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Well the exclusive lake we had booked at woolpack ,has started spawning 🙈. As we were here, we ended up on one of the syndicate lakes instead of a refund, so only just got the rods out & sorted. 🤞

Well I’d been away from the scene for about 6 years and you’ll tell from some of my posts since I came back to the forum exactly how excited I was to get back in the game . Ive invested quite a few quid upgrading certain stuff and replacing other stuff that has gone walkies over the years , more stuff in fact than I’d realised . I had gear in the loft , some in the shed and plenty in the spare room and no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t keep the stuff I was taking down to a bare minimum…and it wasn’t really organised at all ..all mixed up , the old & new and a bit chaotic . My plan was to spend the week before organising things so that when I got in from work on Friday afternoon I could throw my gear into the wife’s motor and off for the weekend. Things didn’t exactly go to plan…. Unfortunately work has been pretty demanding recently , particularly the few days leading up to my fishing , and I was having to work 12 hr shifts , getting home at 6.30pm eating , washing up , getting done family stuff that has to be done and getting into bed by 9 for a 0345 alarm which , quite frankly, meant that my fishing gear remained exactly where it was . Now on the Friday I’d managed to wangle an early finish (2pm) and I was going to get all my gear together and be off to the lake for tea time and giving myself plenty of time to get set up for the night but one thing led to another and by the time I arrived at the lake and I’d had a walk round it was virtually 8pm . I’d had to plonk myself in the only swim left available by the time I’d arrived , it was the tightest swim I’d ever found myself in in 50 years of fishing , I had a new (to me) RH Cabrio brolly that I’d never set up before (restrictions on space at home) and it would be dark within the hour . What was I to do ? I rang Nick 🤣 who I knew had the same brolly. He kindly talked me through it and I managed to get the shelter up and my 3 rods set up before it got dark and then my problems started to pile up . My swim was not only as tight as a gnats bottom but the ground was a kind of broken tarmac/gravelly type of surface and single banksticks , my preferred option were just not happening so I had to use my pod . I detest using it for reasons that will be revealed shortly . The battery in one of my alarms was as dead as a dodo and as I reefed around in the dark looking for my spare batteries I discovered I’d got the wrong ones . I needed LR1’s and I’d mistakenly brought some G11a’s . I was exhausted already and wasn’t watching the rod all night so I decided to just use the 2 rods and review the situation at first light . I made up a couple of small pva sticks , a mixture of B5/Black snail stick mix , attached them to a couple of basic knotless knotted rigs , Black snail bottom bait on one and a RH snail wafter on the other with just a couple of handfuls of Black snail and B5 16 millers loosely around them . Fishing room was tight as it was , I wasn’t going to start leading around in the dark with so many other Anglers in close proximity , the corner of the lake I was stuck in had another Angler on the opposite bank approx 80 yards directly in front so the margins it would be at least till the morrow. I also baited up a third line under a willow tree close by in preparation for the morning when a 3rd rod may go out. All was quiet through the night but I awoke at 4.30 am to see a few fish showing in my albeit lightly baited area where my Snail wafter wafted . I decided to leave that area alone for obvious reasons , baited up my other spot and launched my now available 3rd rod onto the margin area that I’d baited up a few hours earlier . It was very hot during the day , nothing showing even in the upper layers and even if they were a ridiculous no floaters no zigs ruling was in operation and tbh I was a bit stuck for what to try . I had been cleaned out by tufties on the 2 baited areas , I’d noticed a succession of Coots etc diving and helping themselves to my Black Snail boilies … so much for Black boilies making themselves difficult for the bird life to find 🙄. As the sun went down and the temperature cooled a tad I considered pulling in my other rod , the one with the single snail wafter hookbait . Before I could pick the rod up the fox alarm squealed