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Just got permission from the farmer while i was looking round the lake, 80 euros for a year! he said no body has ever asked him before I am buzzing

I split my fishing between day only fishing and then the more hard core 48 hour sessions on bigger waters. The bigger waters haven't really happened this year but it seems that most people were struggling so not too despondent, especially with the 2 heatwaves we have had this year. Yesterday I went to my local days only park lake. It's a 2 rod limit and I started at 10:30 and you have be off by 21:30. I caught 22 fish including a 17, 18, 19 and 21-5. It was so stupid, I struggled to find time to eat my sandwiches! At 21:00 I sent the boat out for the last time. I had just dropped the second one and the first was away which was the 21 so I opened the bail arm on the second and left it on the pod. When I picked it up about 10 minutes later, I knew that a fish would be on! One time I was clipping on the bobbin and the line was ripped from my fingers. The previous trip I had 14 but the biggest was only a 16 and the 2 trips before that I had 8 and 9 including a 20. You could be forgiven for thinking it's massively overstocked but I don't think that's the case. I've been fishing it for about 15 years and 2 or 3 fish is a good result and my previous highest tally was 9. I've blanked more times than I care to remember and it can be a bit moody at times. The water is pretty murky and so it's difficult to gauge what is happening but it can't last forever and so it's a case of making hay while the sun shines.

I was out on Friday evening from about 6 on my local lake (old deep clay quarry) with nothing to show. It was funny listening to and watching the teenage kids in one of the posh houses opposite having a party. Once they started swimming and diving into the lake it was game over, but I kept on for another hour before reeling in. Back out again early doors 6.30am this morning. Previously bites have dried up by 9. I had 2 strange aborted takes where the bobbins pulled tight to the alarms and then stopped around 9. Once it got to 10, I though it was too late, but thought I was planning to go until lunch, so let's give it a while longer. 11AM and my right hand rod screamed off. A nice little 12lb 12oz lightly scaled mirror. That was a nice surprise for the time, but I noticed it was overcast so that may have played into it. 30 mins later and the right hand rod was off again. A 12lb 14oz zip linear this time. As I was bent over returning the fish, my left hand rod screamed into life. After releasing the fish, I went to pick up my other rod, then remembered my net was still broken down, so left it to run for a bit whilst I sorted that out. The run slowed to a stop then sped away again by the time I could get to my rod. I tightened down the clutch and pulled into it and could feel a much stronger pull back. After a 10 minute fight, I managed to get it in the net and could see it was a much bigger fish. I secured the net with a bankstick whilst I refreshed my bucket and prepared everything. A lovely long lean 25lb 4oz fully scaled mirror. It's about the size of the largest fish in the lake. I'm not sure if it's the 'big one' or if that's a common, but I'm more than happy. I returned it as soon as I had finished with everything and then sat down deciding I'd had my fill and the fishing gods had been more than generous. That and the fact I had other things to do this afternoon. Overall, even though it started out quiet, it was a really good session.

Came through the latest heat wave fine. All the koi are happy and feeding really well, it's amazing what that extra air has done. I've been upping the food this past week and the fish are loving it. We now have a prolonged period of 25-28C which is absolutely no problem so it's time to put some weight on.

I went to club lake today, was gonna stay most of day but packed up about 1pm it was too hot and no bites and no sign of fish, i got sunburnt last week and when i felt the sun starting to rake over the coals thats when i left, gonna leave the fishing till things cool down a bit

Went on my syndi Saturday evening to Monday morning, started on one side of the lake but moved Sunday morning to one of the bays opposite after seeing a few show amongst the kelp beds. Had a small common Monday morning with only the rods left to pack up, then whilst dealing with that one the right hander busted off with a better fish that I lost giving it the beans trying to stop it reaching snags. Nice to get a birthday fish 👍

i know i will get shot down for this but i am not a fan of dropping the lead every time. yes there is a cost implication here as they are not cheap but most importantly for me it cant be great leaving all these leads behind on the lake beds. Yes i know they are made of safe materials these days but every angler dropping a lead on every take just sounds overkill to me.

Damn these fish they just don't care about an angler's comfort ! . Good on you for putting Sky's needs first . 😃

I tried that last weekend, setting up in the shade of a big elm tree, and blanked. Last year I created a bivvy spot right under the willows and again, the fish seemed to avoid the area. On both occasions the fish caught were in the brightest and sunniest spots. I would say that I should have moved, but with Sky I refused as I would much rather she was comfortable as possible, and unless I tell her will lay in the sun all day and overheat.

Oh no ! , in other words I can't just plonk myself down in the nearest shady spot I've got to actually put the effort in , how disappointing . Still good guidance as well as Kev , and Golden Paws .

Well the extra air supply looks to be working. All of the fish seem happier and they're all feeding well. One is still heading to the filter return regularly but he's also socialising and eating food. I'll be keeping the extra air going in for now, especially with temps heading back up next week. I now need to get the balance of food right. Digestion uses lots of oxygen so I don't want to pile the grub in for growth until the water temps are down a little.

One from the weekend after the heatwave.

Result! I'm delighted for you. Ian.

