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Just out of interest, who is this Barney guy? Maybe out of interest mate, not sure what you are on about with casting.... I had original Hutchie Horizon casting rods, supplied by Gary Bayles, good bloke in the past. They were coupled by Ryobi Project sea fishing reels, way before big pit reels, easy cast 100yds with that combo... lead on floor to increase compression... maybe another trend to reinact again lol

Just to poke my nose in.... I have been fishing for over 50 years, brought up by fishing on river mole and Thames for catching Dace, Chub, gudgeon and also bleak bashing! Very light tackle in those days, learnt how to play fish in, barbless hooks, used to be used for match fishing to improve hooking for dace. Anyway, move on... times have 'sadly' changed, pot noodle carpers seem to think fishing day ticket waters with as stated before 3.5 test curve rods, 15lb line and hauling some poor double in.... Without dought I think this causes soo much damage. I now longer fish day ticket waters, however I unforturnatly expect to see the same on my club lake soon. As for hooks, barbless really dont do more damage, only hook I remember was the Rob Maylin bent hook which was an absolute no no!

theres loads of old (sound) videos on youtube explaining how test curve is murky water and should not be associated with a rod's 'power' the highest pull strength always comes from split cane*, I think Hexagraph score v. high as well I believe a split cane avon rod of 12ft was shown to have a far higher pull strength than a flash modern 3.75lb or so 13ft distance rod the casting distance is coming from the technology of ultra fast tip recovery speed, not rod power - of course its also extremely light and can be moved FAST!! It makes no difference which you play fish on you just adapt to it - split cane is FAR more durable than tubular carbon and better for feel because tubular carbon ovals out and becomes useless for FEEL - carbon CAN decay if used for heavy casting - split cane doesn't and steel and fibreglass rods are both far tougher than carbon - solid fibreglass rods are nearly indestructable (but very heavy) - they have enormous casting ability but are slowed down by sheer weight solid carbon rods could be interesting, never tried them cane and fibreglass are the nicest material to play fish on as you are always feeling everything going on in a lovely fluid way (with any line including stertchy good old tough as boots mono I hate braid very passionately, it is only of any use for testing torque twist in a badly built rod with a very strong spine never fall into the trap of believing a very flash ''top end'' distance carbon rod is 'strong' or 'tough' or 'better' just as it has a high test curve and a high price tag! - its just a performance tool tuned for the longest casting possible putting high speed into a very fast recovery tip carbon rods are more fragile the higher the price tag gets! I don't want rods I will be crying over worrying whether the sharp knock they got from a doorway has damaged them or not - they are also easy to snap by 'pranging' either against obstacles or by line snagged around them choose a rod for the water you fish but also the line you're using I fish small waters and never had a lot of money - If I had I would have invested in some Hexagraphs, but Harrisons and Bruce Ashby (Mirage and Ballistas do me proud they have sensational gentle but firm fish playing actions and are very accurate casting* - they are ok at distance up to longish range but a bit heavy, through and slow for that purpose *(consistent) accurate casting comes from spine alignment as well, Ballistas tend to be soft plane spined which I like and build on for *consistency of feel between each rod - Mirage are hard plane spined and they just feel classy, a little more 'bossy' and crisp in that plane - but each rod in a set will feel the same as they are tuned - rod sections belong together and its important - if they are muddled I can quickly find who belongs with who with the simple roll test but you do it with the whole rod assembled, not just per section You will always find the tip section to be off spine feeling on a properly spined rod because its the upper middle of the whole rod which is important for casting, and the middle of the rod which is important for feel - Bruce will have this working both ways - back and forth - so will a decent Ballista builder Daiwa spine Longbows and Infinitys beautifully, but, mark the sections straight away and keep them together some modern and modern(ish) blanks are spineless (even cheap you would be surprised) - and some have a barely noticeable spine which has no effect Shimano tend to have either no spine or a very weak one (both are a good thing and require no alignment) - Shimano higher end blanks tend to be very strong and durable compared to others at similar price range Some cheap rods have a very strong spine, which is misaligned (most probably due to mass production) can cause the rod to torque twist horribly and be absolute rubbish as a fishing tool of any finesse, accuracy or feel at all - it was a big name spinning rod, lower mid range and was absolutely horrible - I rebuilt it on the spine and used it as a nice roach/perch rod as it had a great very gentle yet lively little through action (those strong spined monstrosities are getting rarer on the market now so fear not with any cheaper rod you are fond of - if you like it just use it and enjoy it - these are all fairly minor percentages and usually nothing to worry about except for the odd nasty ) I haven't tested Greys, don't like or have the slightest interest in Korda, - I bought the rods I tested so it got silly with money selling them on cheap - any other brands I never tested I enjoy rebuilding cheap rods on the spine just to have knocking around for young family to use and put on bike without silly holdalls and not worry about I have no interest whatsoever in tournament casting technology so I can't comment on casting distance ins and outs, winners and losers and other brands I never investigated the roll test is hard to explain but easy to do, I reiterate that apart from one 'nasty' in about 40 rods tested this is about a simple enhancement of feel, consistency, accuracy, and durability - slight, yes, but nice to know you have tuned rods.. I OFTEN tested people rods and found they are fine, as I say if spine is weak you have zero problem its a geekism, all my rods are spined and it took me ages to sort out and cost a lot of money - but I rate old used good rods better than cheap new ones anyway I only need to rebuild the tip section only to spine any rod, or with travel rods I only need to rebuild a single middle section (or two on, say, a six or seven piece 'smuggler' rod) - sometimes that means changing the position of a single guide!

