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A couple more shots of weirs and waterfalls.

Time spent watching the water for a few days without a rod will teach you more than sitting behind silent alarms day in day out... watercraft can be learned, but the best bits of tackle you have cost you nothing... eyes, ears and your brain... too many folks put their trust in the latest bait or rig, without looking at the water and having a clue where to put it or where the fish hold up... this is where to top lads excel...

A painting of the burghfield common off the Mrs after dropping a few hints 😉, not my favourite looking carp of all time but the fact it gets caught so rarely puts it up there with one of my favourites. Caught only by IMO the elite carp anglers.

The only thing money would give you that you don't have is more time to fish. That still doesn't guarantee fish on the bank. Even with all the top gear, tons of bait and all the time in the world people would still blank. The primary thing you need above anything is watercraft, and that costs nothing and the top anglers have it in abundance.

I would rather fish a syndicate tbh, day tickets are painful to fish, a financial sacrifice well worth paying, even if I am still making do without fancy tackle, Although if I am being funded the bursary required isn't going to be cheap, I've already chosen to spend £4000 on 4 rods and reels lol 😁and naturally I would still need another set at least and a powered barrow, Bivvy, top spec bed, loads of bait, end tackle, top notch luggage, boats bait and proper, £20k is my starting price plus 3k a month and van rental to cover bills and bait 👍

You can get some amazing shots when you get used to the editing software, I use a couple of apps on my iPad to enhance too

Another waterfall, this one near the tan hill inn, and one on the Pennines near Bacup

You'll not catch owt on the sofa... don't matter the cost of the ticket... if yer not on it you'll not catch... anyone with a ticket stands a chance of bagging that fish... elite angler or not... if its hungry and yer baits in front of it you've got a chance

Money spent the right way equals fish on the bank my biggest spend for the last few years has been on a syndicate ticket I could put the same money to a spanking new bivvy or bait boat with all the extras and then scrape by on fishing day tickets the problem being I'm not able to regularly afford 3 day sessions even when I could it would be a 20 quid a night water at most, all the good day ticket waters are a lot more money than 20 a night. As for tackle i try to get the best quality lines and end tackle plus bait it's all up to me after that, syndicate fishing is very different to day ticket much more relaxed and friendly but the fishing is not easy, don't think any of the lakes has done a fish in months the biggie I had out of the little lake a few years back has only been out once or twice since getting on for three years since last caught, I was gutted I didn't get her out last autumn weights are said to be up and the colours would of been amazing.

Having money could Definately help though 😂 It would give you security, you could give yourself more time, more bait, less stress, obviously it depends on situation, most top anglers make lots of sacrifice, some have no other commitments, or a job that gives them more time,most seem to put a lot on the line for it, I think even if I did have enough money though these days I still wouldn't have enough time or probably even the desire or the single mindedness, you've still got to have the mental toughness to be able to stick it out, and the ability to be aware your own mental state, to live a good life you need balance, I'm not sure chasing big carp is ideal for that 😳 I agree with what you are saying though, there are no guarantees but if someone wants to bankroll me I'll give it a whirl I reckon I could get 2 or 3 nights a week If it was my job 😂

It's not money that catches the fish though. You can have all the money in the world, all the time in the world and fish that lake, doesn't mean you'll catch it.

Agreed. It’s a lesson I learned relatively late in my fishing ‘career’. The absolutely most important thing is to watch, listen and then act.

For me watercraft comes with time learning on the bank. You can't learn watercraft at home so any time you spend at the lake , no matter how short amount of time you are learning or at least you should be. Its seeing the small things that improve you as an angler. A showing fish, a fish sheeting up are the 2 big signs. Without these 2 signs a lot of anglers are stumped. Of course some are naturally better at watercraft than others but you have that in all walks of life, kids who are naturally intelligent, one is better at football than others etc etc.

Time is only any good if you use it wisely, so making the most of your time is essential. The saying "1hr in the right place is better than 24hrs in the wrong place ", rings very true. How long do you spend walking your lake on arrival for a 24hr session say? Do you or rather would you walk it for 23hrs to guarantee you had 1hr in the right place? Let's be honest ,most people would like to say yes but in reality 90% wouldn't do it. A lot of it boils down to how much effort you're willing to put in. I know and admit that my last few seasons on dinton I caught next to nothing and that was because I couldn't be bothered to do the work, I needed a new challenge. I join a new lake and I'm there the first day I'm allowed plumbing swims, baiting up, watching the water as much as possible. I learned the fishes habits very quickly. Winds and air pressures in my opinion are massive influences on fish, well they certainly have been on the lakes I've fished but they were different from lake to lake. Do you keep notes, a diary from each session? The weather conditions, fish caught and from where on the lake, the date, moon phase, air pressure etc. I had loads of info written down from all the lakes I've fished. It helps so much. All this is done whilst I'm at the lake so it's not extra time needed to do it. Luckily I've got a good memory but if I didn't it was all there in black and white. As for needing time to learn watercraft, yes I get that. For me though the signs you look for to find fish are the same for every lake. The difference being on each lake is the fish routes , where they are in what conditions etc. That takes time obviously.

Elmo... the guys who are in the forefront of the carping world are usually working in the trade and therefore have less time than we do to fish... this makes the gift of watercraft the deciding factor in their catch rates... yes good gear makes a difference too... but I know many anglers who are really good at their craft and they use old tatty gear and only ****** the odd hour on the waters and their catch rates are far better than mine... its the watercraft aspect that makes the difference...

That looks really good, Ive got one somewhere similar, not sure if it’s Tim Paisley or carp society book.... can’t remember it’s name, not clapped eyes on it for over 20 years

im with you my friend on the price of some tickets some tickets id pay to have the chance to fish for some of there fish stock others i would not pay

I enjoy my fishing very much I was only commenting on the price of some tickets are out of my price range that was all

with most things im life now its about money and most of that is down to the angler wanting the best gear but if it something that you enjoy why not and time on the back is the way you will learn your skill time to watch the water watch the fish see how they react to diff weather conditions and time to experiment but most of make time just to enjoy your angling being out there fishing

Which comes first though the watercraft or the time spent learning ? I agree some people are better more natural anglers, but I don't think that watercraft is something you are totally born with,I learn something most times I visit the lake, and it still takes time spent on the bank to gain the experience, if I could spend 3 days a week on my lake I would see more, understand more, learn more, and ultimately catch more, I never said I would be guaranteed to catch the biggest fish in the lake but I would probably be a lot closer to it 😏

Lightroom and photoshop fix. You can get them for free, it’s just a case of playing around with them and finding what works for you

I was fishing a park lake mainly before getting this ticket used to be a fiver for the day or 180 for the year water park lakes are the go to places for those special big fish.

Totally agree.

Two fish in Brackens eluded me, Sam's and Digit. I caught most of the other 30's including 2 that had not been caught at 30 before, one not since it had been stocked at double figures, yet despite fishing where Sam's and Digit came from mostly, I never landed them.

People who do a good bit know that mate, a fish that can go five years without getting caught proves that IMO, The likes of Dave lane, Terry Hearn and Scott Lloyd have a hunting ability that your born with and can’t be taught.

This was taken on just a phone. One of many good scenic shots on my new water, last year. It wasn't all bad. Can't wait to get out on the bank for a few nights🤞

Well I thought I'd but a couple of photos on. This one is a Samsung filter. A holiday snap it came of the phone. And another one straight from the phone of one of my local lakes.

One thing I will say about the advantage of DSLR is the option for a big zoom lens, I use a 28-300mm zoom,