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Yes mate I tried to get a couple by balancing my phone on a bucket and shouting "cheese" not sure if it's my southern accent but it didn't pick it up every time I said it 😂 Here it is Not the best shot but it will do 👌

Got down the syndi late weds again couldn't get in the swim I wanted but he was going the next day so I plotted up on the other side with a mind to moving in once he'd gone. I chucked 2 singles out and crashed out. Midnight the usual fish crashing out just outside the main snags in my bay, they were off on the feed somewhere! No more activity near me from then onwards and nothing in front of the swim I'm wanting, a change of plan. By mid morning I'm packed away and have my bucket in a swim down the other end. I walk the dog along the river looking for perch spots for my drop shotting and find some nice chubb. Walking past another lake one launches out in the middle and I go for a look from a central point, lots of fizzing going on close around this point so the plan changes there and then, I go get the car and barrow round to save the swim. After a quick lead around I chose underarm range for all 3 and catapulted 1.5k of boilies around the area. After lunch a few hours perching on the river but frustration as I only found one and he spat the hook 3 times! Also a nibble from one of two good chubb but I was too slow aaagh! Back to the lake and I get the rods out for early evening and soon after one crashes right over the right rod - I think I'm hauling tonight and have early dinner - in bed for 9 expecting action. 12pm the left rod signals, I run out and strike at a liner, great, de-weed the line and cast it back out. Dawn comes and goes, very little going on just a couple crashing in a margin far away and I think I've totally overdone the bait - I start making the last tea. The right rod is away at 10am just after I saw the first patches of fizz over the area. It quickly weeds up so I put the waders on and go out to meet it, the weed starts coming and the fish is right on top 3 yards behind, I snook the net under him and it was game over. My prize a 25+ Old Nene Valley Common, most likely from the river originally Chuffed with that, one from each lake now- onto the river!

Nice common just bouncing over 22lb 8oz 👍 had a nice little mirror before hand probably low double 👍

My first trip since March went well, Seven fish biggest being 19lb 8oz.

New bite alarm..... runs on maggots in stead of batteries... tweets when you get a bite...

Just joined the 30lber club 😆 31lb 8oz Also had one just under 13lb and lost one. So happy I went today 👍

I've started with PVA solid bags with mixed carp pellets and crushed boilies, inside I'm putting in a hair rigged 15mm popup hookbait - on a very short (3cm - 5cm) 20lb coated braid hooklink, an inline lead size-appropriate for the water, connected to 15lb sensor mainline. Trapped a couple, 8 and 9quid respectively, the biggest in this tiny water is 11lb so it's not too bad! I'm off work all next week so spending this weekend assessing venues to target some bigger fish 😉

All delivered and paired up with the receiver

Morning has broken Caught another one off the spot and a couple of snotty tench last night, getting bigger, 24lb common fought like a maniac too and weirdly it seemed to happen at the right time, I had just woken up and had a tiddle, just standing by my rods thinking why haven't they gone off yet then boom it was away, I was on it before the attx had even sounded and quite a pleasant looking one as well, hanging it out down here for as long as I dare but we are going out today, I'm treating tonight as the last night as we have to leave quite early Saturday, come on le bigguns, I've loved having a lake to myself though, gonna miss it, Better start bringing them in I spose 😢

What I can only describe as a weird session, got up at 4.30 to get down the syndicate lake for first light loaded the car and ready - can't find the car keys, spent ages faffing about before I'm finally on the road. Halfway there road closure - this is going well!!! I get there for 6.30 walk round someones in the swim I wanted and his mat is wet. Walk round the lake then go walk round the big lake. Another lap of the target lake he's had another - I'm kicking myself for not getting there the night before maybe beating him to it. I identify 3 other areas where I see bubbling - and I'm reasonably happy to come back later and have a go. I decide to proceed with plan A back to the car for food then a few hours drop-shotting on the river. Food done I get the rod and net - no lure bag GREAT, now I don't know what I'm doing and within minutes I'm driving out the gates and heading home in a huff. The long track gives me time to re-think, I drive to Bluebell for a walk round and gather my thoughts. Walking past the last lake I see lots of bubbling in a corner- there and then I decide to buy a ticket and fish for them. 2 rods out with the baiting pole nice and quiet and by mid afternoon I'm having a sleep - rudely awoken by a take from the pads at 4pm - a ghosty looking 23lb and ounces common. Surprisingly nothing through the night although they were showing a little further down the lake like crazy. Waking up at dawn I moved the right rod from the marginal tree to areas of fizzing and within 20 mins its away - feels good but unfortunately fell off after a minute or so - gutted. I got the rod back out but it was quickly evident that the activity was firmly over and the rods came back in. Back home after one night - happy to have caught felt jinxed from the off. Back on the syndi weds night to Friday so I hope to have my time then - fingers crossed.

