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That is a mega fish Kev. World class 😍

Got lucky on my Bluebell trip, arrived Sunday morning as swims became free from the weekend - lots of swims available on Swan but onto my favourite Kingfisher for a lap. Fairly busy but suprisingly the 1st and 2nd points had become free and had the wind smashing in for the duration of my trip. Within minutes I'd seen several shows in each so I bucketed the 2nd point and went to pay and get my kit. With my kit in the 2nd point I noticed more activity in the 1st point so quickly moved and got set up. I gave it a couple of hours watching to identify the main areas they were showing in then checked with a light lead - all presentable with just tiny bits of black silk weed coming back on the swivel. I decided to go in with pva mesh bags with mixed pellets and crumb and 10ml pellet wafter hookbaits. Conditions at this point were banging 50 mph gusting winds, low pressure and rain. Sunday evening as the rain became biblical the right rod signaled a take, I frantically fumbled around for my coat and got out there. Waders on out in the pond playing a fish in the monsoon - head torch shining through the spray it was mega and I netted a lovely 26lb common. 10am Monday the activity restarts and a guy round the corner leaves who was taking the mick in my water so I get the left rod repositioned where I actually wanted it. Late morning and early afternoon I had 2 doubles from the 2 rods straight out so 3 in the bag and I'm praying for a big un. Then at about 4pm i hook what feels a better fish and it kites right this time then I feel grating as it finds weed. No drama it's still coming and I get ot free, but after 2 heavy head lunges it slips off - gutted. Early evening after seeing a bigger fish roll on the left side - the left rod is away, this time it's in weed straight away but I manged to keep it coming bit by bit weedbed after weedbed and then after a great tussle close in I slip the net under a long common. It wasnt until I plonked it down on the mat that I realised how wide this fish was and that I had made a mistake not going for the bigger scales. The Ruben Flyweights bottomed out at 43lb so unfortunately I'll never know how big it was exactly but who cares when they are knarly as anything - best fish I ve caught for a long time - absolutely buzzing. The rest of the trip got slower and slower by the day but who could be disappinted, I'd made the most of my weather opportunity - right time right place and no bait boat, spodding and distance sticks 😎👌

I tend to not be so paranoid tbh, I prefer a fluoro boom on my spinner rig, I nearly always fish a pop up. Mainly bright yellow pineapple this season. I use an unleaded leader (whatever colour I have) knowing it will sink well and it works well with my chosen lead set up (PB Hit n run) And I never back lead or pin the line down. Most people on my lake use a bait boat, so I try to spread the baits out, so the fish have to move between mouthfuls. I like to think they don't really know what rig components are and just see them as detritus but I will slacken my line and get it to sink properly if I can. Although if I need to fish with a bow tight line, I have no issues doing that either. We are all different though and I'm not saying I am right, anything that makes you more confident is a good thing it's just not something I worry about too much, I did use coloured kickers for a while on my spinner rigs and I still caught fish,

After Elmo's plea for more content, I decided to start this one. Below is a video I found on You Tube. It's a fair effort and uses tech to the max, bait boats, drones and underwater camera's. Despite all that, I couldn't believe how blatant the rig was, especially the pop up. The line was bow tight and stood out like a sore thumb and even the lead stood out more than I thought it would. I've seen quite a few of these types of video's and I can't believe that the carp continue to feed anywhere near the area. I'm a bit paranoid about trying to make everything as unobtrusive as possible. I use Korda Safezone leaders (fluorocarbon) and always backlead to keep everything pinned to the deck although I know it compromises bite detection. All my rigs are combi's with a fluorocarbon boom with an inch or so of supple braid to give the hookbait some movement. I don't use pop-ups but but do often use a slip-D combi rig with a wafter that has been bored with some cork to create what I call a wafter+, it is enough to lift the bait off the bottom but the hook still touches the bottom. What edges do you use to minimise suspicion?

This is a local band that made it big covering a '67 Doors hit.

