Golden Paws

I've always liked Carl and Alex and admire their pursuit of their dream and the brave decision to pack in their jobs and follow their dream. Worth spending 10 minutes watching.

Partially agree. The Russians and Chinese are both trying to getting a toehold into Western Democracies so they can neuter a Goverment of any colour by funding or helping with election expenses. MI5 have just released a warning of the threat and told all politicians to beware of Greeks bearing gifts, Or Russian or Chinese, Of the big 2 parties, I suspect that they would favour one on the left wing. Especially if it was led by serial pacifist Jeremy Corbyn. Stand well back. Light touch paper. Enjoy the fireworks!

What?????? I know that you're no fan of Boris but it has been pretty clear from the West and NATO nations that there will be no direct involvement with troops on the ground. There will be tougher regulations on the Russian machine and individuals that have profited from being close to Putin may find their wings clipped. Bad news if you are a Chelsea footballer and having to struggle on £250,000 a week!

Sorry to change from the original poster a little but I never joined or particularly wanted to join the Carp Society. I suppose I've been put off by when they issued the 10 year tickets for Horseshoe and then the classified sections of the angling comics were full of people selling Horseshoe membership with 9 years remaining! A few years back there was some serious discussions regarding the (then) Directors and their plans for the future of the Society (leave it at the that as I didn't get the full story and don't want to get sued!) A quick look at the Website shows that apart from a President, they have 4 Vice Presidents and 9 people identifying as Directors! I don't know if it is a paid position or otherwise but it does seem a bit top heavy. Horseshoe, Farriers, Little Farriers and Ashmead aren't that far from me and are places that I would like to fish (especially Ashmead) but it would mean joining. Farriers is a Syndicate and Little Farriers is only available for 3.4 or 7 day bookings. So my question is to people who might be (or have been members), is it worth joining?

I've read about reeling the line in label side up to prevent twist but when I tried it, it did twist! Not surprising really because at the factory it would have been loaded onto the spool by rotating it so it make sense to let the spool rotate in a bucket. I found Matthew Collins channel on YouTube a while back and there is a lot of good stuff on there, here's the video Crusian mentions;

https://www.waitrose.com/ecom/products/cooks-ingredients-nam-pla-fish-sauce/419876-59072-59073 This is good stuff I use to flavour my pop-up's/wafters and also add it to groundbait I use to plug my spod. If someone dropped a bottle in the warehouse, it stunk for a week!

Just watched it and really enjoyed it. Danny always talks you through the session and explains his reasoning behind his thinking and this one is no different. He has curbed his "get in the net" drama's that made it more watchable as well!

Most shop bought sticks come with cord preset at 12 foot, or 4 yards if you prefer. It's easy to convert wraps to yards and you shouldn't need to worry about what length rod you are using.

That is true and I do use plastic corn! I have this imaginary Greta Thunburg sat on my shoulder and she tuts every time I do something questionable! I cycle to work most days (weather permitting) and so I offset any carbon I use to go fishing against that. Anglers are the original conservationist and I do try to think about the impact that what we do has on the environment, hence why I think that polystyrene in fishing is highly questionable.

When you say poly balls, I'm assuming that's as in polystyrene? Probably frowned upon nowadays and I'd stick to cork. Cork dust is probably better as you don't the hard centre compared to using a ball.

My missus is always asking me what I want for Birthdays and Christmas and I never know so she surprised me with a stocking filler. (Well it was after!)

I went to see Motorhead in the early 80's and had tinnitus for 3 days! The Marshall stack was something to behold and I wondered why all the bouncers were walking around with ear plugs in. 'Elf and Safety these days probably wouldn't have it that loud but then your insides would have the full effect of Lemmy's bass vibrating it. That said, the below track is surprisingly reflective and the video really does it justice.

Another classic bit of story telling from the master!

Found this on YouTube. Really good stuff from Carl and Alex and explained in simple layman's terms how to get the best from phones and camera's.