Off the mark with a 16lb 8oz common 👌 Really need to get into doing selfies 😂

I'm out again this weekend for another 24hrs, I'm going to be trying a different club lake Well it's a Reservoir 20 to 25 ft deep a different challenge all together, my usual lake has got a charity carp match on it which Highy is fishing and good luck to him, So I thought I would give somewhere else a go, I have pike fished it and once for the carp with nothing. But it will make a nice change. Here are a couple of pictures.

All alone with the wind hacking into my face. Come on monster carp!

Lil update a blank night Sunday, Monday night I had a mat shot common about mid double off my new margin spot and got done by one also, first night I've managed to get 3 rods out tonight, I seem to have had some issues last couple of nights😀 but I've baited the margin spot for a couple of days now so plenty of time for them to find it,last night I started of with a tench on my roving rod, I then had to wait till midnight or so when I got a screamer that pulled the rod off the alarm, I bent into it and then more or less straight away the hook pulled, reeled it in and it was bent a lot straighter 😢(size 4 wide gape) then I finally fell asleep, when my margin rod burst into life, strong battle from a 16lb mirror which really upset a duck in the margins, and a meaty tench off the margin rod this morning brings me up to date for now, dumped quite a lot of bait in the margin spot and will rest it for the day now, 2 nights left I want a bigger one

Already appeared in rod shots, but here it is anyway, a nice, clean 16lb common.

Well I've taken the plunge and renewed my rod licence. Sorted my gear out this afternoon and I'm going for a 24hr session tomorrow and im absolutely buzzing, i have not been since March I'd just lost all my enthusiasm but its back and I can't wait. 😁👍🎣

It got rather nippy last night, but I managed one. Perfect alarm clock really! went 16lb, happy with that.

An hour doing my favourite approach, no fish but always worth a go.

Found the carp on my 90 acre reservoir... Up in the no fishing area, they were sat in front the bird hide box thing. I managed to stick my phone out and get a few photos 😆 There was a common further out, probably one of the biggest fish I've personally seen in front of me, it was so wide, the scales on it were huge as well. I would like to say it was over 30! Anyway that was a enough for me I've been sorting my kit out and heading back up there today for a night session 😆

Rods are out 👍 the wind is savage, big northerly with gusts of 40mph. I can't get my rods out properly so just put out 2 singles for now. Hopefully spod some bait out later when it dies down a bit 😂 anyway I'm here, set up in my favourite swim so it's all good 😆

I know what you mean. Stick with your go to set up, don't change anything. It's been 3 years since I caught a decent fish. I've tried all sorts of different methods on a huge water. This year I went to a small venue with the missus and kids, ended up fishing a stiff fluro rig that smashed my original syndicate, due to nce clean bottom. It worked, so I used that rig at my syndicate reservoir. 1st carp out, is a new pb 35lbs. Followed by a nice little common, 22lb, I wish I could get a 30+ common! But always seem to get mirrors?? Hard earned, but regret not using my best rig from the start. Got the bug again, but family life is very restrictive at the moment. Social meeting there tomorrow evening. I live in hope to get bankside in the next few weeks, this is my favourite time of year to be out🥺

Park Lake for a few hours....

Kites are beautiful birds for sure - the colours and the forked tail and a full adult is bloomin big with those wings fully extended - wow This weekend i was so lucky to see an owl fly past really close and in the last hour of light so I got a great view, obvs no pics. I'd like to get a good deer shot - they are all around the lake, one came out from the poke hole I was fishing earlier that day, prob there whilst I was and I had no idea. This place is something else tbh - so many swans, geese, ducks, herons, white crane things etc etc too many bird types it's unreal even a tiny tiny bird in the reeds by the river. Newts, frogs - toads and crickets in the bivvy (standard). It is a nature reserve and should defo be protected if not already. This is a stinky winky screen print off my Instagram of my best fishing pic ever - I had this young kingfisher on my rods for 10 mins practicing picking stuff up out the water- insects, twigs, pebbles it was a great sight and I had my decent camera there and ready. One in a million I guess. In the full shots you can see the slack lines brilliantly too

Try again - Saturday night blah blah blah

Thanks mate yeah they all look tiny when doing a mat shot 😆 I've got a dslr at home, no idea how to use it though 😂 Had a 24lb 10oz common a few hours ago, started raining heavy, hooked into the fish and then lightning started cracking over the reservoir. Safe to say the rod didn't go back out until the storm passed lol.

