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Aqua do 3 nice mats, one rolls up small, one has a recess that prob acts like sides and ones a mat/sling. Cotswold do a nice one too but with prices in the 90 - 150 bracket might give it a miss as what I've got is in decent condition still, I'd be buying for the sake of buying which is not like me 🤣

That's brilliant - bro's ended up attacking each others swims 🤣 It's one thing moaning about others and getting on with it, plotting their downfall all week is likely to lead to mental health probs! You should write a book, I bet you've got some great memories 👍

I'd say my first 3 or 4 years on there were my best, it then became a circus and at times unpleasant. Sad really , as Yonny rightly says, " it's just fishing".

They were savage. They were in fact brother's and had fished dinton for years . They hated the fact that it had become "known" about and that several "names" were joining the syndicate etc. Bearing in mind this was early 2000's and the likes of terry hearn, bernie Loftus and others had dabbled with the days in previous years. I'd heard about these two brother's prior to my arrival and I met one on my second trip there. He introduced himself in the car park and we pushed our barrows out of the car park to the lake and I thought to myself what a sound bloke for him then to say in no uncertain terms that a particular swim was his and God help me if I jumped in it 🤣. The brother's ultimately fell out and ended up weedkilling and soaping each other's swims. Proper nut jobs/green eyed monsters.

Love it, syndicate life is serious business lol 👍 I've heard of people soaping out of bounds or snags to get them out but not attacks on peoples favourite swims - that is savage 🤣

Proper savage that mate. It's just fishing!

Fish the swim , cast to the spot, catch the fish you want and then "soap" the spot when you're done 🤫 🤣. I'm joking about the soaping obviously. I'd have had words if it was me and also told the bloke I'd see fish showing elsewhere before he turned up to see if I could get him to move. I'd find it very hard to move or not cast to a fish holding spot. Regarding the soaping, I'd never heard of it until I got on dinton. There were a couple of anglers who I found out were right nasty towards other anglers. I got told by one of their good "friends" that they would often soap swims that were fished week in , week out by particular anglers. If the certain swims held fish because of a weed bed then they would "napalm " the swim (drop aquatic weed killer bombs) into the swims. When I look back there were certain anglers that would fish the same swims week in , week out and catch fish for it to suddenly die a death.

Finally finished the van build, reckon a few laps of a big lake Is due

I got a really nice beanie mat then a week later the club announced we had to have walled mats i went for the NGT XL walled job, but have to say i dont like the size it packs down to, very bulky, but i guess its good for the carp i never catch

There is a lake on one of my club tickets where a certain point is only a foot away from someone else’s water (close to an island.) plenty of times there has been arguements on whose it actually is.

I think it's a case of I've made the effort to get here, it's going in regardless, they wont hear anyway. I let them know I'm here with the head torch etc.

Big no no! Can’t be baiting next to someone. but depending on someone’s situation they may just do it anyway. Imagine driving an hour to bait up and someone’s in the area but not on the spot, 2hr round trip and no bait, can see why some may just wing it out anyway. other scenario is, did they even know you were there with it being dark? Seen this happen multiple times in the dead of night, someone creeps round trying to be sneaky and ends up baiting on top of someone in the next swim about 10yards away. Then someone rocks ups 2hrs later and does the same thing, still under the cover of darkness. Club water antics at their finest!

couple of rods out on a little pond I found ten mins from the hotel I’m staying at. On a week residential course for work.

I wouldn't do it if anyone was fishing 😂

You can actually fish behind the snag, I wanted to do it but didn't know how people would react if caught. But now Joe Morgan's done it on video - game on. 💪

This takes me onto another scenario lol So on that end point I noticed a bait boat come out from the bay on my left to a snag bush late at night. several trips. This happened 2 weekends running. Mass prebaiting 40 yards from someone? Discuss...

Keep taking the bait boat out for a spin you could pretend to fish spots all over the place then that would confuse them.

