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After not going carp fishing since August due to having personal issues to deal with regarding my dad I managed to get a couple of trips on the bank this month. Last week was Wednesday to Friday. I got to the lake, and fancied an area towards the shallower east end of the lake. I did have an angler on the opposite bank slightly to my left, so I made sure I wouldn't interfere with his fishing, and got myself set up. Sorting out my dinner I realised I had left my cutlery set at home, no major issue as I had a fork in the spares pocket of my food ruckbag. It did mean that I had to gauge 2 teaspoons of sugar in my coffee though. The more important issue was the bucket of birdfood to get the ducks and swans to clear some weed if the carp didn't eat it, and worse Sky's food bowl. I was in the sleeping bag for 8pm, but awake listening for fish. A few crashed between Dave and I between 8 and 10pm when I eventually fell asleep while the frost was forming. Sky refused to come in the bivvy, and slept outdoors. Thursday was a walk around looking, but nothing made me want to move. That night was most definitely warmer, but nothing crashed, so Friday saw a slow pack up with a blank. I wasn't intending to fish again for a week, but Sunday I got back to the empty lake, complete with garlic soaked birdfood particles. I hadn't forgotten anything this week, set myself up in the same swim, although checked the wind forecast to the 3nights and had the back of the bivvy facing North West. Two quiet days, despite searching and walking around the lake with Sky on Monday and Tuesday. The only action I saw was the swans, tufties and coots mooching around the particles, although they never picked up a hookbait Tuesday night, just after dinner Sky decided to come in the bivvy, so I knew that the rain and wind forecast was coming that night. Around 8 I crashed out for a couple of hours, but at 10 got woken up to the short bivvy pegs being pulled out of the soft ground by the wind getting up to 50mph. Sky was sitting on the umbrella skirt/groundsheet join, so it didn't blow away, but it was close! I got out my long pegs and bank sticks, and went out to swap pegs and push them in at least 50cm. Managed to get sorted, but stayed awake until 1am, when I realised that my 20year old Aqua rod holdall had been blown away, and is likely to have sunk. This morning was a bit of a pig to pack away, my mix of banksticks, tent pegs were difficult to pull out, and obviously trying to juggle loose rods, landing nets, slings and throwing stick into the car. The sad part is that the historical black poplar has finally given in to old age and nature. Expectations or hopes were a fish, reality was a near disaster.

I nearly always use a tournament or plain pear lead on the marker rod. I've always got some handy for a bit of clearance, a couple of 3's and 4oz.

If you want to get a bank loan for leads the fox gripper leads are good. If not any will do I found the ridgemonkey ones awful though I couldn't feel the drop with those for some reason. I quite like a coated lead but the rough sort as they pick up any clay off the bottom. But basically any will do.

Thanks , everyone . I have used " prongs " before , but I can't remember why I stopped ? ,I may well have another go .

That could be just the job , Framey . I have used polaris floats previously . I'll look more closely later . Thanks very much .

I'd just grab the first lead I could find. I don't think at such close range it makes any noticeable difference. Maybe some prongs if you want to check for specific debris or silk weed.

Uncoated lead so you can feel more through it. I’m pretty sure you can get hold of small marker style leads. I often use a sea fishing breakaway lead, cut the arms down and cable tie them in position. Very useful for picking out debris or minor weed clearance in the margins. You can get them in all sizes fairly cheaply too on eBay.

If you haven’t spent yet could do worse than one of these at short range https://enterprisetackle.co.uk/product/et86-plumb-eze back to the dart I used a dumpy pear.

Hi Everyone . I'm thinking about using an ESP Marker Dart Float in the small size with a 2oz lead to quietly check out margin spots on short sessions i.e. I don't want to disturb the swim too much . What shape of lead should I be looking at please ? . Ta .

That is same as the club book i fish, but night fishing is allowed however its a long wait to get night book and its an extra £140 for night book, lucky for me i dont really do nights no more and if i want to do 24h i can gust on for £20, yes fishing is getting expensive

Likewise, syndicate ticket £650, been for 5 x 48hrs. Probably 1 more before season end of April. Estate ticket £190 EA season closure, but went for 4 x 48hrs. I'm not renewing the syndicate, the estate is a no brainer. With end tackle, bait and grub it's still not a cheap hobby

One of the little clubs I belong to is an hour away ,and it's only 40 quid a year, no nights ,days only with a great mix of members ..thats the sort of place I like,especially the 5lb perch in the pool.. That's great value even if I only went 3 or 4 times a year ..

