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So after a couple of people saying they would like to see/hear about my time on dinton I've managed to find my pic's and even my old diary/ fish lists. So here goes, I'll start with my best session I had on there. I'll give a little insight into the season first and to what then followed. So its 2006 and just before the start of the season a mate i worked with , who also fished dinton, asked me if I'd like to go on his bait. It was a homemade bait so something I'd not really done in my fishing and especially as I was more than happy with premier baits and also the fact that I'd given a recipe to tony at premier for him to roll for me and some mates on dinton that year but I wasn't sure. This mate and a few of his mates always caught loads of fish from dinton. 20 plus fish a year each which isn't or wasn't heard of on there, especially being they were all weekend anglers and along with the numbers of fish they also caught the big lumps. Over and over they would catch them between them all so I decided to go with him purely on the fact his bait had a knack of catching big fish. So my mates were left with the new premier bait and I went with my mate I worked with. He decided upon a milk protein bait to use that year, a very high protein one at that. So opening night (june 15th midnight)and my mate bags a 49lb mirror, the other bloke on the bait had a 44lb mirror and I sadly had nothing. I blame the draw Haha, but straight away he was saying, "told you, this bait will have'em this year". Fast forward to the middle of October and we were struggling like mad. I'd had 4 or 5 fish til that point and my other 2 mates not much more. My other mates on the prem though (4 of them) all into double figures with a couple of the bigguns amongst them. I was well gutted, what a waste of a season I thought. Though my mate whose bait I was on said, " don't worry, this bait comes into it's own in the winter. The colder the better". The following weekend and he had bailed out and gone to an easier water, now I was doomed. Now a lot of hard work, a nice slice of luck and if I do say so myself a pretty good bit of angling changed my season around. Now fast forward again to 19/01/07 and my best session. So I get down usual time of about 3pm on the friday. Only a handful of us fishing the lake now as most packed it in at the end of October , so knew I'd get "my "swim. I was baiting 3 spots in this swim and had been since mid August when that area became unfishable so I hatched a plan to bait down there knowing it was free food for the fish and no one could fish off my back. So all sorted by 4-30pm. At 5-00pm I'm off to my mates swim, so I place my Neville sounder box on a bank stick as I had the box with wires back then and faced it towards my mates swim which was about 250 metres away (yes not good angling but it's what we did). So I get round there and its pitch black, tea in hand my mate says "that a red light on your sounder box?". I looked up and said yeah but it will go out in a second, did it hell. So I'm sprinting as fast as I could along the path, the nearer I get the louder the Neville is screaming. I hald expected to find swans as it was pitch black and couldn't really see from my mates swim. No swans, middle rod is ripping. I lift the rod and thump, thump, thump. Christ I thought, this is a lump. Not a spectacular fight, just a heavy weight. My mate arrives as the fish is nearing the net and one scoop it's in. Head torch on and there's a lump of a mirror "the dustbin ". Onto the mat , in the sling and needle stops at 44lb 06oz. Well made up. Lift the fish for the pictures and right rod bursts into life. I hit the rod, one mate sorts the fish and another is there and he reasembles the net. Play the fish In and again no real fight but a heavy weight. In the net and torch on and a big common is staring at me. So sort the common out and a new PB common of 38lb 06oz . So a bit of composure and we do the pics, mirror first and then the common (the blind eye common its called). Blown away and a call to a good mate to say what happened etc. Now later that night one of my mates had the biggun at 53lb and ounces and another mate had a 32lb mirror. So first light and camera in hand off I go to take pics for my mates. The mate I called the previous night said he'd be down as he wanted to see the 50lber. Now once again not good practice but I left my rods out and bearing in mind one mate is the opposite end of the lake to me and being 23 odd acres I'm a little off my rods. First mate done, the 32lb mirror. Then to my next mate with the 50, he's only 200/300 metres from my swim. We do his pics and hand shakes etc and I head back to my swim with my mate who drove down to see the 50. My mate asked if my rods were out and i said jokingly "yeah of course, I've probably got one on". Walk into the swim and left bobbin is jammed into the Neville's wheel. Pick up the rod and once again just a heavy weight and not being big headed but after catching a few chunks you kind of know when you've got a kipper on. So in it comes and it rolls into the net, yup it's a kipper. On the scales and the needle stops at 42lb. This is a fish known as "Astra" . Absolutely gobsmacked, I recall feeling 10ft tall, on cloud 9 literally. The rest of the morning and day past and it was soon dark again. It was just past 6pm and right rod goes, this time a 32lb 12oz common Grace's the net and my last fish of that session. I recall walking back to the van grinning from ear to ear. And not just for me but my mates 50 etc. Dinton doesn't give up its residents that readily, maybe half a dozen on a good weekend in summer or autumn but that weekend there were 8 fish banked. It was and still is my best session and one that I know I'll struggle to beat and it became the centre point of what turned into one hell of a winter for me. This last pic is of my fish list that season. The last 10 were from November til the end of the season which was the end of March.

I’d say fish size isn’t the only thing that comes into play when choosing hook size, the water I fish is very weedy and a size 4 gives me that extra confidence when playing fish through that thick weed... especially because there’s a barbed hook ban also.

Thanks fellas . The reason I ask about loop size is because of the height the pop up will sit at ( which is what I use for most of my fishing ) . I remember a thread which was talking about smaller carp approaching the pop up along the bottom of the lake and so the pop up would be obviously off the bottom ( and possibly make them wary ) , but larger carp because of their bellies would have to approach at an angle from above and therefore the fact that the pop up could be up to 3" off the bottom wouldn't be so blatantly obvious . 😃

Must admit I use a 1 1/2" loop when I'm fishing over a bed of scattered boilies. I've used this rig over particles as well but I use a smaller loop, probably about 3/4". But all the time it's with a size 4. Personal choice i guess.

I don't actually measure the size of the loop I make just big enough to fit over the hook, it's just trial and era with me because if I use the rig for a pop up I like it pop up as short as I can get it. I hope this helps you Crusian.🙂👍

Some proper lumps there,mate. 😬😎🎣

The answer to your question is yes 20's if I'm lucky but usually doubles. I find these rigs so easy to tie, the hardest part for me is getting the loop for the hook the right size apart from that there a doddle. 🙂👍

And forgot to mention there always hooked bang in the middle of the bottom lip. 🙂👍

I've been using the multi rig for around 12 months now and I've always used a curve shank hook with it and always a bank tackle size 6, up to now I don't think I've lost a fish in all that time. I'm 100% confident in this rig I use it for bottom baits, pop ups and wafters. A massive bonus for me is that it is so quick and easy to tie. 🙂👍

Im guessing the true definition of Carpy would be , what you and your camp look like after a 2 week session with no facilities , now thats Carpy ……..