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From what I've watched of the new Korda 7 there seems to be an awful lot of drone use for fish finding. Really don't want to see these damn things flying over the lakes I fish, highly annoying and IMO not angling in any way, cheating! For me a big part of fishing is not knowing exactly what features are out there and where the fish may be, its the art of working it out for yourself - for me anyway, I don't want or need shortcuts to success.

My plans are seeing my make a massive change in my fishing. I am going to focus on a forgotten quarry which is miles from anywhere so days only, I'll also be heading to a number of other club/free days only places when access to the quarry isn't the best or the weather dictates. The quarry has wildly steep banks and is a good mile or so walk + through dense hedging to access it so its minimal kit with no brolly, I am looking at a tarp though. I MAY get back on the river depending on how spring goes on the quarry and other places. A few social weekends dotted in will keep me in touch with night fishing though. Winter I have no clue...to be honest I'm already looking ahead to 2021! On a personal level I need to shift my every increasing 'dad bod' so healthy eating and some more exercise. I also want to get back in to writing my blog, I think it's been almost a year now since my last post. I have 4 in the drafts ready to type up but have not been able to find the motivation since early 2019. Hopefully I can reignite the spark as it's a great diary of events for me, as well as a hopefully enjoyable read for others.

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.

Not sure its burst yet but only a few inches away , Carp park awash and not sure how close to the Café/clubhose it has came . Went past my self this afternoon It did burst many years ago when Simmo was the bailiff and a lot of Carp escaped into the River Test , had some awesome fishing on the Test for Carp for some years after that ,

I do agree I wouldn't want them buzzing overhead either isn't there a lake that has live streaming of the lake from it? I am sure I heard that you could sit at home and watch the water lol

Very true I have nothing whatsoever against Korda - great company and Danny seems a lovely guy trying to do the right thing. My issue is purely the technology and what I see as a shortcut to success. There have been recent posts from Nash on Instagram where a particular fish was caught directly as a result of drone footage. Yes it makes good telly so to speak but that doesn't mean I would appreciate it next to me buzzing round lol Where's the shotgun?

I totally go against the 'no marker float' or not finding features daily. I have had so many carp within minutes of the marker float being cast in and baited up to. @elmoputney I also did very well on the water you are thinking about spodding to the marker float with pellet, chops and whole boilies, although one swim I confess, was just cast out to with a stringer and put some boilies out by throwing stick as it was long range. The marker float was used as a target to aim at, whether it was over silt or gravel. Sadly I lost the map I made of the water, but every trip I would still double check my swim with the float to be sure. I would do the same on Nazeing, and bait up to the marker with stringers. That would catch me plenty of fish. I wasn't into wraps, but would clip up to features, then walk it out along the bank to the right distance so I knew the spot for the future. Silly things like from the gravel hump to the stick pushed into the ground that would have no meaning to other people. The marker float was an essential though if I couldn't walk it out the distance. Cast as close as I could to it, knowing I was in the right area.

Oi oi stranger. Hope you're good mate.

The new ones due out soon, have had a big reduction in weight. The memory foam version (MF60) are a bit more heavy, but the extra comfort is well worth it. I’m like you with my kit yonny, keeping it minimal and light as possible. But with the launch of the compact bed in the memory foam, it’s justifiable for me! I have honestly never slept on anything so comfortable.

Lol. He's right though innit!

My plans for 2020 are to find a new water, my current tickets aren't fuelling the fire like they should. I have been extremely fortunate to have caught the largest carp in two out of the three tickets, along with many of the resident fish, so on those waters they cease to be a challenge. A fresh water would be lovely. I've got my eye on a new river system so I might give the lakes a miss mostly this season. I am looking for a new job, my current post is under threat from closure so I might be made redundant, when is anyone's guess, I only get my shifts 4 days in advance now and I may well be unemployed tomorrow if it goes truly Pete Tong! I have applied to be a police officer, I have my fingers crossed that I get in, I love being in a job that allows me to serve the public. Army, NHS, ambulance service, now hopefully the police. I would like to relocate to Nottingham to be closer to my children, they live near Chester so it's a 12hr round trip at the moment, my partner and I have family in Nottingham and its only 2hrs from my kids. Oh, and I'm getting married in 2020...