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With the big pit covered in a giant weedberg on the end of the wind where I wanted to be, I decided to pop to the local day ticket for my monthly session. I experienced all the highs and lows associated with such places - plenty of carpy activity but got casted over, spombed at, hemmed in...... but all's well that ends well. Caught a few with these being the prettiest. The linear is typical of the stock of this water, but the other one is a true leather. Quite a rarity nowadays.

Went back to Belgium Carp Arena Lilly Pool late July-Aug and was regretting the booking in the run up with the extreme heat forecasts. First day set up camp and got my son fishing and he got off the mark with 2 x 30s within the first 12 or so hours so all pressure was off. Sunday I got my rods sorted and didnt take long to get off the mark too with another low 30. The heat midweek killed the action but we got a couple late on in the week. We ended up with 7 for me including the biggest in the lake and 4 for my son. Mega week for me practicing boat skills to drop rigs, bait up and play a few that became weeded up, my son loved the bait boat and wasnt keen on the actual boat as he felt unsafe with me moving all over the place trying to help him hand line fish out of the weed etc. Tactics were my low pop-up rigs, match the hatch baits and small scatterings of boilies which seemed to work well considering the conditions. No night bites which seemed odd but great, all fish came between first light upto 10pm with 7am - 10am the most productive. Will go back coz I love the boating element and a lake exclusive.

One from this weekend.. Only taken on a phone but with some editing they can look ok..

Last week in Belgium, rods far and wide on a lake booking between me and my son.

Gets me when on a pretty quiet lake a new arrival will choose to go right next to you or bang opposite - I mean really?!?! I've been doing this fishing lark for a long time now so if I want to go down a particular end of the lake but find it to be busy down there I go the other end instead of fitting in and spoiling it for those already present. I'm not desperate to catch these days and it usually works that the pressure pushes them away anyway. 🤷‍♂️

A couple of weeks ago I sent a couple of models to Help for Heroes, a 1/740 Prinz Eugen which I had ordered in the wrong scale ( I build ships in 1/600) and an HMS Belfast I had duplicated. Really pleased to receive this today and that it is handwritten makes it such a nice reply.

View OF the bivvy doors - this is camp from the last trip, thankfully the trees left side of the swim covered us from mid morning until 7pm. We moved the Nash tarp and used as a wall to block the early morning sun - worked a treat. 👍

At Brackens I knew everyone else was going to recast around 6pm at night, so I would make sure I had my baits in place long before that, and use their disturbance to move the fish out of their areas. Quite frequently I would get fish about 8 o-clock at night while they blanked. I also try not to change hookbaits, even after a fish. The smell of 'me' is gone, the first fish found it acceptable, so changing it might upset that. That attitude also comes with me now at the end of a session. My pop-ups are already counterbalanced, on floss and lighter blobbed, so don't come off unless pulled. I can quite easily just attach a fresh bag or stringer without actually touching the bait. The only time Sky goes silly, talking and jumping, when someone comes to visit, and most people she loves, but there are one or two who she is not keen on for some reason, possibly because they are nervous about her. I don't mind the majority of people if they move in next door, but sometimes there are some you wish hadn't. I make sure Sky is on bark mode, lol. I try to spot fish, and if I do have to move in next to someone I will just stringer and one cast rather than make a massive disturbance.

You've certainly got the swim covered lad!

From a few years ago.

I've been known to move swims if someone shows up next door with a mallet and a ten billion lumen headtorch. Can't be doing with that. Tbf I'm not bothered if someone moves in next door and they're quiet and show etiquette. If I see fish in an empty swim I'll move in there regardless of who else is about, but I'd be mindful of the situation. For example, I'd not cast out at bite time if there's guys on the fish next to me.

Same as nick pick up the flashing led rod it’s usually the one with the bend in it for me as I fish clutches a little tight. I have never needed an isotope either.

I have a very simple system: My indicators and alarms are red, white and green. The receiver bleeps and the led lights in those colours. As I go to the rod I check the bleeping buzzer for the correct led, and look at the falling or rising indicator. This works with anglers who have a choice to be like me with different colour leds on the alarms, or those who chose to have one alarm led colour. The receiver will bleep, an led will show. Now in the UK, there is a legal maximum limit on the number of rods an angler can use, a maximum of 4, and clubs may limit anglers to 3 or even 2, so the numeric readout is not a particular need.