I went to club lake early morning today, had a few mid doubles close in under an overhanging tree, and one mid water too. By 12 o'clock was far too hot so packed up but enjoyed the fishing. Just a small thing tho, my Atts remote packed up mid session, tried to replace it with a Duracell AA rechargeable battery, blooming thing is actually slightly larger than a normal one so didn't fit!!☹️ Didn't stop me having a good day tho 👍 Take care in this heat all.

Blanket weed is my only issue, or should I say was... I stopped feeding them about a week ago, it took a few days but they started feeding on it, but not enough to stop it spreading. So i ordered 15 trap door snails. They have been in 48 hrs and I can already see the pond getting clearer. Water quality is better than what comes out the tap

No, there aren't any bream in there. I've had similar occurrences on another lake that contains some large catfish and they frequently smash people up and due to bad practices by anglers, they are frequently trailing tackle including leads and you get all 3 rods register a bite but then drop off a second later.

For my late July trip to Belgium I've just bought the Nash Tarp, so we have some shade in the daytime and 2 of the Wolf Fans for the bivvies which seem to work well. I also got the Aqua Pioneer 150, to go alongside my Ultralite, justified by saying it's for my son on this trip but really it's for me in winter when you want a slightly bigger shelter for the additional stuff taken. 😂👍

Depends on how badly you want to catch ‘em lol sometimes life’s too short.

I was out Sunday early and had a good result whilst it was overcast (see July Catch Reports), but ibthink that was very much down to local conditions. The club shut all fishing as of 11pm last night die to hugh water temps and their concern over DO, so I can't fish my preferred venue. I'm not sure I would go out locally right now. Its 30 outside as I write this and forecast up to 33/34 later today and throughout the week. Just unpacking the car, getting to the swim and setting up can be very unpleasant in this weather.

Thanks very much , Kev , top tips there . From a Grey / Ginger 😁

Don't guess..... Treat it like any other session and try to find the carp. If you can't find them, I'd start on the end of the wind but be ready to move on any sighting. Imo deep water is not the one in high temps but hey.... I've seen them show up in the oddest of places at the oddest times of year! 20C+ is bad for oxygen but good for digestion/feeding.... but digestion uses lots of oxygen (lol). Swings and roundabouts mate. All you can do is find them and fish for them.

I've got a 48 hour session booked for this weekend that I paid for last year and not particularly looking forward to it. Luckily that lake that I'm going to has quite good night form and early mornings also are pretty good but then not expecting anything until the following evening. On my park lake a few days ago, I was catching a few in very shallow water. I didn't actually plumb it but the time lag between opening the hopper on the boat and the lead smacking down was minimal, I reckon it was probably on about 2 foot but it was under the far bank trees. The lake is a dammed stream and I've been catching at the top end when the effect of the oxygenated water flowing in is at it's greatest.

Happy birthday Kev.

Im still recovering from one of the worst nights fishing ever, last weekend. Getting my companions and the gear to the lake was a separate fiasco, but won't bore you with that. Rods out all quiet until I started falling asleep around 11. Beep. Beep first bin lid🙄 I was then plagued by them until about 4.30am. Despite changing spots, going out as singles. I got a few hours kip. With the odd carp cruising about, I switched to zigs at 2 /12ft, about 2/3 depth. First blip after an hr, as my son reeled in, seemingly with nothing on. As the lead became visible, a fish rolled off in the margins. All I saw was a bronzy/gold flash. Back out, 10 mins later a few beers, my son struck. Again seemed like he lost it, but kept the line tight and felt something on. As the fish broke the surface, I quickly pulled the net in to avoid the bream slime. Ive only ever had perch or carp before on zigs, so this seemed a bit weird. Recast and same again 🙄. I changed them all over to 3 1/2 ft, nothing after that as it went overcast. One to forget 😀

Sounds like worrying times. Hopefully this intense heat will soon be over and I see that a fair bit of rain is forecast for Saturday and Sunday, hopefully that should help.

Water depth and oxygen levels in relation to stress will be an issue in shallow lakes. The mostly deeper lakes on the main continent are not as likely to cause as much stress. Oxygen is not as big an issue in the depths of lakes as it is in shallow waters. Fish can fight themselves almost to death in warm water, and take ages to recover. In theory, yes. Yet every year adults as well as children die in lakes and rivers. A no swimming lake just outside Norwich, a number of deaths related to swimming in hot weather.

Thank you, baited up late last night, strange atmosphere there at night, its right next to where a young couple got shot riding a motorbike trying to flee the DDR the observation tower still stands today!

I bet you are. What a result.

Lake exclusivity is a great result, good for you We'll look forward to hearing about your campaign.

Just ignore the rules and fish it Anyway .. or is that just in England they get away with that…

Good feedback thanks gents. I get that its not difficult to change batteries but one of my alarms thread had broken and they are a bit rubbish so i could have don't with replacing them anyway. Time will tell i guess.

