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Well done mate - great stuff! I was on Bluebell Swan Thurs to Saturday with a mate, nothing came out despite the favourable conditions but good to get the feel for it ahead of the winter ticket I guess. Picked the shallower end after seeing some fizzing close in but could only get drops, no pull back so ended up swapping over to hinges for the 2nd night. Think I probably ended up fishing in eel grass and not presented well enough despite all rigs coming back clean every time, weird one!

One from last week just prior to the storm and right on dusk at a days only water. A lovely half-lin at 21-8, one of the nicest looking fish I've ever caught.

Managed to get out for storm Austen and it was great fun. I really enjoy being out in extreme conditions and while it was a bit sketchy at times, I came out the other side free of injury and/or death. I got myself right on the end of that massive wind so careful placement of the brolly was required to prevent losing it. The rain wasn't actually too bad where I was, but the wind was every bit as strong as forecast. Just as the storm hit, I managed a nice low/mid twenty common which made the trip worth it. I added another little one later that went back without a pic. Saturday morning was fantastic..... wandering around surveying the damage, branches all over the place. All in all, a fun little trip.

I've sued size 2's on spinners. Absolutely fine.

That's good, you know to ask the naming committee first - i.e. me and Elmo 🙃 and NO Dayvids Mirror/Common is not allowed!

Looking at this again they have other fishmeal baits that haven't gone up in price, so it can only be the GLM content. I'm gonna stick with the bait as it confirms to me that it's their best one.

Not got one, but for the doubters I bought a heated Gillet for pike fishing on the boats and an absolute game changer tbh Go for it, I'm sure it will be good

It's Lifesystems btw, used by the military so my mate says when recommending it. Also do a spray for the shelter itself 👍

That's the Mother of all stringers! I remember the baiting rules. We used to roll our own baits back then and also tested them under the trees between Reeds and Ski slope, you could almost have them eating out of your hands! My mate Phil's capture of Digit was from Digit corner, he see it go down on his rig it was that close to the bank. Chris had a mug made up with his pic of that fish lol! I also remember Gary too.

This was a Brackens setup! Snowman hookbait on a combi-rig with a 3oz lead hidden in there, stringer attached to the hook and the mainline above the lead.

Gary and Chris are two I can remember, Chris caught Digit from Boards. I think that I can remember a Steve. I don't think that I ever fished the Reeds or Rushes swim, although I did spend a lot of time in the 'aquarium' to the right, and to the left of Ski-slope. It wasn't a swim, but overhanging trees and snags that fish loved getting into. I would test baits in there, if they took them in there I knew it would work in the main lake.

When I fished Brackens the people I can remember are.. Jimmy, Scott, Darren & Steve, all local ,Chris and my mate Phil (who caught Rocky & Digit) Good times fishing there.

Np. I didn't mean to sound like I was having a go back if that's how it came across. I was just letting loose a little. And, again this isn't meant as a dig at you personally, but there does at times feel like theres a bit of hypocrisy from some people when it comes to comfort/more recent innovations. If there wasn't any progress, we'd all still be using split cane rods with 10+ rings all sat within a few mm of the rod blank and centerpin reels loaded with cat gut. As I said, you do you. Everyone's entitled to do what they want as long as it's within the rules and doesn't affect others. I've never fished through the winter before and have had previous few nights before, so a bit of comfort/warmth will be very welcome. Who knows how long any of us have left. If there's something you want to try, I say go do it.

Sorry mate if it sounded like a dig at you, it deff wasn't intended. Just seems to me that if people feel the need to buy this stuff, shouldn't they question if they should be fishing in colder weather at all? As for a Throwing stick, used to use an origanal Cobra one, long sinced binned, flying rats soon put pay to that, and where I fish now not needed at all. I still use a spomb on occasions to get particles out.... actually made 'spods' out of gardner boilie gun tubes and shampoo bottles back in the day. Bait boats not relevent for me as they are banned on the lakes I fish, if they were allowed, would I spend money on them? I think not. Carp reels, yes Shimano bait runners, rapidly found at the time before 'big pit' reels were 'invented' that a change to sea fishing reels - Ryobi Project - I think were a vast improvement on anything 'carpy' at the time. Not sure about 'specialised' ringing thet we now use? Hutchy horizons didn't seem to have them, oh I obviously don't use them now, long gone. Just use a fairly cheap pair of Korum 2.5 test curve rods, I love them. Anyway, take care in your fishing and stay safe in the cold weather, at my age I just don't do it anymore, not my idea of enjoying my time on the bank anymore 👍

That looks like someone's patched the website against the new PHP bug tgats been in the news and their website was using an ancient version with unsupported commands in the patched version. Just a guess though.

Has Tackle Trader ceased , i just get lines of rubbish .

Tbh, I'm generally a summer fisherman. I have avoided going when it gets below 6c at night. My bag is a big snooze+ 3 season jobby. I'm over 50 now and am fed up with being uncomfortably cold without good bl**dy reason. So, a heated blanket for a few hours with the bed cover so I'm not climbing into a freezer seems like a sensible idea and a weight sacrifice I'm willing yo make. It runs off my Ridge Monkey Vault 26000mah powerbank which I take anyway, so its a negligible change for me. I don't get the self flagellation at the altar of discomfort. If your doing something to save weight great you do you, but doing something just because it was done like that 30 years ago seems like madness to me. 20-30 years ago I smoked, mostly used a bike to get around and used to go raving. If I hadn't changed I'm not sure I would still be here, let alone have a decent job, house, be married with kids going to uni. If carp fishing had stayed the same we'd still be using argos sunbeds, optonics and cheap 50" brollies with a tarp over the top. Just look at your phone in your hand. How old is that and how old is the tech? The world changes, moves on and progresses. Embrace it where you want to/can justify it. I would ask, do you use a throwing stick/spomb/bait boat/baiting pole/sonar/gps? None of those were available 30 years ago, at least not in their current form. Back then, were there any carp reels, rods with the specialised ringing we now use?

So do I, but I would admit to two!

The syndicate im in allows you to name a new Thirty ,

I am such a Tackle Tart id charge to view my set up .😂

Not the best advice but worked for me , When i use to smoke ,if ever i got bitten by a Mozzy , i would dab the hot end of the cigarette on the bite briefly , worked every time , no itching just a little burn but no different to the mark youll end up leaving after scratching at it for hours.

Maybe something id consider to be honest ,

I'm thinking maybe Interax doesn't want to end up crippled with arthritis in old age and unable to go fishing / enjoy his retirement ? .