All Activity

My boilies pre soaking in smart combo

I am a lot more fussy these days,with my casting close enough isnt good enough, I will take more casts to get it spot on if I need too, I'll recast onto fizzers and will recast at night if something is bothering me,I've learnt I can't relax unless it's perfect, take the other week as an example, my first take went through all my lines, just into darkness, I had to redo them all, but 3 rods went out back onto the spots perfectly in darkness and I got a take on the distance rod first light, that had taken a couple of casts but hit the clip and got the drop I needed, I know I wouldn't have slept if it wasn't bang on. After the first light bite I got 2 rods on the long spot, spombed it up and 2 hours later got a take on the extra rod I had put out there. I think a lot of the reason I don't mind spombing is because of my spod mix, washed out boilies flaked maize and pellets, some stodgy, some fresh into the mix, a good helping of lake water, smart liquid and squid brand fish sauce makes a hell of a cloud and not loads of actual big food. I have run out of smart liquid now so might sub it out cos it's stupid expensive but it has worked pretty well. and the boilies are washed out but actractively primed for them to eat,

I've had that myself. One that really sticks in my mind was on Brackens when fishing with Big Dave. I'd had a couple of fish, and had run out of my rigs, so I pinched one of his tied with a Korda Kurv. I had bleeps, but no hittable indication. I reeled in, put on a freshly tied rig with a Gardner Mugga and within minutes had another carp. I later checked his rig, and the hookpoint just was not as sharp. If anyone remembers it, it was the hook in the finger and lift the lead off the desk test. That was always my thinking on Brackens, let them push the fish onto my already positioned baits. I was always using running leads and very slack lines, so the fish wouldn't be spooked by a tight line running through the swim. This is a weird one on my current syndicate though. When I arrive I tend to put a fair bit of particle in on arrival, expecting to write the first night off on that rod. Yet within an hour of spodding I have had fish. I'm thinking the fish are constantly travelling and find the bait.

Only time I'll recast at bite time is if I know I should have had a take, but it's not happened. I love to see this personally! I make sure to have any spodding/baiting done in the early afternoon. If everyone else starts doing the same in the evening I just chuckle as the fish are pushed to the only quiet spot on the lake i.e. in front of me! It's not uncommon for me to bait up then go on a wander or chat with other members. As long as the rods are clipped up ready to go I'm happy to keep the swim free of lines for a while.

Recasting is a tough one, for a long time now I've tried to get the rods set and baited long before evening bite time - it feels like the big fish way, I wont touch them until late the following morning after bite time has finished, however if I'm getting occurances I'll check and recast at anytime. It does feel wrong watching people re-baiting and recasting late evening when they've had all afternoon to do this? I do find it very odd that on so many occasions I've reeled a cast in that was pretty much bang on, certainly good enough but something tells you to re-do it and bingo it was tangled or something not quite right - sixth sense? I think there are times I should recast definately, but probably too set in my ways, depends on the water to a degree I think. Reading other comments, at first light I really dont want to recast which is mental torture if you think you may have been done, but very unlikely to reel it in until much later, sometimes too late.

An annoying strange occurrence last night while fishing. I picked up my phone, with about 30% battery left, in a bad signal area in North Suffolk, to check the weather on MetOffice, and the phone froze as I opened the app. Despite all attempts to close it, I eventually had to attempt to restart my phone. Instead of restarting it would get to boot screen and then click off and attempt to restart continually. This continued for a couple of hours until it switched off permanently. This morning I tried to restart it again, and plugged in my powerpack to check it was not a flat battery. It started doing the reboot and restart again, so for obvious reasons I packed up and came home. Back at my flat I switched sim card to my old phone to check for missed calls, one I expected from Bruce, as I have arranged to give him a lift Friday. I had another missed call from my Dad, who said apparently I had called him around 5am this morning. Despite trying to hard reboot using the on and volume buttons, nothing, so I had to do hard factory reset and reload all my details and apps from my old phone. It does mean that I have lost pictures from the last year.

I have no problem with a first light recast, although I tend to hold back on the spod or Spomb until mid-morning unless I'm positive that I have been cleared out. Saying that, most of my casting goes out with a PVA bag, mesh or stringer, so it's play by ear. I've seen fish avoid baits for 48hours after they have been put in, even putting in washed out baits didn't work, it had to be left for 48hours. Pressured spots can be problematic! To start with on Brackens Pool I used to do my daily recast mid afternoon, topping up my 30bait stringers, before everyone else would cast in for the night with their single hookbait. I fished one swim in Car corner where I could 'sneak' bait in by hand, climbing through the brambles and tipping a bucket of Vitalin in. I cast on top of it, and left the bait in place for 2 days until it was taken by a 30lb fish. That spot directly under the tree was the 2nd rod 'standard'. The left hand rod was cast to the car, and in that 2 days produced 3 doubles. On Taverham Mills I've seen it take a week for carp to move onto a pressured spot, a gravel bar that when I first fished there would produce almost every night. Over time it got harder and harder until the fish avoided it. My daily recast now is normally around lunchtime, I reel in around 10.30 to walk Sky round the lake. If I get a night fish, it's easy enough to put it back out there, I have my 'head' map of distances and far bank markers. If anyone has seen it, it's trees given names: 'sneaky squirrel', 'Wile E Coyote', or other obvious features.

