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I will second the BAF mix. I used Polaris and ccmoore prior to using BAF. There’s on winner hands down. I have 14mm pop ups holding up big size 4 hooks for days on end out in the lake. It also hardens up nicely to create a hard bait whereas the ccmoore mix used to create a more spongy bait.

thanks Mate, will give these a go as well. really appreciate you responding. ive been doing a lot of unnecessary swearing on the bank !

So first of all I have to say I'm no top angler, but my fishing has improved a lot this year, and I've caught lots more. I only fish local club waters, I'm just an average working guy, and £30 a day, or hundreds and thousands for syndicates just aren't possible. I no longer turn up, do a pub chuck, then sit in the bivvy playing on my phone. (that didn't work too well!) The difference this year? Time and effort. I always look at the water now,, searching for signs of fish before casting. I'll do laps of the lake. I keep a note of when and where I see them. I use a marker rod to lead about, finding out what the bottom is like and the depths. I'll pick a rig that's likely to work on that bottom if I can't find a "spot". On that note I'm not the greatest caster, but I've made the effort to practise that as well. I'll move swims if I'm not feeling ti too, and try different things to see what works (and what doesn't). What works on one water, won't on another, so each lake has to be learned too. I also started making my own boilies this year. I buy the best ingredients I can, then turn up and bait the lakes regularly, so the fish get used to them. That also seems to be working well. As with tactics, bait seems to differ on different waters, and colours can make a difference as well. So even when not on the bank the effort is still there. I'm not baiting with a bag of boilies from my tackle shop. All the bait is fresh and hand rolled. I've also spent hours and hours on carp forums like this, learning all I can to improve my fishing. There are so many great tips here, and countless pearls of wisdom. For that I thank everyone who posts and shares their knowledge and wealth of experience. It really does help guys like me to catch more fish. So yeah, going back to the original question, time and effort. I suspect a lot of "top" people in anything find this true. Time + effort = reward. As a result I'm enjoying my fishing a lot more, and feel I'm getting more out of it. I turn up now expecting a catch, and my confidence is much improved. I will also say it is a journey, a marathon, not a sprint. it takes time and practise to improve in anything. Stay focused, spend time on the water. Try new things. And keep trying. My results haven't been worthy of Carpology or anything, but I've had a couple of dozen fish this year, mainly on short day sessions. I've caught some twenties. Caught fish from club lakes where I've never caught before, and caught on new waters, fished for the first time (twice within an hour of casting). I've caught from high pressure small lakes to mid stock 20 acres. All in all, it's been a belter of a year so far. And that from more time and effort. Most of all - enjoy it! (If you don't you'll chuck it in soon enough). Tight lines!

That's the sort I use, the bigger the better. The first one is far too small. When I first started using the knot, I did have a couple of disasters and ended up cutting the braid and starting again. The trick is to slip the knot on and watch it and make sure you reverse the procedure when you go to undo it. On the second occasion I put the clip on and off about 20 times in a row and my brain "remembered" it. Probably OCD but I can always do it first time now without any problems. The clip stays on virtually all the time so just slip on a lead or spod at will, only taking it off for using a depth float.

Ive followed the insrtuctions but it just ends up in a big mess so i cut it. Im going to try with a swivel or mini clip as suggest. thanks for response,.

Think I have changed my habits over time. Due to the depth of the lake I'm on, I have hardly been using both spod and marker rod. In many cases I have been putting bait in by hand in chest waders. However, not all swims are shallow enough so I take a Spod/Marker rod combined, and yes it has braid on it😏😂😉 I have the run ring set up on the leader with a lead link and an American snap swivel on the end of the lead link. At the end of the leader I use a swivel with a Breakaway Spinlink clip and tail rubber over it. I attach the spod or Spomb to the Spinlink and clip the snap swivel on the lead link to it as well. That way I can use 1 rod for both marker/leading or baiting up.

Not sure how you can get in a mess tbh - you just pull the little tag end created then feed the lead back through the loop - couldn't be simpler, what are doing to get a tangle lol

what about this on fleabay? 500g Dried Insect mix - £15 free delivery. (shop around you may get it cheaper) just grind it up! This mix is made up from the following; Dried Mealworms Dried Silkworm Pupae Dried Crickets Dried Calci Worms

Well I managed a quick overnighter at an estate lake. My van wasn't fixed in time😭 Water quality was really bad, they canceled the swimming of a triathlon there. My mate had a pasty and I had a bin lid. Gutted to miss the opportunity of 3 nights at the Res.