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After working a 2pm-2am shift, I popped down to a local park lake to await the morning when I would be able to park on my road (that was my excuse anyway) I managed a carp that probably wouldn’t look out of place in Yonny’s koi pond, but it kicks off October

Week in Belgium for the first time, trip was everything I'd hoped for and more - lake to ourselves 2 anglers 6 acres, paid more but wouldn't add another angler tbh Epic week, tough fishing but so interesting, acting on sightings as usual, spreading the rods far and wide obvs to the point where I was quiver tipping from the pod in both directions at one point lol. This kicked me hard after a bleep in the early hours suddenly turned into a rod flying through the air into the pond as the clutches were too tight. 3 boats trips later after much panicking I picked up the line, got the rod and landed the fish unbelievably. Several boat battles each, quality fish averaging mid 30s, great company, many laughs, team work - learning on the job in boats it was mega in truth, didn't want it to end. By the end of the week we had a well established pattern of only ever catching on a spot on the first night/dawn, no spot did another bite after a fish came off it, so if you weren't moving spots you weren't catching end of. On the last night we predicted that we could both reel in 2 rods and only leave the new one out and obvs it was true - one take each that night on the new spots - pretty mad really. We caught by far the most on the complex and laughed the loudest I reckon. My 'GET IN' when the rod was back in my hand must have woke the complex lol 8 fish for me from 26.8 to 42, my mate 6 from 29 to 44.12 I had all mirrors which is perfect - he had mostly commons again, interestingly he caught mostly commons last trip I didnt and same on a syndi water. Only difference I've noticed he uses a yellow topper, I don't. My second biggest fish's pic wasn't focussed unfortunately, I didnt show him half pressing - usually give him the remote- cant go wrong with that but thankfully re-mastering it made it semi useable so sorry about that. Ian again, thanks for the camera tips etc, got my best night takes ever of mateys big commons and enjoying using my remote - should always do it tbh my self takes are always my favourite pics of the trip. 🤦 I've had worse tbh another mate chops your head off lol Carp Arena, Lilly Pool - drive and survive, small supplies shop, bbq area with fridges, freezers, drinks, chocs and water. Flushing toilets near clean warm showers, bio toilets elsewhere, saw dust is amazing no smells and emptied every 3 days. We didn't get bothered once which we loved, others who blanked on other pits moaned about just about everything so it's not a complex for everyone I guess. Looking to re-book the lake and possibly have a go on Clover Lake 😎🇧🇪

3rd time this year ffs 🤣 I've had 5 fish from this lake and 3 of them has been the same fish 🖕🤣 29lb 8oz lol

So this weekend was great. I've been doing a lot of work to improve water quality/clarity and on Saturday morning I realised I can now see the bottom in 2m of water. Result. The skimmer I put in is working a treat. A decent weekend all round. Fish are still happy but the feeding has slowed right down in the reducing temps.

You go off places - sometimes unexpectedly it happens, I do agree with Yonny though in that you've got the ticket and there are whackers, it's a great time of year now right into Dec. You've paid the money why not commit to having a good bash if you're not renewing, nothing more rewarding/inspiring than seeing the broad back of a monster in your net! All it takes is seeing one patch of bubbles at dawn and you might have unlocked the autumn feed-up area and a hit could be on!

Tricky one mate. I never fish as well on a social as I do on my own. When you're on your own it's easier to put 100% into your angling imo. I guess you need to ask yourself why you're not feeling it. In my experience, catching a few good fish is the best way to start feeling it, so I'd go all out to bag a good'n before winter hits. Staring at a 40lber in the net is a sure fire way to get the buzz back and you have the opportunity to do that right there in front of you. If it were me, I'd forget about the socials and get down there with a plan to watch, and watch, and watch, and move onto them at any given hour. Hard work always pays off and the harder you work, the bigger the buzz when it all comes good.

Thanks, well added them crushed to a mix made it smell decent, looked good on the deck too, but rigging the snails was an absolute nightmare and won't be doing it again lol. I dunno, I don't think they are the one lol. Spent most of the day walking the canal and finally found them, fished amongst them for a couple hours until they disappeared. Not a bleep. 🤣 It's cool though, I'm pretty happy I gave it a go lol.

