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This is key, watch the birdlife carefully, they will show you all sorts of things, spooking from carp, natural food larders, where the new weed is growing, where the hatches are, etc. Never getting wedded to swims because you are prebaiting is my other biggest tip. It can ruin your fishing big time, I've done it before and I see it a lot too. I will try and find out any info I can from people that know the venue, spring/summer/autumn areas to have a look at. I try to really explore a few swims on the end of a SW, it's hard to ignore them on larger waters so it's worth being able to drop in when the conditions suit.

I start on a syndicate water, ( my first time ) on the glorious 16th of June. I found out there’s a 47lb er I don’t know if it’s a common or mirror and I don’t want to know, which could go 50 this year so that’s my PB sorted , checked the rules, had a spy on the good old google earth and that’s about it. It’s 10mins bike ride away iv had a good look and will be just taking my marker rod for a while. There’s lots of vids on the YouTube how to fish it and pics of the fish but I don’t want to bother with any of that. My goals ...are to enjoy myself and do my own thing ...

I rewrap every time... So its on the spot. Same here... Instead of turn volume up or down, I've even forgot to turn em on / off.

I always re wrap it is more accurate I think, 👍 I forgot to take my line out the clip and got a run off an angry mid double common last year, luckily I had good butt grips which helped, but it can be hard getting the line out of the clip when it's bowstring tight with an angry carp on the end 😳 Forgetting to turn the alarms volume back up is something I do quite often too 😂

That's good advice and something I've been known to fall foul of, Infact I've been guilty of it recently, 😁 You get blinded by where you want the fish to be and not where they are, and it's easy to not look about when you get like this, not only that you start to get quite precious about it, that was something I noticed last year, and didn't particularly like, also I got bored fishing the same peg after a while, it becomes like you are going through the motions, I had been baiting a swim for a few weeks recently and one time a guy came up wanting to fish it whilst I was baiting as he had been doing some time in there, he seemed a bit put out I had been doing it tbh, I just blew off 3 weeks work off and tried elsewhere 😔 I started off last year in a different peg each time and built up a picture that way I can now jump in a lot of swims and fish which helps, I tend to just do my own thing nowadays,don't race to get in the going swins, I will clear spots and swims that are overlooked by others and have a go, if nothing else I may learn something 😂 The main thing I think is to just enjoy it though, if you keep trying you will have your good days as well 👍

Same here. Once the rod is cast you take any bow out as you sink line (this is normally a minimum of 1 meter and more if the wind is getting up). By clipping up before you reel in you don't account for this so better to wrap up for each recast imo.

Apart from this, not much mate. Obviously if there's a specific fish I'm after I'll find out when/where it tends to come out but aside from that I'll always go in with a very basic approach (boilies/pellets) based on what I see during my walks round the venue. By keeping it simple you have a good base to work from in terms of tactics.

Do some feature finding, check depths, what the substrate of the lake bed is like, species of weed etc and then, record what you’ve found in a notebook. If it’s possible and allowed, it’s worth having a climb up trees and recording what you see. Carp tend to be like sheep, in that they’ll follow the same trail regularly. Also, don’t forget the margins. Observe and take note of how the carp are affected by the the elements, the presence of other anglers. That sort of thing. My starting point when I do actually go fishing is: target areas of the lakebed that feels as clean as possible and bait those areas, and if possible, keep on baiting them. But, if the venue you’ve chosen is always busy, just get in where you can and hope for the best!

I watched the Darrell peck wazing vid last night, one thing i took from it was how he used his gut to tell him to move, I know I've sat there thinking this isn't right before and not moved 😢

Sad to hear about your losses, the decent venues have looked after their customers during this difficult period, some have not!!! The properly registered venues (for French tax purposes) and I would think Bills Lakes fall within that category have received Government support (similar to the UK system) so there is very little if no excue to treat customers better. As a former fishery operator in France (retired now), my best suggestion would be to report your story to the wide carping world, forums, magazines etc., it probably won't get your money back but at the very least it will put people off going to money grabbing venues who simply don't care about their customers! Good luck!

You're not the first to forget to unclip but like you say, bye , bye rod if you don't. The steps you mention are pretty sound but I admit that I bypass step 3 and always rewrap. It may be more long winded but it's just a confidence /OCD thing!

That's exactly what I do. I have been taking aerial photos for 15 years now. I started with a camera on a kite! Never had a test or license. It is just a case of being sensible. There aren't many drone police around (but there is always a "jobsworth" lurking). If I am going to have any people in my shots, I speak to them first and get their email address and promise to send them aerial photos of what they are doing. I have only ever had positive responses. All my neighbours have framed aerial photos of their house and there is even one of the town hall hanging behind the mayors desk (even though it is illegal to take shots within 50 metres of the place). If you have waves you will be unlikely to see much below the surface. Be careful with the return to home feature. The fail safe setting is when you hit "return to home", the drone goes up 30 metres (to avoid obstructions on return) , returns to just above the take off position, then descends. If you have launched from the bank from under trees it could cause a problem. You can change the settings. Practise practise practise before you go anywhere near water. Then, once you get out over the lake, it is squeaky bum time. However, apart from a one toner, it is about the most fun you can have outside.

Like Carpbell, I think a Deeper will give you far more information about your lake than a drone will. If you must use a drone you will need clear water, flat calm conditions and possibly a polaroid filter. If you are worried about landing on water which will definitely write off your drone, you could add some simple floats. I made a very amateur video of what I use on my ageing Spark when over a lake .