Urban Banx is back: Alan Blair is going carp fishing in Germany

Urban Banx is back. Alan Blair spends nine nights traveling through Germany for Nash Tackle, searching for carp right in some of the country’s most famous cities. Park lakes, canals, harbors, bridges, and industrial waters: this is urban carp fishing as only Alan Blair can deliver.

The return of Urban Banx

For many carp anglers, Urban Banx is inseparably linked to Alan Blair. No closed circuit waters or comfortable spots, but unpacking rods right in the city and figuring out what’s swimming in places where thousands of people pass by daily.

For this new edition, the concept moves to Germany.

The plan sounds simple: nine nights of fishing and visiting five different cities in that time. In reality, that means constant driving, searching, observing, relocating, and sometimes deciding within a few hours if a water has enough potential to stay.

That’s exactly what makes Urban Banx so enjoyable to watch.

Carp fishing in places you wouldn’t expect

The appeal of Urban Banx isn’t just the carp. It’s mainly the locations that make this series different.

During his German road trip, Alan fishes on completely different urban waters. One moment he’s walking around a neatly landscaped park lake with minimal gear, the next he’s among industry, houseboats, bridges, and huge inland vessels.

Some spots at first glance hardly look like places where anyone would seriously carp fish.

For Alan, that’s exactly the appeal.

A large fallen tree, a concrete quay, a row of moored boats, or a small clear city water can be enough to catch his attention. Then, in a short time, he has to determine if carp are actually present and if they are catchable.

The first stop: Düsseldorf

The German adventure begins in Düsseldorf, where Alan visits several urban waters together with Ben.

The conditions are not exactly ideal. It’s May, but with low temperatures and a cold wind, it feels far from perfect spring weather.

Instead of waiting at one water, he searches around.

A round of the water with polarized sunglasses remains one of the first things Alan does. Even when modern tools are available, he wants to see for himself what’s going on first.

His thinking behind it is simple: twenty minutes of searching can be more valuable than hours of fishing in a spot where no carp are present.

Keep searching when the signals are missing

That principle recurs throughout the entire film.

When no carp are seen, no bubbles appear, and no discolored water or other activity is found, the whole day isn’t automatically spent fishing in the same spot.

Alan wants something he can base his confidence on.

On small urban waters, that can be a visible carp. On larger waters, an interesting structure can be enough. And when only a few hours are available, sometimes simply the most logical carp zone must be chosen.

Urban carp fishing is therefore constantly a combination of observing and making quick decisions.

Stalking with minimal gear

At various moments, the full gear is deliberately left on the bus.

A compact rod, backpack, unhooking mat, and some bait are enough to quickly explore a new city water.

That makes it possible to fish a spotted carp immediately without first building a full swim.

A piece of bread, a single rig, or a small amount of bait can be enough.

Not every chance results in a catch. That’s exactly part of the concept. This film clearly shows how much searching and trying can go before that one moment when everything suddenly clicks.

Urban carp fishing isn’t about the biggest fish

An important message from Urban Banx is that a special carp session doesn’t automatically have to be about a record fish.

The location, the people, and the way a carp is caught can make a catch just as special.

Alan emphasizes during the film that Urban Banx was never meant to be a search for only the biggest carp.

A public city water, a small park lake, or a large canal can just as well deliver a fantastic carp experience.

That very accessibility forms a big part of the charm: interesting carp sometimes literally swim between houses, offices, cafés, and busy footpaths.

Hamburg: carp fishing right in the middle of city life

After Düsseldorf, the journey continues to Hamburg.

There, the scale changes completely. Alan finds himself at a huge city water where recreation and carp fishing literally blend together.

Walkers, runners, boats, and other visitors all form part of the environment.

For urban carp anglers, that is familiar. You’re not just focused on the carp, but constantly have to take into account everything happening around the water.

An important part of that is line management. On waters with heavy boat traffic, lines must be kept out of the navigation routes as much as possible.

Alan therefore uses backleads, among other things, to keep the line close to the bottom.

Contact with passersby is part of it.

Urban carp fishing also brings something that’s much less common on remote waters: contact with passersby.

People want to know what’s caught, how big the fish are, and sometimes even what’s swimming around in the water at all.

Alan sees that as part of the experience.

Many city dwellers have no idea which carp literally swim right outside their door. Once a fish is landed, interest quickly sparks.

That interaction between carp angler and city forms an important part of the typical Urban Banx atmosphere.

From park lakes to massive German waterways.

The further the road trip progresses, the greater the contrast between the locations becomes.

After relatively straightforward city waters, Alan ends up on huge water systems where finding carp is a completely different challenge.