and I was into a fish, a fish which appeared to give me a proper battle , admittedly I was a bit out of practice, 6 years and all that , and indeed it turned into a battle . I landed it ok but not before it had wiped out both my other rods and the Pod in the process . Then it hit me . Id been rushing around so much prior to the session that I’d completely forgotten to make any sort of Photo provisions . Good job it wasn’t a personal biggest fish or anything . So I just unhooked it in the net , took a quick pic with my phone and returned it to the water . I now had the job of resetting up for the night the two rods I would have out during the night , no easy task in the dark for an old shortsighted arthritic codger with the ‘ump 😄. As I say it was dark so after untangling the rods and pod … did I mention I hate rod pods ?…I baited up both rods with a Hutchy Naturalz snail wafter and fired out about half a kilo of Black Snail and B5 freebies over each . An hour later the same rod as before kicked off , this time it felt to be a bigger fish , plodding around in the margins until it saw my landing net , the sight of which made it shoot off into the middle of the lake . Then everything went solid . I thought the fish may have found some sanctuary in a weed bed I was unaware of but then I remembered . Where this area of the lake is very narrow , there’s a wooden sign bang in the middle reminding the local numpties not to cast beyond this point etc . Anyway , this fish had swam around this post/sign and obviously spat the barbless hook (another silly rule imo) at which point I had to pull for a break 😡 SO , after tackling up AGAIN and casting out I decided I’d better get my head down as I couldn’t see the swim producing again after all the commotion but within the hour (2am by now) the same rod was off again . It WAS a bigger fish this time , I never weighed it as I was too busy picking my other rod and the pod out of the water 😡as this one had again caused carnage . It wouldn’t have been fair to the fish to retain it anyway though it was well over 20lb in my guesstimation. I released it straight away , threw my tangled rods down in self disgust and went to bed . The following daybreak I tackled all 3 rods up again and continued fishing . I wasn’t happy with the drop on one of my rods so I retrieved it , feeling resistance whilst I was doing it . I reeled in a length of leadcore with a “ safety” clip which appeared to be glued together . Indeed I was unable to separate the components . I enclose a photo of it below and handed it to the bailiff later on . Idiots eh ? Anyway it peed down with rain for the rest of the day . My Mrs came to pick me up mid afternoon and it took me an hour and a quarter to get all my gear back the 300 yards to the car . Why you ask ? Because my Fox explorer deluxe barrow that I’d received a few days previously was still sat in its box at home where I’d not had time to put it together 🙄. so all in all , it was good to finally get some alone time back on the bank , I have to call it a success as such due to the nice 2 fish I did manage to catch but an absolute disaster in other ways . Things I learnt ? I need to be a lot more organised. Take a look at the mess in the pics lol , I can’t be rushing around like that again … mistakes get made , important items get forgotten and it makes it all hard work when it’s supposed to be fun. I need to find somewhere quieter to fish , somewhere a bit more exclusive . I’m only able to fish at weekends and I need to find somewhere quieter to fish somewhere I may get a choice of location instead of being forced to fish where I can . I learnt that my new CTX rods are a dream to use compared to my Berkley’s and I thought THEY were lovely . Im impressed with my RH Cabrio brolly system , SO much room I really am pleasantly surprised . I never saw fit to use the wrap , there wasn’t enough room to get it out of the bag let alone fit it but once I finally get the brolly extension I’ll be living the life on the bank 🤣 I learned that carp like RH Naturalz wafters and I learned that very slack lines , light running leads and simple rigs still work and I must have been doing something right as not a lot else was caught from what I could tell . If you’ve got this far , thanks for reading , hope it’s not been a waste of your time so thanks for humouring me . It really felt like I was a beginner all over again at times but I’m sure it’ll be better next time if I’m better organised . Need somewhere better to fish 🙄

