Golden Paws

23 April 2021 General **Swim Availability Update** Below are the number of swims available on each lake as of 6pm Friday The fishery is Full tonight. We have plenty of swims coming available from midday Saturday. Please do not arrive at the fishery 1st thing Saturday expecting a swim, please arrive from 10am onwards. Found this on the Linear website. Most places are rammed and after 2020 and a gradual easing of restrictions, it was bound to happen. I've got a few sessions planned in the next fortnight where you prebook your swim and times of arrival and departure. Not everyones cup of tea I know but at least it guarantees a spot. With foreign fishing holidays looking unlikely for 2021, it'll be that way for a quite a while.

Closed season trout fishing on rivers, a contentious pastime as one high profile angler found out a few years back. If you are using a spinner, attach a wire trace or you'll probably lose more pike than hook trout. I think as long as you only take a small bag, rod and a net you'll probably be OK. Take a chair, a two rod set up and a mountain of gear, you'll probably get pulled.

I used to fish for barbel in a shallow streamy stretch of river and I could watch them at close quarters ripping up the bottom to get to it and the hemp I used. The chub loved it even more. One angler told me he watched fish eat it, poo it out, turn around and eat it again because they loved it so much!

Nightwish, Floor Jansen's singing sends tingles down your spine. Great blues voice and the guitar is definitely stronger on this track and has a hint of Hendrix.

Most lakes that I've seen ban boilies tend to be match orientated and they ban them to discourage carp anglers. Years ago some shelf life boilies didn't break down and there was a problem of mounds of uneaten stuff but most manufacturers have reduced the amount of preservatives in them and the frozen versus shelf life argument seems to be a thing of the past.

Camera flash can be harsh and ruin photo's. Ouch's photo's are really good but the first common has blown out and the background been lost. Unfortunately a phone camera will never produce the same quality night shots as a camera. I always leave at least 6 foot between the camera and fish as it evens out the light a bit. Fishes scales act like mirrors under flash, commons more so than mirrors and you'll always give a bit of glare. If you angle the fish down slightly, it will reduce it. If your flash comes with a diffuser, use it as it scatters the light more and makes it more even. I have a built in flash on my bridge camera but soften it but placing some opaque film over it. Like Elmo, I've bought a 96 LED video light (less than £15) and that helps in setting up the shot and produces a more even light as I use it as an extra on a bank stick at 45 degrees to the fish. The best thing to do is try some "dry" shots without a fish and play about with distance, flash output, diffusers and secondary lighting and see what suits your camera best and note the settings. Flash photography isn't only for night photography. Anglers tend to dress in drab clothing (or camo!) and be in areas overcast by trees and bushes, fill in flash can really lift a shot. Next time you catch a fish in the day, take a few without flash and then some with, you'll be surprised that the flash shots will be often be better. https://www.carpology.net/article/features/how-to-take-an-awesome-night-shot-/ Alex Kobler has done some really good articles on Carpology and well worth a read.

Got myself one of the new Kookers a few months back and haven't looked back. I can reheat stews or chilli con carne in under 2 minutes and it comes out piping hot. It runs on a 12V car battery which is a bit heavy but I cut back the rest of my tackle so don't really notice it and I can recharge my phone or bait boat without faffing about with power packs. The microwave takes up a bit of space on the barrow but I don't bother taking gas or my cooking equipment any more and so that offsets that problem. Also no problems in cooking in a zipped up bivvy as no poisonous fumes or fire hazards to worry about. Can't rate it highly enough.

My missus was chucking out some cushions from the Settee so I pinched those! Didn't cost me a penny and definitely no Carp Tax!

If a reel was high quality and cheap, it would sell by the bucket load! https://abugarcia-fishing.co.uk/collections/fishing-reels I've had a quick look at the Site but most reels are either described as for spinning or saltwater. No mention of Carp which is probably a huge omission due to it's popularity.

Abu reels were the dog's danglies years ago, I owned 3 Cardinal 57's I used for pike fishing and then a 54 for barbel fishing. The 55 was the carp anglers dream reel but I never owned one. They were solid and dependable and their second hand price held really well. Sweden is a fairly expensive Country to produce in due to their tax system and production switched to Bangladesh. Needless to say, the quality and reputation took a hammering and they went into the doldrums and the likes of Shimano quickly filled the void in the market and dominated it for a good few years although Daiwa and other manufacturers have increased their share. I couldn't give you a definitive answer but they have a hill to climb if they want to re-establish themselves as market leaders again.