Here, shipping, long distances, mussels, hard obstacles, and constantly moving water all play a role.

The gear is adjusted accordingly. Heavier mainlines, strong leaders, and robust rigs are necessary when a hooked carp can swim towards sharp obstacles or urban structures.

Carp fishing from a floating shelter in Berlin.

One of the most striking parts of the film takes place in Berlin.

Fishing from the bank has become increasingly difficult in some places. That’s why local carp anglers have come up with a completely different solution.

Alan gains access to a floating platform with a small shelter and motor.

From the water, he can reach locations that are almost impossible to fish from the bank.

With large inland vessels, yachts, houseboats, and urban buildings surrounding the swim, this is Urban Banx in its purest form.

The rigs are carefully placed against interesting structures, while keeping enough distance from spots where a hooked carp could immediately cause trouble.

The swim that’s working gets more attention.

During the sessions, Alan constantly watches which rods actually deliver results.

When one spot clearly produces more action, another rod is sometimes placed there.

That sounds logical, but many carp anglers like to cover different spots because each rod then represents a different chance.

Urban Banx shows precisely why it’s sometimes better to have confidence twice in a good zone than to leave one rod on a spot where nothing happens.

Adjusting rigs to the water

Even in terms of rigs, the exact same setup isn’t used throughout the entire trip.

Alan uses trusted presentations as a starting point but adjusts the setup when the water demands it.

On hard, clean spots, a compact presentation can be used. If there’s a lot of weed, the setup is chosen to reliably present above or between that weed.

Extra attention is paid to strong materials and abrasion-resistant leaders around obstacles.

The most important thing is that the rig actually lies well after casting or sending out. Trust in a favorite rig is valuable, but that rig must fit the spot.

Onwards to Leipzig and Nürnberg

After Berlin, the Urban Banx road trip isn’t over yet.

Alan meets Felix, and together they continue searching for typical German urban carp. Along the way, they encounter completely different conditions again, from clear, weedy water to large industrial canals.

Felix knows this fishery inside out, and his approach delivers interesting moments.

At some spots, rigs are placed extremely precisely between the weed. At other locations, long casts are needed to reach the zones where the carp cruise.

Alan often has to step outside his usual fishing style because of this.

What do you do when you can’t cast far enough?

An interesting part of the film is that Alan openly shows where his own limits lie.

Casting extreme distances isn’t his favorite way to carp fish. However, on the canal, that distance is sometimes necessary.

That’s why the gear is adjusted.

The braided mainline is swapped for nylon to make casting easier, while keeping a strong enough leader due to sharp mussels and other obstacles.

When even that isn’t enough, other solutions are sought.

That might be one of the most important lessons from the film: it’s not about stubbornly sticking to how someone normally likes to fish. It’s about solving the problem the water presents at that moment.

A canal full of shipping and obstacles

The final phase of the trip takes Alan and Felix to a large industrial canal.

Trains run above the spot, traffic moves along the water, and huge ships regularly pass the rods.

Underwater, there are also mussels and all kinds of urban obstacles.

That’s why it’s all about power and reliability here.

The rods, mainline, leader, and hooklink must be strong enough to control a hooked carp. Any weak link can be punished immediately on such waters.

Daring to move while things are going well.

One of the film’s most interesting dilemmas arises when a spot finally starts to produce.

Stay because the carp are clearly present, or trust local knowledge and move to a new zone that might have even more potential?

Those kinds of choices make a road trip like Urban Banx unpredictable.

With only nine nights available, you can’t stay long everywhere. Sometimes you have to stop doing something that works to find out what’s possible elsewhere.

Whether such a choice proves wise is for the viewer to discover.

Nine nights, five cities, and one big adventure.

Urban Banx Germany is ultimately much more than a collection of carp catches.

The film is about searching, meeting friends, throwing minimal gear in a van, and moving on. About resetting rigs in the middle of the night, braving cold rain, and a few hours later standing in a completely different German city.

Small park lakes, huge urban waters, and industrial canals alternate continuously.

The approach has to change constantly.

Why watch Urban Banx Germany?

Anyone familiar with Alan Blair and the original Urban Banx videos knows what to expect: lots of energy, humor, unexpected locations, and above all a huge drive to find carp somewhere.

But this German edition takes it even further.

The scale of some waters is enormous, the spots get crazier and Alan fishes alongside various German carp anglers, each bringing their own approach and local knowledge.

There are tough moments when almost nothing seems to happen and periods when everything suddenly changes.

And of course, during nine nights of urban carp fishing, a few fish are caught that make the trip unforgettable.

Which carp exactly, where the most remarkable catches happen, and how the last night unfolds...

For that, Urban Banx Germany really needs to be seen for itself.