One from another season. Dogs learned when to watch the water.

Morning fellas , this topic isn’t Carp specific so I’m sure you (Nick) will move it into another section if you feel it’s more appropriate but I get the impression that the coarse fishing section doesn’t get many hits so I’m asking it here initially. My ten year old wants me to take him fishing . As many of you will probably remember he is moderately autistic (as are we all) but has an attention span of about 10 minutes so it’s crucial that I take him to a hole in the ground where I can guarantee he’s going to catch straight away . Thats not a problem it’s already sorted but what isn’t is what kit to buy for him ? my immediate thoughts were to buy him a small whip or some sort of pole . trouble is I’ve never used one myself and wouldn’t have a clue let alone show him how to actually use it so was thinking to throw him in at the deep end with rod & reel . but then which rod & reel ? Length size etc … I dunno what to do tbh .. how would you horrible lot approach it ? Moneys not really a problem except it might prove a 5 minute fad though I’ve a feeling that a tiny perch or roach early on will see him hooked , so to speak. over to you lot ….

I plan on fishing two separate spots on the same peg with different spod mixes to see what catches more fish. Anyone had any experience with this? Would it mess up my swim?

For your son, I wouldn't recommend buying the best rod on the market just yet- if he decides to drop fishing, then it wouldn't be good to have thrown a whole bunch of money down the drain. If your son decides to fish more, though, I would then buy a better rod for him so it can be a more enjoyable experience. As for your size of rod, if your son plans to catch smaller fish species, then I'd elect for a 5-8 lb rod. If he plans to go for larger fish, then I would lean more towards a 10-16 lb rod. As far as length goes, it really doesn't matter all that much in my opinion. A 5 ft rod would be optimal, but you can go up to a 7 ft rod if you can't find anything else. Since your son is new to fishing, it would be best for him to have a push button reel, otherwise it would be difficult for him to learn a full reel with no experience whatsoever (I speak from experience here). For a kit, I'd buy him some line that has a pretty similar rating to that of your rod and possibly some lower-rated lines as well if you plan to go fishing for smaller fish. You could get some lures, but I haven't had the greatest experience with them and smaller fish species. And of course, buy bait according to the species of fish that he wants to catch. Overall, if he seems to enjoy fishing a lot and goes often, then you can buy him a better rod, reel, and maybe some more equipment too. I could go on for a very long time about gear for smaller fish catching, as that is my specialty, but I'd recommend to learn as you go for this one. Wow, a topic that I'm useful! 😁

I used Diawa cross cast 5000x reels, I’ve got 4 of them, 2 are on my boys rods, ones on a spod rod and one is a spare. They held up to my hamfisted efforts to knack them, I broke one when in a proper strop while snagged up, wrenching for a break, diawa replaced it no questions asked. My boy uses them with no issues at all. I’ve got the fox EOS 12000 reels and I absolutely love them.

Thank you mate , I think after a while we go onto autopilot and our experience kicks in so we just get on with it .

As a course man myself when I started taking my daughter it was to a day ticket place on a 4m whip with pole rigs and red maggots, she caught loads of small roach and loved it. Have upgraded her to 8m pole and started teaching her casting with rod and reel but she always goes back to the whip as she just loves plucking fish out and happy with her catches. We now alternate between a venue for her to land roach and the next trip for me to try carp set ups. These are some if her fish from a nice little venue near Wrentham in suffolk

Well you certainly made the most of it buddy! I love a nice long catch report and really enjoyed reading this. It sounds like the sesh had its ups and downs but ultimately you made your time on the bank count. Well done.

👍🏻 Ta mate I hope I can catch a few like I’ve seen in your pics .

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Then he pulled out a couple of little snottys and a few more little roach . He seemed to get a bit bored after a while and started wandering up and down the bank watching everyone else . Anyway after a while he sat back down , inspired I think by something he’d seen a couple of swims down . My Mrs stuck a few maggots on his little size 18 hook for him and he flicked it out . As it hit the water the tiny float disappeared. And didn’t come back . He yanked it back towards him and this … nearly yanked HIM in 🤣

Well yesterday was the day . We took TJ to Puddledock farm fishery , a local hole in the ground . In the first few minutes he whipped out a couple of little Roach 😊