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If you want a bulletproof spod reel, go old school: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/225802633024?hash=item3492e2bf40:g:eIoAAOSwGJllHYBP&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAAwEaDJzcdq1D%2ByJmTj%2BWCltx2oau%2BpCfQUZ6D0OSNQWgHd5D981ssJhU0EIbF3g5cUQdEVXDG%2Fs3AnmwntBrfKzTDXPiXUg7lrtuRDiP7ymZqYIpI6D1qoJ%2Fv6n3vp0Cez1JfFldcFuBm%2Fz4chib0u9%2B%2F5H0MlCGnh5fX7P1pJNS07Flt%2BX%2FJ0MT14%2BavXsnK8D6ipBQKSEV%2BUIy9rvZtRJq7pzZBcWkRoH2m2%2BPWQ6Mdfd86MK0PddreAd8g5YIPFQ%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR5D1i5jjYg I'd also have a search (ebay search Shimano Aerlex) and see if anymore come up. They hold their price better than new ones! The older Shimano models are so much better than the current ones.

Rich , i wish ,,,,,, thats probably about £0:05 of Gold in the pan , now take in the the 900 mile round trip , i seem to at a bit of a loss 😄 Great fun though and i shall return.

Went to Scotland to do some Gold panning in the rivers and burns for a couple of days back in September. and yes Yippee i found some .

Daiwa emblem spod reel .... awesome retrieval rate & bullet proof . Cant fault it tbh .

Couldn’t think of anything worse than loosing a fish on a hook tied by someone else I wouldn’t even let my best friend tie my knots and he’s an angler

Nice one Nick, think I'm going for one of the actual fishing reels in the XTB range, said to have better internal components than the spod version, will cost more but should be a lot better - fingers crossed. I think the 8000 size of the Aerlex are a bit on the small size for fast retrieve, but like you say bulletproof! 👍

Nice write-up. Really wish I could have been there, and hope that another can be arranged and that I can get to.

At a small village called Tyndrum.

They were only a real nuisance when the breeze died down , but i did have a hat with a vail all round it so i was fine .

24 hours on a big fish commercial and blanked. Only had a couple of half-hearted bleeps and most people on the lake blanked and very few fish rolling. Unfortunately I drove the bait boat a little too far into a sexy looking gap in the reeds on the and snagged it up. Had to strip down to the undies and swim the 40 yards out to the Island. The water was surprisingly warm for October, if my teeth started chattering, I was coming straight out as it's not worth it. The rescue mission went without a hitch and I did learn some interesting fact about the lake. The margins were surprising shallow, the first 5 yards were knee height but the water is always coloured and looks far deeper. The silt was a bit squishly and I could feel it between my toes but a leading rod felt quite firm. The bottom after 5 yards was quick hard clay but at the Island it shallowed up quick rapidly to about 2 foot. The channel was a good 2 rod lengths from the Island and from now on, I'll be targeting that.

Yes sorry Linear, there are a few bookable lakes now. Could be good

I think it's fair to say none of us would be very good influencers/bloggers. Not sure why, but I think this maybe my longest write up. Sorry if I'm waffling on. Hopefully one of the others can fill in some of the gaps?? So, we arrived Friday morning to glorious weather, carp showing all around the horseshoe shaped lake. A bit disappointed to discover we would need our own boat to get to the island swim. Walked the lake a few times, and did a draw. Surprisingly, we drew 1-5 numerically.?? It seemed a good omen. In 2nd place I was lucky enough to pick one of the favoured swims. It had a bit of everything, overhanging trees in the margins, 2 channels opening into the rear of the lake, off the back of the island with a long chuck of around 20 wraps. Rods set up, time for the marker to find some spots. Oh! Every chuck for the first 20 minutes plugged in thick blanket & Canadian weed. When I say plugged, I had to line the rod up with the lead and walk backwards?? This wasn't going to be as easy as I'd first thought. Luckily it was clear in the channel to my left around the lillies, so put a bit of bait out & a rod on each side of the channel. I flicked around a light lead with 1 ft zig on the 3rd rod to try and pick off the fish that had been fizzing in the swim. @kevtaylor went in next to me on the gate swim, with the road bank to himself. Fish showing at range, but not safe to fish for them due to the channel & island. Rods out, set up camp, sun was out. Just messaged the others how nice it was to do a bit of sunbathing & it poured down for half hour😄 We ordered the kebabs that Elmo kindly went to collect, had quick munch, beer and a chat. Then back to matter in hand. Elmo had a mid double that night, fishing in the garden swim on the opposite side of the lake to me. Well done mate. Next morning, no shows in front of me so I went for a wander. @chillfactor had a small tench & similar issues with the weed, that we were told was upto 8 ft deep!!!! @dalej2014 was having a nap, so went round to see Elmo. Interesting to watch his approach with the boat and Deeper. As far as I could tell, the baitboat was a very effective way to fish this venue. I could just see @chillfactorwith a nice bend in his rod, so made my way back to see his capture. Which turned out to be another little tench with 10 times its weight in weed. Headed back to my swim with Elmo to find @kevtaylor bent into a lovely looking mid double mirror. Nice one. We ordered fish n chips, delivered to the gate. Chewed over a few stories between us and thoughts for the night ahead. I had a lead around at the long chuck and found a clear spot. Put 2 rods out there and about a kilo of chops. Woke up Sunday about 6.30, looked around. Beep, pause then a screamer, the bobbin hit the rod hard and I soon had the 19lber on the long chuck. It was an unusual scrap as the fish tried to bury itself in the weed. But I had a good hook hold and soon had it in the net. It was a big relief having been in the favoured swim and not caught yet. Everyone had had a carp (or tench) by then. Elmo & @dalej2014 were heading home that day and everything went really quiet. The wind had picked up & changed direction. That was enough to make @kevtaylor & @chillfactor make the move to the middle of the lake. @kevtaylor had quick payback with his mid 20 cracker. Well done sir👍& thanks for getting out of bed to take a few pics of my fish. I didn't have much activity in front of me and considered moving, but felt it was silly to move having caught this morning. So I continued to keep the chops going in every few hours on the long chuck, occasionally a sprinkling on my margin rod. The lads had spotted an otter causing havoc at their part of the lake at dusk. I was woken around midnight to a screamer on my margin rod. Without my head torch I proceeded to trip over my other 2 rods and grab the screamer. I had a lovely bend in the rod, but something felt strange. Rubbing almost. I played the fish until I saw the surrender of his mouth out of the water. I couldn't quite net it??? I jumped in and scooped the net under the fish. I could then see that during the fight my line had wrapped around an overhanging branch. Fish secure I cut the line. Quick weigh up without my glasses looked around 14lb. Quick mat shot, didn't seem fair to wake anyone up for this little fella. All quiet for therest of the night and morning. I had small fish showing on the long chuck, but no bites. Slow pack up and home for dinner time. It was the first time on this type of social for me. It was kind of like meeting up with old mates after so many years on the forum. I'd definitely go again, take care gents and be lucky!