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One matching and one bright one. Figure out which one's working then switch them all over.

This👆 Carp angling is much more simple than we make out. If you can put a bait the carp want to eat, on a spot on which they're prepared to feed, and the carp are there feeding - you'll catch them. The carp will feed somewhere every single day, so the trick is finding them and putting the right bait in front of them. The best anglers are trying harder to achieve the above than other anglers imo. And while they're trying to achieve it they learn far, far more about the water and it's inhabitants than those that aint trying to achieve it. It's basically a virtuous cycle; the harder you work, the more you learn, the easier it becomes. Assuming you know how to find a spot pretty much anyone has the capability to be a great angler. It is drive, or lack of drive, that lets people down (me included lol).

The division ( for me anyway) between a REALLY talented angler and an average one like me is the need to deconstruct every session and look into the minutiae of how and why I did or didn't catch... I don't feel the need, for the simple reason that I go fishing for my own enjoyment... and to take my sessions to that point where I have to examine every facet of the outing means my enjoyment of my sport diminishes.... In short do what you want, but be aware that you'll get out what you put in

My thought of the day is ..... Vans packed ready for the morning. First time out in 4 years in this country!!! Like a kid at Xmas 😁 Rods probably won't be in till the afternoon got the draw to do etc , not somewhere I've fished before either so nothing to go on . Anyway happy days 😎

It depends on a lot of factors... are you driven enough to chase the fish...? Have you got the patience to learn a waters moods by watching it for weeks without a rod...? Does your level of watercraft enable you to predict where the fish can be found...? for the majority of us the answer (if you answer truthfully) is no... otherwise there'd be tons of pics of us lot in the press holding 50's 60's every week... No... the majority of us love our fishing, but have very little spare time to pursue carping the way the top lads do... therefore we do our best and catch the odd lump (not often in my case) and we aspire to get better... sometimes it pays off... more often than not it doesn't...... but we keep trying do we not...?

I just put it in a bucket of water and wind it on so as the spool of line spins in the water and not loops off as if it was flat

I'm still trying to channel my inner jim shelley everytime I watch or listen to him I learn something useful 😯 Nigel sharp, Joe Morgan, Adam penning still catch plenty too, and even though what he does isn't really for me usually, Tom Maker regularly pops up with huge hits of fish and Kev Hewitt, like you say so many and you can learn from them all these days, it makes for a much more even playing field in some ways,

I personally think there are more "top anglers" about now than there has ever been. I guess it's harder to stand out like Tel did, when there are now many anglers with abilities comparable to Tel. You look at the likes of Tom Stokes, Scott Lloyd, Greg Ellis, Myles Gibson, Si Kenny, Marcus Clark.... every year they're catching what they set out to catch. You add the old hats to that list; Dave Lane, Jim Shelley etc etc, and it starts looking like a pretty big list. There are always a bunch of guys way under the radar too. Loads of exceptional anglers about nowadays imo.

To a certain extent its about being in the right place at the right time... the difference between us and the likes of Lord Tel... is he knows the time and the place already...😛🤣

Cheers mate 👍 I'll definitely enjoy it ...a fish or 2 will be the icing on the cake mate .But not a given at this venue . Got a few days to try & winkle one out.

Good luck hope you enjoy it 👍

Very much so they are very bitey at the minute, you tube is pretty good for dog training vids already got them to sit for treats but we do need to divide and conquer this week 😁

I’ll admit mine is spoilt rotten and has the run of the house, I’m glad I’m not alone 👍😂. I’m for ever buying new treats and toys 😂 Fair play mate I wish you the best of luck they look so cute 😆😂, I doubt I will get a puppy again they are too much for me 😂😂 mine was the spawn of Satan when it was a puppy, it would give you a nip, you say ouch and it would get even more excited and nip even more/harder 😂😂😂 thankfully it’s mellowed out now but the first 6 months were pure chaos 😂 it had all the toys, I spent ages playing with her but she would still wreck stuff, steal shoes or socks when you weren’t looking and chew holes in them 😂 has yours started the puppy nipping/ biting yet? 😆

We've looked into that and we are taking all the steps to avoid it like trying to separate them, train them separately etc,let them be there own dogs but they still seem to like a ruck and even though we have 2 crates, so far nearly every nap they have been together in one its not going to be easy but we will do our best 😁 We will continue to try though they are quickly taking over, I had a nap in the sofa so I'm doing better now 😔 they are cute and fun though

Our pup just wouldn't take to the crate he used to cry and howl all night and one night he had the runs in there, I've never seen such a mess before or since, So we had to get rid of the crate and give him the run of down stairs, now 8 years on he's got the run of the whole house. But too say he's spoiled would be an understatement. 😂🤣😂

Good luck with 2 puppies at once mate one is a handful 😂😂 I remember someone speaking about litter mate syndrome, apparently it’s quite common when you get two from the same litter lol might be worth reading in to 👍 I can still remember the first night, I was told to let the puppy cry it out, by midnight I couldn’t take it anymore and went to see to her only to find her to have crapped in the crate and get covered in it. I had to give her a bath in the middle of the night 😂 since then she just stays on the end of the bed 😂

When we got our puppy it was like having another baby, I can only imagine having two puppies is going to be like having twins, goodluck with that elmo. 🤣😂🤣

I think all anglers can answer that question if they are honest with themselves, Some people like a social and still manage to catch from the going swims, people like me who just want to be at the water fishing and looking don't always get the rewards,I like to think it balances out,but it doesn't always, I don't worry what others are catching too often, but more what I catch, but it's each to there own if you want or need to feel like you are top rod you need to sacrifice all the other stuff, I just do what I can prebait, walk round and fish the odd night when I can, the only thing I am keen to do better this year is find the fish before I set up, if I catch one that's all that matters, there is one guy who has been smashing it this year though, he has worked blooming hard walking round, fishing days when it was all he could do and a couple of work nights, but he capitalised on the situation, hopefully I will get a similar window at some point, but good luck to him he's earnt it 👍

If it helps I just looked at the clock and said is it only quarter past 9 I only had 3 beers but the puppies kept me up late settling in and then they woke up at 5am, 😬

Had a walk around my local pond, seen these beauties and no one fishing. Might grab the rods and listen to the football on the radio instead of pub 😆😂

I think you get two types of anglers on the water. Ones that do laps of the lake, constantly watching the water, willing to move onto fish in the middle of the night because they’ve heard them crashing on the other side of the lake. Then you get the ones who want to bivvy up, put a bed of bait out and wait for the fish to move onto the bait then sit in the bivvy for the day, playing on the phones/reading books etc. I find the ones who are watching the water all day, putting in the hard work usually do a lot better 👍

Shot from Bivvy