years I need to have total faith in my baits. Allan's baits give me that faith...
Matt BrownFor as long as I can remember I was one of those kids who would be trying to use a net and cane pole, or my hands, to scoop out newts, water boatmen, sticklebacks and so on. At age eleven this developed further when an uncle took me spinning for pike and I somehow managed to catch a jack from the River Idle. Every birthday or Christmas after that saw me with a new fishing rod kit from Woolworths, or some hand me down cane or glass rod.
My mates and I would venture off to the River Torne every Saturday and fish for gudgeon. There were other fish there but we couldn't catch 'em. I learned a lot there as we could see the fish and their reactions to out attempts to catch them. By my teens we had somehow swerved towards fishing a local pond, Cusworth Lakes, where we could catch roach...
Karl EmmersonI’ve been fishing now for around 30 years. Starting at the age of 7 with my father, while he was catching roach and perch I was catching sticklebacks and bullheads from a local stream.
I’m a north-east based angler living in a small village just outside the city of Durham.
So fishing for specimen fish is a task in itself as we don’t have the facillities, like other anglers have in the south. I often have to travel long distances at a time in search for that one magical fish...
Peter Truckle and Andrew JuddPeter Truckle and Andrew Judd are winners of the 2008 World Carp Classic at Lac de Madine in France.
The Salisbury, Wiltshire based pair lifted the trophy in September 2008 with a record breaking 11 fish haul of over 309lb, beating 240 competitors from 26 countries. During this event four competitors were hospitalised, one boat sank and another caught fire!
Ian GemsonI am a professionally qualified angling coach (PAA level 2) and the founder of Smart Carping - a company that offers tailored tuition to anglers of all ages and abilities, specialising in carp fishing.
www.smartcarping.com
I started fishing as far back as I can remember for what ever came along, mainly in Hampshire/Surrey area. I'd fish for pike, roving many of the now well-known lakes, and later switched to the match scene with success on rivers, canals and lakes at club and national level.
Stefan HanffI am a French professional fishing guide and consultant for Fox International. I find it a bit awkward to talk about myself, so I'll quote my friend Ian Welsh.
"There are few better qualified French fishing guides; an angler since his grandfather took him out at the age of six Stef is well schooled in top flight match and carp fishing techniques and has passed the PAA coaching course. With a teaching background, an English wife and having lived and worked for five years in the UK he has a unique insight into British and French angling, - and a sense of humour which cuts through both nations!"
Malcolm MillerI have been fishing ever since I could hold a rod. My grand dad Stanley Brett had fished for over 40 years and he taught me on the rivers and lakes of Nottingham. When he passed away he left a hole in my heart that could only be filled with fishing.
I started to use Mistral a few years ago knowing the bait were up to catching carp, whilst helping me avoid nuisance fish. As I spend a few weeks each year at Lake Cassien in France the choice of bait is of utmost importance. The baits have certainly helped me catch big carp...
Alex OsbornI mainly fish for specimen carp but also enjoy fishing for smaller carp and catching lots of them.
Even though I have only been fishing for four years now I have met some fantastic people on the bank, and learnt so much from them. I can't get enough of the old school carpers knowledge and water craft. I like talking to kids my age and younger who are into carp fishing, as their new look and approach is fascinating to see and hear...