Welcome to carp.com

Phwooar nice collection.

I'm always up before first light and give the hooks a quick lick with the polishing stone, a fresh bait attached and a hopper full of fresh bait stealthily boated out to the spot. I'm a bit paranoid that I might have been cleaned out overnight and the amount of times the hooks come back with a blob of weed masking it, makes it a no-brainer for me. I don't fish particularly weedy waters but always check when I'm adding more bait. When I read about people fishing Rainbow Lake who cast out and then leaving it for 4 days, my brain doesn't compute!

So basically, syndicate anglers that see no benefit from license funds are now covering the cost of the EA checking the licenses of syndicate anglers that see no benefit from license funds!!!!! I always get my license and have zero problems with the price when I'm fishing open access waters - clubs for example. However, in the last 20 years I've fished several syndicates and none of them have benefited from any reinvested license funds. No benefit at all. £50+ then seems expensive!

They caught 3 on Bluebell Lakes without licences last week. They've also requested and been given the access codes to my current syndicate complex - which is a first according to the manager.

If what you're doing now works just start with that on any new venue. Method feeder has gotta be one of the most under used tactics today, yet it works a treat, don't fix what isn't broken as they say. Take that elsewhere I can see it being an edge! Change things when you see a problem not to follow a trend or for the sake of it and enjoy learning it's a journey (never ending). 👍

Thank you Carpbell3 I will have a look at doing that

PVA bags or stick mix would be a easy change without going mad on end tackle I'd use the stick mix PVA approach with a simple multi rig tied to a size six hook, if you are struggling, the Korda booms and loops make a great combi rig pretty much straight out the packet, plenty of hook metal you can keep the hooks prone with a cheap very fine file.

Hi all , I have been carp fishing on my local lake for a couple of years and use the method feeder . I feel it’s now time to move to other lakes and learn how to fish with rigs and actually try to become a better angler. So will be reading lots of threads and asking questions . Thank you in advance . Arms

Hybrids have been on the canals a fair bit, usually bream x roach didn't think you would get bream x carp the photo I seen was looking carpy, not a generated image as the boat yard was in the pic.

Yes.... 👍

I used to do try and avoid casting and still would mainly at first light, but if something is niggling at me that it isn't right, I will now just recast, and I'll spomb at first light too if I need too quite happily, I quite like knowing my spot is bang on and freshly primed for the morning bite time.

The last thing I'd be doing is recasting at first light as that was a predominant bite time on the lakes I fished. I'd recast in the dark with no issues, as long as I hit the clip and felt that lead down with a thump I'd be happy. Be that wind, rain or what.

As far as I am aware I don't think a Carp / Bream hybrid is actually possible. Deff get a Roach / Bream hybrid. Also with the Carp family there are so many hybrids: F1s - Crucian and Common carp Fan TaiL Crucian - Crucian and Goldfish Ghost Carp - Carp and Koi Sure there are many more too? One thing that is a real shame is I very much doubt there are any true 'wild carp' left, long lean bodies and always common carp. I think I actually caught some wildies many many years ago from a lake in surrey, now long gone tho

Not sure if twitter inspires me to get out for a few days or put you off, one poor chap is struggling with the wind, got the alarms on lowest sensitivity the wind is still being a disturbance. Rod tips in the water with heavy bobbins would fix that? think he would of been better off bringing them in myself till day light something I do on most sessions if I have a fish or a problem and a rod needs recasting I will wait till that first twilight bit so I can see how the cast went into the water, only reason I do that is, if I cast in the dark, come first light I will be more than tempted to bring that rod in for a recast.

Walk round the other side of the lake and check your margin lol bet it looks just as carpy

Definitely silvers stocked for the match angling, there are silvers in the canals near me alot of hybrids as well, sure one lad had a carp bream hybrid out the canal it was a bream but with a carp like mouth, didn't think you got carp hybrids.

Agree 100%, Done to death but makes me laugh when I read casting as close to far bank margins,,,, err they are under your feet, obviously depends on venue but seen it, done it and works too