Leaderboard

I did that last winter on a water I was fishing, I blanked the full winter not even getting a bite or seeing a fish. My mates took the P*ss out of the fact I was blanking every session not knowing every morning before I packed up I spent a couple of hours leading about looking for features. Let’s just say they weren’t laughing when spring came around and I managed to nab eleven carp out in April.

If you want to keep disturbance down then lead/plumb all the swims on your lake whilst not fishing. Take a note pad with you and write down far margin markers and wraps to spots you find. Then if you turn up and fish are showing in a certain swim you don't have to plumb it. Distance sticks, note pad and job done with minimal disturbance. I did this on my current lake. Once I obtained my ticket I walked the lake and mapped every other swim pretty much. It helped me no end. You can have a fish on the bank sometimes before your second rods out.

I agree mate, unfortunately I only get time for 24 hour sessions usually so the tactic I stated above definitely works better for me.

It's tricky innit. All my biggest hits have come to very heavily spodded areas but you always run the risk of spooking them out of the area. They'll come back but it's no good them coming back 24 hrs later if your session is only 24 hrs long lol! It's not a problem for longer sessions, and sometimes they'll be back very quickly, but it does do my swede in for short sessions. I've taken to baiting up the day before I fish which is fine on the quiet syndis or clubs but not possible on pressured circuit waters!

I’m not a fan of spodding in general, much prefer looking for fish shows before pinging a few baits out with the catty causing little disturbance as possible. I don’t like the idea of spodding a load of bait out only for the fish to start showing elsewhere in the lake.

I hardly ever use a marker float now. I just use a bare lead and guesstimate the depth. I tend to fish where I see signs of feeding activity and don't really care about depth with any accuracy. I'll get the marker out if I'm zigging but that's about it.

Reading a deeper is quicker...but to me there's no satisfaction in that... Feeling your led down pulling a few foot to feel the bottom...tap tap tap on gravel n a smooth glide for silt or mud... Once I know the bottom I will then attach my float to mark the depth. Deepers can tell you how deep n what is there but also don't have £150+ to read a lake.

I find a Deeper much easier than thrashing around with a marker float.

This is Mainly what I will be doing...Hopefully this Saturday... I've got a map of the lake with what pegs are which but no in-depth readings...I will be noting, The peg No. How many wraps to Middle, then half way out, feeling all the way back for features. So hopefully a few good hrs spent searching. Thanks all for your input...Spodding will mainly be on anything 24hrs or more...use Bags for day sessions 👍

I dunno I will check again might be nice if it's free 😁

I got a log book for Xmas for this type of thing, one tbing I learnt this year was I could never remember the right amount of wraps to a spot even if I had fished it a couple of times old age creeping in 🤕

Bait boat? 🤔😅 Just drive it up and drop the pay load, would save on disturbance and probably not cost you the 24 hours waiting time, but it may darken your soul 😁

I appreciate what you are saying there makes a lot of sense, I know it doesn't sound like it but I do also want to keep disturbance to a minimum on the day 😂 What I want to achieve is get it all done in a short space of time by having all the rods baited and ready to go then probably 10-15 mins of disturbance and then it's done and I may even just use a catty or throwing stick mainly this year I am toying with the idea of boilie only fishing but I do like a spod mix to get a spot going hopefully I can create a few of my own this year and keep them quiet 🤔 Also pre baiting shouldn't be an issue for me either if I plan it right, I could bait spots in the run up to a session, even if I couldn't get in that swim on the day any free feed they get is a win in my book and it's always a spot you can visit another time One thing I did find quite interesting to hear was that if you are pushed for time look at the 2 biggest far bank markers in your swim and find somene else's spots 😂 I do like honest carpy blogs 🤣 but probably a good way of keeping disturbance down