Oh [censored], thought they looked big

Good'n's for sure.

for me the language, but i remember the first week of the test 11 people failed out of about 50. and they were ofcourse native germans

This is that "mycamoalien" guy on Insta I believe. I think he is, or was, a bailiff on the Wraysbury waters? He's had most of the bigguns over there and did well at Wingham too. His dusted bottom baits look good but I've not tried them. The pop ups seem expensive to me but the attractor combos sound good. You'd be surprised.

And therein lies much of the problem. Big bait companies have had an advantage; if I buy a kilo of semolina it's around £1.80, if a big bait company buys a tonne of semolina it will work out at a lot less per kilo, around £920 per tonne, so £0.90 per kilo. Do the same with every bait ingredient and my homemade bait costs double the price to produce. Billy one man bait company in his garage or shed, won't be buying fishmeal, semolina, liver powder or maize by the tonne! As a result his prices will be more than a big company. The days of Bill Cottam expanding from his (parents) garage to a large industrial unit are long gone. Bait and boilies specifically is a 'busy' market, and it seems anglers don't necessarily understand it, from the bait itself, to using it, and even the difference in cost of buying it from tackle shops or direct. Nutrabaits, Mainline, Nash Baits, CC Moore and others had a recommendation on food baits, and a recommendation on attractor baits (originally shelf lifes). Feed the food bait, continuously, prebait, and the carp will accept it and take it comfortably. Good results will follow. Attractor baits, use as that, don't fire in loads, maybe a few freebies around the hookbait, use the few to attract the carp to try the hookbait. Then along came the published 'Korda' method, (used earlier but Danny Fairbrass did well writing about it), put in plenty of pellets, and spod mix and get the carp feeding on that. At the same time we had the mega high attract hookbait, the single pop-up that got a take, or not. Fishing moves on and backwards, now we are using high attract baits, maybe with added hydrolysates, liquid glugs over spod mix in the hope that the fish pick it up first. The food bait is 'gone' for various reasons, cost of ingredients rising, becoming harder or impossible to get hold of and even big bait companies changing direction or disappearing. Lots of little bait companies pop-up, disappoint or disappear. They are able to charge silly money for baits because fewer anglers have loyalty to a company anymore.

Never heard of them! Not being funny, but 'getting good press'; advertising now is more dissipated as social media takes over. I used to be very up with knowing bait companies, but when even long time companies are falling by the wayside. I keep making this point, if you have a cake of 30centimetres across, with 5 companies taking a piece, each has a decent slice. Now the same cake with 10 companies taking a piece, the slice is smaller. That is what is happening to the tackle and bait trade.

Hello Everyone . I hate this hot weather , but if I did try and go fishing , hiding in a shady spot would it be worth all the effort ? . The water temperature readings I have been getting are in the 20's C . So I'm guessing go for deep , but how deep ? , water ; aerated , and try to avoid the bright sun ? . What are people doing please ? . 😃

Linkin Park are one of my favourite bands and I've got tickets to see a tribute band in a few weeks. After the lead singer Chester took his own life, you start to appreciate that most of what he wrote was one long suicide note!

I love the look of this Firm one

What size do you think these mirrors are? I got close to them and they look blooming fat and deep. if you look close i am on the hill to the left for size comparison,

Action stations at home. The last few days 2 of the koi have started sitting high up in the water in the flow of the filter return. No probs I thought, it's just because they like the flow of the water over their gills. Then a couple of days ago those 2 fish stopped eating. I've checked pH, nitrites, ammonia, phosphates..... all fine. Then last night a few of the others started sitting in the flow of the return. They're still eating ok but I'm obviously getting worried. I already have two air pumps feeding several air supply systems but they're all in the filter. This means the freshly oxygenated water is all coming out of that filter return and it's looking like the koi are desperate for it. None of the fish are gasping at the surface but they're opening/closing their mouths quicker than they normally do. Not yet gulping, but it looks like it could be on the way. Obviously the heatwave has elevated water temps considerably so it's becoming clear I need more oxygen as soon as possible. I'm picking up a new air pump later with a new air stone... both the biggest I can get. On paper there's loads of oxygen going in already but it's a big old pond with big old fish. Hopefully the new air line will sort it.

excellent hope you get a few out

30 day battery life isn’t bad tbh. Assuming you did 4 full 24hrs a month you’d only recharge a few times a year. For me though carrying a spare battery or two is easier than having to recharge an alarm on the bank if you forget to recharge at home. Or it drains quicker than expected or something.

I was very interested in Rod Hutchinson's writings on flavours, and his Ultraspice and Megaspice regularly appeared (along with Chocolate Malt) and someone else mentioned Garlic oil as an attractor so I combined the spice flavours with a Garlic and soya bean oil used in bird feeds as it was supposedly an appetite stimulant. It was not for allicin, but simply because they were good attractors in their own right and work well combined. The additional benefits regarding digestion and health were a beneficial 'side effect'.

Sorry about the typo, its actually about 3000 ltrs. Water quality is improved since using a stone/media bio filter for a few days. I dont need to clean sludge off any more, so feel im on the right track Planning on just under 11000 ltrs for the new pond. Im hoping to use the existing pond as a kind of bog pond with a small stream feeding into the new one, with catch pool to a skimmer run off. Might take a while, but it's captured my attention from the rat race grind