Park Lake again for a few hours.....abit of Swim hopping....

Last one, if you have made it this far well done, It wasn't the 40lber I was hoping for but it didn't half have a go, took out my other line and really went for it, I didn't weigh it but we all know it wasn't a pb In conclusion Maybe I felt it should be an easier prospect than it was, I'm not convinced I fished well enough all week and the fishing was only part of the holiday, we had a nice enough time did loads of swimming had some nice grub, went to a zoo and a market where they also sold live chickens and stuff, and one of my daughters learned to swim that was the highlight for me, Friday before we left me and the girls walked the dog in the woods and accidently kicked a wasps nest, we all got stung, the girls a few times and the dog, I got one on the neck but when she got bitten by some fly in the pool it made her not want to be near the pool or outside because of the bugs, hopefully that will be a phase and we can crack it next time, but she did some super brave jumping in the pool one day so that was progress, I also used pork mince and chorizo to make a bolognese was delicious 😉 Had a great time,really the lake was lovely, the fish loved to leap out the water, was maybe too hot most of the week high 20s didn't help, but that's just an excuse I caught my first French carps and found the driving not too bad, the tunnel was fine, and the most stress free holiday abroad I've ever had with kids, I will do more French fishing now If I can, I loved it, I didn't enjoy the being back in England bit so much roadworks straight away busy roads and expensive fuel (the French goverment have just subsidised 30 cents off a litre of fuel) I liked France, can't wait to return, A Beintot

Took Tj fishing yesterday, he wanted to go back to where we went the first time . My old lady picked us up after work but it cost me £35 in a taxi to get there ffs 🤦🏼‍♂️ Very quiet initially, not much going on , not a lot coming out all round the lake , and as a result Tj’s concentration level began to waver somewhat and he started getting a bit restless. Hooking into 3 little carp and having em falll off didn’t help , his Autism makes him very over-emotional , tears etc but somehow he stuck at it . I changed the rig on the Whip , explaining to him that the hook was blunt and may explain the losses , about altering the depth regularly to find where the fish are etc . He seems unable to leave the rig in one position for more than 3 or 4 minutes and ‘casts’ on a regular basis ( resulting in tangles etc which we all go through I spose) but as soon as he caught his first little Roach his interest rekindled . He said he wanted a ‘monster’ like last time 🤣

I'll do the odd social through the year but I want to fish alone - having someone there holds you back and clouds your judgement, worrying about if they will catch and staying together when you just know you have to do something else or be somewhere else is too frustrating for me. Predator fishing a different story it's just a fun day out, carping in the main is completely different I'm in hunting mode when on the hard pits.

Just hit the buy button on a new set of Delkims and receiver, staying with red, green and white to match my Titanium heads . One way of spending my first month's wages after the necessities are taken care of.

Doing stupid long hours in work so treated myself to a infill panel for the Tempest £66

28lb 3oz Common, also had a smaller one about 5lb.

A few hours this morning (on the right lake this time!) had a few 3-4lb bream and a nice low double to break the duck

Yes I know they are skew wiff 😂 I don't know where today has gone I've only just finished getting them out, i think I'm having one of those days, all on spots with a drop though its been hard work and my x spodding was all over the shop on the right hand rod, gave up and pulted out the bait for the other 2 😂 Saw a fish leap where my middle rod has since gone and a bit of fizzing, so I'm not completely guessing, happy days

I will have to get some ordered. I'm off on a session tomorrow and I've got 3 options, cheap gas stove with the cheap canisters you insert, Coleman petrol stove (hate using it now, the smell of petrol gets everywhere) or just don't bother with cooked food. I reckon I could do a couple nights on sandwiches and crisps etc 😆😂 Anyway just sorting my stuff out before I load the car, thought I'd air the bed out and someone has taken a shine to it 😂