Have it! 🤣

I would have spodded both times and annoyed them out the zone 😂 Might have blown the secret but it would probably put them off a bit. Either that or get the marker rod out find another spot and spomb the granny out of that 😂

Yeah of course I could have gone round, didn't know at that stage how busy it would get or which were fished swims, both opposite were overgrown before the path mowing started 🤷‍♂️ When you're on a point it seems like you've got it all, in fact you've only got half way across and that doesn't feel like the one. I guess all this shows is how great late winter/early spring is coz you can do what you want and how that freedom goes come May and that barely anyone asks where you're fishing before plotting up.

Even more tricky. Was fishing from that swim an option?

It is tricky mate because in this case I'm fishing out of the norm areas/angles on a quiet lake early spring, then it gets busier. 🤷‍♂️ So the next part of this tale is a move to the bottom point, again quiet, this time I'm facing 2 swims in a bay, in front of the right swim I find a lovely spot and that's the only spot I'm finding. 2 rods on that and some spodding, following week same again and I have one, following week I wake up and someone's setting up opposite - I quickly reel in and cannot fish again - same scenario. Now this guy could have been baiting there being local, fished it the previous year or found the clearing from my baiting and capture - who knows but again no asking where I'm fishing and I had to move on/start again.

Tricky one that mate. I think if the choice was fish the spot or walk away, I'd have just fished it in front of the guy. I don't think it's fair to ask him to move, but maybe when he saw your lines were cutting the bay off, he may have decided to move himself anyway. Sure it gives the spot away, but it's better than having to walk away imo. Very frustrating. I'd fully expect him to pop round and ask where your lines were in that situation. Poor show.

First year on the syndi complex I did a night on the medium sized lake after being chucked off the big lake due to spawning. This turned my head big time. After a couple of sessions I found what I believe to be the main holding snag within a bay. With the lake quiet I took the entrance to the bay fishing directly at the snag locked up as it's the best option. The spot did 3 bites that day and I was made up thinking I'm gonna catch them all over time here. Next trip I'm obviously keen as mustard, arrived early to get the swim and quickly got a rod on the spot, I have another fish quick time - happy days! Mid morning a guy plots up within the bay itself, he sees I'm there but doesnt come and speak to me, we're 40 yards apart as the crow flies. Now he's casting near my line that's accross the bay. I'm fuming now, loads of swims available and his is a poor poor choice, you'd never choose it EVER imo obvs. I have to reel in and can't get it back out coz I'm cutting accross the bay and dont really want him seeing me recast and give the spot away. This happened again the following week and the next, so I move on, spot can't be fished from the side pegs safely. Now we talk about etiquette being lost but these are old boys they fish the same peg every week regardless. I honestly get much more respect/consideration from the young super keen lads than the oldies, they get it. Maybe I should have just shouted accross or gone round and asked him to move, I really dont know but the situation angling wise is the most frustrating I have ever experienced? What would others have done?

I have been seen up to my chest in the lake raking a swim to make it fishable, plain ordinary garden rake. I think we all go through 'the struggles' at times. I had a bad year on Nazeing on the Lagoons; I couldn't get onto fish with people in the swims as I was arriving late after work and there were full-time anglers on there as well. It made me more determined to catch. If I had not gotten a job locally I might well have stayed on there rather than fish Alton Water, but travel time put it into touch. Not nice finishing work at 11pm and then having a 2hour drive before setting up. I even struggled on this syndicate first year, not really getting a feel for the water, but I think that was the numbers of fish, or lack of, in 45acres. A 45minute drive is bearable, but it does mean that I can't spend time or a day watching and looking for fish. I even struggle doing a day's pike fishing as really hurt getting up at 6am and taking Sky for a walk before fishing. At least now I can spend a few days at the lake, and watch and walk Sky. I do tend to fish one rod over a bed of particles, one just off them and the third at another feature. Saying that, last year I did fish one on hemp around 10metres out, and the other two were on the edge of the weed where I was convinced that I had seen fish. All 3 rods produced! I've also caught fish within an hour of Spombing in a bucket of bird food, or a day later when they move in. We can be trying to compete with a lot of natural food, yet boilie only or over particles both produce at times.