I've met some great people on the bank but also some I'll be glad never to meet again. Here are some examples of "That Guy"; You've found a spot, got the rods out and the bivvy is up. Time to relax with a cup of tea and then it starts. Tap, tap, tap........tap, tap, tap.... tap, tap, tap. Worse, you know the idiot has about 11 more pegs to get in! You struggled to push yours in the hard ground with a bit of sweat and a few choice words but did it confident that the fish wouldn't be aware of your presence. Anyone owning a bivvy mallet should have it inserted blunt end first! It was 2 in the morning. It was during one of the recent heatwaves and all the bivvy sides were up. A blinding light hits you and a car rumbles past on the gravel track. Everyone has an emergency ever now and again so you let it go. Ten minutes later it comes back and parks again. I know the portaloo is 200 yards away and despite what you think, your Tesla does make a racket! A bloke was fishing on the opposite side with his missus and 2 kids. They had a BBQ at dinner time. No problem. Then the 2 kids get out a football and kick it all around the lake! I was fishing one rod about a rod length out near some rushes. All of the sudden, there is a huge splash right where I was fishing. I thought it must have been a fish. Twenty minutes later another splash and I saw the lead go in! I walked a good 25 yards to the next swim and had a few words with the bloke! A couple of kids were fishing near the dam. Doof. The lead went in. Five minutes later another doof. Every five minutes another doof as they cast repeatedly for hours. Yes, I blanked. A noisy bloke was on the other side, Regularly you would hear him tell his dog to lie down. Luckily after dark it all went quiet. Then at 2:30a.m., he started chatting to his mate in the next swim. I could hear every word, despite him being 100 yards away!

Exactly! What's wrong with these people? 🤣

Well done for rising above all the provocations and triumphing . I mean did these numpties not realise from your hat that they were dealing with a serious carper ?. 😁

Yes his hookbaits are the real deal. First night in using them i had a 40 coincidence or not they do work well, hence his catchphrase. Buy with confidence

So my beloved BMW Z4 went for an MOT today, its 2009 but is in excellent condition with full BMW service history. So for the first time since i have had her it came back as a fail. Front near side shock leaking, needs replacing. Now this car is a straight 6 3l twin turbo putting out 400bhp. But that's not the bad part, it has fully adjustable active suspension. Getting a replacement aftermarket is like rocking horse poo and costs £800 just for the shock. So i face a bill for £1k just to replace a shock. Damn, it took a while to sink in. But she is beautiful.

Only the one ? treat it to a pair lol

TBH, I recon now the temps have eased off a bit the fish are up for a feed. I don't think they've been feeding much whilst it's been so bright and hot, not there's a bit of a breeze, the temps have dropped and we're getting occasional cloud cover, they've got to feed in some shape or other. If you're luck enough to be there when they switch on and can keep them in the area, you'll get a great result. I haven't been back to my local pond to check water temps since last weekend, but I hope they've dropped a bit and I hope the breeze has helped oxygenate the water a bit.

Despite the sweltering heat, I managed 20 fish on my days only park lake including a 16, 17 and two 18's. The average size was about 12 1/2 lb. As mentioned before, it's not normally that easy and by no means a pastie water. Despite the conditions screaming zigs or a small PVA bag approach, I went in totally the opposite and sent out the boat with spod mix and pellet at least every hour or after a bite.

I went to club lake early morning today, had a few mid doubles close in under an overhanging tree, and one mid water too. By 12 o'clock was far too hot so packed up but enjoyed the fishing. Just a small thing tho, my Atts remote packed up mid session, tried to replace it with a Duracell AA rechargeable battery, blooming thing is actually slightly larger than a normal one so didn't fit!!☹️ Didn't stop me having a good day tho 👍 Take care in this heat all.

Thanks for your Input. Carl Pettit is a very competent angler. Everything he does is done with precision, which shows in his hookbaits. Deffo casing ripples in the hookbait world.

