All Activity

Rats get immune to poison, and learn to avoid traps, and as you say with traps you have to be careful with where they are put in position. I think that that is possibly because of patrol route? I'm not 100% sure, but they use their patrol route as the base as it were, then when finding or sniffing food expand from there.

My staffy would probably run away from a rat 🤣

On the couple of waters I fish most often, the bailiff's come round most days to check the rat boxes for poison but I think they have learned to avoid them. They are probably better off with traps but you have to be careful where you put them. Shooting is another option as they are getting bolder but obviously comes with risks and has to be on private ground.

My spaniels seem to mark the perimeter of the swim and I think that deters most, they deffo will not come in the bivvy. Whilst dogless I had one eat through the side of the ridgemonkey porch - with an open front (dumb creature), thankfully it was the only bivvy I've ever hated so not bothered! It has to be the amount of bait and food about on day tickets. 👎

For years there were no problems at Taverham, then more anglers started fishing it when Anglian Water took it on and litter started becoming a problem. Klaus bought a brand new bivvy and rats chewed their way in through the groundsheet and into his bait and food bags. He found a chewed pack of bacon dragged outside the bivvy. We get a few rats on the syndicate now, not many, and as you can see, they don't cause me any problems, thanks to Sky. How she can wait patiently on the lead until they get close enough to her to attack them amazes me, she's normally head down and charge.

Easy mat is a good choice and it’s quite light

Drennan twin tip, my mates got 2 of these - look mint 👍

I bought a new dog because of rats at fishing, having them climbing up my spod rod in the doorway and running all over the bivvy was the final straw at Bluebell lakes. I'd never experienced that level of rat infestation there before because of my previous dog largely keeping them away. I keep all bait in buckets outside the bivvy. They've damaged cars there eating wires and getting into the vehicle for food/bait. Not seen one on my syndi in 3 years!

Here it is packed away, comes with a bag too Great design and not too bulky to carry around

So to start the thread I mentioned the steak, so here is the real deal. And that is a Fishing Dinner: Rare rump steak with mushrooms, sliced green beans and sliced fried potato, a dash of mixed herbs and a crushed clove of garlic.

This was the other bundle I retrieved. I think that I pulled that lot in with my marker float and lead from memory. A few Korda leads in there, inline and lead clip. This is where I think people had been fishing to the spot and getting right under or going through it to the bank. The only safe ways I could think of fishing it was with tight line and being on the rod, or being in the corner swim and keeping the rod down under the snag branches, allowing fish to run out and away. Personally I stuck with fishing to it with the tight line and using the arc to get fish away from it.

Some of the rigs people throw out are shocking tbh.

Why not just use a bucket? they've never breached my ridgemonkey yet. I never leave my bait in the bivvy either. And always close my food bag, then I throw boilies in other people's bivvies works a treat 😂

At least they paid £2 for a premium lead though.

Agreed. I'd not even noticed the swivel on the leader on until you mentioned it! Absolutely shocking set-up.

Had two 2.5l lockable sandwich boxes delivered yesterday which should keep them at bay. I fish several different waters over the course of the season and I'm sure they're getting bolder on all of them!

To be honest complete numpty error. When I retrieved that I was disgusted, and did give it to one of the bailiffs when he came round. The lead clip wasn't locked onto the hooklink swivel, you can see the gap. It had been forced onto the leader (I think a TFG one), and a swivel attached to the mainline end. Looking at the tail rubber, it was a Solar Soft rubber. From that same spot on another occasion I retrieved a bundle of around 6 leads and rigs, some still with bait and plastic hookbaits on. I'll have to see if I can find that pic! I've retrieved helicopter setups with rigs still attached, on leadcore and leadfree. Strangely very few on naked mainline.

Tail rubber jammed on. User error imo.

I think we all forget that accidents do happen. I have seen the springback from snapped line, and yes it most definitely happens; that bundle of birds nest that tangles up around the rod tip after a snap-off, a bite-off from a pike. No matter what, we do all lose rigs, with or without the lead. Obviously we do the absolute best to reduce that risk, albeit in different ways due to our beliefs. I don't believe in using a leader, unless mega distance casting with big leads. If it is weedy, snaggy then I personally think go without the leader, and accept I can't cast as far. I have tested lines and leaders, wet and dry, pulled for a break, and it nearly always breaks at the line join, the knot, or a fraction above it where it has been tightened down. The exception is if there is damaged line above it, where it breaks at the damage. Run rings give me the thought that a larger bore, hole through the middle, will go over that birdsnest that @kevtaylor mentions, unless the break includes and goes over run ring. I now come to @yonny 's point, a run ring and running lead is only truly a running lead when it is fished with a slack line, minimal tension, the line touching the bottom of each rod ring, dropping straight down from the rod tip, no tension on the indicator. When it is fished with a tight line it becomes 'semi-fixed', or a bolt rig. Preventing the fish having line, as in the same as snag fishing, forcing the fish to arc on the take can be done with a run ring and tight line, locked up rods and reels. In weed I'm positive that lead clips can jam up, and not release the lead. Aside from some numpty attaching the leader with a swivel, I retrieved this from a snag. The lead most definitely had not released. I do not know whether they had cut off the mainline or pulled for a break but the line did reach roughly from the swim to the snag where I managed to catch up on it and retrieve it with 15lb mainline. I've fished in weedy waters, Suffolk Water Park, Taverham Mills even areas of Nazeing Lagoons, and again with testing and experiments I found a Zipp shaped inline lead catches up less weed than a pendant setup, whether a run ring or lead clip. It colours my thoughts on why I don't like lead clips in weed, and do switch back to inlines, which can be fished to drop off.

Worth having a look at the Rat Bag - it's an air-drying bag made from light chainmail with a velcro opening. Completely rodent proof. They used to be sold by a small independent company in 2 sizes - I got both and they're absolutely brilliant. A little while back OMC bought the firm out and started selling them as an OMC branded product. I'm not sure if OMC still do them (can't see them on the website) but there's certainly still stock available online if you Google 'OMC Rat Bag'.

I must confess I do keep my bait in buckets, not just for rats but to keep them away from Sky. She does however act as a good rat deterrent:

Went for the FOX Easy Mat in the end !

I’m sorted, found a Nash Pod bag

I’ve just listed my ATTs for sale on eBay with deluxe receiver as I’ve decided I don’t need a receiver for my day sessions. Ive ordered the Fox Mini Micron with LED changeable colours as a simple yet low cost alarm less than £50 for two ! The ATTs were / are amazing but I can’t justify keeping them now.

An example of what happens when you leave your boilies inside your bivvy, a visit from Rattus Norvegicus! I seen the thing quite a few times during the day and so deliberately brought the bag inside my bivvy as I thought it wouldn't come in. I'll be storing them in some strong tupperware boxes from now on!