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I’ve been a victim of jealousy, it got so stupid, I stopped fishing there, moved on and got the same issues on the next lake! I did a winter on a local park lake that I know like the back of my hand - during one particular winter, I stayed on, putting the time in, blank after blank while everyone pulled off. Then I started stringing some captures together but kept it to myself - peg piracy was another issue, however one session, the bailiff was down while I had a take, he commented how this was the first fish out all winter, I then confessed to this being my 6th fish out! Word was out after that and other anglers started fishing again. I was still able to catch while others were blanking, the snide remarks started - then accusations I was using leadcore (which I wasn’t as it’s banned) I had spot checks on rigs - nothing untoward found - I then found anglers taking leadcore rigs to the bailiffs saying they had recovered from my swim! Bailiff took one look, said that they weren’t mine and put a stop to that nonsense, the green eyes still kept on it, I got a call from the club secretary saying I had been seen standing on an outflow pipe in the out of bounds area - I asked what day this was, turned out I was 150 miles away driving an ambulance car around central England! I had to show my time sheets and shift rota to the secretary to prove I was nowhere near the place in question at the time. I moved on to a small syndicate after that where I had a cracking start, landing the mythical big common at over 31lb, soon after that, one angler started casting over me, casting onto my baited areas while I was fishing them, even went to the lengths of pretending to be a bailiff and tried to quote fake rules (that I would be in contravention of) and then tried to chuck me off the lake! I had to call the real bailiff to come and sort it all out. I pulled off there in the end, it was getting far too busy, now I am looking for a new water, but having a newborn at home means that nighting it takes a back seat, I get my fix with a bit of piking in the winter and bass fishing in the spring/summer. Life is too short to get wrapped up in jealousy, I just fish for myself and move on if I find I no longer enjoy it. I’m currently wandering along a nice little canal that rumour has it is home to the odd carp, no one on it - sounds like heaven!

Oh I'd be bang up for that one, we are talking Ashmire here right? - i'd jump at the chance to fish there literally anytime, make that happen lads please please 😎👍

Perfect for me. I'm in. 🎣😁👍

So we have 7 definate then? I can message him and see what he says about it? And easiest way for payment 22nd and 23rd?

My plans for this year (Hopefully) beat the 20lb barrier, Fish some more different places, More fishing with my Lad, start to find out the ins & outs of my local Park Lake. My name is down for the Prince Albert ticket, but in January got told is was put back on the list until November, as some lads after me have got there tickets, so mine may have been misplaced.

I think @welder @ his son are interested. So that's 7. I'd be happy to do 3 nights too. Thursday 21st or Sunday 23rd Elmo if you don't mind trying to arrange payments. Imo, if we can pay direct to the venue would be preferable. Nice one

Can’t wait to take this big softy out on a night trip. I have had him with me on an evening session before and after letting him roam wild for a bit he did eventually come lay down near me and relax. He actually chose to lay down on a fallen over barbed wire fence not the unused unhooking mat I had laid out for him 🤣 but I couldn’t complain he was sleeping and I was relaxing with rods out and all was well.

Look at carp... Not indigenous to the UK, brought over possibly by the Romans and definitely in the 13th and 14th centuries.

I've emailed and asked about exclusive 22nd 23rd, I said we have 5 confirmed and 2 still tbc and asked the other relevant bits and bobs, will let you know once he replies, once we have the 2 nights sorted I can ask about any further nights etc for those that wish to do them

I'm surprised Ian @welder hasn't posted. I hope everything is ok? He was the first to respond on the 2 occasions I have tried to arrange a social. I'm sure we can fill the spots if necessary. Oh & if I win the lottery before then, I did say I'd fly @buzzbomb over🤞

The same as Nick . I'm waiting to have some work done on my toe , which hopefully will have me fit by the end of the month ? .

Sounds like a plan. Happy to do that, paying to the venue. Just two nights for me - Fri/Sat, 22nd/23rd. Cheers.

Happy to bank transfer or PayPal to who ever is doing the booking before hand , just let me know what I owe 😎

So that's five.! Getting there. How do we get this booked and paid for? Can we get a deposit over to Ashmire, or do we need to pay the whole booking now?

Lea valley security 💪😜

No I haven’t tried any other bait apart from what I buy ever since I started back at carp fishing 3/4 years ago. potters bar only 5 mins from me. Lea valley will be where I will be focusing on later this year, who knows maybe earlier if I manage to bag my target fish from hook lake but if not I will be there from around the start of may to start of September so that’s funny you have said that. unless you remember my comment on the dogs thread where I will be taking my big boy to guard me and let me sleep at night lol I think I said I would be fishing in the Lea valley. I have heard scary stories from people about fishing Lea valley. To be completely honest with you I have been writing out reply’s for about 3 hours and keep deleting them. I am trying to learn how to keep my reply’s short and sweet but I ain’t doing too well at it 🤪. I work nights so I’m always up late full of energy and I just end up annoying most people trying to sleep. If it’s of any interest to you I will message you and explain to you why Spencer’s bait is scary to me. Admittedly I don’t know him. But with John baker I was thinking I could ask him about the nutritional value of his bait and maybe pay more to up it if I could and if he says it would still work well. for me bait quality is everything. A skilled experienced angler with knowledge of watercraft etc may not need a quality bait but sadly that’s not me and so far in my carp fishing adventures I believe much of my success is from sticking with a high quality bait prepping it well and applying it regularly and dropping in when conditions are right. I’m so bad at keeping my reply’s short and sweet. I’m trying though thanks

Yea that milk and honey is real easy to roll I use his flavours but the base mixes are a bit pricey to buy in serious amounts, they do make a real good paste I bag of mix lasts ages if you just use it for paste. The results with the TM1 flavour were real good I think he must grind the birdfeed some, more as the mixes are very fine.