Never heard of the brand but the Breaking Strain is 32.9kg which is about 72lb in old money which may be a tad overgunned! It would probably be OK to use as a shock leader for a spod rod but I'm sure there are plenty of other braids that would be better for hook rigs.

https://www.srb-photographic.co.uk/srb-dslr-self-take-kit-8891-p.asp?mc_cid=ae00ef840d&mc_eid=94d4ab4aa6 I've used one of these for many years whilst fishing on my own. You can adjust the position of the piston by using the arm attachment so that it sits right above the firing button on any camera. Just kneel on the bulb to activate it.

Mentioned this one about hook sharpening before but the bit about line at the beginning is equally compelling. I've tended to go for the lightest I could safely get away with in the past but upon watching this, he has turned my thinking on it's head. Lines are effectively just a piece of extruded plastic and when you accept that, it does make you think about them differently. He recommends using a minimum diameter of 0.4mm which is in the 18lb b.s. bracket for most lines and might seem a bit OTT but a slight nick or bad knot can slash that considerably and so it gives you a safety margin. Thicker line also sinks far better. "Proper rope for proper Carp" to quote one high profile angler. Unless you really need to go long distances regularly, I would suggest that upping the diameter will bring more advantages than a thinner line.

https://www.anglingdirect.co.uk/fox-edges-nut-drill-38765 This is the one I use. The upper plastic cap is static and fits neatly into your palm whilst you twiddle the body section with your finger and thumb. This definitely helps to keep it straight, especially with tough baits like pellets. https://www.anglingdirect.co.uk/korda-super-fine-baiting-needle Also use one of these. I used to use a latch type of needle but found it punched the top of the boilie out.

Bait drills are a very underused bit of kit. I used to use large trout pellets on the hair and as long as you were patient and gentle, it worked fine (any rejects were used as loose feed!). Also by drilling a boilie through, you increase it's attraction as water can permeate it easier then a "skinned" boilie.

Look like really good quality reels and without the "Carp Tax!"

I've used Korda Safezone leaders for years and they have never let me down. Being fluorocarbon based, they are heavy and near invisible. I remember Rob Hughes writing that when he goes out diving to find a rig and see how it's presented, he looks for the leadcore or tubing and finds the rig at the end. I'm sure that Carp must have started to suss it by now!

I used to have a fairly easy job that involved sitting in front of a computer most of the time running a Chemical Plant. It was 12 hour day and night shifts and I found I was eating rubbish and at the wrong time of day. Typically I was having a breakfast before I went to bed after working nights otherwise hunger woke me up. I went from a comfortable 12.5 stone up to 14.5 before my job disappeared to India. After that, the next job I got involved a lot of walking and crucially it was close enough to cycle to work (12 mile round trip.) It killed me for the first month as the way home was a relentless climb and the first week I had to have 4 stops to get my breathe back but within a month I could do it without stopping and the weight started to drop off and settled at about 13 stone. Not long after I got a dog and we would go for long walks in the Countryside and that helped as well. Good luck Elmo, take it easy and look at is a marathon not a sprint. Clear your cupboards of chocolate and biscuits as they are always too tempting.

Can you get me a ticket?!!!

I always give my hooks a light touch with the smoothing stone and it instantly make the hook feel sharper to the touch. In the above video, Adam Penning describes sharpening as his biggest edge. He is literally removing metal to make his hook hyperdermically sharp. Hooks are made from a uniform strip of wire of a certain gauge and this determines the size number of the hook. Although you need the strength of the wire in the gape area, it's not so important in the point as this should be totally penetrated and not be affected by the fight. In the underwater films we've seen how some fish react to feeling a hook, some bolt and you get a screamer but increasingly some fish just shake their head and fling the hook out. If it has already penetrated a long way in, this makes it more difficult. A very thought provoking video.

Looking at some of the photo's has encouraged me to dig out my copy of Matt Hayes's Fish Eye to reread; https://calmproductions.com/fisheye I paid £30 for it and highly rate it, it's currently going for a fiver! If you are interested in photography, I highly recommend it. The standard "Trophy Shot" only occupies one chapter and there are lots of inspirational photo's to try to emulate.

A couple more shots of weirs and waterfalls.

I agree with Sparky, there's something about waterfalls and weirs.

Part of the joy of fishing is taking in the scenery and I always try to take a few photo's to capture the moment.

Found this guy on YouTube. Plays Heavy Metal overlays to things he sees. He found these couple of Trump loving lunatics on a god channel. The guy on the left is a complete fruitcake and the one on the right tries his best not to be embarrassed! Funniest thing I've seen in a long time.