I've been fishing and re finding intimate waters I visited from 35 yrs ago ,one of which I looked around ,but never fished ,it's all overgrown ,and farmer is 90 yrs plus.. Had around 12 fish to 8lb ,no monsters at all ,but the Oaktrees are centuries old ,ps,thats my 50 inch Mhr dwarf ed by just one of these amazing trees

I bought a pot of Buchu popups/wafters ,from Opti baits ,.... I know the chap who makes them ,but he's moved up the line now.. They seem very good baits for single hook bait style ,they seem to attract ghosti heritage carp more than the common,mirror varieties..

I'm not on social media, except for the professional one. I much prefer the chilled out vibe we get here. A lot less 'look at me' and agro.

Few bits for Sunday night. Interested to see what the feram8c scissors are like. Guy in the shop said they'll last a 100 years🤔

Opps, couldn't do a proper reply to my last post Social media has really overtaken most forums I guess now? I don't do it, as for Carp Forums, there is 'another' at least, but as probably said before this is more chilled, suspect in the future thay will die out except for old gits like me etc wanting something more laid back? 6

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Hi Nick Thanks for the feedback on the Honda CRV , it's always good to get someones opinion who you know , and is not in the motor trade . Also you are presumably looking at your replacement car with a view to access to the fishing waters you visit . A long time ago someone on Carp.com recommended a Subaru Forester so I might see if I can find one not too far away that I can physically look at . Is your Dad allowed his own personal tv in his room ? , because I watch Bangers & Cash on the Yesterday channel , and after that has finished at 4P.M. there's a program about WW2 . All the best .

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The move itself was fine, but the build up was a nightmare. We were supposed to exchange on the Thursday, complete on the Friday, move on the Saturday. The exchange failed to materialise so it was all down to the Friday. At 16:30 on the Friday we had a call to say our buyers lender wouldn't release funds so the sale was off. Great! The solicitors and estate agents agreed to stay on late and at 17:50 we heard it was all done. Very lucky!

Thanks The most stressful thing is PFT (PRE FISHING TENSION) Will it be busy? Will I get a decent swim? Will I find some fish? Will I get stuck in traffic? Will I remember everything? No 12:15 I leave work and then it's full on PFT. I've smashed the work out this morning to make sure I can chill though so come on the carps.

Good luck Elmo That's the most stressful thing you can do yonny. I hope you make it a happy home. I'm off to the tackle shop for a few bits and bait. Out Sunday and Monday night. Can't wait

Well chatting about fishing is about as close as I'm getting at the moment. Not been in more than 2 months due to the house move, which finally took place last week. Still loads of unpacking to do but the move itself went ok. Managing to partially scratch the itch by sorting out the koi pond ready for winter. I'm doing my best to get the water quality as good as possible ready for the drop in temps. Seems to be working. It's looking crystal clear and the carp are certainly acting very happy. Some real bigguns in there, it's absolutely awesome. At some point I'll get some pics up on here.

Don't want to rub it in but I'm doing a half day today and then I'm going home and packing for a overnighter. Come on the carps.

That sounds nice, i want to go back to France, my family aren't so keen on a fishing holiday again though, would need to be a special venue to convince them. Otherwise I think I've just got to wait a few years and go by myself 😂

I found a lovely new happy place half way down France on holiday over the summer. It was a lovely place in the middle of the countryside, space for the family, a pool and a lovely little lake and enough around to keep the family amused as I get a load of fishing in. I think I unlocked the key just as I was running out of time. Coming back to work has been the hardest it's ever been. TBH, I'm sat here looking at the weather and thinking 'what the hell's happened'! I suppose it couldn't last.

Yeah same as, kind of why I like talking about it 😉

I try, but am struggling to get out fishing ATM.

Is that the before or after lol

For a long time Iv been thinking about cutting down the amount of gear I take on short afternoon sessions after work, had to be quite ruthless wasn’t easy I can tell you but it had to be done ...

It can get a bit stagnant 🤔