bluelabel

I really need to get my eyes retested Every time I open this page I see it as "New section for village people" 😳😳😳😳

I5lb line is too high for a 1.5lb rod... be okay for a 3lb rod, but not a 1.5lber... I landed a 22lb 10oz Mirror on 8lb line, on a cane rod. Dunno how big your sharks go... but ours are BIG .....🤣😛🎣

Zackley... I once made a paste out of one of my Haslet sarnies ... (boiled pigs head) I had a12lber on that

1, you can hair rig or not, it works either way... its just a different approach 🤷‍♂️ 2, never said the hair rig has blown, just offering an alternative, doesn't have to be a prawn either... Cockle, Mussell, Meat, anything 3, just said do summat different... do what you want...🤷‍♂️ 4, all the "Frippery" is pretty much variations on a common theme... there's been very little meaningful innovation since the invention of the hair rig 5, never said its an all in one solution, you can try different things and find what works for yourself All I'm saying is that a lot of fish and venues see the same thing day in, day out, a different approach often pays dividends and the old methods are working because fish don't see them that often and trip up... The thing that I see a lot is folks sticking to doing the same thing day in day out and moaning that the fish are off the feed, the water's moody, or there's a Y in the day My message is.... if summat ain't working change summat... do summat outta the ordinary... who knows... if it doesn't work try summat else... 🤷‍♂️😎👍

If you want to up the attraction you could chuck in a few 8mm pellets with the chopped prawns, sit well back with the rod tip away, or parallel to the bank

15lb line...? You after sharks...???😛🤣 I use 8lb or sometimes 10lb if there are lumps about...👍🤣

I got to name a previoisly uncaught 23lber from Talltree's in 2011... in my haste and made up on the spot it was called "Wanda"... I apologise abjectly...😛😎

I use the ready peeled from sainsburys, not the little'uns, the bigguns cooked or uncooked, chop a couple up to scatter in, no more's a couple. I use them whole hooked through the thickest part. Make sure the point of the hook is showing as a meaty prawn is tough to strike through... this is not a self hooking rig

D'ya know... when I started fishing with vintage gear, I was still using modern methods... hair rigs, lead clips boilies etc etc... but one thing I've found is that fish wise up to all this frippery... and one afternoon, I took a rod net mat and a pot of prawns... nowt else, and I caught... all I had on the line was a prawn, no lead, no putty, no swivels just a hook and a bait... Our club lake has been carp fished for decades and they've seen every rig under the sun and everyone does the same... two rods one long one short, 30 baits around each lead clipped 5" rig, hair rigged size six with a 16mm boilie... Nowadays there are different options of leads, hooklinks, self hooking rigs... but so many folks use those options they're not different any more... so just a baited hook has been scoring, as the fish haven't come across such a basic rig... occasionally I use a bit of plasticine around a float stop for a bit of casting weight which can slide off the line in the event of a break, but in the main, its just a hook... pressured fish see every sort of rig nowadays... maybe try summat totally different... Could it be that carping has come full circle...???

Well... considering that Richard Walker's 44lber from Redmire kicked off the carping craze in the UK, I think its only fair we take note of the fact that he landed a 44lb Common on a 10 foot cane rod of approx 1.5lbs Test Curve... and not a spod rod Us vintage lads have seen everything in the carp world more or less, and we're still pulling 20's out on our bits o' cane...😉😛😎👍 That said, Walker was an innovator and I'm sure he would have embraced the modern methods had he been alive today

Gone sadly... don't know who ( if anyone) will continue... I think John Chapman may have a small supply... but maybe not...🤷‍♂️

To be honest I've had a few of Rod's rebuilds and they are very good, other builders I've used are Steve Boncey and Walter Sewell, both very good although both have pretty much retired, when I asked Walter the last time round he said he'd stopped doing rebuilds. As a case in point originality is going to get much harder and more expensive to replicate due to the closure of Guides and Blanks, and Hopkins and Holloway...

3 x cane rods and a cane pole... not new, but rebuilt... I pick them up on the 8th Feb... 😎👍

I don't possess a carp rod over 9'6" can honestly say I don't miss the length of the 12 footers, my shortest (8') is great for getting into little nooks and crannies and winkling the odd fish out... I love the portability, and the easy handling of the short rods... to be fair though, I've borrowed a pair of 6' 3lb Scopes paired with my shimmy Aero 400X runners and hated them... too short, too stiff not nice at all... my Dwarf 9 foot 2.75lbers are a nice playing rod, but sit idle these days... My Sharpe 8 footer see's more use, with a pin they're superb for margin work

Beware of summat too comfy... As a bad back sufferer, finding a chair is a bit of a mission... I bought a Chub recliner as it was comfy as owt and had to get rid of it as it was murder on my back the next day, couldn't find a setting that didn't aggravate it...

Lovely... I have a 314 and a 324 both nifty little reels

Deffo not... did a bit of bartering for some kit.👍😉

Rod makes a lovely rod doesn't he...? I have a few of his... got 4 coming back home in Feb including a London Pole

To be honest ( if it was me) I'd put a bit of foam rubber in the butt eye and leave the bale open... slackening off the clutch so it spins on a take will impart twist into the line... looks ace though...👍

They'll go with the banksticks I had made

Got a bit of new kit on the way... When they arrive I'll post some pics of the whole kit bankside...👍😎

Fulla splinters I'd imagine...👍😉

I have some "Heat Holders" synthetic, but very warm... either in walking boots or wellies