No more worrying about leaves...... I spent Saturday building some netted covers. I made 3 in 2.4m x 2m rather than one biggun - A) to give some flexibility in coverage, and B) because a biggun would weigh a tonne. Quite happy with the result and it's nice to know that not one single leaf will be in that pond from now on. The fish are slowing right down now, winter is defo on its way. It's a bit gutting after such a short space of time to enjoy the pond, but at least I know we're in good shape for next year. The water quality is the nuts, the fish are looking very healthy, all set to grow a British record in the coming years 🤣

They're two separate tickets mate. The estate has about 2 miles of bank, over 4 stream fed lakes in a valley, a lot of it is unfishable. It is lovely, with natural English carp rumoured to e around the 30 mark. Just talking about it is making me want to go

Note to self, don't use a bait boat on a weedy canal 🤣 man what a nightmare, so last night we thought we should send the baits/particle out with the boat. 3 rods went out sweet, dropped the 4th, turned the boat right when I should of went left and it into that scummy weed that sits on top the water. Wrapped around the propellers and stopped the boat in its tracks. We had no way of getting the boat back so had to do 4 mile trip to get to the other side, safe to say the travel was the easiest part, I then had to go through about 5ft of nettles in the dark to get to the waters edge and still couldn't reach the boat, so I tried with my net handle, which had nothing on the end so I couldn't even hook it out 🤦‍♂️🤣 in the end I just slid down the bank hanging onto brambles and managed to grab it with my other hand and launch in back up into the hedge 🤣 I got stung all up my hip, back and arm and hands lol and to make it even worse, the whole time I was over there trying to get it out all I could hear is my mate roaring like a child 🤣🤣

We have been doctored to accept what was previously written. we ain’t carp so it’s only all theory. how many times have the books said on certain conditions you should empty the lake and you blank,and when you think you are only there to take part you empty the lake.

Pressure is dropping and temps are rising by me. I'd not let the rain put me off tbf.

Couple from my year to date for you all. One from my new ticket, one of 2 trips I actually got over there since July. Mountains of weed cleared from the swim!

It's took me a while to adjust from the ressies as well mate, I love everything about it. Fishing at range, spodding big beds of bait out, hauling multiple 20s a day 👌🤣 I haven't really done any fishing on the reservoirs this year, its been mainly the canal and the complex. Totally different type of fishing imho, really weedy waters, trying to find little holes in the weed then trying to present a bait over it lol. I think out of the last 30 days I've spent about 5 at home, and only had 2 carp (same fish 🤣) Starting to feel burnt out from it now, ended up coming home this afternoon, but now I'm watching the weather forecast and we've got some low pressure coming in and now I'm thinking should I go back down 🤣

Like Ian I've tried making snail baits from real shell and canned snail meat, looked mega but a waste of time in the end. The fake one's again look great but try reeling them in and you have a spinning propellor so your rig whether zig or bottom fished will be ruined every time it is brought back in. My next approach to this will be the black NS1 pop-ups that I've bought, looks snail enough in my mind 🤷‍♂️

Well I've been out and got around 100 snails, got a special mix on the go in the bucket 😏 tedious picking in the waders 💪🤣 I'm off to the canal tomorrow morning for a night or two. Both rods are gonna go on snails. I will update how I get on 👍

So, I joined a little syndicate recently. Well stocked to a few early 40's, Initially thought there's a few odd rules, but whatever. As times gone by (4 x 48's), I've had a low 30 on the first visit) I've sort of lost interest in the place. A few mates are on the ticket, but we haven't been free at the same time for a social. After fishing a reservoir and that feeling of having something no ones caught before, I've just not had the same buzz with this place. The search for a decent venue continues i guess??

Sounds ideal mate., I don't get the enthusiam a lot for carp now, probably because of the club water I now fish, it is not what it used to be. Still like playing about with tactics that are not so trendy now and they do work too. Think when you reach a certain age it is just making the time on the bank that matters to me

Agreed. At 6am this morning I checked my pond (as I do every morning) and the carp were really active. It was 4 degrees and had been raining so I expected them to be sitting somewhere near to the deck, but they looked up for a feed. You just never know innit.