Im in a better place regarding the lake and the blanks, yes every blank session is a learning session, and i have tweaked my tactics and bait, to a point where i am getting odd half hearted takes, maybe nuisance fish but things are improving, thing is at 3 1/2 acres and heavy stock it should be a pretty easy venue, but i do enjoy being at the lake even if i dont catch

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Manufacturers and tackle brands with their own media production. It has gotten to the stage that you can't easily get 'sensible' tackle. I've been arguing the toss about it for years. Practice casting is no more as 'high test curve rods will cure the distance shortage immediately'. Years ago in the 1990's I was hitting over 100metres with 2¼lb TC rods, admittedly with 8lb line and leader, and eventually switched up to 2¾lb rods with 15lb line, line which has become standard, to get the same distance. Nazeing Central and South was a real eye opener, I needed to hit 150metres, so went to 3.25lb rods. Everything was in 12ft, I could get those distances. The shorter rods just didn't seem right, especially as I have been to casting tournaments and seen rods get longer from 12ft, to 12ft6in, 13ft even 14ft. I get a shorter rod for stalking, it makes sense, but not in a massive test curve with a tip action.

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Spot on.

I agree totally, blanking but learning is progress, knowing what you did wrong is as important as getting it right I guess - the bigger picture of understanding. I think the pressure of catching spoils it for many or they allow it to, but I'm doing this for me no one else, so I set the bar!

Hi I'm knuckles and have been carp fishing for over 40 years and love it.

I have just bought a boatman cl4 carbon with sonar and GPS, but there was no instructions with it, as anyone got a manual that could please send me some screenshots it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

I can relate to this massively. It was an 80 acre nature reserve with a very low stock that did it for me. I was nowhere near ready for it and blanked for a whole season before catching one right at the end (to this day one of the best I've ever caught). What a learning curve it was. The buzz from catching that carp set me on a path that I could never go back from. There are very few blanks that wind me up. As long as I learn something (i.e. literally anything) about the lake or its inhabitants on a blank, I'm not bothered. Every now I'll have a blank session where nothing is learned and that's the only time I'll be a little peeved. Best thing for that is get back down there and bag one!

That's my point, when it comes right it does mean so much. The common went in in 2018 at 18lb, it's now over 30lb, the linear was a 2020 stocking that was double figures. Last season I did have a very good year, although a 6 fish session really made my season

I'm like Ian in this respect, if it's easy what's the point? Blanking is a natural part of the process and even if I were top rod on the venue there would still be lots of blanks going on. The only people bothered by me blanking are friends and family who think it matters, I'm perfectly happy learning in my own time and enjoying the experience. Looking back now I'd have hated to catch my target early, almost a fluke, not understanding what it means to be so fortunate - if and when my time comes it will mean more to me than 10,000 fish from easy waters. Back in my 20s we fished a fairly large water, choked with weed and only 37 Leneys stocked in the 70s, we blanked for over a year but loved the lake, learning and social elements. It took away any pressure to catch coz everyone knew the size of the challenge, we didn't really think about that or understand what we'd signed up to - we just enjoyed it. We didn't know how lucky we were looking back was a great early experience that I still draw on now.

