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Sitting outside with a cider looking at this 😊

Away for the weekend and having a stroll thru the woods, came across this and nearly melted. Carpy or what 😂😂😂

Pink - that's irrelevant IMO, this is not 'The Key' as you put it. As others have said they will eat anything on the right spot at the right time. Its about knowing where they feed and why, where are the natural food beds, where do they go in certain weather conditions, wind directions, hot and cold temps, how do they respond to angling pressure, getting a clear understanding of your quarry in that particular lake. Then with appropriate baiting, hard work and determination you might find the key to consistent success on that venue. Its never about being on a certain bait, because without all of the above you're still likely to be in the wrong area to begin with - best bait in the world or not. 😉

I tend to pick a bait for the season and stick to it, sometimes for multiple seasons. As a lot of the guys have said here already its more about location carp are like pigs they will eat anything.

But at the same time I don't want to ignore it in case either corn or pink is part of the key so I was thinking of going with a small pink pop up while he uses pink corn. But not sure how long should persevere before changing as you never know when your on the fish as they are quite shy and don't really show themself to much If you are going to put some time in, just get on a decent food bait and stick with it...… Be patient and it will all come together...… Asking for advice from those that have put the effort in already, might be a blind alley, most times they will say very little and what they tell you might be duff info, that is, until you have done a bit of time and you can exchange info, two way street in this case..... TBH, what I find, is that a lot of anglers come and go, they try a place , and a few blanks later they are off to the local runs water...… If you stick it out and become a regular, the barriers come down a bit, people open up a bit more, plus, just by spending time at the venue, you will learn the place, and a bit about where the fish will be...… No real short cuts imo, time and effort...… But bait wise, I find chopping and changing can just give you a head ache. Just stick to a proven bait..... Knowing where to put it, will come with time spent on the bank, not holed up in a bivvy, but walking and watching for signs, climbing the odd tree etc...... Not a fluke buddy...…… Right place, right time, that's what its all about... Make a note of the spot and the time of day and time of year and that's a tiny piece of the jig saw sorted..... Before you leave, bang a marker float over the spot, see if there's some kind of feature there. Chuck a few baits in on leaving...… All these little bits of effort will add up long term 😊

So for me, Any fish in the first few sessions is a bonus. If your going to really attack this water and do a year or 2 on the lake then you might as well use the first few sessions to lead the lake to death. Know everything you can know about your swim and any other swim thats free. Make notes, Begin to build a picture of the lake (wheres shallow/Deepest, Wheres the bar or the weed etc). Get up before dawn and watch the water, Are they showing? Where are they showing? Are they always showing over the same area? Are they always following the wind? Pick a swim with a large view of the lake and the other swims, Can you see people catching, Does one section seem to get bites in the day whilst another section seems to get night bites? is there a certain time bites seem to happen? Theres 2 of you, so you can have the lake mapped out pretty quickly, Dont worry about your bait yet. Find the fish, Find where they patrol, Where they tend to be at certain times of the day (Night/Dawn) Then start to work on your choosen approach. Its not a bad thing or cheating to watch joe bloggs from across the lake hauling and learning from him. Its all learning. Effort = Reward.

Your Dangly bits should most definitely be removed! First thing in the morning is spotting time, not baiting up time😉 I have been out on a lake in a boat first thing in the morning over my baited spots, and if I didn't catch the night before, my bait is usually still there untouched. There are some occasions when I had been sussed, or a tangled rig prevented a take, but very few. Carp and other fish cannot visit every spot in the lake that has food on it every night, and they simply can't eat it all. Add to that night time darkness takes, they cannot see the rig, so it is suck and blow ejection, not visibly avoid. Carp do not always feed at night on every water, I have had numbers of fish during the day. Some are night waters, but some are definitely waters where the carp will feed during the day. If you do catch first thing, the only bait to put in is with a PVA bag or stringer, don't be spodding loads more in. Even cattying baits in can be enough to spook some fish. The splash of a lead and PVA is one splash. Cattied or throwing sticked baits is numbers of splashes, as for the spod/Spomb... If I was turning up for a day session then all my baiting is nearly always done with PVA, a single chuck with a stringer or bag. It is very rare I spod in. It is extremely unfair on other anglers, disrespectful and plain ignorant. If no-one else is on the lake, maybe I will if I know the fish respond to loads of bait, and maybe if I am baiting up for later, but most definitely not around other anglers, Just a few first light fish:

I see a lot of confusion over mainlines. Guys seem to compare lines that are intended for completely different uses. There are numerous different types of lines and each have different advantages/disadvantages, and I'm only referring to mono here.... not fluoro, braid etc..... Pre-stretched lines: These are your casting lines like Fox Exocet. They obviously have very low stretch and fine diameter vs. BS and they have a super smooth finish. The result is a line that casts really well. Unfortunately the abrasion resistance is what suffers. Hence in a weedy lake you want to avoid pre-stretched lines. Semi-stretched lines (I made that name up, not sure what they're actually called): These are the latest in line tech and include Gardner GT-HD and Shimano Technium. They are pre-stretched but to a lesser extent than the casting lines. This means they cast very well but maintain other qualities (so they can sink well for example). They beat the pre-stretched lines for abrasion resistance yet still cast a long way. All-rounders: These are the more traditional mono's, the meat-and-two-veg carp lines. they include stuff like Gardner Pro and ESP Synchro. Just because they're not high tech lines doesn't mean they're not very good indeed. They'll not cast as well as the stretched lines but they are hands-down stronger, with better abrasion resistance. If weed is an issue I'd not look past this group of lines. Snag lines: Brute lines, thick with immense strength and serious abrasion resistance. You'll struggle to cast these past 100 yards without casting lessons but if there's snags about this is what you want. Stuff like Gardner HydroTuff and Rig Marole SLS Specimon Tough. ***** Now I see guys comparing lines from different categories all the time. Just the other day I saw a thread on another forum asking if GT-HD or HydrTuff was best. They cannot be compared imo - the GT-HD would be best in a lightly weeded lake requiring big chucks, but with snags or heavy weed in the water the HydroTuff wins hands down. Therefore you can only decide what is best for your angling situation. You need to look at how far you need to cast and what kind of challenges your water presents (weed, bars etc) and choose a line to suit. I always err on the side of caution i.e. STRENGTH. What I mean by that is I would rather be a few yards short of the carp and be in with a chance of landing them, than being able to cast on their heads but lose them all to snags/weed. I have used pre-stretched lines on French trips to huge silty waters with no weed/snags, waters where you need to cast 150, and they've been great. But there is no way I'd choose to use them on the weed choked waters I fish in the UK. I think a lot of guys pay to much attention to castability. If you need to cast 150 then fair play, go for pre-stretched lines, if you don't (and most don't), go for a proper carp line, an all-rounder or semi-stretched line at least, one that will land you everything you hook. So next time you see a "what's the best line?" thread we need to stop and think before we go shouting out the name of what we're currently using. What is best depends entirely on the individual and his/her angling situation. If the angling situation varies, then it is logical that the all-rounders are best (the best of which imo is Gardner Pro). I'm currently suing HydroTuff due to a minimum diameter rule on my syndi, which is normally very weedy. It's been great, never let me down.

I think there's three separate threads right there buddy but to summarise each water will respond differently to varying conditions. If we're talking very, very generally: - The end of the wind is good, particularly a new wind, possibly due to oxygenation of water at the windward bank. - Low pressure is good - because it brings with it cool conditions and nice winds (see above), feeding conditions if you will. - Rain is ok, as it comes with low pressure weather systems (see above lol). I have noticed waters kicking right off after periods of rain, but that's just a personal observation. However, for every water that responds as you'd expect there is a water that breaks the rules. I have seen waters change in the way they respond to conditions from year to year too. There are no hard and fast rules imo. Carp are carp and they'll do what they want to at a given time.