My plan for this year is 1 rod for bare lead chucking then spodding (double loop method for quick change) , and the other set up as a marker rod, I plan to use the bare lead to find the spots, then chuck the marker to it, maybe lead to the left and right of the float then swap over the bare lead for a spod and bait up accurately knowing its wrapped up right and bang on the float when it lands, this should mean I bait up with greater accuracy than just hitting the clip at the same distance, obviously if fishing to a feature this may be overkill but in open water this should give me really good accuracy, Sounds a bit of a faff but in reality if I want to fish 3 rods close together then it's bang, bang,, bang rods done bit of bait over the top oosh smashed it without too much disturbance, until I know my spots then its fairly easy to just wrap them, chuck the float out couple of casts of the bare lead to check there is no fresh detritus on the bed wallop, wallop, wallop few spods and maybe some stick thrown baits In a bigger area and it's kaboom time, I'm fishing 😁 I am still not really planning for this season though 🤣🤣😂😁😁

The innocently smiling emoji was meant to suggest I was only gently teasing Highy, after reading another thread. I still love using my Mk IV although it is way past its sell by date so understand exactly what you mean. The old ways are often the most enjoyable. £150 ? Some people pay that for a single high tech bite alarm.

I read that too. It's a little misleading imo as it's only a 3 season bag so you'd need other layers when it gets cold. A 5 season Snugpak Techlite coupled with one of the lightest beds would weigh the same or less so it can be beaten.

The marketeer who coined the phrase "fish finder" must be laughing all the way to the bank. A Deeper cannot differentiate a fish from a kitchen sink. OK there aren't too many kitchen sinks in a lake but there are plenty of gas bubbles, loose bits of weed or general detritus floating around all of which give a reflection to the pulse generated by the transducer. If you could be sure it was a fish, it would only tell you where it had been and not where it would be when you are fishing. You would not be able to tell if it was a carp or a bream. Carp are sensitive to vibration so you may have already scared them off. Switch on your Deeper by dipping it in water and listen to the noise it makes. A Deeper is a good tool for measuring depths very quickly and can replace hours of thrashing around with a marker float. More important for me is it can locate underwater obstructions such as an area of submerged fallen trees which could be a hazard to landing a fish or which could provide a holding area. It is nothing more than a useful tool that requires experience to get the most benefit from it.

I love wearing non carpy gear just to wind the have it all's up LOL .

I love a mallet Haha. And as for my old syndicate lake, one member was nicknamed "white tshirt man" haha. It didn't stop him catching though. And a good mate of mine nearly always wears a bright yellow tshirt. He's been called a noddy for wearing it but he's had 3 x UK 50lb carp so not a noddy at all.

I have no problem with it being a rule if that's what the owner thinks, I am in no position to disagree if I want to fish the water in question, I can happily go about my business not using one and have for all of my fishing to date, but that doesn't mean I can't see how it could be useful St Ives has a mallet ban and also a white t shirt ban,and no excessive spodding or markering before 11am , I don't disagree with those either

Some experienced/named anglers need every little edge as without them they wouldn't catch half the fish they do. Enough of them pull strokes, break rules to catch fish or to give themselves a higher chance of catching than the average angler, because "they have to catch". And I'd be as bold to say without these edges/rule bending they would be noddys. But going back to the head ranger on my old lake, he is of the opinion that if you need one of these fish finder things to fish then you've no business being on his lake. Harsh to some maybe but that's his rules and I haven't a problem with it.

Well reading through the posts I'm seeing the things im normally planning etc for the coming year. But this year, instead of wondering how much bait, when to hit it hard etc I'm actually thinking hard as to whether to keep my syndicate ticket. With my new found love of sea fishing, I really can't see me going much next year. I had a pair of beach rods custom built for me in September which cost more for the pair than my 3 Harrison chimeras. Carp fishing doesn't seem to be at the front of my thoughts, never thought I'd say that. I've got a cheap club ticket which I'd never let go as in a few years it's going to be a hell of a water with stacks of 30's and 40's just like it had in the 80's and 90's. But my syndicate I can do guest weekends if I wanted to go. I only really fished for carp in the spring this year but I've learnt that spring time is the time for Plaice and the smooth hounds start to run and these smooth hounds are the most amazing fights I've had from any fish. 40-50yd initial runs followed by a powerful fight against fish and tide, I had a 15minute battle all for a 7lber. I want more of that. They reckon a double figure one is like that but on steroids. I want some of that. So I've got some serious thinking to do.

IMO you don't want really buoyant pop-ups for the multi rig, having huge blobs of putty makes a definite tangle point. I prefer a reliable medium buoyancy pop-up with a small amount of putty. Just my findings for what its worth. 👍