Well, it has been some time since I caught a carp! Summer drought conditions since mid-June and fishing has been a struggle. Very early morning sessions I managed a few barbel, mostly small. But I did have a couple of decent barbel just before the canicule heat spoiled my chances.... The weed growth did continue during the heatwave - both in the river and along the river banks. Long stretches covering my favourite swims solid with Japanese Knotweed making them unreachable! I lost three big carp over a couple of sessions due to the river weed. It made me rethink my hook-length and leader materials. Having made a few changes I tried again, my next mistake was telling my friend where I was fishing. He of course caught a 31 lb carp and a nice barbel - I blanked! But a few days later I noted some fresh flow in my local stretch, first for months. No idea where that came from! But I had a good idea where I might get a carp, unfortunately my friend came with me! This time I was determined to catch "MY" fish! had a couple of good knocks on the rod tip about 15 minutes after casting to my favourite tiny "hot-spot" where two currents converge over a slight depression. A little while later this great fish took off towards the opposite bank. A tremendous fight ensued, where the carp headed for every snag from boulders to sunken trees. My change of trace/leader material did its job and I got the carp to the net at the third attempt. Weighed over the water in the net, wet net deducted, gave a weight of 38.5 lbs. I had lost a couple from this swim in previous years so it was a great relief to finally get it right. Between the two of us we put the net across my thighs to protect the fish during the "trophy shot" moment. No time wasted the fish was back in the river and after a little rest it was away from the net. My tackle changes were not rocket science. I had to give up with mono, fluoro and uncoated braid and tried ESP tungsten loaded semi-stiff braid. Despite that fish going through the usual snags there was just one small area of coating damaged, the interior braid was still intact. That and changing my lead clip to a Korum type, it did its job and slipped the lead on the take. Oh, my fishing buddy blanked this time! 😂

all set up for an overnighter tonight on zombie sheep lake 👍

A lot of it is water dependent but on the water I fish: Location is always the most important bit but in winter more so as they're far more tricky to find. As we head into Autumn and temps drop they'll stop showing in the day and start showing at night, this is normally near where they'll end up for winter. Areas near (not in) the deepest water and central areas are worth keeping an eye on. Do a couple of nights when the temps start to drop and you should see/hear them if you're prepared to stay up late (very late in some cases). As soon as you think you know where they'll end up start putting a bit of bait in. Don't leave it too late as once they shut up shop for winter there's no getting them going again unless you get some seriously good conditions. If you can get the bait in before they shut up shop you can keep them going right through winter with consistent light baiting. Tactics/rigs etc are not that important imo, just don't go crazy with bait. The important bit is being on them and keeping them going with a little bait in the right area. Don't ignore zigs. Even if you keep them going with bait they'll likely only feed for an hour a day so zigs can increase your chances, especially during the day, significantly. For clothing, the Snugpak stuff was a massive game changer for me. SJ6 or SJ9 jacket and Sleeka salopettes are the ones. It's like wearing a sleeping bag, you can get away with just a T-shirt underneath. That Quantum winter suit is no good, it'll protect you from the wind but that's about it. DO NOT skimp on the clothing, spend proper money on proper gear (most fishing branded stuff is not what I consider to be proper winter gear). A decent sleeping bag is obviously a must of you do decide to do nights. Take plenty of tea. Enjoy yourself.

They are just as easy to find in my experience on big lakes. Don't get me wrong, they look daunting but after a walk around it soon becomes just another lake.

Bonjour I thought I would do a little write up on my week in france, we went to Bois de Printemps, we left home at 5:30am and arrived there at about 6pm local time, it was tricky to find and sat nav struggled so we called the owner dave who sent us a pin and we finally found it, got there and needed to get the the supermarket before it shut at 7pm, the owners wife Doreen quickly took my wife to the supermarket while we got our stuff to the Gite, twas a lovely place tbh, the Gite was nice, with a pool and a balcony view of the lake, didn't take enough photos tbh and I quite regret that, we saw birds of prey, coypu, kingfishers, woodpeckers and it was also next to a racehorse stable so there were some lovely horses running about all day, I generally only fished the fished the nights and stretched it a bit a few times, but ultimately it was a family holiday so I tried my best to juggle all the balls, the kids didn't seem to be that interested in the fishing but my wife did catch a tench, Good wise we went self catering and had some nice cheese and baguette type lunches, pastries and lovely food, we ate out twice in 2 places both lovely tbh, this burger is now in my top 3 greatest burgers, alongside the Pablo escoburger and the one I had with deep fried peanut butter in it, And the dessert wasn't bad either The other time we dined out I had steak and chips and a peach melba for pudding, that was also lovely, I've run out of photo space in this post so will do part 2 below once I've done the camera photos

