bluelabel

This was my first fish on my newly rebuilt Mk IV Carp and center pin... I love this pic... didn't weigh it, too chuffed, just popped out the hook, a quick pic and back she went....👍

My PB 28lb 12oz taken from Tall Trees Fishery in March 2011... the best of a 5 fish haul including 3x 0's and 2 doubles

Why just boilies...? There is tinned meat (spam/luncheon meat) prawns, shrimps, butter beans, chick peas, sunflower seeds, blacke eyed beans, haricot beans, bread, bread paste, cheese, cheese paste, sultanas, raisins, there are any number of spices flavours that can be used to flavour these possible baits.. some can be used in their raw state... the world is your oyster ( yup even oysters)... get stuck in man...👍

https://www.anglingdirect.co.uk/nash-scope-black-ops-rod?utm_source=Angling+Direct+UK&utm_campaign=2a98b178ee-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_11_30_08_43&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_0b18a5f5fc-2a98b178ee-290061881

Got it in my email... will look later.... on the phone at the mo

Just a heads up.... Angling Direct are doing Scope (4.5lb) spod rods for £99... I have a Dwarf spod rod... superb bit o kit, if the Scope is anything like the Dwarf it'll be brill👍

Not used a 12 footer for 6 years now... don't intend to go back to a 12 footer either... the 9' does all I need from it... the only downside I can see is if you are fishing at range then the line pick up is a bit slower on the 9' and as I fish small waters or at close range its not an issue

My young Padawan texted me yesterday and asked if I was fishing this weekend... I said "yup... got a club Fur and Feather" "oh" he said... "I dunno why you bother with all that small stuff" So I called him and tried to explain the "rite of passage, or ascension through the ranks" way us old boys did things... his response was "Bags to that, I want bigguns" some folks don't understand that Carping is not the be all and end all of fishing and there's sooooo much more to enjoy, including the wildlife on the banks as well as the fish.. Such is the attitude of the yoof o' t'day... (Frighteningly his father fishes, but he never went out with his dad till after I started coaching him... and his old man is younger than I am, he also is a "carp only" man... Go figure )

Owdo chaps... FYI the difference between Scope and Dwarf's are less resin in the Scope rods (lighter but slightly more brittle) and the rod furniture... (lighter rings and fixtures) I have the Dwarf 2's as my sole carbon setup now (9' 2.75lb ) as for worrying about playing fish on them... stress not, they'll do what you ask of em... I had a 20' on mine in Sept... it never felt stressed.... don't put Dwarf rods in Scope skins... they don't fit however Scope rods in Dwarf skins do... it's down to the reel position on the rods... the Scope has a slightly longer handle Big pits look a tad odd on a 9' rod, (that said the Shimano 10000XTE Baitrunner looks okay...) my 9 footers sport Shimano 4000 Aero X Baitrunners... sexy as.... As for the rods being fragile.... well I look after me toys and (touch wood and whistle) I've had no breakages yet, despite casting 2oz leads 60-80 yards (I'd be wary of chucking a bigger lead of say 4oz, I reckon that's where the fragility comes into play... you have to alter your style of fishing to match the rods slightly... as I fish smaller waters that don't require a big heave, I'm in the rods comfort zone... I'm on my second set of Dwarfs... I sold the first set on when I saw the new minimalist Mk II's... (fell in love with them) Tip..... a lot of the breakages come from folks trying to pull line by hand with the reel in freespool mode with the hand pulling the line down by the reel... this is a no-no for any rod and WILL break the tips on them, also set your drag a little lighter.... just because they are short rods, they are not the bruiser that everyone thinks they are... take it easy and play your fish carefully... they'll last for years... Hope this helps...👍😎

I love carp fishing... so do lots of other anglers... the problem is carping is a victim of its own success... every commercial that I know locally is stocked with carp even clib waters have had an influx of them... but there are times when I don't want to catch them... I have lost count of the times when I got a shoal of Perch on the go and the carp have moved in... bit of a bind on a float rod and 3lb line with a low double carp on the end

I think a lot of it is down to the amount of commercials that have sprung up over the years.... the guys of yesteryear like Walker Hutchinson Yates all caught big fish and a lot of anglers wanted a taste.... so commercials sprang up and instead of doing the... "Rite of Passage" shall we call it...? Folks jumped in at the deep end and started with carp... problem is you cant go gudgeon bashing with 3lb rods and Basias (well... you can I suppose) but its hard to go backwards... so they either choose a new species or a new hobby... hence the amount of second hand carp gear on the bay...

Whilst Barbel fishing at Bewdley I had a Kingfisher land on my rod with a tiny fish whose head it bashed in on my rod then flew off... I took a photo of it.. been looking for it for ages.. if I ever find it I'll scan it and post it

The worry with carp anglers having spent most of their lives targetting the one species there is always the danger that if the novelty wears off and they disappear from the angling world.... let me try and explain my reasoning... As a novice I never fished for carp as the gear was specialised and the knowledge wasn't there... carping was seen as an ascension to the highest level... now lads (and lasses) come into the sport and they are at what I thought used to be the pinnacle of the angling tree... the downside of arriving at the top of the tree means theres nowhere to go to get that big fish buzz... I suppose it follows why disillusioned/bored carpers turn to barbel and cats.... whereas old gimmers like me, started out with minnows and worked my way up through the ranks trying different codes and species... if I get bored with carp I'll toddle off to a river for some chub or perch, or fish a club match or two... rather than picking up a tablet or take up golf....

for diving out of a bivvy at 3 inna morning then a pair o' crocs'll do the job... easy to step straight into and you can get fleece lined ones of you worry about getting cold tootsies...👍

I refer the Honourable Gentleman to the reply I gave above😛😎😉

I have a little friend on my club lake... always comes to see me... nicks maggots out of my bait box if I have them, or micro pellets if I don't.. this is the sort of thing you miss with your nose stuck in a bit 'o tech

Some aspects of it you can... you can tell folk what to look for, where you can find it... telltale signs etc but the majority of it comes from experience

as soon as he/she is able take them out and share it with your nippers.... many congrats... I'm about to be a great uncle (again)

Then he'll grow up richer for it...👍

Who'd want to miss a sunset like this....?

If there's one thing I never tire of... and I hope I never do.... it's that electric blue bolt of a Kingfisher rocketing across the water, be it still or flowing... I tried to point it out to my young protégé a few weeks back... he'd missed it as he didn't know what to look for.... afterwards he quipped that "it's like a David Attenborough commentary" some folks don't know what they are missing... there seems to be no love of the land anymore

There is also the lack of appreciation of the surroundings... I took a coaching commission a few months ago with a total novice and his shock at seeing a pheasant for the first time was surprising... so when I go out with him I point out flora and fauna... He's amazed that there is sooooo much that he'd never really bothered looking at.... the loss is entirely down to keeping their nose glued to a phone or a tablet or laptop and not looking at the world around them...

Over the years I have fished many styles and codes... Hell I've been fishing since I was three and a half years old and I'm 60 now... But I see loads of anglers coming into the carp angling world without any idea of any other methods bar a lead clip or floater rig.... Do you think that bypassing the methods that catch other species detracts from their skillsets wether from a technical aspect or from a watercraft/angling knowledge viewpoint....?

Is Fort Rowner on Day Ticket...????? (AKA The Moat)