Nightwish is also on my YouTube viewing. Floor Jansen has an amazing voice and leather has never looked so good! (And those thighs.........)

This one's worth a watch. The female lead singer looks like she's just come from an Anne Summers party! Not sure what party the male singers come from but I think a lot of drugs were taken! Metal that can melodic and sexy.

I haven't bought a comic for over 10 years after the scandalous reporting of the Joanna Yates murder in Bristol after they all did a hatchet job on her landlord. He was a tad eccentric but police finally arrested another tenant who fled back to Holland days after the murder. He successfully sued all of them for a shed-load of money but the damage done to his character warranted a large payout. If I ever do browse a paper lying about I find all of them annoying. The politic slant depends on who owns the paper and the news of so-called Celebs is designed to sell to the brain dead. Any TV program with the word Celebrity is to be avoided. They only exist to inflate the ego's of those involved or create a sob story so you feel sorry and vote for them. Unfortunately you can't avoid them as there so many about so when my missus is watching one, I'm normally on You Tube watching something of a fishing nature!

It's that time of the year when the family ask what you want for Christmas and you haven't got a clue! Sometimes it's not an obvious fishing item that really delivers, who would have thought that a fancy saucepan by Ridge Monkey would have scooped "Product of the Year" in the Carp comics several years ago. I recently bought a sleeping mat to go on my bedchair and it's been a revelation. For years I was never really comfy and would fidget all night. They also help to retain heat lost from under the bed by trapping that extra bit of warmth that is normally lost. https://www.cotswoldoutdoor.com/p/mountain-equipment-helium-3-8-warm-zone-sleeping-mat-D2424300.html%3Fchannable=00ff736964003230343434325f393886&colour=98&utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=shopping?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Best Sellers £4k High Priority tROAS-BOFU-PLA &cq_plac=&cq_net=g&cq_pos=&cq_med=pla&cq_plt=gp&gclid=CjwKCAjw2bmLBhBREiwAZ6ugo1tI2svykrueGTl9pSAkGFrC3Ea3oc2VYG1JFl9bLe7XMK5ya00rmBoCOR0QAvD_BwE I got one of these that was recommended on another fishing Site and would endorse it. To get the best out of them, leave the air valve open and let it inflate naturally and then just give it a couple of puffs. You don't want it hard as this makes it uncomfortable. At the end of a session, open the valve, roll it up and shut the valve again and it doesn't hinder shutting the bed with the mat left in place. On some extreme camping websites they recommend inflating with a small pump as your breathe contains water vapour that could result in cooling but I think that's a bit hypothetical. As for me, I bought a Mitchell Avospod reel about 7 years ago based on a Carpology review. It's a standing joke that Carpology never give a bad review and this was certainly the case. It sounds like a coffee grinder and the spool goes so far forward it exposes the under carriage and several times recently it's picked up the line and sheared it off. At £35, I shouldn't really complain as did the job for a while. I'm hoping Father Christmas brings me a Shimano XTD spod reel this year.

Just got back from a 24 hour blank. It was warm enough during the day but my mat was frozen in the morning. The lake did seem dead, I only saw 2 fish roll in all that time. At 1p.m. the bloke opposite had a run and his mate in the next swim was about to net it when he had a take. My mate who was 100 yards away 'phoned me to tell me he'd just caught one. As far as I could tell, that was it for the whole lake. I did have one aborted pull at 5a.m but that was it. Apparently the previous week they had a match on and only 6 fish were caught out of 17 swims. You can only conclude that there was a (very) short window in which they fed.

I found a half eaten Carp of about 4lb on my local club water a few years ago. I took a photo and sent it to the Club Chairman. He contacted me and told me that they had set some mink traps on a nearby private water which are basically cages filled with dead fish that they can get in easily but not out and they drown. I don't think otters would resist it either! I wouldn't rule out foxes, any dead fish that washes up in the margins would be easy pickings. Unfortunately otters tend to go for bigger fish and then often only eat the throat area and leave the rest. The fact that the silvers seem OK doesn't mean all is well. I would contact the Club and report what you found as you can legally trap and release otters if they are causing a problem.

