Leaderboard

And as I mentioned previously, I lost on today's session so I also had to take a photo with Kevin the carp and look after him until the next time we get out together 😂

17lb 7 oz

2 more from yesterday...👍

Mid double common

mind you i have watched a 20Lb+ struggle with a dog mixer

I got one of the fox jobbies when they were released to see what the fuss was about , best use I found for it was filling up my large spomb 😄

was trying to make myself feel better bud

Its more like what does the loser has to do! aha Basically we have a carp pillow that the loser of that session has to take a photo with and take home. It's judged on the total amount you've caught by weight. Whoever has the pillow by the end of the year, the first session together in 2019 will have to do the whole session kack handed, so left handed for both of us. just a bit of fun added to our sessions and helps with the banter Unfortunately i didn't come out on top this session as he had 45lb in the "net" and i only had 32lb but i did finally catch a september carp! So that curse is finally broken! I'll post the photos now from my phone.

my timing for getting to the lake just as the carp go to sleep

They're not sleeping bud...…. They are pointing and laughing...….😀

you can spod a nice sloppy mix over the top, one that will have risers or neutral buoyancy bits (solar up and down mix) is probably the best and i prefer to add evaporated milk to mine to give a nice cloud to it. Nige is probably the closest to a zig expert we have on here

Depends on the water really mate. I often fish zigs and treat them as singles, Or putting a zig over an already spodded area (from when i was fishing the bottom). If your going to a lake packed full of carp, spod over the zig, otherwise i dont spod over them. black zigs always do me well at night.

By the sounds of it, they are probably about the same..... The spomb isn't perfect, but then again, what is ?

The fox was ok and I was happy to use it BC ,it was just the fact that it didn't open every now and then , and I was wondering if the spomb one worked any better ...

I use the original Spombs , large and small,and they are "ok"...….. They do have to land nose first to get a good opening, so if you are hitting a clip quite hard they can sometimes land side on, and not open up. But I find that after a couple of casts to a spot, you can time it just right in most cases...… After watching a few vids, learned that you get a slightly better spread of bait with the Spomb,, compared to a spod, as it nose dives into the water and actually through the bait that just came out of it, the turbulence it causes just opens the pile of bait up a bit as it sinks...… The main problem I've had with the Spomb, is loading it. It's all too easy for a grain of hemp to slip in amongst the spring mechanism and jam it up, or leave it not quite locked up. and spill on the cast..... You just gotta make sure to be quite methodic when loading it, check the mechanism is working freely, and best to use a spoon or scoop and not dip it into a bucket of particle.. My other gripe with a Spomb, is that you can only half fill them, so if you are planning to put a bit of bait out, you could be spombing for quite a while. I'd have a spod on stand by if this was the case...…… I do like them though, they are more accurate imo than a spod, for me, at least and because they are never really full up, they are generally easier to handle, less spill, tidier swim, less rat food,that sort of thing....😊 Had my original spombs for 5 yrs plus, so yes , I'd say they are pretty reliable. There are a lot of cheaper versions out there 4 quid on the bay, not sure if they'd stand up to much abuse tbh, so could be a false economy imo.

My mate fishes specimen lake at furnace quite a lot. It's got a few cats in there but nowhere near as many as the others. I've fished it once and it's a nice little lake with the swims nice and spaced out but it's far too overpriced for what it is.

Real Spomb for me every time. I won't put any money towards the Nash marketed Dot Spod as I put as little money his way as possible.

The trouble with casting in a high arch, for the spomb to open (it needs to land nose first), is that any sort of cross wind will have you dumping bait all over the shop. Before the dot spod came out, I would use a traditional spod if any wind as I am a bit ocd with making sure my baiting is spot on. With the dot spod, you can cast it and hit the clip the same as your ‘fishing’ rods. If you clip up to the distance with a spomb, you have to allow extra yardage because of the need to hit the clip so high up, allowing that nose dive. For me, the dot spod has answered all my questions.

My 1st ever Carp out of my local Water Park (Orrell Rez) in Wigan 14lb...PROPPER BUZZIN...also had a 7lb after it..

I’d not ignore putting out a good quality boilie. This is the time of year the fish go on the feed and put on weight. They’ll be searching for a good food source. Crumb it up and use halves to get it to settle on the silt. Don’t be afraid to fish in 3ft of silt. Just use a helicopter setup with a chod rig set 3ft up with a 1ft between the beads so it can settle nicely on top.

Hi and welcome Brutus, it was nice to read that you served an angling apprenticeship, instead of jumping straight into carp angling. In my experience, the graduated carp anglers seem the most proficient. I’d say that also applies to pike fishing too, as getting used to handling bigger species is important. Anyway, welcome to yoo 👍🏻

Agree. There is a period every year (around now) where a multitude of naturals become available as the weed drops. If that is the case then sometimes you can really struggle to compete with it (can be bloomin' frustrating), but, those bloodworm beds can be used to your advantage if you think about it.