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That's the Mother of all stringers! I remember the baiting rules. We used to roll our own baits back then and also tested them under the trees between Reeds and Ski slope, you could almost have them eating out of your hands! My mate Phil's capture of Digit was from Digit corner, he see it go down on his rig it was that close to the bank. Chris had a mug made up with his pic of that fish lol! I also remember Gary too.

Np. I didn't mean to sound like I was having a go back if that's how it came across. I was just letting loose a little. And, again this isn't meant as a dig at you personally, but there does at times feel like theres a bit of hypocrisy from some people when it comes to comfort/more recent innovations. If there wasn't any progress, we'd all still be using split cane rods with 10+ rings all sat within a few mm of the rod blank and centerpin reels loaded with cat gut. As I said, you do you. Everyone's entitled to do what they want as long as it's within the rules and doesn't affect others. I've never fished through the winter before and have had previous few nights before, so a bit of comfort/warmth will be very welcome. Who knows how long any of us have left. If there's something you want to try, I say go do it.

Sorry mate if it sounded like a dig at you, it deff wasn't intended. Just seems to me that if people feel the need to buy this stuff, shouldn't they question if they should be fishing in colder weather at all? As for a Throwing stick, used to use an origanal Cobra one, long sinced binned, flying rats soon put pay to that, and where I fish now not needed at all. I still use a spomb on occasions to get particles out.... actually made 'spods' out of gardner boilie gun tubes and shampoo bottles back in the day. Bait boats not relevent for me as they are banned on the lakes I fish, if they were allowed, would I spend money on them? I think not. Carp reels, yes Shimano bait runners, rapidly found at the time before 'big pit' reels were 'invented' that a change to sea fishing reels - Ryobi Project - I think were a vast improvement on anything 'carpy' at the time. Not sure about 'specialised' ringing thet we now use? Hutchy horizons didn't seem to have them, oh I obviously don't use them now, long gone. Just use a fairly cheap pair of Korum 2.5 test curve rods, I love them. Anyway, take care in your fishing and stay safe in the cold weather, at my age I just don't do it anymore, not my idea of enjoying my time on the bank anymore 👍

Tbh, I'm generally a summer fisherman. I have avoided going when it gets below 6c at night. My bag is a big snooze+ 3 season jobby. I'm over 50 now and am fed up with being uncomfortably cold without good bl**dy reason. So, a heated blanket for a few hours with the bed cover so I'm not climbing into a freezer seems like a sensible idea and a weight sacrifice I'm willing yo make. It runs off my Ridge Monkey Vault 26000mah powerbank which I take anyway, so its a negligible change for me. I don't get the self flagellation at the altar of discomfort. If your doing something to save weight great you do you, but doing something just because it was done like that 30 years ago seems like madness to me. 20-30 years ago I smoked, mostly used a bike to get around and used to go raving. If I hadn't changed I'm not sure I would still be here, let alone have a decent job, house, be married with kids going to uni. If carp fishing had stayed the same we'd still be using argos sunbeds, optonics and cheap 50" brollies with a tarp over the top. Just look at your phone in your hand. How old is that and how old is the tech? The world changes, moves on and progresses. Embrace it where you want to/can justify it. I would ask, do you use a throwing stick/spomb/bait boat/baiting pole/sonar/gps? None of those were available 30 years ago, at least not in their current form. Back then, were there any carp reels, rods with the specialised ringing we now use?

Try attaching the PVA bag to the lead, basically moulding it around it, leaving the hooklink outside and nicking the hookpoint through the corner in and out. It stops or slows the lead sinking deeply into silt as well. I do frequently test my PVA after the issue with the Nash PVA bags that didn't dissolve in the washing machine. Brands change suppliers, or I can't get hold of a brand so at least one bag from every batch I buy is tested. I do the same with mesh for the same reason although Gardner mesh is consistent.

For what it's worth, pva bags in colder weather probably not a good idea, also the preping them up with anything with oil in them does stop the breakdown. Just an alternative idea for winter, why not try the old idea of pva stringers? I used to do the 3 bait stringer thing many years ago, it actually did work back then but too old now to get on bank before next spring 😂

I've had this before. Absolute nightmare. I tend to avoid PVA completely as we head towards winter.