bluelabel

I have a JRC x lite chair and the Avid lo... and oddly enough, the Avid causes me less probs than the X lite, which kills my back... I've mastered "The Roll Out" of the Avid and wobble upright... (eventually) With the ultralite kit... a lot of our banks are stepped, so I can park me 'Arris on a mat and sit quite upright... I can't do it everywhere though... I think either Avid or Sonik do a chair along the same lines as the Avid but taller and more upright.. I may investigate that... Chairs are a bit funny really... What may seem comfy in a quick sit down in the shop could be blooming purgatory for 8 hours on a bankside.

Lightweight kit.... (or should read small and portable... ???) Pair of 9' Nash 2.75lb Dwarfs pair of Shimano Aero x 4000 Bautrunners JRC 2pce landing net handle and 42'net (slips neatly into the Dwarf 2 rod case) Korum small Rucksack with Korum Carp Cradle clipped to it Korum Fibershield 50" brolly or Nash Scope Ops ( folds up small and clips onto the Nash Dwarf 2 rod holdall) Avid Transit Lo chair and a Daiwa Infinity bait bag (lo-chair fits on top and between the handles of the Infinity bag leaving a hand free for gates or clambering over stiles) all of this fits into the boot of my car without dropping any of the seats down and stays totally out of sight at all times Ultra lightweight kit... 1 8' Sharpes Split cane stalking rod, 4" Centerpin reel Landing net and handle Bait bucket and baccy tin with a couple of hooks and a small ball of plasticine Brolly if its raining, do without if its not, sit onna grass if it's not raining sit on an unhooking mat if it is...

I have no problem with rules... What annoys me is when folks blatantly flout them... Or ... They are not policed... Too many times I see a bailiff wander round take the money and disappear into his/her hut and not check rigs etc... If you are gonna have a boardfull of rules, at least have the decency to ensure they are adhered to.. This would at least give them validity and deter future rule breaking as word gets around....

Day sessions for me nowadays... was a time that a week wasn't long enough... last long session I did was last March... a week on Redmire... damn near killed me... my back isn't up to a long night in a bedchair (collapsed discs) these days and at 60 years old my knee's (osteo arthritis) are not up to lugging loads of gear for a long session, so about 8-10 hours sees me totally cream crackered and laid up for a day or to to recover... god help me if I do a club match, the amount of gear you need for that is making me seriously question my sanity and that's only for 5 hours😲

Went out yesterday for a Perch or two... caught about a dozen, none bigger than my hand... gave my newly rebuilt Allcocks Wizard a christening along with a Young's Ambidex... floatfished maggot and worm... nowt big but good fun anyway... Happy New Year to all on the Carp Forum

I think I'd be inclined to fish a pop up on a 5-8" hooklength straight off the lead... or a naked chod on a longer than usual hooklink

Will keep an eye out for that... bet it would be a good additive grated into a spod mix...!

My first fish on cane and pin... a cute little Wildie.... The rod is my MkIV (pre-rebuild) and the reel is an Allcock's Arielite (circa 1937)

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