Got off the mark early on Sunday morning when I caught this one and a tench in a couple of hours, might have lulled me into overconfidence tbh I went on to blank Sunday night, Monday night I caught this common about 16lb that I only did a mat shot of (I always seem to regret mat shots) it had fought like a train and I also lost one to a hook pull (the hook was straightened out a bit) Up til then I had been having a few issues using the actor and I gave up on my deeper as it kept losing signal well within range (technology can help but it can also be a PITA) and I was getting the rigs chewed up by the propellers and or other issues so I hadn't been able to keep 3 rods going at once, but I found a little gap in the trees to the left of my swim so I chucked out a marker float and baited it probably too heavily for a couple of days and just fished it at night using the bait boat to send out the rig and some bait on top, I caught a few fish off it that week, mainly tench but the mat shot common was the first, in hindsight it wasn't a bad spot but I shouldn't have put most of the energy into it, Part 3 coming up 👍

Good morning all, the cars all packed ready for a 24hr sesh on zombie sheep lake. Not been there in over a month and I’m absolutely itching to get going! It feels like June 16th all over again. The heats dropped, it’s breezy and cool here, let’s hope the carp feed their nuts off and I can snare a few.

Get 'em cancelled and get a set of purples!! 👾💜🔮, mine just arrived look how carpy these beauties are 😉 The purple is slightly deeper to the naked eye actually - compared to on the camera. I'd have probably gone stereotypical red white blue if I was getting a 3 set in all honesty. Either way, definitely smart picking up Delks now if you're in the market, no telling when they will do another sale, could be in 10 years time.

Long lean little common Little linear, lovely looking fish I think 👌 Also cracked off my spomb. Only one I had, gutted 😂

Popped down the Syndicate lake for the day on Saturday. Fancied a spot of float fishing with some Corn and got what I was after , a few Roach here a few Rudd there but I couldn’t resist sticking a Shellfish B5 20 miller beneath the float for the last couple of hours . here’s one of em … ugly blighter 🤣

Sonik Vader X 2 Rod Pod 2x Sonik Stanz Banksticks (not split stick or Camz, just plain) Sonik Vader X 3rd Alarm n matching Gizmo Bobbin (Yellow) for mi Lad (when he comes) 2kg Hemp 2kg Maize 4kg 12mm Manilla 1 Bottle Cell liquid Syrup Should be enough for this weekend Charity Carp Match (Brain Tumor Society)

I think I must be on Tuesday by now , they seem to all get a little blurred,I think this night I managed another 16lber a mirror this time, and from the margin spot again , It wasn't Monday I lost one to a hook pull it was pre this one and from the end of the island spot , the night before i had got a finicky bite which left me in a snag 20yds from the original spot, I had to get dave out in the boat the next morning to retrieve it ( I also noted to not wear my Peppa Pig shorts anymore that week Next we got onto Wednesday and I thought I may have cracked it but there were thunder and lightning storms for a few hours, twas my middle rod that ripped off this time and gave me one hell of a scrap before i managed to tame the beast that turned into this 24lb common , I had been convinced it was bigger at the time but i reweighed it make sure and even used a tripod for the first time ( I thought it was a pretty good thing btw) my video light ran out of batteries and I stupidly thought the ridgemonkey rested on a bucket would work wasnt my finest camera work so you can see 2 bad pics in the hope it makes one good one I did catch quite a few tench during the week but they quickly became an inconvenience even though some were quite big, then we move onto Big Fish Thursday lol, now i had convinced myself it was going to happen by this time, all three rods were bob on all boated out perfectly and all had a wider spread of bait to pull them in, I had pulted quite a lot around the boat in all directions on 2 of them and kept the margin lightly baited as i felt i may have overdone it, and just thought it was going to happen, just got settled into bed and I couldn't sleep for a bit and it was time for more thunder and lighting this went on for quite a while and nothing seemed to happen as that was to be my last night I did a very slow pack down caught a tench off the margin spot put it back got the misses out to have a fish thinking that might buy me more time which it did, and then finally went off for the last time about 11am TBC ..........