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Short sessions = less bait imo…….. Even better if you can put some in a day or two before (without encroaching on anyone else) and flick a single or stringer out on the spot when you do your overnighter.... As @Pete Springate's Guns mentioned, the guy piling it in opposite him is going to sit on that for a few days. (bit out of order considering by 4/5pm on a Sunday, most anglers will be packing up, so he could have waited til then)... Over nighters, for me (I don't do that many), consist of about 10-12 baits flicked around my rig, looking for a bite at a time with as least disturbance as possible and a quick set up time, especially as the light is drawing in now and I don't want to be waiting for my swim to settle down after a barrage of baiting as the twilight witching hour approaches...… Nice little trap set. If I get anything, it's an easy re-set, flick it back out with a few more baits over the top...……. I've been baiting a couple of waters this year, but actual fishing has been done over very little bait, just to try and get a quicker pick up and a more covert set up and rods out... Steady results, but feel that I'm doing something right...… Having said that, they have seen a bit of my bait over the last 6-8 months, which definately helps. A mate of mine does the opposite, turns up at midday, sorts his rods out and clips them up, bangs a bit of bait out.... Then says his hello's round the lake, drinking all our tea lol...… Casts out at midnight ready for a morning bite.... He does alright too.. The theory being, let a few fish come in and out of the baited areas with no lines cutting through the swim, before chucking a rig out...….. He jokingly says " get yer camra ready geezer' As he wanders back to his swim at 11pm...…. Proper annoying when you get the wake up call at 3am, I have to wind my rods in, that have been out for 8hrs, to take a pic for someone who's been fishing for a couple of hours...…. Doesn't always go like that, but he does alright...….☺️

Persobally for me I will recast if I think I should have had a bite or I get paranoid that my ‘perfect’ cast was not perfect after a while. I’m also equally happy to leave a rod out for as long as possible. As you say, less disturbance and all of that! I’ll happily cast out as many times as I need to in order to get it right (it took me 10 casts to get a rod over to the far margin yesterday. Few hours later it was away with one of 10-12 fish in 5 acres!) I think it makes the difference between catching or not. Plenty of times a recast on a rod I wasn’t quite happy with has resulted in a fish in the next few hours. I think our biggest challenge as anglers is overcoming your mind, just sitting and chilling out my brain always tends to end up back on the rigs and my casts. Were they perfect? Or did I I just think they were at the time? Could it have landed an inch to the left and be presented better? Etc, etc.

When fishing overnighters, I never sleep very well and am usually rousing before first light, even around the shortest day. To capitalise on that, I used to recheck my rigs and put on fresh bait and spod over the top so that the fish should find the new bait. I also reckoned that if I didn't have a bite during the night, it was probably because I had been 'done' and the fish had already eaten the loose feed! Been doing that for a few years and thought it was my 'little edge', although I can't seem to recall any spectacular hits to back that up. Recently someone commented in an article that 'those who bait up at dawn ought to have their dangly bits removed!' That made me think a bit. So, what is the concensus, am I ruining it for myself (and others fishing the lake) or is it worth doing? Obviously if I did start catching first thing, I would probably add more bait after each fish to hold them.

Why do you assume you've been done? I've said this before and my views haven't changed, it seems absolute madness to me for you to get up nice and early before you're perceived bite time, only to get impatient and let doubt creep In, should I check my rigs, have I been done, is there any bait left? Then you proceed to pull the rigs up, most likely spooking anything creeping into your area, then smashing them back out - definitely spooking any not spooked first time. Better still I'll bait up messing it up for anyone nearby too. Why make and check rigs that are, anti tangle, re-setting, tried and tested, spots good enough to present on, bait up carefully - then just when you need to sit on your hands and do nothing......... You know the rest, and you said the results ain't great! Stick to plan A and be confident 😊

Yes,mate,that’s the one you’d of passed a big dirty petrochemical works...... that’s my work,unfortunately,the waters are by there. Glad you enjoyed your stay in the sunny N/W mate 😬

I wont bait up over what I have baited ,unless I have caught or atleast 24 hours have passed, works for me

I’m probably in the ‘remove their dangly bits brigade’! This has been reinforced this morning when a guy arrived opposite at first light and proceeded to spod for 2 hours.....Its ok for him, he’s down for another 3 nights, he does this every week in the same swim, usually midweek hence I was somewhat surprised and disapointed to see him today. Complete lack of respect for others; the lake is hard, pressured and swims are tight. Cock.

