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Good luck Carpbell….don’t forget the sun lotion 🥵

That's what I thought, but wife's working, and I've got it at 36hr now for a steal of £20 for 3 rods, it's a dad n lad fishing weekend what they do every year, me n 2 mates are booked on for em with our kids too.

Well I worked this weekend outside prepping a house for painting…god it was hot 🥵 now I got the time off for a 48hr trip at linear on B1 starting early this Tuesday, all booked up which is just as well with the kids off from schools

i'm going out, love it cold drinks cold food knap during the day and be up through out the night. no need for extra clothes still take my bag just sleep on top meant to get a mozzie net kind time of year the deet might come out, i take fifteen litres of water and get cold juice and fruit while there. i get in for a paddle if need be just sit next to the rods with my feet in the water.

There's always something mate 😂🤣😂

can't wait to get out going for an early start to beat the heat, one rod will be a tiger pop up the other a home made pop up and a home made bottom bait on the third, also take some zig bits get all the tackle in the swim and go get some cold items and a bag of ice to go in the cool box with blocks it is an electric one you plug in the car but won't be near the car really so ice it is. pound a bag, lovely.

Best leave them both at home mate you want them both to enjoy the trip always another time. 👍

Out area has give scattered showers all weekend, but temps still above 20oC...little lad n dog coming too, but both not keen on the forecasted thunder n lightning. I'm not fussed but due to little lad playing football and the incident with the young lad a couple of weeks ago, he now is scared to death about lightning.

Super market sweeps hook baits oats, gram flour, walnut, almond, tiger nut and corn, hemp milk, milk powder and honey plus the JB flavours and cream. Going to fish these with the matching mix.

Looks like I've found something else I need to buy 😂😂😂

This thread definitely hits a note with me. I returned to fishing around 18 months ago after a 40+ year break! As a teenager I was pretty competent, but heck things have changed (we used to put bait on a hook, rigs were things our North Sea oil came from!). Back in the day we'd fish for anything, including carp. This time around I have dedicated my time just to carp. I am very fortunate insofar as I retired 12 months ago and so can get out mid-week (in fact I make a point of never going over a weekend as I think that's unfair on the anglers who work through the week). I have absorbed as much as I can through reading, YouTube, and a couple of lessons—one each from two different 'carp fishing gods' (in my mind anyway). A few observations from all of that: Keep it simple. I was horribly confused by all the stuff about rigs. I genuinely thought I needed to learn to tie hundreds of different types and then try and work out which to use in any given situation. I have cut right back to just a couple. The YouTube videos are great entertainment but probably create unrealistic expectations. They are (usually) heavily edited to make them interesting. Who wants to watch [insert name here] famous angler blank? The pros blank too, we just don't see it. Early on in my reintroduction to the sport I fished a runs water (didn't know that's what it was or that they existed). Very soon the initial fun of hauling out fish soon wore off and it became a bit dull. Since then I made a decision to fish harder waters and now feel a real thrill when I catch. I have come to understand my own aspirations better. My professional life was just stress on steroids. After 40+ years of that I don't want my hobby to be the same. Fishing, for me, I have realised is not just hauling out fish. It's being in the countryside, camping out, getting great quality sleep, rest, etc. If I start worrying about catch rate, rigs, am I doing it right, etc. I might just as well 'un-retire', go back to work again and get paid! I'm doing this for fun and relaxation. I'm still trying my hardest, just not beating myself up when I blank. The last lesson I had with a pro was especially illuminating. I told him which syndicate I'd joined and it was one he was familiar with. He told me I was very lucky to have got in, that it has some very beautiful, very old (and big) carp, but that they are exceedingly wary. It's also a low stocked water. He said I should set my expectation that five fish in my fist season (whilst learning the lake and its fishes' habits) would be a good result. I'm happy with that. I will enjoy nature, enjoy learning the new skills and chill. So I guess to the OP my advice is, as someone else has said, see this insane hobby for what it is—it's 'fishing', not 'catching'. It's nice when they both come together but one isn't necessary (or guaranteed) for the other to be enjoyable. And you are probably doing nothing wrong!

Just put your finger on the spool and tighten the clutch buddy. I have used several none baitrunner, none QD reels (tournies for example) and never come close to losing anything. Just don't panic, pick up the rod, tighten the clutch, happy days. You'd be looking at the Windcast/Crosscast for this kind of money. I'm a Daiwa user but I don't actually rate the budget models. If you can stretch to 130ish the Emblem 35 SCW 5000C QD is worth looking at but might be tricky to find them in stock anywhere at the moment.

Ink mucka I myself like most the others here I’m married kids etc fishing is a hobby I’ve done a 2 yr blank and realised that I was overthinking things and stressing because I wasn’t catching there was an old fella a few swims down that suffered a heart attack luckily an ambulance was going past near where we were he was saved but it made me realise that there’s enough stress in life we fish to enjoy Mother Nature and the surroundings we are in the peace an quiet Just chill remember life is short Don’t stress yourself it’s about being there