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Kev, To be honest I think my ability to recognise swims is down to my memory and being in the autistic spectrum. On many waters I have fished, I have walked it so often I know almost every swims bank features, although swim trimming does occasionally confuse me. Heck yes. If you know a particular fish comes from a particular area, if you are targetting that fish you can get a head start by knowing the swim from the picture.

It's better if you find some dense foliage behind you, the light bounces back off it and brightens the surroundings. 👍

Absolutely mate. Knowing what you're trying to achieve👍

Oh right, day sessions are bit different. Its knowing when and how to adapt to situations. I'd certainly adapt if I was doing days. Good angling. 👍

That's fair enough mate. I've conditioned fish on a number of occasions. They visit when the bait is going in. My fear would be that the fish visit, clean me out and then only get the occasional visitor. Where as I feel they visit in numbers when the initial baiting up happens. On a lake years ago, Rodney Meadow to be exact. I was pre-baiting with just boilies. On the 5th prebaiting session there was a big group of fish in one of the areas I was baiting. My mate said not to bait there as it will spook them. I flicked in one bait, up came a carp and took it on the drop. I proceeded to feed 5kg of 18mm baits that evening, they didnt budge but scoffed the lot. Since witnessing that it doesn't bother me baiting heavy on fish, especially if they have been conditioned to finding bait there at that time.

One thing I would suggest if you can do it is to have one of your pre-baiting nights on a night you actually fish on. This way you can condition the fish to arrive on a given day, preferably on a day you're likely to be there.

I use three rod lengths of 40lb greased weasel shock leader onto 18lb mono mainline, it’s always worked fine for me without much stretch.

@elmoputney I'd not chop and change throughout the week, it'll take longer to establish the spot. Rather I'd start with bits (a vitalin or pigeon conditioner base with pellets etc is very cheap and clears it up in no time) before moving onto boilies supplemented with nuts (solely for the carp). Once the spot is being visited you don't need to put that much out. Get it established with loads of cheap stuff then cut down and just use the good stuff.

Could be looking for a fish shop

I've seen one dead on the main Leicester Road in Rugby. What a great day that was 🙂

Dude you're on fire tonight, get him on Dragons Den pronto!!! Whatever you decide I'm in 👍

We could sell those ones like footballers always stand In front of with Nike and carlsberg etc, but with a Camo background and insert your own sponsorship deals here, would be great for the fishing industry and us 😁 We could also sell the seaside ones where you just hold the fish and put your face through a hole and it's like your an old strong man holding a fish 💪😂

Lol like it 🤣 Been thinking - they do background prints for fish tanks.......... This time next year Elmo we could be millionaires 👍

We all do that don't we 🤔I always want to try and work out where the fish is being being held aloft from that's good angling isn't it 😂

Me :I've caught one mate you couldnt come and help us with the photos could you,? Imaginary friend :Yeah course I will Me :Cheers I need a bouquet from Morrisons the £10 ones, she's well worth it 😂😁

Keep some plastic ones in the car 👍🤣

Always like to find some sense foliage, if I ever get to catch another wouldn't mind trying to get some flowers in the shot 😂

Coombe could be a gold mine, if they would open the whole lake to anglers lots of big Zander Pike Bream and known 40 lb carp with plenty of rumors of bigger, like a cat that is over the 100lb range, pinch of salt with that one.

Council run so it's their call. Ultimately they'll lose the revenue stream when there's nothing left in it. I see it's SSSI so they might not be able to fence it even if they wanted to.

I think if you can get them feeding while you bait it's the holy grail. But at the same time there is something to be said for letting them clear me out. I am only doing day sessions at the mo so I'm trying to maximise that morning bite time. I'll try to get the bait in late (say 7 or 8 pm) for an early start (say 4 or 5 am the next morning). I tend to get takes very quickly (which makes sense as they've polished off most of the bait) and then just top up with the stick after each bite. Seems to work ok.

I normally try for the day before. I worry that spodding for an hour will kill it for the night so much prefer to give it 12 hrs + free of lines ready for my arrival.

Elmo Hydrotuff is quite a thick mainline so I would go with the 12lb and a leader.