Good shout that...... TBH mate, I think there is only "so much" you can do, especially with time restraints etc...….. As you know mate, the hardest thing can be finding and getting on some fish that are willing to feed..... We are playing with nature for the most part and even the very best of anglers will blank, even if everything is set perfectly...….. For me, that percentage of unpredictability is what makes it all such a special past- time, in an age where we are normally in complete control of most things with the push of a button. Angling takes me away from that, there's always a little that is left to chance...….. Keeps the Carp Gods in employment 😊

At times I have had to leave a bait in place for 2 days before getting a take. It is rare I get tangled on the cast, using foam and PVA means I can prevent tangles. Crayfish can mess up a rig, especially with soft braided hooklinks. A word on corn foam nuggets, they can take up to 12 hours to dissolve, even with water current. My advice is do not hook them. Wrap them around the hook, and lick and stick the final edge. How often I recast depends on the water. A runs water where I am fishing for a day is a totally different kettle of fish to a larger 'big fish' water that I am on for a few days. Also having a dog that I walk round the lake first thing and take for a walk in the afternoon means I usually recast twice a day. I try not to cast out when the boats are out. I don't like being accused of aiming for them, even if I think it... Weed moves! In summer it can actually grow or rest over your lines and hookbait overnight. On most waters I prefer to recast for the night before other anglers, my disturbance is done, out of the way, and other anglers then do their recasting and move the fish onto other areas, hopefully my bait. Golden Paws point about corkball pop-ups, I had the same problem. For some reason corkball pop-ups tend to take on water, maybe through an imperfection or hole in the skin, the dental floss cutting the skin, or small fish picking at them, and then break free as the boiled paste dissolves. You may be far better using pop-up mix pop-ups, which are harder. Crays can also break them free. If it is the knot going, I create a uni-knot loop, put the pop-up in, and pull tight. If it is a complete tie on job, I then tie it to the rig ring, hair loop whatever with a double overhand and lighter blob the tag ends. If crays are a problem, and ripping pop-ups, I mesh them and tie them on above a bottom bait on the hair. Harpz makes a point about not recasting during bite times. I do sometimes do it on purpose. If you get the feeling things aren't right, your hookbait is being ignored, covered in silt or weed, or even 'sussed', then a recast with an old hookbait and fresh bait stringer, can get you a take. The fresh stringer is the danger, the old hookbait is safe. I have had a number of takes doing that, within minutes of the bait being cast.

So I’ve just sat all night with a rod snagged up on a branch. I had no reason to recast it. It went down nicely, placed in the margins. Sometimes we just have to take the rough with the smooth.

There are so many things that can foul up presentation, even a fish turning over the top of your rig and churning the debris up and mask the hook point But I do time when i cast as not to do it during "bite times"

I tend to agree with Harpz_31, I recheck my rigs and baits every few hours. I normally fish combi rigs so tangling isn't the problem but the amount of times I've reeled in to find a large 'blob' of weed on the hook totally ruining the presentaion and hooking potential always plays on my mind and my local lake is pretty weed free. I used to tie on my cork ball pop ups with dental floss but the amount of times I reeled in a bare hook was getting beyond a joke so gone back to shop bought pop ups and either use a bait screw or pull the floss through and also double secure it with a bait stop. Probably a bit paranoid but rather be safe then sorry.

So many variables, size of water, stock numbers, other species.... If there are tench and bream in numbers, I might be thinking my rig wasn't sitting pretty after 24hrs without a sniff..... I'd rather leave it, but once those negs enter your head, it's hard not to re cast..... The birdlife can do that , sometimes without a bleep..... You need rock hard hookers and a rig that resets itself if you are going to leave it out for 24 hrs plus..... I've been done by the coots too many times and found that most shop bought pop ups can soften up quite quickly. OK on runs waters, but prob need checking after 24hrs... By this time , they can sometimes come off on the retrieve, especially with bait screws..

TBH, if I have had a few liners or seen/heard fish on the spot, and not been picked up I'd be inclined to think something was wrong. perhaps a bad lie with the rig and I'd probably reel in just to check.... But I do think we often reel in and re-cast for the sake of it...… I don't mind leaving one out for as long as my hook bait will stand. If there have been no signs to signal that I may have been done, I mean, if you are confident of where and how it landed first time round, no point in making more commotion imo, just to try to replicate your first cast..... In fact, I'd be more inclined to move swims altogether if I was to do anything at all..... (Which basically means , i'm leaving it lol) On busy waters, I've found, letting things quieten right down in my swims water whilst others are doing the obligatory recasts and baiting, I've picked up the odd fish, often well outside the usual bite times, completely out of the blue.... I recon you've said it all in those 2 quotes...… Bloomin hard to sit on your hands sometimes though.. Depends how well you know the water and it's residents imo….. If I think they are likely to pass through and I'm confident in my first chuck, I'm leaving it where it is...

Yes mate.... think i might of even passed your work & fishing area . We headed up to Warrington to eat at a place called the "partridge " hotel & restaurant, very nice too I might add . I passed an area just as you described to me at the socials on the left hand side heading towards Warrington ?

Thanks for the replies