I did hear that one fishery in the UK provided you with hand held scanners (in your comfy cabin!) and each fish was chipped so you could find out it's name and who caught it last and the weight! Modern Carp fishing can be pretty sterile if you let it and it's not a step I would like to take. If you photograph all the fish you catch, you should be able to tell if you are getting recaptures although Mirrors are normally easier to tell compared to Commons. Unfortunately in France some people clip the tails of Carp in a certain place so they can identify whether they had caught it before but don't recommend going down that route.

I'm afraid that Corbyn was an unmitigated disaster. I remember when he was elected as leader and a trade unionist at work claimed he was a "conviction politician". He was also totally unelectcable and has brought the Labour Party to it's knees with him. It's not good for democracy to have one party being so out of touch that even it's traditional Red Wall crumbles. The vaccine roll out wouldn't have happened without Government providing the money quickly and then implementing it.

Steady on Elmo, your blood pressure is at bursting point! I get it you don't like Boris. I would have more nightmares if that weasel Corbyn had got in. (Dianne Abbott for Home Secretary anyone?) It's easy to say that Covid could have been handled better but it has been the worst global pandemic for a Century and with global travel, it had the legs to move quickly. Although we all value our personal freedoms, most people agreed to lock down with good grace as at one stage about 2,000 people a day were dying in this Country. It's a fine balance between the almost draconian place we were in a while back and where we are now. The winter will almost certainly see a resurgence in Covid deaths. I wouldn't have liked to make the judgement calls on when to lock down and when to gradually ease them. They have gone along with the medical experts to a large degree and any Government would have done the same. The EU dithered on buying vaccines (probably still talking about it!) but Boris got in early, done the deal and secured the vaccines we needed. When they realized they had messed up, the EU tried to stop us getting them by underhand tactics. All elections or referendums rely on fear, persuasion or lies and the Brexit one wasn't that different. You just have to study the arguments and make a judgement call.

I'm afraid I disagree. When the Common Market (as it was then) was introduced, it did seem like quite a good idea to form when was effectively a gentleman's club to make importing/exporting easier. If I have been able to vote at the time, I probably would have voted for it. Roll on 50 odd years and it has turned into a monster of many heads that just talks endlessly but achieves very little at a great cost. One of their great achievements was standardizing jam! They ruled that jam could only be made with fruit. Fair enough, you would think. The Portuguese objected as they had made a carrot jam for many years. To get around that little problem, carrots were re-classed as a fruit! My main problem was lack of democracy. In this Country, every 5 years or so you have to opportunity to vote on who runs the Country and have the power to replace the Government if you disagree with how they have run the Country. Although we used to have MEP's, they wielded very little power and it was the eurocrats who run things and most were un-elected. I'm afraid the other great lie was how much migrants contributed to our economy. OK, so they paid tax on their earnings. When you calculate how much it cost to educate their kids and pay for NHS treatment, I doubt that many were really truly paying their way. Drink driving was falling for many years amongst most groups of people. When the influx of Polish occurred, the rate shot up sharply as they do like a bit of Vodka. The UK has been unshackled and now has it's ability to trade with Countries outside the EU bubble. We also have the right to decide who comes to our shores. Although I did vote for Brexit, I did weigh up all the pro's and con's and made a decision based on the long term benefits that leaving would bring but was also mindful that sometime it is better the devil you know. I would vote for Brexit again tomorrow with more conviction than first time round.

A pastie, steak slice or sausage roll cooks well in the monkey and only takes about 10 minutes - just pick it up or eat it out of the pan to save washing up. A chunky soup eaten out of the saucepan also fills a hole in the cold weather. For afters, pop some custard in the saucepan and when warm, add some apple pies. Breakfast is cereal in the summer in a small tupperware and just pour the milk on top, in winter add some boiling milk to some weetabix. A pack of chocolate digestives keeps me going during the day as the tea is too wet without one!