See I don't get this. I tend to fish harder lakes with very limited time so blanking is part of the furniture. Sure it can be frustrating, but it doesn't break me and I never question my tactics (unless I see something that tells my I'm using the wrong tactics which in itself I would consider to be a result.... critical info learned innit). Ultimately, I'm not going to get the buzz I seek from easy, heavily stocked waters. If that means I have to go for longer periods without catching then so be it. I'd rather spend my one night a month doing everything in my power to find and catch something special than queuing up on a day ticket to catch a fish that comes out once a week. Again - I don't get this. In years gone I've retreated to easier waters when it looks like a blank year is on the cards but the result is always the same - catch a few doubles or twenties that mean very little to me..... feel like I've wasted precious time that could've been spent chasing the proper ones...... go back to the hard lake and stay there until I've achieved what I wanted to achieve. Basically a pointless exercise. Of course it's all personal choice but for me: the harder the task, the bigger the buzz when it's job done. That's in all walks of life imo - not just fishing.

I'm still amazed that this trend has taken off. Don't get me wrong, I've no problem with high TC rods, but for me they exist to hit distance, and for that you need length too. If you don't need to hit distance then I cannot see why anyone would choose a higher TC. It's a compromise for casting because you don't have the length, and a compromise for playing fish because the TC is too high..... worst of both worlds!

Hard lakes break your goolies mentally yes you question everything you do including even being there at all just remember to smell the flowers and enjoy the camping side which is very good for you as for gear well just enjoy the process and let things happen, if you want something posh use Klarna, Clearpay, PayPal pay in 3 etc but don’t go too mad and keep using all that for endless bundles of little things or it can bite we all have our own style or develop it, I don’t care much about test curves I just want enjoyable actions and happened to find that in and end up with nice (very old) Harrison’s which I rebuilt myself

As I said elsewhere I believe the main problem is short high test curve rods.. too much torque.. but also low stretch lines, and simply playing fish too hard, not letting them run carp should always be played calmly and gently and tricks used to stop them running for snags other than slamming the brakes on

The funny thing is that the lake I'm on gives so many difficulties; 185 carp in 45acres, with loads of natural food, so not overstocked. It is very weedy, and has plenty of birdlife, which the swans can be a right pain as it is not particularly deep. The carp aren't spread equally, the water can be devoid of fish in certain areas, and they don't show regularly. It has a pretty much East to West orientation and the east end is the shallowest, so a westerly wind doesn't push them all the way. Then we have the syndicate, I can be the only person on there for a whole week, and see absolutely nobody. I walk Sky round almost every day I am there, as it's a 2mile circuit, a slow walk so I can watch the water and look for fish. Then we have bait, the fish don't need it, but you might need to bait heavily to compete with naturals, or the hi-viz attractor bait. BUT, don't bait up on them as they are wary and will move away. I should say that this is the hardest lake I have ever fished, but you know when it comes right.

Fair play Im not really into bait making I just get excited by ideas sometime carp adore dog biscuits so there must be something in their makeup which switches them on they are high tech and very scientific serious money and research goes into petfood, I think you dumb them down a little more than what they are really about/deserve.. closely guarded secrets and good stuff.. subtle feeding triggers which are needed to get fussy or I’ll pets to eat properly carbs.. well some old fishing gurus reckon some lakes are carb deficient and high carb baits can score Its not my area The rods are out and I sadly spooked a big fish when I cast out I had no idea he was there but I have the whole night and am sitting up through all of it

My new Rod Hutchinson Sceptre 10ft 3.5lb rods arrived today lovely looking bit of kit but maybe a bit to stiff for my fishing needs, would of been better if they did them in 10ft 3lb option, will just have to see how i get on with them, google image as i have put them away

I just bought some of the latest small Abu cardinals to see what they are like loaded up with braid for chucking lures after the bass of the back of the boat. for 20£ each can’t complain if they are plastic then at least they can’t rust lol Dam rod the kids are currently chucking the older version of this around the rod is fully orange that were bought from AD and they get sling in the bilge when we leave the boat. the only problem so far on one reel the handle rusted so didn’t spin properly wd40 sorted that out

My latest rooblinos arrived today it's a 2000 sized reel that I bought to go on my old browning match rod, cos t me a small fortune £7 smooth as anything though lovely little reel.

Was a time when you could get lower poundage rods, now 3lb seems the minimum and to be honest for a lot of waters it just isn't needed... My 9' Dwarfs are 2.75lb through action, lovely playing rods for small waters, and I think they are a bit heavy... But the "Stars" as you rightly say advocate heavy rods to cast big weights a long way... for goodness sake a 3.75lb rod (4lb Kaizens... really...????) They are beachcasters or light spod rods fer crying out loud... these rods have no business on a carp pool in the UK... and I don't care what others think, these rods in the wrong hands are prime suspects in mouth damage...

old school Pay the lake … 👍👍