Thanks for that info Yonny ,very helpful .I've had my integrated UV bulb light going for nearly a year ,so that's what I'll change first .. I got three marginal plants in suspension cages in the pool ,but they need cutting in half and replanting in new aqua soil as they gone a bit mad ,then I'll have a look at that chemical you saying about .. I bought a Solar ,flashing ,noise making anti rat ,cat deterent,box it seems to work ,Seagulls hate it .. It's only a small water feature ,but I absolutely love it ..especially when the fish swim past a viewing porthole ,...plus lol,they like tiny amounts of ressi specials ,crumbled as a treat occasionally...those fish literally know I'm about ,especially as I feed em same time same spot ,which is interesting especially if crossed over into angling mindset ,they become trained !!!!

Similar to yonny, I had a £75 club ticket last season, fished there for 3 nights and a £275 ticket (June-june) and I’ve only done 3 nights so far! Expensive trips. Spent most of my year fishing a club water for free as I’m on the committee! But none of those club lakes really do it for me tbh. hopefully fit in a couple more nights on the ticket before June but then I don’t know whether I’ll renew. See how it goes. Pretty expensive trips!

There are a couple of things you can try. The UV is the primary protection so make sure you replace the bulb at least once a year (about now is perfect as the first 6 months it's most effective.... less important in winter but critical in summer). You could also go for a bigger UV filter.... the bigger the better basically. You can try to block out some sunlight..... it's the reason I installed that parasol thingy. Less sun = less phosphates = less blanket weed. There are several treatments available. The one below works in low temps so good for early spring: AQUA SOURCE BLANKET WEED RESOLVE 1kg WATER TREATMENT BLANKETWEED POND FISH KOI | eBay UK Lastly, you could add a plant to consume the nutrients that the blanket weed needs to grow. Prevention is always better than correction so I'd focus on the UV filter first👍

I had one given to me as a laugh it said emmet hunter ,I wore it once in the carnival ,had to bin it ,after threats of violence !!!! 😂

We have a 147 litre Blagdon affinity feature pond ,currently housing Ravioli and Nelson ,two ancient huge goldfish ...I have a uv light and a good filter system which i clean out weekly ,water is clear ,fish are well happy ,no more than two fish due to pond ,feature size.. My question is ,what can I buy or do to reduce this filamentous ,stringy weedy stuff ,I can pull it out in clumps ,but it comes back ...any ideas .....yonny or anyone ?

That's a lot of money mate ... Shame it's got so very pricey ,used to called a working man's hobby ,I guess it's gone 'football' expensive ,a place I still fish used to be £1 a night ....lol I still reckon some will stop fishing as its too expensive, mind you I have a huge blue pond behind my cottage ,which is free...makes me think 🤔

Swings and roundabouts innit. Most decent syndi's now are 600 plus. Many have now exceeded a grand. Last year I fished ~5 nights on my syndi - for 650 quid. Add your bait, fuel, food etc... and we're talking maybe 200 a night. Makes a 30 quid day ticket seem cheap! I'm dropping the ticket this year. Just can't justify the cost for the time I get.

thought about that but when he is in his wheelchair or mobility scooter the chest rig would work better as his mobility is none existent nowadays. did think about the hand set up but then the shakes would get to him. a chair rig attachment may be a good option though, cheers

Would some kind of tripod help? Or one of those ones that you can attach to things?

am looking to tap into the wisdom of those of you that are into photography my Dad has been into photography for years but now his MS is playing him to the point where tremors are stopping him using his set up and occasionally popping along with me to take action shots (cough cough)... i am looking at some kind of chest rig as this will support the weight of the camera and so long as he can press the shutter he should be ok as he uses either a chair or mobility scooter these days so i know he wont fall over. not looking at an expensive gimbal rig but rather a chest mount hands free sort of thing. i have found this which looks the part but struggling to find anything similar in the UK, do any of you know where something like this could be purchased from for about the same cost without the huge postage charge? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/267577039546 any help would be appreciated

I daren't work it out 😂

Finished off my hookbaits with a dusting of basemix, another coat of my bait spray that doesn't spray and 3 more coats of basemix dusting. Will see how they look once they've fully dried. But quite happy with the results

Went to a little pond with my youngest boy yesterday and he caught his first ever carp. Lovely little 7lb common. He's got the carp bug now😉