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A moody one after a busy night..

Well I actually went back Tues to Thursday armed with particles including tigers, same swim, not a touch. Could see fish in the swim opposite, two anglers went in and both failed, watching them I figured I was pretty close and went long after them but same result. Was kicking myself for not getting maggots instead of the particle choice as they are clearly on naturals in the areas still containing surface weed or where that had recently cleared. Found 3 fish on the back of the wind on the 2nd afternoon and said to myself I'll move down here if no action for the 2nd night, with one being a good sized common, but the following day no fish in that area so a move turned into a go home early. Social at Bluebell this week but then back to the syndi end of Oct armed with maggots, worms and/or casters. Always disappointing to blank but have to remind myself it's 2 fish per acre at best so never easy.

I don't think it matters, but it also winds me up. I don't use bags a lot but when I do I protect the hook between a couple of little bits of corn starch packing peanuts (what most people call PVA nuggets). The corn starch is released more easily than PVA, and tends to keep the hook/barb free of debris. It also protects the hook point from penetrating the bait(s) in the bag.

Big hike? Not being funny, but a big water I'd stick with 12ft rods. Ardleigh and Alton reservoir, 160 and 500 acres respectively, even Nazeing Meads Lagoons, around 65acres, could be some long walks to swims, and 12ft rods do give you better casting range. Sounds simple, but co-ordinate your barrow and tackle you carry. Do the standard take out non essential stuff that 'I might need one day'. I use a Carp Porter Porterlite (original), and I can take the gear for 3 days in one trip, and the 12ft rods and bivvy on top of the barrow.

Hi, I'm using small PVA mesh bags of boilie only, (2 x 15mm and 6 x 12mm baits ) with a match the hatch pop up on a Ronnie rig, barbless hook with a supple hook link on a lead clip. When using barbed hooks, does it matter if you have PVA residue on your hook where the barb is? I've tested the rig several times in a pan of water and most times there's a large visible amount of residue stuck on the underside of the barb that rarely completely melts. If I use barbless hooks the residue always slides off past the hook point. I'd rather use barbed if possible. Thanks

My funnel webs are pretty round like golf balls and I piece through the sides so I'm not going anywhere near the 2 knots, works well

Tnank Thanks for the heads up, i'll give that a try.

I use both PVA bags and meshes of boilies and 'bits', and I hate blobs of PVA on the hook. When I use bags, I push the hookpoint out of the bag in the corner so it doesn't catch on the contents. With mesh I often don't knot the end and use the hookpoint to close it and have noticed I don't get a blob of PVA as it was the knot that took longer to dissolve.

Bought a camping gas refill cylinder yesterday for cooking my particles - I'm banned from doing it in the kitchen because of the smell and an accident many years ago where the pressure valve on my pressure cooker came adrift and I managed to "paint" the ceiling! I haven't bought one for a few years but thought I paid about £35 last time, this time it was over £45. I put it down to the "Trump tax!" The price of diesel is going to have a massive impact on all prices and they are only going one way.

Still £337.50 over at Trent Baits.

No worries mate, I was referring to the syndi on the naturals 👍 Bluebell is just bags of crumb and pellet with halibut pellet wafter hookbaits.

Maggots not allowed at Bluebell mate so keep them hidden if you do 😉

Supply and demand guys. If people are willing to pay it, fair play to the chap.

That's almost how I managed to pick up the second set of Beastmasters, although in my case it was Ebay. Someone selling a set of 3 for around £50 each, when new they were £59.99. I knew that they were decent reels having used them for years. Not that I am in a hurry to sell them, but I still wouldn't lose money if I did. Possibly the best of the budget range Shimano reels, better than many more premium reels from them.

I'll probably do just that, save a few quid.

Hi Yonny, Thanks for the info, I own a set of Aviators (12ft Flex). The rods were purchased because it's a proper hike fish to fish some of the best swims. (15 min walk with a barrow) With smaller rods i'm hoping to get my kit there in one trip. I'm walking my rods there first and then returning with the barrow It's a large estate lake that has a dam wall at one end a bottle necks. The top end is a long underhand chuck or a gentle overhead lob at best. I use 2oz leads exclusively for this. I sold my SS2600's a few years back. With the above info would you still purchase some new smaller ones or save some cash and make do with what i've got? Cheers.

Rumour has it they call him Ghandi though

Blank 3 nights last weekend, started on the spots i'd caught from, by the last night I had 2 up against the snags after seeing one saturday morning. Heard a lump bosh near there rods at 11pm but no takes. Frustrating but back again Thursday with a new baiting plan and lure rods after a pike grabbed the leading rod and felt decent!

Blue Algea and low water levels have meant its closed until further notice (significant rainfall I guess) Shame as im told there's 8 nice 30's to go at😒 Plan B produced a 38 common 2 weekends ago, so hopefully its hungry again🤞

My bait company has put the price of my fishmeal and GLM bait up from £337.50 per 50k to £412.50, only that bait has gone up in price. Was a bit shocked to say the least 👀 Anyone else seen companies doing this?