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Absolutely awesome kipper Kev. People underestimate how hard it can be getting everything right on that place. What a result. Buzzing for you mate.

Pop ups are a big fish rig. Pretty much all I use these days because I want to hook the big ones 😎

the pop up was very blatent, when i fish pop up i tend to put the shot a couple of mm behind the hook eye keeping it as low as possible..........................still dont catch though

Glad I re-read this coz the answer is use my pen to break up the flouro a bit, always had the pen in the tackle box but not the brain power to remember to do it - now on a post-it note in the living room 🤦😆

Isn’t that the standard time for moves to happen I remember my daughters moving in day for her first house was like that

Whilst this is mainly true some of the trickiest carp to catch can be those that have seen it all on a daily basis on a busy commercial, I reeled in a bent hookpoint after one bleep last trip so deffo been done. 95% of bites are dropbacks and you rarely connect, that is NOT normal - this is my finding on Bluebell's Kingfisher anyway - cute as anything. On my big, low stock lake I think they are scared of baited patches which again seems pretty rare, they usually say find them and you'll catch, here it's find them - cast out and they're gone lol This lake is so clear I've been looking at my flouro leaders thinking well they're easy to see - should I go back to leadcore. Minefield!

4 day blank on the canal for me 🤣 back to the complex for a couple nights 👍

It's a mine field ,is tackle even for experienced fisherthems lol ..

I think nick has/had a set of the NGT ones you can feel the Cork flexing in the butt on the greys with fish of about mid teens. i also Chuckeda small spomb out with them if I was fishing with 2 rods. to be honest I did abuse them and they took it all.

Thanks for info ,that's part of what I'm after,a short rod that actually bends ,I tried a ESP ,3lb stalker in a shop, it was proper stiff ,that was a 10ft tho Those NGT ,look good for the money ...its hard finding gear to look at before I buy as most places I fish are very quiet

Greys stalkers are bout 2.75 as are the esp stalker I like both of them the greys are 3 piece and the esp are 2 the esp don’t bend as well as the greys

One of my favourite pools ,is gradually being dominated by trees ,I can't cast overhead anymore .. I don't want to spend a lot of money ,so ..does anyone have any experience of NGT 9ft 2.5tc rods ,or can recommend any other 9ft rod ,I don't want anything over 3lb tc.. Cheers 🥂

I'm not going to get all technical ,here's what I've learnt over time .. I had an old friend 'Egloskerry Tom' Tom had a massive influence on me as a youngster ,as far as carping went he was God.. I used to watch him set up a rod ,cast his latest rig out ,with the latest homemade RH recipe, Partridge hook ,then came attaching backleads ,sinking the line ,....you get the picture !...a right kerfuffle!.. He didn't catch many ,but I loved him as a friend .. Anyway I used to turn up with a bag of Richwoth tutti, some not looking to good ,just found some ,spots that I felt held fish ...one Sunday I turned up he'd been there hours same routine etc ....and nowt ...by lunch time fishing simple running rigs and so on I had 7 nice carp...what that taught me is over complication looses against simplicity .. I fish similar even today, simple is best ,no gadgets or gimmicks ,just a sharp hook in the right place carp are simple creatures...if they don't feed there is nothing you can do about it...and boy ,don't those tackle manufacturers know it they play on people's insecurity..

No I didnt say anything, probably just threw my arms about at the time lol You see some stuff there my word, swim boundaries are seemingly optional if you're catching, and every swim has a max distance but little notice is taken once they get desperate to catch. I watched 2 guys arrive taking the windward corner to my left, fair play I tought they're on them. Well both must have leaded about on their heads whilst they were showing for an hour or more - I wanted to scream at them but just thought well they've pushed them back out onto me. Honestly clueless - all that casting then they put the rod out with a boat - unreal stupidity on their overnighter 😆🤦

I've actually made my MO to be largely yellow beds of bait, I've used maize flake, sweetcorn and yellow pellets, all doused in yellow smart liquid,

Interestingly I've been using this bait all year, and I don't recall being plagued by wildfowl at all,I've had grebes diving but they tended to quit quite quickly.