Jealousy: Those who blank due to their lack of effort, watercraft or skill will sometimes break rules to try to make up for it. They can also be the first person to complain about someone breaking rules. Rules themselves Some are in place for fish or angler welfare, some are misguided, some for genuine reasons. No particles, no peanuts and tiger for instance could be to prevent incorrectly or non prepared baits, overuse/ too much going in. It can be to stop inexperienced or ignorant* anglers using unprepared particles, and potentially damaging fish. *Ignorant in this case is used as someone who does not know how to prepare them, not as someone who simply doesn't care. All fish captures must be recorded or given to the syndicate manager, on the website or Facebook group. This one can be open to interpretation and is one I'm used to, as it is in place on my syndicate. We have to put pics up, but we are given a 'time', of the end of the fortnight. We do tend to stretch it as much as we can as if you have baited and worked a swim up, you don’t want a swim jumper going off your hard work. Some people can recognise a particular swim on a lake by background features, if the picture is straight on the site they jump in as soon as the successful angler has left, stopping the successful angler getting back in there. My own pictures I might put straight on my FB newsfeed, I've got angler friends who might be interested in my catches, but I can hold onto them to put them on the syndicate page. Not everyone in the syndicate is on my friends list, although some are, (the ones I trust). The syndicate manager is also aware of this, so gave us grace as long as he knows about the capture. No plastic or fake baits. The obvious worry of using a bait that does not break down in the event of a break-off. I've seen fish tethered from picking up plastic baits still attached to a length of line. At least a real bait can come off or break down. Plus the pollution from a piece of plastic. I can't claim to be innocent as I am sure, no positive, I have broken fishery rules. For example on Nazeing there was a 'No wading or swimming' rule. I broke that a few times going in to retrieve snagged fish or end tackle. One fish I had to play out from an undercut bank to my right, the only way was to be in the water. The Bailiff actually saw me, but his view was that the fish was not left wrapped around tree roots and possibly tethered. A syndicate is only as good as its members, one member who is a troublemaker can spoil it for everyone else, or just alienate themselves. My advice, avoid or ignore them. If you have to keep to yourself, be polite, just don't give anything away, or don't tell everything. That may mean cutting out background on your pictures, baiting up when no-one is around, or occasionally passing on a blind lead. Passing on a blind lead; a funny one. I was pre-baiting a new swim as I left when someone I knew who was a swim jumper was on the lake watching me with binoculars. I swapped buckets and Spombed in a bucket of floating dog biscuits in molehill soil to take them to the bottom. By the time I had gotten back to the car park with my gear he had jumped into the swim. Sadly he blanked and got plagued with ducks...

The stance on invasive species seems to always change once the said species gets a good foot hold . Look at zander i was catching them 25 years ago & the EA policy was to knock them on the head , it was against the law to return them . Now there just another species we have in our waterways. Should think in a decade or two big cat fishing in all our waterways will be a common pursuit for specimen anglers . There's been the odd big cat caught out of rivers by me going back years now , quite often by barbel anglers .

There have been reports of catfish getting into The Broads system, and I know after a bank collapse after floods some got into the River Gipping, but were quickly retrieved.

Welcome to carp.com. My plan to enjoy what fishing I can do.

I can see where the EA are coming from, there are an alien invasion species. It's one thing stocking them in a contained lake but when they get into canals or river systems, they can end up anywhere. I suspect some catfish anglers deliberately "planted" fish over the years so they had waters closer to home. We already have pike and perch to predate and keep the ecosystem healthy and catfish are are an additional and unnecessary addition in my opinion.

I fished a popular day ticket carp water that had stocked catfish and I was shocked with the ferocity of them feeding on the sliver fish and no doubt small carp. Got woken up in the dark hours over the two nights by some nice carp and a couple of cats and as I was playing them most of the lake was in turmoil with the cats on the rampage. If you believe in Karma you defo do not want to come back as a sliver fish in a lake stocked with cats. 😳

Just saying hello. I'm a big fan of breed specific activities took fredders along a abandoned rail line let him have at a few old rabbit holes nothing in them full of wind blown leaves plus he wouldn't fit down he just likes to widen th entrance and a general tidy up some wildlife numpty will think badgers have moved in lol.

Fred's tail doesn't seem to stop wagging , and his eyes look very friendly as well . As a Postie I would feel safe approaching Fred for a stroke , but not with my trolley . 😃

tbh I didn't have to raise my voice at Jack really, he tried chewing my sleeping bag but I caught him straight away so no damage. Max though now wants to play ball from dawn until dusk which is no big deal coz the swims are well spaced and it's quiet so not annoying anyone but he doesn't quite bring the ball all the way back then barks at me hurry up - such an annoying little bleeeeep. Male cockers, who'd have one/two? 🤦‍♂️ 😂 I think I'd leave the tennis balls at home if I went somewhere busy - or just take Jack lol

Jacks first session, safe to say he loved it - no dramas - no kit chewed - success! Also seen his first fish - a tench, I'll take that in Feb 👍

Always take my dog spent most of last year breaking him into angling, sort of got there keep him on a tether when out but he now goes off lead when walking on fields still a bit reactive with other dogs.

just take the one, the most feisty dog out the two don't worry about a bit of barking it only disturbed's the anglers and not the fish the birds make more of a ruckus than any dog