Leaderboard

I think I've been becoming a little bait and waity lately, 5th blank on the trot now, I guess that's rubbed off from the more settled regulars influencing me indirectly,and maybe I've followed suit, which may be the reason for my sudden downturn in form, I think my successful post lockdown sessions put me on a false path, I was convinced because they had been eating a lot of bait that I could carry on giving them quite a lot, I've regularly been using 3kg plus of boilies on a couple of spots for an overnighter, it's not loads if they feeding but if they are only grazing or not there, I am really hampering my chances of a bite, I think accuracy might be the next thing for me to work on bait is fine, rigs work, but if there are too many rogue spods out there it could be an hour or two not feeding on the danger spot, I think people can forget to enjoy fishing when it's going badly, and it can become quite stressful, I think the key is try and enjoy it, even when it isn't working as you want, remember it will happen one day, I found it really stressful last year coming back and changed things week in week out, none of it did me any good, keep it simple, stick to one lake, one bait or combo of bait , one rig, look for the fish and hopefully it will all fall into place Good luck

To me this sounds like stalking territory, and nothing will teach you better than watching them feed right in the edge. You get instant feedback and can adapt much quicker because you actually see the reaction to the rig and baiting. One rod, resting on the ground, baitrunner on is all you need, be as quiet as possible, stay back, stay low - a small amount of micro pellet and chops or similar and if you get it right - you'll see plenty and catch regular. Stalking gives you a realistic chance all day, under bushes, near reeds, lillies, undercut banks - bait a few spots in the edge around the pond and check for activity. Honestly - it is the most exciting way to fish and the learning curve is rapid, sometimes I've caught the first fish onto the bait, other times I've waited 6+ hours watching the same group pass over the spot time and time again, looking, then hours later sampling the bait and spooking - before eventually smashing the spot with gusto, competitive feeding and the time to get a run. Very similar to surface fishing. Trouble is people see camping, spodding buckets out and waiting as being the norm, how it's done. Keep day only fishing I say it will give you a different perspective, wider skill set.

You need to see what others on the lake are catching, have a chat, how many did the top rod catch last year? How many nights do they do? You may have unrealistic expectations for the water, whats the lake size and total stock? I would say that I fish intermediate to fairly challenging waters and they tend to have a way of punishing you, particularly if you start to think that you've sussed it. I seem to have runs through the year when I catch consistently for weeks, then the obligatory blank run and head scratching moment when you question how you ever caught anything. The high, lows, eureka moments and frustrations we all go through it, the blanks are part of the puzzle, just keep trying and learning, keep improving your game! Most of all enjoy the experience 👍

If your looking for some Big Pits ,dont mind the colour , look at this, Mag sealed as well , great Spod or marker reel too. https://www.anglingdirect.co.uk/daiwa-19-emblem-surf-45-scw-qd

The few trips after I have had after lockdown has been fishing over hemp with boilies. Around 5-10litres of hemp would go in when I arrived, and I would fish over it with boilies on the hook for 3 or 4 days. The only extra baiting up was done with boilies on PVA stringers.

Off tomorrow another day a new wind another try I'll keep you up to date guys wont be able to post till I get back tight lines anyone whose wetting a line guys 🎣🐟😉

I get 3 fx9 out of 1 spool about the same on them I think even if it takes another 30 odd yards over the stated it wouldn’t be a problem

Don’t rule out particle fishing at this time of the year.it’s hot and you may just get them on bits and pieces just tune your hook bait to suit

Well think about this, if everyone is fishing further out, bait and wait style then you can only expect to catch as many as they do - IF you are doing it as well as them. For me - I'd drop that style completely and go stalking instead. Answers: Yes you use your normal rig but lower it in quietly Bait a few spots and either fish the most likely from the off or wait until one of the spots is being fed on. How long should I fish for - impossible to say, sometimes I fish 8 spots in a day chasing them round other times I'll sit it out in one spot because it has regular visitors. On small lakes you might well see the same groups going round and round all day on the same circuit/route, your job is to make them feed, and feed with enough competition to get a bite. One fish alone may eat all the bait except yours, get more than one interested in feeding and mistakes start to be made. Remember all this is going on out in the lake but you cannot see it - this way you see it happening, can adapt the set-up and learn from it fast enough for you to get a result on the day.

You can use electrical tape buddy. Not a chance mate.

I gave up believing the amount on the spools. On my 10000 Baitrunners I have loaded straight onto the reel spool. On my Beastmasters I have some backing line. Backing line is usually just 'last' years line, and then when I strip the old line off I just go as far as the backing. At some point I must have been sad enough to work out that a bulk spool spread across 3 reels and I loaded the original backing so that it filled exactly. That bulk spool will give you 3 reels, plus leftover, so you might as well use it at.

Personally I would just fill up all 3 Spools with the line if they are empty, I usually cut off a few metres every few weeks, as the line can become stretched or damaged, maybe if I had some line on already I may leave some on as backing but i would always want atleast 200m of the line on my reel

To put it in perspective I haven’t had a “proper fish“ since lockdown ended either I took my grandson fishing and we had a few bits between us in an hours fishing

Stick to one water, preferably a fairly easy one. Find out what works. It could be pellets, particles or groundbait with a boilie on the hook. Stick to one rig, stick to one bait. I look at every single session, every trip, on every water. If I blank it is what am I doing wrong? If I catch it is what can I do better? In most cases we screw up our chances on getting into the swim. We pile bait in, sit on it, and have given the fish all the food they need to take their time to eat. The weather at the moment is warm, so warm that the fish may not be comfortable feeding. It can be better to just put out single hookbaits, maybe a small PVA mesh or bag. It may even be that right now the way to catch on some waters is floater fish at dawn or as the day cools down. In terms of rigs, a knotless knot rig will still catch most fish. Don't get confused with Ronnie Rigs, German rig, 360 or whatever. Put your rig where the fish are, you can find them. It may be that you need to go to an easier water to catch a few fish

For me it's a 4 acre weedy lake with lily pads. Average Carp range from 8lbs to 20 something (and one or two 30lb apparently). They have a Facebook group and from what I can gather I'd say there's probably about a 60-70% chance of catching (though obviously not everyone who fishes it is on FB). Would appear the regulars who do a night a week usually catch a few but even they sometimes blank. My work life and the fact that I'm only just starting out means that nights aren't quite an option for me just yet so limited to days atm.

I'm in a very similar situation. Started again last year and only caught 1 on my own + a few when with someone else who told me exactly where to drop the rig. Both of these were at what would be considered close to a 'runs' water. Last year I was changing a lot at once including baits, rigs and venues. This year I've take a much calmer approach. Became a member of a syndicate lake and plan to only fish the one lake the entire year in order to actually learn about it. I've been taking less bait and less variety of bait with me so I can focus on ensuring I'm actually on the fish instead. I've also been trying to avoid re-casting so much as I think I have a habit of doing that too much from coming from float/feeder fishing. I've been on 2.5 day sessions so far and blanked all of them which feels quite frustrating but I'm trying to remain 'calm' about it. Not sure how often you're going but I think I am a little hard on myself. It feels to me that I've been loads and am 'always' blanking but in reality, for some anglers, 2.5 days is just a single session (which they may blank on fairly often). I think it's hard to know whether you're doing something wrong or not when you have no baseline to begin with. Would be good to hear how often others blank to get a feel for what is considered 'normal'. (Obviously this is lake dependent!)

You forgot give carp.commers a healthy discount 😁 I don't mind the urban banx d and b, at least its hard-core, better than all that house music they try and set the scene with more punk music for videos I say 🎧