I agree with the others, you might as well have a bash at those whackers, you've got the ticket and you may as well, you might find you enjoy it when you catch another one. That being said I couldn't be bothered to go tonight, I was so tired last night I couldn't be harrised to sort my kit out just to rush before dark, so I didn't 😂 You might find the banks are a bit quieter now and that might help you to enjoy it. Rather than comparing it to the other place look at the challenge you are faced with and think how best to catch them whackers.

Now that's what I call a catch report😬 I'm not jealous at all @kevtaylor. Not one bit🤥 Well done mate.

You should try would be fun getting dragged up the towpath for miles 😂

End up hooking a catfish 🤣 there's a few chunks in the canal and its only a matter of time before one of us gets stripped by one🤣

The storm on Friday gone was a nightmare for the leaves.... I put a net over the pond but it was useless. I'm worried about the leaves blocking up the bottom drain and filter, and drawing oxygen out of the water as they decay. I have the local expert round tonight to quote for replacing the skimmer system and I've ordered the best temporary skimmer you can get. Should do the job for now, but we'll wait to see the cost of the the permanent solution 😬

So I've tried snails, my mate is still keen to try a kilo of chopped worms with 2 rods over it. I will let you know how we get on 👍 tbh though I have done alright on boilie at the beginning of summer, I think im just having some bad luck at the moment so I'm gonna continue with boilie for the rest of the year. Unless he has it off with worms 👍🤣

Thanks for that timely input I was thinking it could be a right edge but I can't be bothered to harvest them, that takes a lot of effort and I hope it pays off for him, looks like it's back to plan 3283638 for me then 😂

Yeah I did years ago. I used live ones, dead ones, dehydrated/dried ones.... and they were all rubbish. Imo the carp get on the (natural) snails simply because it's the easiest food source to harvest at the time. They're tuned into the food sources available in their watercourse and I don't think you can compete with that with any snails apart from those that are plucked out of the venue - so @jh92 has the right idea. Even then, there are other natural baits (maggots and worms) that will do a much better job of competing. The snail discussion comes up every few years. Lots of guys try it. Hardly anyone has any real success. Imho, snails are just not a great bait.

Fake ones? Real ones for a spod mix 🤔 https://www.carpparticles.co.uk/product/micro-snails/ Also don't dynamite cook their hemp in the tins? Does that mean they are unaliving snails in the tin too? 😱

Thats a proper unit, though so is the one in the picture with it if the grassie is a metre long roughly. It's surprising how big they can grow in a pond. My two koi i currently have are both knocking 50cm to 60cm. One is a Sanke and the other a perfect zip linear karashigoi, I'll try and get pics but my water clarity isn't to good as I've just not had the time this year to keep on top of it.

I've got a universal mozzi mesh that fits on most brolly /bivvies cost me about 10 quid I think. It was a jrc one I think, thermocell backpacker and an open front is more effective though I think. Rarely get bit with the backpacker.

That sounds very very nice, freedom and if you can fish the stream a perfect escape! I've not felt the vibe since coming back from Belgium and my daughter's moved back in so it's been busy too, but reading your post makes me want to have a few hours lure fishing on our stream running through the syndi maybe Sunday morning. Got a weekend job come up that'll last right through winter if I don't pull my finger out - the target now is 5 nights at Bluebell in Dec if I can get finished in time.

Totally. Spent a few hours there the other day with my sons. We tried dead bait, no joy. But had a few tiddlers in the float rod. Got them off the screens for a few hours enjoying their surroundings

So basically I stuffed up not going fishing today , but I could always lie , and say I was waiting for one of Kevs' super lows 😁

It doesn't always pan out no, however the biggest hits of fish I've experienced myself or witnessed for others were all on super low pressure systems, I only really get excited if it's proper low like 970's then it is ON no doubt. Slightly low pressure like 990's 1000 - nothing special IMO I can miss those sessions coz I know it's not gonna do anything or much at all - super lows are rare like a couple a year maybe - don't miss those 👍

I caught this one while it was absolutely chucking it down about this time last year, the downpour made me think I had no chance and was going to be on the end of a two night blank. Luckily this one ignored the script and I was happy to get a soaking. Packing up in the rain wasn't much fun though. But you won't catch em at home.

Been a long time since I've kept koi but if my memory serves me correctly gin rin refers to the sparkle look you get on some of the scales - the best type looking like cracked glass which is permanent. To me you've got a gin rin ogan, all types e.g showa etc can be gin rin, if the sparkle is there.

