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When I first started carp fishing, we used landing nets, the big knotted mesh type, which makes me shudder now when I look back but, I don't remember our fish having injury inflicted as a consequence? Nowadays we have the luxury, albeit paid for luxury of safe tackle and kit. How far should we be taking the safety aspect though? It’s alright advocating that fish, especially big fish shouldn’t be lifted from the water in a landing net, yet holding that same fish up for the photos, with wet but often warm hands is fine? I’ve never heard so much utter nonsense in all my angling life, which is a long time. If any of us cared that much about the welfare of a carp, we wouldn’t fish for them, it really is as simple as that. Sure, treat the fish with care and respect, that goes without saying but, let’s not take the Florence Nightingale element too far. I hear so many people say they have the fish’s welfare in mind, first and foremost, is that so the fish will live longer, and grow bigger, so that we can all put them through all the stress and trauma all over again, when we catch them again at a later date? The reality is, the fish are there, because people fish for them, just as cows, sheep and pigs are there because humans eat them. You don’t get farmers keeping livestock for pets, the same goes for water owners and fish. Treat the fish you catch with care and as much respect as possible, taking into consideration that you’ve orchestrated putting a hook into it’s lip, and proceeded to pull it towards where you’re pitched up, or positioned in a boat, all ready to subject it to further stress and trauma. Sometimes the truth hurts, often much more than a soft meshed, wet landing net. 😉

I think it would depend a lot on the merit of the capture mate? Some river carp are easy to catch, and some stillwater carp can prove very difficult or elusive, and of course vice versa. Also, I know of many escapee carp that were very hard earned when they were in their native stillwaters yet, often caught regularly once they’d migrated to rivers and canals.

I honestly no longer have a preference, as I now catch (bog all usually😖😳😆) on most baits. For a while I seriously avoided pop-ups, couldn't catch on them to save my life, yet I had caught the first 20 from one lake on a pop-up. The next lake I fished I could not catch on a pop-up at all, every fish came on a bottom bait, either singles or doubles. On Ardleigh almost every fish came on a Snowman bait, the top bait being a bright pop-up with the bottom bait being my food source bait. I think there were a couple caught on pop-ups. A few sessions on Thwaite almost every fish to start with came on pop-ups, Scopex, Pineapple/N-butyric, Green Zing, Monster Crab and Squid and Octopus being the most productive. I then did a winter session, the first few days was pop-ups, where I started playing with my Garlic Spice recipe, then everything switched to my food source. As I went onto Brackens, it was snowman baits, food source topped with either S&O, MC, or my Garlic Spice, no takes came on individual pop-ups, no matter what I tried. I moved onto the South and Central, it has been Snowman set-ups on those three above, or individual Garlic Spice pop-ups, yet other pop-ups have produced nothing. Basically I will experiment until I find what works, I have no preference.

Pop Ups , preferably white so they stand out over the black decaying leaves , I've not caught many with pink ; I like the idea that my hook is " cocked " already positioned ready to hopefully hook a Carp , rather than have to have it spin to take hold . Also I want my presentation to reset . I must try dumbells more , for the reason Gaz. gives . 😀

Congrats on the pb mate...… I like large, heavy baits atm.... 18mm or 16 x 20 mm dumbells…. Been fishing a lot of clean gravelly spots. I believe these gravel feeders will suck and blow that bit harder in order to dislodge stones and get to any naturals..... If I think I'm getting done, then a 10mm length of cork stick used as a hair stop is my tweak, to hopefully aid the bait flying in easier..... Been trying to keep things very low key on the deck, no bright colours or glugs or flavours, just large, dark , HNV baits..... Been averaging a fish a night, not the hardest water in the world, but I'll take that...

So stabilised is a posh word for shelfie 🤔

Pretty sure cherry carp do frozen baits nowadays? Cyborx isn’t plugging them at all. Seems like you’re the one turning on anyone who has a different opinion than you. There was a member like you a while ago that was 300x worse tbh, don’t end up like him and his mates who joined to screenshot evidence of slander 😂😂 probably just tidy this thread up now mods and lock it off. It’s run it’s course

Sorry no drones is not a silly rule , I go to relax not to have some plonker flying a drone all over the place same as bait boats on most waters .