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Got lucky on my Bluebell trip, arrived Sunday morning as swims became free from the weekend - lots of swims available on Swan but onto my favourite Kingfisher for a lap. Fairly busy but suprisingly the 1st and 2nd points had become free and had the wind smashing in for the duration of my trip. Within minutes I'd seen several shows in each so I bucketed the 2nd point and went to pay and get my kit. With my kit in the 2nd point I noticed more activity in the 1st point so quickly moved and got set up. I gave it a couple of hours watching to identify the main areas they were showing in then checked with a light lead - all presentable with just tiny bits of black silk weed coming back on the swivel. I decided to go in with pva mesh bags with mixed pellets and crumb and 10ml pellet wafter hookbaits. Conditions at this point were banging 50 mph gusting winds, low pressure and rain. Sunday evening as the rain became biblical the right rod signaled a take, I frantically fumbled around for my coat and got out there. Waders on out in the pond playing a fish in the monsoon - head torch shining through the spray it was mega and I netted a lovely 26lb common. 10am Monday the activity restarts and a guy round the corner leaves who was taking the mick in my water so I get the left rod repositioned where I actually wanted it. Late morning and early afternoon I had 2 doubles from the 2 rods straight out so 3 in the bag and I'm praying for a big un. Then at about 4pm i hook what feels a better fish and it kites right this time then I feel grating as it finds weed. No drama it's still coming and I get ot free, but after 2 heavy head lunges it slips off - gutted. Early evening after seeing a bigger fish roll on the left side - the left rod is away, this time it's in weed straight away but I manged to keep it coming bit by bit weedbed after weedbed and then after a great tussle close in I slip the net under a long common. It wasnt until I plonked it down on the mat that I realised how wide this fish was and that I had made a mistake not going for the bigger scales. The Ruben Flyweights bottomed out at 43lb so unfortunately I'll never know how big it was exactly but who cares when they are knarly as anything - best fish I ve caught for a long time - absolutely buzzing. The rest of the trip got slower and slower by the day but who could be disappinted, I'd made the most of my weather opportunity - right time right place and no bait boat, spodding and distance sticks 😎👌

Mega fish and nice write up. I've always thought that fishing is a bit of a game of chance but when all the stars align and you have the skills and knowledge to capitalise on them, those long gruelling blanks start to feel like a distant memory.

I've been fishing and re finding intimate waters I visited from 35 yrs ago ,one of which I looked around ,but never fished ,it's all overgrown ,and farmer is 90 yrs plus.. Had around 12 fish to 8lb ,no monsters at all ,but the Oaktrees are centuries old ,ps,thats my 50 inch Mhr dwarf ed by just one of these amazing trees

That is a mega fish Kev. World class 😍

Had this one at 29lb 8oz on Tuesday. The session was off to a bad start as I left my buzz bars and alarms at home so just fished them off my cradle 🤣 not the end of the world though as i was only fishing for a couple hours. Anyway it nearly pulled the rod off the cradle lol. I caught it from the 4 acre lake on the complex and I believe its same fish as the first carp I had out of there in jan/Feb at 28lb 14oz 👍 here's the one from the beginning of the year Off to the canal in a bit, fishing through to Sunday, will report back if we get any carp on the bank 👍

After Elmo's plea for more content, I decided to start this one. Below is a video I found on You Tube. It's a fair effort and uses tech to the max, bait boats, drones and underwater camera's. Despite all that, I couldn't believe how blatant the rig was, especially the pop up. The line was bow tight and stood out like a sore thumb and even the lead stood out more than I thought it would. I've seen quite a few of these types of video's and I can't believe that the carp continue to feed anywhere near the area. I'm a bit paranoid about trying to make everything as unobtrusive as possible. I use Korda Safezone leaders (fluorocarbon) and always backlead to keep everything pinned to the deck although I know it compromises bite detection. All my rigs are combi's with a fluorocarbon boom with an inch or so of supple braid to give the hookbait some movement. I don't use pop-ups but but do often use a slip-D combi rig with a wafter that has been bored with some cork to create what I call a wafter+, it is enough to lift the bait off the bottom but the hook still touches the bottom. What edges do you use to minimise suspicion?

No you didn't get lucky , Kev , you just went the extra mile . I do hope you were able to let the mickey taker who was fishing in your water know how you got on after he had left ? 😁.

Very healthy bankside meal 👍

Things I forgot this time Thermocell pads Camera Micro hook ring swivels. And how to catch a fish. My dinner and breakfast were lardon omelettes with rocket, cos I'm on a health kick presently. I did have a savage take and before I had even got off the chair it had yanked the rod so hard my buzzer bars were all over the place and somehow my line snapped, it was either, clutch too tight, I had forgotten to take it out the clip or when it jolted the line got caught on something. Needless to say I didn't get another chance and blanked.

I tend to not be so paranoid tbh, I prefer a fluoro boom on my spinner rig, I nearly always fish a pop up. Mainly bright yellow pineapple this season. I use an unleaded leader (whatever colour I have) knowing it will sink well and it works well with my chosen lead set up (PB Hit n run) And I never back lead or pin the line down. Most people on my lake use a bait boat, so I try to spread the baits out, so the fish have to move between mouthfuls. I like to think they don't really know what rig components are and just see them as detritus but I will slacken my line and get it to sink properly if I can. Although if I need to fish with a bow tight line, I have no issues doing that either. We are all different though and I'm not saying I am right, anything that makes you more confident is a good thing it's just not something I worry about too much, I did use coloured kickers for a while on my spinner rigs and I still caught fish,

I'm not on social media, except for the professional one. I much prefer the chilled out vibe we get here. A lot less 'look at me' and agro.

Thanks The most stressful thing is PFT (PRE FISHING TENSION) Will it be busy? Will I get a decent swim? Will I find some fish? Will I get stuck in traffic? Will I remember everything? No 12:15 I leave work and then it's full on PFT. I've smashed the work out this morning to make sure I can chill though so come on the carps.

Little intimate water I found recently,Tranny and 2+1...

the boys rods out on the spots

Good luck gents! Conditions look good. Out Sunday night with my youngest son, can't wait