Yep Ben said you're gonna capsize us lol He's not happy in the massive boat on the pike ressies either tbh 😄

I laughed about the boat... my sons were the same. Scared of getting wet??? Glad you had a good time mate

This is something that bothers me always has and something that came up on a recent Korda Podcast where Dovey of all people admitted to doing it all the time. To me this is pure noddy! Re-casting at dusk, what is that about?!?! Was taught early on you get the rods set and leave them ready for the key bite times with no disturbance i.e dawn and evening into dusk. So on what planet does it make sense to reel in during bite time, cause commotion and smash the lead back out for no reason whatsoever? We find a spot were happy with, cast accurately, use rigs we know present and reliable bait that stays as it should, it washes out (ages) along with the freebies and can stay out for the duration of your trip, unless you suspect something has got away with it. Why would anyone re-cast at key times when you should be sitting on your hands - it's beyond me tbh - smacks of not being confident with all of your previous steps so doubts have set in, if not that why would you want a fresh hookbait that now looks alien to the rest? Stupidity IMO

Awesome @kevtaylor

Is that you Ollie? 🤪

Tru dat, didn't give them an inch to hide lol

Although I've no real need to buy bait I would most definitely give these consideration if I did, I know a few lads using them and only hear positive comments about them on very difficult waters too.

Wish I took more photos from those days.

Early 90's again, at the time a working gravel pit very close to M25, remember Concorde used to pass overhead.... Noisy [censored]! 😃

Early 90's Broadlands lake

going to a club water this weekend for a few nights, hopefully it cools a little by then.

Blanket weed is my only issue, or should I say was... I stopped feeding them about a week ago, it took a few days but they started feeding on it, but not enough to stop it spreading. So i ordered 15 trap door snails. They have been in 48 hrs and I can already see the pond getting clearer. Water quality is better than what comes out the tap

Probably my favourite track and depressingly brilliant. After Chester died, no other man could replace him and so they got in a female singer.

Came through the latest heat wave fine. All the koi are happy and feeding really well, it's amazing what that extra air has done. I've been upping the food this past week and the fish are loving it. We now have a prolonged period of 25-28C which is absolutely no problem so it's time to put some weight on.

Hi Paul Been looking in for some time now and have struggled to register for some reason? However, here I am. I hope this place offers you a good place for discussion and where opinions and alternative views are welcomed. Reading through a large number of previous threads, I think you are going to be ok.

Another independent tackle shop in Norfolk is closing down https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/26400533.wensum-valley-angling-taverham-closes-final-time/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwdGRjcATOnNxjbGNrBM6cy2V4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHgalWGfu_javnoI9KBSUAaSfkhngP-WUgEQcjOWnitQ__0pSrDEgeXFhuORX_aem_4aDPBQbhD_J0Qb0H614Leg#Echobox=1784743154

I had this last year as the lake I was on had a lot of catkins and they dropped into the lake causing a huge raft of drifting debris. It was so thick that I had to stop retrieving the reel after about 10 turns and carefully bite it off the line. Unfortunately the berg became saturated and dropped to the bottom and sucked in oxygen out of the water and at least 25 carp perished. All the catkin trees were removed and the lake pruned to prevent the worst of the leaf litter problem.

Well it was a difficult weekend to say the least. I got the new/additional airlines in on Thursday night before going fishing on Friday night. Both of the fish that were struggling (a 68cm yamabuki (bright yellow/gold common) and a 60cm doitsu kohaku (white/orange mirror)) seemed to improve initially. The fishing was just savage in that heat on Friday so by 9am Saturday morning I was back home to check on the koi. The smaller of the two, the kohaku, was feeding and swimming around like nothing ever happened - a full recovery it seemed, but I couldn't spot the big yamabuki. At 10am, having still not spotted the yamabuki, I started work cleaning the filters. I still had my polarised sunnies on after fishing and I was taking a closer look at the fish from the filter house when I spotted one on its side on the bottom. I knew straight away which one it was and so it proved when I fished it out with the net. One of the best in there and certainly one of the most valuable... the yamabuki.... dead. Digging the grave in 35 degrees was not fun as you can imagine but that paled into insignificance compared to the pain of losing one of my favourite and most valuable koi. I'm a member of several koi pages on social media and it seems all over the country people are losing fish despite following all the right procedures. My water parameters are fine and I have tonnes of oxygen going in. There's not much more I can do. I'm hoping this drop in temps does us all a big favour but I know that we're heading back up to 30 degrees after next weekend. I've increased the frequency of my water changes in an attempt to bring water temps down so that should help a little. So basically it turns out winter is a doddle compared to summer when it comes to keeping koi. I knew that high temps introduce risk for koi but I genuinely thought I was prepared for it. Let's just hope that that's the end of the serious problems.