Golden Paws

I also thought that although mono does absorb moisture if soaked, it dries out again and pretty well reverts back to it's original state. It definitely makes it easier to spool up and is worth doing. If you are going for the big chuck, it's probably worth pouring a bit of water over the spool or alternatively do a couple of test casts to get it properly wetted before going for the big one.

Years ago I used to take the water temperature in the winter virtually every time I went but with the warmer, wetter winters of the last 10 years, I got out of the habit. I was fishing a 4.5 acre lake in an enclosed wooded area which is about 6 foot deep. The water certainly felt warm enough but the weather was pretty non-descript and cold and I wasn't totally surprised to blank.

Probably not earth shattering news for most of us but it's worth spending 5 minutes on.

Two days after the full moon and moon set on Thursday was about 7:15 a.m. so according to the theory, it should have been a good time. I did my first 24 hours session of 2026 on Friday and started at 6:30 and within an hour saw 3 good shows close in and put a rod on it and the other 2 out tight to an island. I had 3 slight pulls within the first couple of hours on the close rod and that was as good as it got. The water has good night form but I didn't have one bleep or didn't hear one fish roll. I went in light with the bait, only about a dozen boilies and a small scoop of boilie crumb in the boat and poured some dip/oil over it so it was more smell than food. I also put on a small mesh bag of crumb on the hook and dipped that and the bait in the liquid before sending it out. I chatted to the bailiff earlier who confirmed it was hard going and I spoke to 2 blokes in the next swims up on the way out and they reported the same. The water didn't feel too cold for March as we have had a pretty wet and warm winter but I'll give it a bit longer before my next trip.

I used to fish some of the South Cerney waters many years, mainly Ham Pool, Bradley's and Hill's for the tench before Watermark took the last two over. The Bailiff they had then was a annoying old curmudgeon and he used to check my ticket every single time I was there. I think it was a 2 rod rule then and I had an old pike rod set up with Heath Robinson spod made out of an old washing up bottle. The good old days, if you wanted something, you had to make it, not like the kids of today........(better stop there, I'm sounding like one myself!) After he checked my ticket, he shouted that it was a 2 rod rule and so I fired back at him that it was a spod rod and he turned away laughing to himself - the old [censored] got me! One day when he was in a more agreeable mood he told me a funny story. At Ham Pool there was a club house and bar and it included a fruit machine and one of his jobs was to empty the cash from it. You could buy day tickets on the bank then and for juniors it was £1 in advance or £2 on the bank - I did say it was a long time ago! Anyway he came across 2 lads and they came out with the old "I've only got a £50 note trick". Quick as a flash, he went to his van and dumped £46 in pound coins on them! I bet they didn't try that again!

If you want to look like a complete plonker, go ahead and buy one!

Fishing is meant to be an enjoyment, not an endurance! I had paid for a 48 hour session back in the summer but after 24 hours of relentless heat and nothing coming out on the whole (packed!) lake, I went home 24 hours early. I'm looking at going for an overnighter or two over the next few months but every time I look at the weather forecast, I decide against it. I know, I'm suffering with old age as well!

This is a book that smashed the Carp fishing book mould! It documents his life addicted to carp fishing and the jobs he has done to fund it and the failed relationships that have accompanied it. Spug seems to be like a bull in a china shop and a larger than life character who creates chaos around him. Spug's best mate died tragically at an early age and his attitude after that was to live every day as though it was his last. Every session involves copious amounts of wine and a BBQ and lots of fun. His time on Conningbrook was interesting as it seems that the place was frequented by Kent's branch of Alcoholics Anonymous who had a fishing problem! That said, night bites were incredibly rare. It is probably the most honest book you will read. Every failure in his life is documented from "trouser accidents" to 5 knuckle shuffles in the bivvy. The rigs section takes up a whole 2 sentences which is refreshing. I found it an interesting and enjoyable read, the emphasis being on having fun and enjoying your fishing.

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.