Ummhing and ahhhing about what to use for pre baiting My initial plan was 3 times a week Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and I was thinking heavy with particles Sunday (pigeon Conditioner) , lighter with bigger particles, maybe just maples, nuts or pellets, and some boilies Tuesday, then just boilies Thursday so there is usually something there but getting towards fishing time it's mainly boilies so they probably will be gone so I am not fishing over much old bait But then I keep thinking about the pesky nuisance fish, millions of rudd, some tench and bream, so while they might help me clear some spots they would probably also eat most of the particles and pretty dammed quickly too, those rudd are everywhere, just boilies would slow this down but would also make spot clearing harder work, then comes the finacial impact of just boilies, I can't afford much more than 20kg of boilies this month so if I was to just to do that I am probably only looking at a few handfuls of bait per spot per visit not sure that will make much of a difference I can handle feeding the tench and bream with some particles or pellets if it helps get enough bait out but want to avoid those pesky rudd who are a right nuisance unless the kids are there 😂 You can also get 25kg of skrettings pellets for 35 quid I could use a liquid to get the right signals on them at least and 11mm ones should be rudd resistant ? Any thoughts will be considered I would like to use quite a lot of bait over the next few weeks I think, Having written this all down I am starting to think pellets might be easier to work with quickly, as they don't need a lot of prep, can be pulted, spodded, spooned and will breakdown, but at least the carp have an option to get there first, and alongside boilies and chops etc I can make the signals go a bit further, I can always just start the spots with a load of pigeon Conditioner and work from there hmmm

Preconceived ideas are hard to ignore once you have one rattling around, i have one brewing after looking around an empty peg the other day gives access to a margin spot between two islands, i reckon i might give a go for the next few sessions, just means walking past the more favoured pegs if they are empty.

I think it's almost time to start with a cunning plan for Sept , find a spot or two this week start baiting them regularly for when I am off in sept, smash it, how's that for confidence 😁

Speaking of Confidence and target fish. This is on my list, I have shown it on here before, but while the person is in charge up there I won't be going, but this is a fish I will/would love to catch. I know the place inside out, we're the sunken features are, not gravel spots but old cobble path on the bottom and bowls (not holes).

Same as me il be lost without my phone, I had a pic of the big Common in Oxlease for years would always have a look at her till I had her out. For the last 10 years or so every swim Iv fished the distances to hard spots, gavel weed beds and the fish Iv had also weather conditions bait i us and what other anglers around me were doing Iv recorded. I fish day ticket waters the linear complex a favourite. The carp Society’s horseshoe lake beat me up a bit tho 🙄 .... but one thing I never do is give up. The trip is not over till you pull the last rod in, and then you can still ask other anglers how they got on. When I fish with the lads and they ask what my tactics are I say to catch a fish Lol.

I see a lot of confusion over mainlines. Guys seem to compare lines that are intended for completely different uses. There are numerous different types of lines and each have different advantages/disadvantages, and I'm only referring to mono here.... not fluoro, braid etc..... Pre-stretched lines: These are your casting lines like Fox Exocet. They obviously have very low stretch and fine diameter vs. BS and they have a super smooth finish. The result is a line that casts really well. Unfortunately the abrasion resistance is what suffers. Hence in a weedy lake you want to avoid pre-stretched lines. Semi-stretched lines (I made that name up, not sure what they're actually called): These are the latest in line tech and include Gardner GT-HD and Shimano Technium. They are pre-stretched but to a lesser extent than the casting lines. This means they cast very well but maintain other qualities (so they can sink well for example). They beat the pre-stretched lines for abrasion resistance yet still cast a long way. All-rounders: These are the more traditional mono's, the meat-and-two-veg carp lines. they include stuff like Gardner Pro and ESP Synchro. Just because they're not high tech lines doesn't mean they're not very good indeed. They'll not cast as well as the stretched lines but they are hands-down stronger, with better abrasion resistance. If weed is an issue I'd not look past this group of lines. Snag lines: Brute lines, thick with immense strength and serious abrasion resistance. You'll struggle to cast these past 100 yards without casting lessons but if there's snags about this is what you want. Stuff like Gardner HydroTuff and Rig Marole SLS Specimon Tough. ***** Now I see guys comparing lines from different categories all the time. Just the other day I saw a thread on another forum asking if GT-HD or HydrTuff was best. They cannot be compared imo - the GT-HD would be best in a lightly weeded lake requiring big chucks, but with snags or heavy weed in the water the HydroTuff wins hands down. Therefore you can only decide what is best for your angling situation. You need to look at how far you need to cast and what kind of challenges your water presents (weed, bars etc) and choose a line to suit. I always err on the side of caution i.e. STRENGTH. What I mean by that is I would rather be a few yards short of the carp and be in with a chance of landing them, than being able to cast on their heads but lose them all to snags/weed. I have used pre-stretched lines on French trips to huge silty waters with no weed/snags, waters where you need to cast 150, and they've been great. But there is no way I'd choose to use them on the weed choked waters I fish in the UK. I think a lot of guys pay to much attention to castability. If you need to cast 150 then fair play, go for pre-stretched lines, if you don't (and most don't), go for a proper carp line, an all-rounder or semi-stretched line at least, one that will land you everything you hook. So next time you see a "what's the best line?" thread we need to stop and think before we go shouting out the name of what we're currently using. What is best depends entirely on the individual and his/her angling situation. If the angling situation varies, then it is logical that the all-rounders are best (the best of which imo is Gardner Pro). I'm currently suing HydroTuff due to a minimum diameter rule on my syndi, which is normally very weedy. It's been great, never let me down.