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I haven’t got my head around zigs either, I don’t have any confidence in the method, yet years ago, one of the best methods I used happened to be pop ups straight off the lead on 18”-36” mono hooklinks... as for single baits, I have a lot of confidence in this method, especially with a single bottom bait fished in isolation in the right spot. When I used to scrimp and save to go carp fishing, a days bait would be a one egg mix, equating to about 50 baits! So I would choose swims with fish attracting features, overhanging bushes, Reed beds etc where I knew the carp would visit. One single boilie fished under the right bush would do a bite. I would also fish them in open water if need be and had a fair few carp on it too... I think a solitary bottom bait didn’t pose too much of a threat to a carp that came across it. Having only very limited bait meant that I really had to work on location, which is free, as opposed to using lots of bait, which wasn’t as free! It taught me a lot being a skint school boy!

I suppose I’m lucky having been exposed to the effectiveness of a well placed (and usually, highly flavoured and bright) single pop-up in the early 90’s on Redesmere where Frank Warwick developed it. It is often my first line of attack and has caught me fish from every water I’ve fished in the last 30 years. It’s kinda like Zigging-once you’ve had a few, you recognise its effectiveness and gain confidence.

Agree, the vids aren't to blame and Danny F certainly isn't to blame lol. For every Korda vid that advocates spodding at the right time, there is a Korda vid that advocates singles and zigs at the right time. The problem is anglers with no common sense (of which there are many lol) that think the more you put in, the more you will catch, regardless of the angling situation. You just need to visit a local day ticket water to see this phenomenon. I was at a day ticket water at the end of December, it was cold, nothing showing, and as the crowds descended on the Friday and spods came out one by one. Kilos and kilos emptied into the lake. Ridiculous. Only 2 carp were caught that weekend - by me, over very small amounts of bait just 6 wraps out lol.

https://bulkfishpellets.co.uk/ Has anyone used these before they look like they would be pretty good Pellets, and pretty reasonablly priced also, I quite like the look of them

Must be nice to purge the soul every now and then... I got kicked off the altar boy rota of my church when I was 10 for putting spirits in the altar wine... I step into a church and I’ll probably burst into flames!!

Ive listened to a few things where FW talks about Redesmere and his use of singles, he always makes a lot of sense, from what I can remember he started doing this so he could get to the fish by casting further than everybody else but couldn't bait up that far, but he is always great to listen to, and he makes you think, he always seems to be able to think one step ahead, great man I haven't got my head round zigs either yet 😂

Like you I do like fishing over bait, but I can limit myself to a PVA stringer of 1, 2 or more baits. In winter on Taverham, once I had worked out the hidey hole, a 4 bait stringer produced fish. On a local day ticket lake a single bait stringer worked. I honestly don't know why I stopped using stringers, possibly the rise in fashion of bags or mesh, although I do seem to have gone back to boilies in a mesh as it is usually easier to attach. My extra boilies then go in at the end of the session as prebaiting. I did find I didn't catch as many fish on hi-attract singles on most waters as I do on food baits, with a couple of exceptions, Thwaite until I had established a bait, and on Bromeswell until they really started munching. On those waters the hi-attract pop-up produced winter fish, but on Bromeswell as it warmed up and they started munching, bottom baits started working. On Thwaite and Bromeswell we had weeks when you had to chop and change baits to find what worked, and on Thwaite I had a week when I fed my food bait every day until they started taking it on day 3 of a week session, up to that point they had been caught on pop-ups.

I think it's probably worth waiting until we are allowed out again, also I should think once the weather warms up these will sell quicker giving you a longer life hopefully might be worth asking though? , I only found that out the other day lol I was reading something and I found out Pellets had a shelf life, I didn't even realise I've still got half a binful of carp Pellets they might be floaters by now 😂

I think I am always happiest fishing over bait, I haven't got any confidence in singles, I can just about handle casting a solid bag out on its own, I just think how will they find a single bait in all this water , I think even if I was putting it right in front of there nose I would want to add a few freebies if I could, but i know it works for a lot of people I think one of the reasons I am presently obsessing about a bushwhacker is that it will allow me to fine tune how much I should put out for a bite and also it won't hurt with accuracy and in theory with a scoop size of 900g i shouldn't be able to massively overdo it in one hit 😂

Yes, very tempted to stock up myself. Wonder what the shelf life/use by date is? Got caught out with this on a sack of Halibuts years ago. Was using them to pre-bait a swim and half of them floated! Turns out they were past their use by date-I assume the high oil content had led to oxidisation?

I think this is the point to some respect, it is easy to think after watching some of the tutorials that tipping up in a swim, mixing up a bucket of “munga” and spodding it out to the “dance floor” then sit back and wait for them to climb up the lines. Obviously this approach can and will work on certain venues, as the Korda boys have quite conclusively proven, but it won’t work everywhere. I could see how an angler could watch that action on YouTube or dvd or whatever and think that it was that simple. They may lack the experience of carp fishing and may think that’s all there is to it. I don’t think the vids are to blame as they are a show, they’ve picked the venue and the method to match.

Just gotta get out there and christen them now buddy!

How long did they have??

I liked the look of the best ones too, and with a name like that got to be a winner 😁

Looks good elmo i use purepellet get some of their ultimax mix but i do like the look of the Best pellet Aller aqua do

All shipping included in the price 👀value seems very decent

What're the shipping costs like elmo? The pellets look decent on paper. They're actually not far from me at all.

I bet I could 😂

The spod split is now in UK Carp fishing, I hope it makes sense https://www.carp.com/topic/26388-to-spod-or-not-split-spod-mix-idea/

I do enjoy a good park lake! It’s quite an experience all told, I find myself sitting in a swim, on a water in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by sheep and i wonder what is going on back in the park! Lol! I feel right at home at the park lake, it can be frustrating at times, it’s a real moody place, one guy is on a run of 40+ Blank nights, my last fish out was august/September, yet with covid I’ve been busy with work so have only managed a handful of nights. The place beats you up, then when you think you’ll never catch another fish, you get a take and land a nice scaley mirror and all the blanks are forgotten and you’re raring to go again! As for being mental? Well I was diagnosed with PTSD after afghan, so there’s probably some truth in that mate! Lol!

The rods arrived today and Iv been over the park to try them again and I’m happy. Went for a set of Prologic C3 Fulcrum 12 ft 3.5llb. I asked the shop how much they could do me for 3 and got them £430 delivered, so saved £50 .... like my Nan you used to say if you don’t ask you don’t get.

Very happy to receive my Dinton Gold Ticket invitation today so my plans for the year are sorted. I won’t be rejoining any other waters-full steam ahead on Dinton. Ticket starts in April so my plan (dependent on how busy it is) is Spring on Black Swan, Summer on White and ‘Back to Black’ for Autumn onward👍🏻