Booked quite a few trips well in advance this year based on previous good trips according to my diaries. I went 2 weeks ago and it was pretty grim, only 2 people caught out of the 18 pegs. It was just stale and the lake is still low from the lack of rain this year. Unfortunately didn't book last weekend and missed out on Storm Amy. Went on Friday this week for another 52 hour session but it was even worse. No wind, no rain and overcast. Barely saw a roach dimple but did have one possible sighting. I did have one bit of excitement when all 3 rods went within seconds of each other but there are some big cats in the lake and was probably a trailer. My bivvy was bone dry this morning which is unusual , ever drier than my landing net! I did have a one blip bite at 2:30 a.m. and that was about as good as it got. I knocked it on the head after 24 hours. I could have stayed but didn't think I had any realistic chance of catching as the weather forecast was for similar.

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.

1. For the ultimate in being a tart, take a bivvy, brolly and gazebo. Don’t laugh, I saw it last weekend on a commercial where you can park your car behind the swim. 2. Have a splash mat under your reels, the ultimate in tartyness. 3. Carry 20 different types of pop-up but only use 1. 4. Take a 2 man bivvy but you only do over-nighters. 5. Take a powered fridge despite the fact you only keep your sandwiches and lager in it. 6. Own a 5-season sleeping bag despite the fact you hang your rods up in October. 7. Have a power bank that could keep a family home going for a couple of days in a power cut but you only charge your phone and torch. 8. Your rod-pod has so much stainless that you have to wear sunglasses to look at it. 9. You have a power barrow with so much grunt it could stop an average scrum but you only fish a 2 acre lake with manicured lawns. 10. Your phone is permanently on FaceBook so you can keep in contact with both of your friends. 11. A pair of 10x25 binoculars is more than ample and fits in your pocket when folded down. So why do you take a set of field glasses that can spot a mouse a mile away? 12. You wear bivvy slippers to keep your groundsheet clean. 13. A head torch is a necessity after dark but you need to keep it down to keep your night-sight when you turn it off. Your 8000 Lumen monstrosity resembles the Blackpool illuminations. 14. You bring your camper van to a commercial that allows rear of swim parking and stay in it all day and night watching TV or reading a book and only come outside once a day. Don’t laugh, I have seen it. 15. You own 2 sets of rods/reels/buzzers because you fish different waters and don’t want to handicap yourself. 16. Despite having a double burner and family sized returnable gas bottle and associated cookware, your meals are delivered to your swim from the local greasy spoon and pizza shop. 17. You have a bait boat with GPS and Sonar despite your lake being as pancake flat as the day the bulldozer created it. It also has a 4kg payload despite the fact you only use PVA bags. 18. Everyone loves a bivvy table. A small one just big enough for your tackle box, scales, phone and receiver is ample. A true tackle tart pushes it to the max and I saw 2 blokes in adjoining swims with a decorating table that you use for hanging wallpaper. 19. You have a top of the range DSLR with an impressive pixel count but the deal clincher was the 40 frames per second burst shooting rate it offered. Despite the fact you will never use it. You only shoot in Auto and use the photo’s unaltered on your FaceBook page. 20. You take 3 nets with you, “just in case.” The water you are fishing is rock hard and 2 fish a season is considered good going.

Just got back from a 52 hour blank. Very few fish came out and the lake looked pretty uninspiring being incredibly low. A dead fish drifted into the next swim to me and this is on the back of 2 of the biggest fish in the lake turning belly up recently. Hopefully it's just natural although I did wonder how low the oxygen levels were. One bloke did catch one in the next swim about 50 yards away to me and he asked me to take a photo during the day. During the night I heard 4 very loud bleeps and assumed he was doing alright despite my rods being static. It was bad enough blanking without it being rammed down your throat how well he was doing! I was having my breakfast the next morning and I heard the really loud alarm again but he didn't come out of his bivvy what seemed strange. It began to dawn on on me something wasn't right and I concentrated a bit harder and when there was another loud alarm, I realised it was coming from my pocket! It wasn't a run but the low battery warning! Luckily I had a spare and wasn't disturbed again.

That's certainly made me think! I have tried hinged stiff rigs and even Ronnies for a while but didn't really set the world on fire with them. I always test my rigs in an old ice cream tub before I cast them out to check that they behave as "natural" as possible. Your analysis on the average size of fish using blatant pop-up's is really interesting. I remember reading a Dave Lane article where he forgot his rig putty and so cast his pop-up's out anyway and had a red letter session!