That's a whole new can of worms! Treat them like idiots and they will make a fool of you. Other times you can chuck out a Fag dogbut and they'll take it! Some lakes has a resident mug and yet other fish can go years without a visit to the bank. A lot can depend on the size of the lake and the stock. Sparsely populated lakes are by definition the hardest and the fish can choose what to eat and what to avoid. Heavily populated commercials are easier and chances are most of the natural food has been harvested and the fish are reliant on anglers baits and the fish are more likely to be tolerant to tackle and bank-side disturbance. Most of us don't but gin clear to us and what a fish sees are 2 totally different things. They can find there way around and feed (and avoid being caught!) on the darkest of nights. Obviously they have a highly developed sense of smell and this plays a huge part but I am convinced they must have a good degree of night sight. Most big cats can effectively hunt at night when we are stumbling around and natural selection almost certainly means that fish do have have a fully functional degree of vision.

I watch the videos and I always chuckle to myself. The swim being fished has so many things that can add to the already wary fishes 'stress'. Obviously first one is the camera, and any attachment to the bank, wires or cables, as it is unlikely underwater cameras will be wire free. Then we have feeding situation. The water may or may not be a boilie water, or a water where particles or groundbait are the best feeding stimulant. As for my fishing I tend not to be pedantic about camouflage, but I do try to minimise it being over conspicuous. There are times that I have seen fish spook off bright fluorescent baits, yet at other times they are the best way to catch. My hooklinks I prefer green or green, black and dirty white (Merlin). I think that matches the majority of lake bottoms. My mainline is usually clear in clear waters, and is as much as possible fished slack line and running leads, or rods low so the line is along the lakebed if possible, although I believe that at anything over 40metres, the line is along the lakebed anyway. I stopped using leaders unless I have to, and I still catch on straight through mainline, and with no anti-tangle tubing. Like @elmoputney I don't think that the fish can identify a hook, run ring, bead, lead or swivel, and that green hooklink looks like a strand of weed. Baitwise, I prefer an unobtrusive bait, for a couple of reasons, to try to stop swan life, but also to match my freebies which are normally brown. However, as said, there are times in late autumn, winter and early spring when I think that a fluorescent bait is better or will provoke takes.

No you didn't get lucky , Kev , you just went the extra mile . I do hope you were able to let the mickey taker who was fishing in your water know how you got on after he had left ? 😁.

That's why I do fish a fluoro, I want my hookbait to stand out, I want my hookbait to be the most attractive bait in the area. The main thing I look at in the edge is contrast, you have to think fish don't see the same things we do. I just think if it contrasts the bottom then they will be more likely to see it. My faves are yellow and washed out pink. I can totally see why you do what you do though, makes perfect sense,there are no right and wrongs though, if it works it works.

Tbh, think underwater videos have been done to death now. Something a bit strange about this one though, almost seems to have been somehow AI generated?? Anyway, wouldn't worry to much, not many of us fish on gin clear waters and not sure Carp are actually that intelligent?

Very healthy bankside meal 👍

I've never used a fluoro pop-up, I prefer match the hatch muddy brown baits similar to my freebies. I know a lot people use a snowman or a bit of pop up corn above the boilie for a fleck of colour but it just looks so blatant to me. We get "done" far more than you would believe. For many years I fished a shallow river for barbel that went crystal clear at certain times of year and it was a revelation. The amount of times I would have barbel come onto a baited area and then I would see my grains of corn get blown out with force and all the fish would scatter. Another time I had a run baited with hemp and corn and a fish was coming up the swim in a straight line hoovering up the freebies. It come to my double corn (on a 3 foot hooklink to avoid spooking), veered around it and carried on up the run taking everything else! I was using the double corn so it was obvious to me where the hookbait was, unfortunately it was also obvious for the barbel! My thinking is that if I can create an area that seems "safe" and there is nothing that the fish can associate with danger, the greater the chance of catching them.

Things I forgot this time Thermocell pads Camera Micro hook ring swivels. And how to catch a fish. My dinner and breakfast were lardon omelettes with rocket, cos I'm on a health kick presently. I did have a savage take and before I had even got off the chair it had yanked the rod so hard my buzzer bars were all over the place and somehow my line snapped, it was either, clutch too tight, I had forgotten to take it out the clip or when it jolted the line got caught on something. Needless to say I didn't get another chance and blanked.

Mega fish and nice write up. I've always thought that fishing is a bit of a game of chance but when all the stars align and you have the skills and knowledge to capitalise on them, those long gruelling blanks start to feel like a distant memory.