Is it safe to attach leadcore leaders/solid bags by looping it together? I'm tying them on at the moment but being able to loop solid bags on would make it easier lol

Does it ever even stop ??

I'm quite lucky where I am mate, the river and canal hold some really good fish, although the river is on the decline because of otters and they haven't done any restocking, but they do keep stock the canal every few years. Love a bit of perch fishing too, 0.5g - 7g rod, dropshot setup on holes of weed 👍 I think we can get a bit caught up with the carp fishing and sometimes a change in species can make fishing enjoyable 👍 I'm back on the complex tonight and just done some photos for my mate on the other side with a 20lb linear 👌

No I'm not either, I am doing an overnighter Friday that's probably it for the month 😂 Well done Kev some absolute crackers and sounds like you got it sussed. Good observation on the spots too. It made me think how often I expected to catch more but hadn't. Not something I would usually even consider tbh 👍

Nice one Kev. It would have been so easy to sit behind the rods after your first fish and think you had it sussed. Had to laugh at the moaners, some people think that just because you've paid your money and travelled, you're bound to catch! Some of these lakes are highly pressured and the fish are wised up just as much as most of the circuit waters over here.

Well done getting off the vapes 👍 I'm a nightmare for them, puff on it more than I did with roll ups, used to rinse 2 - 3 disposables a day lol. Its a good reminder for me reading this to get off them as well.

not visited in a bit thought i'd pop in. been sorting my health out, gave up inhaling anything as advised no vaping has made a big difference basically i got that illness you can get from vaping means i'm using steroid inhalers for life going forward, very early COPD. i do feel a lot better than this time last year, just need to avoid chest infections to the point i got issued a rescue pack which consists as strong antibiotics and anti inflammatory pills to be used if i get a chest infection coming on. i could moan about no bad weather fishing trips but i have always been a summer only kind of guy 😀

I know mate I said the same 🤣 it's alright for him he works in a tackle shop so gets them cheaper but still kind of expensive in my eyes 🤣 Just gotta keep chipping away at it, keep searching for them. I've had 4 on the bank this year, had 3 with in a couple hours on one session lol. All to snowmen with like 10 baits over each rod. It works so I gotta stick with it and not chop/change when it gets hard lol. Maybe less bait as the year goes on. I dunno, feels like this canal has made my head fall off 🤣 @elmoputney my other mate feeds a lot of pellet, catches carp but gets done by a lot of bream, like 3 - 4 a night some times 🤣 Back down there for a walk later, then fishing tomorrow for the day, then probably back Friday afternoon through to Monday 👍

I go through stages of trying things out, and some of my favourite stalking baits in rivers are slugs and snails, because they occasionally fall in from bankside vegetation. Chub and carp have taken slugs on the drop, although snails are harder to hook... I did try putting land and water snails in my spod mix a few times, and a mate and I have been known to walk round the lake collecting them. We get water snails as big as your thumb! The best way to use them we found to stop them floating was freeze them. It never seemed to produce any more than standard spod mix. I've used Dynamite hemp and snails and it seems no better than plain hemp, although I do know that when fish get onto snails they are very good for growth and health.

I think you guys misunderstand me. I'm not suggesting they might not be fully waterproof. I'm suggesting the theory that plugs might help with water ingress is preposterous.

https://snailfishingbaits.co.uk/ There you go with a little Google I found the mother load.

https://www.baitworks.co.uk/ I've been on the Creamino for the last few years and I don't know if it's co-incidence but I've had my best 2 seasons since.

I get most of my kit second hand, never had any issues 👌 got my hide about 3 4 years ago second hand and it's still going strong 🤣

Popped out to get a photo last night. It's the one fish in the pond that's not a koi. It's an albino grass carp. Despite its mental golden colour, this one was always going to be tricky to get a shot of as it tends not to come up for food, preferring to mooch around about a meter under the surface like a massive orange submarine. It has to be nearly a meter long but v tricky to put a weight on. It's certainly the longest fish in the pond but not the biggest. Maybe 26-27 lb? This is the fish that's had all our visitors giving it "oooooh" and "aaaaah" which is silly because there's 2 or 3 that are a fair bit bigger, but the length just blows people way. I just call it The Big Grassie. Again, apologies for the poor pic quality.