Golden Paws

Althoigh it's not really cold at the moment, and to continue doing my winter sessions in some sort of comfort I always use base layering ..
Anyway I thought to upgrade and have bought Zerofit 'heatrub' made in Japan....all I can say is get some !!!!

The Fortis Tundra salopettes are the best clothing item I've bought recently, waterproof and very warm indeed.
I bought the matching coat but in hindsight I'g go for their marine jacket instead as I cannot see me using the Tundra coat as I'm already warm enough in the salopettes.
Already got lightweight waterproof trousers and jacket but would look at the Fortis Marine stuff if I didn't 👍
Whilst the Catchdry coat may be good, for me personally it's too long and bulky - cant see that being suitable for days roving the river or carp stalking, but were all different.
Fortis looked at the serious competition (Geoff Anderson) and made stuff that probably almost matches but at a much lower pricepoint, serious clothing for serious anglers I'd say so you get what you pay for, but the pricepoint of Fortis is much lower than Grundens and Geoff Anderson.  Serious carp clothing was long overdue so well done Fortis I say.
 
 
 

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

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

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

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.

Kingy 1st Point - December

Did 4 nights on Bluebell's Kingy from Sunday 30th Nov, only 4 others on so got in the swim I wanted.  First night 4am as the weather front came in I got a take on the middle rod and landed a nice linear.
Same approach as last trip with pellet hookbaits and PVA funnel web bags.
No more action for the remainder but cannot complain in Dec and nothing else came out.
Hopefully back after x-mas for another go.

Winter sun found ❤️

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!

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!

Managed to get a night in on Thursday last week. The weather was truly horrible and by the time I'd dragged all my gear to the swim and got the rods sorted everything was soaked through. A very uncomfortable night indeed.
I was rewarded for that horrible night by an absolutely gorgeous Friday morning... cold, but a a lovely bright sunny day. By 8AM I'd actually spotted some fizzing so was happy to spend a few hours scaring the carp off trying to find a spot in the area. Alas, it wasn't to be, so with the forecast telling me I'd be getting wet again I headed for home having originally planned to do 2 nights.
Mrs looked worried about me having never seen me come home early in nearly 20 years of being together 🤣
Tbf as I listened to that rain on Friday night I knew I'd made the right decision. Must be getting soft in my old age.
 

Is this View of your bivvy door group ? 
This is my view currently, little gap is the fart extruder, it's pretty windy today 😂
 
 

Bought some stuff over the past few months mostly for my summer trip next year.
Wychwood drogue clamps - these rachet clamps are to hold the rolled up net against the boat on the return journey from a boat battle - these are the ones I'm assured.
25 x 6oz leads
3 x Large Fox H Blocks, 3 x 8oz leads
3 x Jag Rod Lockers - after last time 😀
1 x 15inch and 1 x 26 inch banksticks - making that a set of 3 of each I've got for fishing singles with the tips up so you can boat under the lines.
Bought a Solar 3 rod sleeve for my spare rods as my son will be using those, sent that back and bought a second Cotswold 3 rod sling instead.
Korda UV shirt for my son (Xmas)
Ridgemonkey Bivvy light, I'll keep the new one, my son can borrow the old one.  New one doesn't come with a case - disappointing.
Bivvy light case lol
Head Torch case - coz I never got one for that either!!!
4 x cheap banksticks for night lights and video camera (night shots)
6 x Gardener line clips - these are a bargain £5.49 for 3, replacing all 6 of my Delkim clips which are getting annoying as the line doesn't want to come out with a few of them when you have a fish on.
Oh and an Aviator net to go with my Torrix one and 2 new deep meshes.
Going to buy an outboard and leisure battery but not rushing that as batteries degrade anyway and new better stuff might come out in the meantime.
I have said several times over the past couple of years, I'm done - what else could I possibly NEED?  yet there's plenty it seems. 
 

One of the books I own, I thoroughly enjoyed it 👍🏻

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.

You go off places - sometimes unexpectedly it happens, I do agree with Yonny though in that you've got the ticket and there are whackers, it's a great time of year now right into Dec.  You've paid the money why not commit to having a good bash if you're not renewing, nothing more rewarding/inspiring than seeing the broad back of a monster in your net!
All it takes is seeing one patch of bubbles at dawn and you might have unlocked the autumn feed-up area and a hit could be on!
 

Tricky one mate.
I never fish as well on a social as I do on my own. When you're on your own it's easier to put 100% into your angling imo.
I guess you need to ask yourself why you're not feeling it. In my experience, catching a few good fish is the best way to start feeling it, so I'd go all out to bag a good'n before winter hits. Staring at a 40lber in the net is a sure fire way to get the buzz back and you have the opportunity to do that right there in front of you. If it were me, I'd forget about the socials and get down there with a plan to watch, and watch, and watch, and move onto them at any given hour. Hard work always pays off and the harder you work, the bigger the buzz when it all comes good.

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.

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.

Week in Belgium for the first time, trip was everything I'd hoped for and more - lake to ourselves 2 anglers 6 acres, paid more but wouldn't add another angler tbh
Epic week, tough fishing but so interesting, acting on sightings as usual, spreading the rods far and wide obvs to the point where I was quiver tipping from the pod in both directions at one point lol. This kicked me hard after a bleep in the early hours suddenly turned into a rod flying through the air into the pond as the clutches were too tight.
3 boats trips later after much panicking I picked up the line, got the rod and landed the fish unbelievably.
Several boat battles each, quality fish averaging mid 30s, great company, many laughs, team work - learning on the job in boats it was mega in truth, didn't want it to end.
By the end of the week we had a well established pattern of only ever catching on a spot on the first night/dawn, no spot did another bite after a fish came off it, so if you weren't moving spots you weren't catching end of.  On the last night we predicted that we could both reel in 2 rods and only leave the new one out and obvs it was true - one take each that night on the new spots - pretty mad really.
We caught by far the most on the complex and laughed the loudest I reckon.  My 'GET IN' when the rod was back in my hand must have woke the complex lol
8 fish for me from 26.8 to 42, my mate 6 from 29 to 44.12
I had all mirrors which is perfect - he had mostly commons again, interestingly he caught mostly commons last trip I didnt and same on a syndi water.  Only difference I've noticed he uses a yellow topper, I don't.
My second biggest fish's pic wasn't focussed unfortunately, I didnt show him half pressing - usually give him the remote- cant go wrong with that but thankfully re-mastering it made it semi useable so sorry about that.
Ian again, thanks for the camera tips etc, got my best night takes ever of mateys big commons and enjoying using my remote - should always do it tbh my self takes are always my favourite pics of the trip.  🤦
I've had worse tbh another mate chops your head off lol
Carp Arena, Lilly Pool - drive and survive, small supplies shop, bbq area with fridges, freezers, drinks, chocs and water.  Flushing toilets near clean warm showers, bio toilets elsewhere, saw dust is amazing no smells and emptied every 3 days.  We didn't get bothered once which we loved,  others who blanked on other pits moaned about just about everything so it's not a complex for everyone I guess.
Looking to re-book the lake and possibly have a go on Clover Lake 😎🇧🇪

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.

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.

After working a 2pm-2am shift, I popped down to a local park lake to await the morning when I would be able to park on my road (that was my excuse anyway) I managed a carp that probably wouldn’t look out of place in Yonny’s koi pond, but it kicks off October 

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.