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I think he explains quite clearly in the video something that I've said on here before - that being that carp that don't know they're being fished for are infinitely easier to catch. If that means setting up a 2 or 3 second dash away from the jetty I'd have no problem with it. It's not like he's fishing snags - he's fishing open water. Yes there is weed about but at worst that means he'll lose the fish. It's not like he'll tether it. For me it is safe angling and that is ultimately what counts. I thought it was another brilliant vid from ESP. "For those 2/3 hours at dawn I'm a millionaire". So true.😃

I'm not doubting the fact that he is one of the greatest anglers of our generation Yonny. But whats the difference between this example and fishing whilst asleep and not getting to your rods on time?? The end result is the same.... you've allowed a fish to get to a snag with your inability to get to your rod. No different in my mind to him nattering away in the next swim to a mate. All I am saying is he should have been sitting closer to his rods. It's not as if it was hissing it down with rain, blowing a gale or 5 degrees below zero where he needed the warmth of a bivvy is it??? If that had happened to a mate of mine, I'd have called him all the names under the sun!!

Bowler is one of the greatest anglers of our generation. He knows what he's doing and I'm not going to question his methods.

Do you think he'd of gotten the take in the first place if he'd of been parked up on top of his rods. It's easy to see flaws in anybodies fishing but Martin Bowler has been angling for a long time and knows what he's doing.

Fantastic week away guys 😎 ... with great friends. Lake was absolutely stunning as was the surrounding country side . Epic 20 hr drive on the way there in 40 degrees heat , we were in convoy & the lead car decided on a site seeing trip around Paris at rush hour 😂 . Was 8th out the draw so peg choice was limited for me , but opted for the far end of the lake where the river came in. first half of the week was tough going with temps not dropping below 38 . Didn't manage anything of any reel size lost four bigguns in the lillies. Landed a good number of 20lb + fish with this common bring my best catch of the week .

If you look at the aerial view of his jetty and the one next to it early into the video, you can see just how far away his bivvy is from his rods, and it is by anybody’s standards a long trot. I know many fisheries that wouldn’t even tolerate somebody fishing that far from their rods. If in open water, and no weed etc, then it’s nearly always not a problem but, knowing how weedy the place is, I was a bit surprised at seeing him fishing this way. All anglers, even great ones get it wrong sometimes, it could be argued that he was making the best of what was on offer, which was a long narrow jetty, protruding a fair way into the lake, with a small platform at the end for playing a fish. Those sort of swims are marked as “Day only” on many waters, and rightly so some might say. Imagine taking him as a guest on your syndicate, and he set up in the same scenario as the video, would you feel comfortable with it? I wouldn’t. He and a few others are privileged to be able to fish the lake, often alone apart from the film crew, why not fish from a better vantage point, as there are other swims on there more suitable for nights? He’s a great angler but, not above criticism surely?

I agree with virtually all the above statements tbf. His net could of been on the boat next to the jetty,he could of sat on the jetty he was fishing 40/50 yards away so was hardly going to spook em. If his window of bite time was 2-3hrs then in my opinion sitting on your rods would of been a better option probably would of looked more “carpy” if he was making a brew 😆😆 But I also think Martin Bowler is probably the best all rounder in the game at the min,so I’d like to think he just fished the way he thought best...... be that for the camera or not.

I'm not saying he should have been on top of his rods. But if it had been me, on a nice morning like that, I'd have been sitting in a chair and the bank end of the jetty watching the water rather than sitting in my bivvy 50 yards away.....

But does anybody else think that if he'd been "on" his rods, he wouldn't have got smashed in the weed???????

Atomic jelewyre. For me no other costed braid will beat it.

it was thru watching Jules that i got into the habit of using two colours, then you know that both pieces have come off

That’s how I do mine,Julian Cundiff style 😉😬

hey Davey(with a lot of Y's) my better half is a product tester and we get shed loads of nuggets, i have used them for donks but what i do is cut them down the middle and use them to slow my hook descent down so it trails behind the lead without wrapping, helps with the hook lay too. they pop up to the surface within seconds so i have no worries about them masking the point either. one word of warning tho, some DO seem to take an age to melt, particularly the coloured ones so take a sample from a batch and do a tank test then stick to the ones that work best for you

Thanks mate I was pretty much sure they was the same thing but wasnt 100 % hence this thread

I must have been watching it wrong then Yonny. Looked to me like he was late to the rod and it snagged him up.....

I would of fished exactly the same, boards and jetties are inherently noisy at either end, plus leaving the net at the end of such a narrow platform in my opinion would be a trip hazard, especially when wet. There was no real difference in time running with the net or not, it's just silly that his methods are called into question when you don't really understand his thinking or his reasoning.

I think we must be watching a different video geez. He doesn't let the fish get to a snag. The fish weeds him up half way through the fight. This is what happens on weedy waters. It happens to me all the time. Usually you can get them out. Sometimes you can't. Part and parcel of fishing proper carp waters imo.

If he’d been closer to his rods, he would have had a better chance against the weed for sure, so, is it school boy error or, the way the jetty was built? If he’d been sitting in the next swim when the take occured, he would have been slated, yet the distance was about the same? I personally think, if you are going to build these platforms projecting into the water, why not make them big enough for a brolley or bivvy? Why didn’t he leave the landing net with the rods, instead of running onto the jetty with it each time he had a take? Knowing the lake, it’s not the best bit of angling I’ve seen, entertainment seems to take priority nowadays though?

How can you not just die from pickled onion hit..... you boys have gone right down in my estimations 🙄🙄😬

Unfortunately monster munch have not bettered their 2004 vanilla flavour release other than that beef all the way

I did a write-up of a session on Stanwick in the catch reports last April but it's not what you guys want to read - it was a nightmare, stuff getting nicked, couldn't get on fish..... it's never normally that bad so I won't post it as it'll put you off!