dayvid

The link is a good bait , but I just could not stand the smell, felt like it would give me a headache and nausea   , give it a go but be warned 😁

The link is a good bait , but I just could not stand the smell, felt like it would give me a headache and nausea   , give it a go but be warned 😁

Hi all, I just wanted to give an update in case anyone was wondering. As you all took time to help me out and give some pointers I thought it was only fair. 
I bought 2x Free Spirit E-class bank creeper rods. They are 10ft and approx 2.5lb Test curve. 
They are great rods. So far we have caught carp from 5lb up to 17lb on them. They are so light but feel great quality. They bend lots but feel there is plenty of power to deal with much bigger fish. 
 
Thanks again for everyone's advice. 

I pretty much used it exclusively last year due it being new and at a really good price , the bait worked fineish , but I could not stand the smell ,sort of nauseous feeling like it would give me a headache so kept it sealed all the time .
Its not a bait I will go back to ,back now to the faithful Hybrid .

I've had things going through my head today, and I mentioned 'lifesaver' in my facebook capture post, but that doesn't really cover all.
I had just netted a double figure carp for my mate. As he got up to come round for pictures, he slipped or fell like poleaxed straight into the lake. The lake owner and I jumped in to get him out as he surfaced. 
My mate is a man mountain, 22stone, so we dragged Dave to the bank. At some point he must have breathed in some water, so while trying to get him into recovery, still in the water up to our thighs, I had to give him cpr, which the position we were in, the only option was to thump him in the chest, once, as hard as I could. He then started fitting and snorting while breathing.
Somehow while this was going on I managed call emergency services, who stayed on the line until help arrived. It took 5 of us to get Dave onto the bank.
Thank you to the paramedics, especially Zoe, first there who jumped in herself to help, to the fire brigade, and the other two anglers.
The last I saw of Dave was being taken away in an ambulance.
Please get well soon Mate, I hope you recover fully.
As an add, somewhere in that lot, I did also manage to tip the fish back alive, quite possibly as I was getting out of the water after getting Dave out.
As an addition to this, please don't think I am angling for praise. I did what anyone else would have done. I didn't think, I did it, my Mate.
The important parts of my post were how easy it is for an accident to happen, a slip or trip, and it could be curtains.
The second part is Thank you to all of the emergency services personnel who helped when needed. I have no idea how long it took for them to arrive, but it was quick, at an out of the way address.
Thank you to the ambulance operator on the end of the phone line, who could hear everything going on, and gave advice and help when needed.

Not a soul on the park lake today.
I think an Environment Agency visit this week catching a few local anglers who thought it was worth the risk of not having a licence might have put them off.

With everything going on with the house leading up to my French trip last week , it was all left rather last minute on a lot of things . And a quick dash to my mates tackle shop was all I managed.  Needed some size 2's & all he had in stock were the ridgemonkey selection! They know what I'm like when it comes to tackle especially hooks , but after pooley assured me that these were the Ace hooks just rebranded & he uses them him self I went for them  . Well safe to say I was well impressed with them , the one hook did me the 50 lber 45 / 46 & it still was good to go , fishing locked up & giving it stick in the lillies so gave them a proper test , banging hook holds, didn't blunt on the lillie stems couldn't find fault with them tbh . Had a battle with a cat which will always test your end tackle too . I used the straight point pattern & would happily recommend them 

Did I hear the word "social"? Up for it wherever, whenever. I do like a social, made several good friends as a direct result of the many I've attended over the years.
Ian

No compensation, its a public lake, ive been checking every day for the last month on google and nothing came up.
Found one likely spot on the river so will have to give that a go  tomorrow. 

Just got to the lake.
Its closed, big fish kill.
 

On the train now on the way to lyon, should be fishing by 3pm.
Cant wait.

Ended up being a  bit hectic last night with two 30 lb carp & a 35 lb cat , all coming within a few hours off a spot I've been baiting all week but not had a sniff from , so glad I kept a rod on it . As I nearly didn't last night ! 

Cheers mate .... always nice when it pays off . Hope it will do me some more now , as I don't think the common was the unit that crashed out . 

Paid off too ... lovely common just shy of 30lb 😎

That's what I do. Less hassle then leaders etc imo.

For me I'm sometimes fishing in swims where height restricted by overhanging trees & I just can't use my 13' rods or 12' spod. It's for this situation I carry a set of 10' rods. I can then fish the channel and the margins of an island 90 at yards when others can't. 
Its a question of tools for the job, not a preference really.

Gents, enlighten me, why would you get a 10ft spod rod?
I can't see what benefit it offers.
I can just about understand 10 ft carp rods, I guess there is a shout for tight swims/overhangs (even though in 20 years I've never found a spot that can't be fished with 12's). I guess there is a weight saving too (although very, very small) if you only fish small waters.
But for the spod, you're not going to be spodding in some tight little snag swim anyway so I can't see that benefit?

I fish as and when and dont really pay that much attention to weather ,I personally feel less confident with a full moon but that doesnt stop me the same with high pressure, i would sooner it be low,  the only thing that will stop me is the lake being frozen,
 
Just go ,as they say "you wont catch sat at home"

They are all pretty much that size , heres the link to the video if you havnt seen it.
https://www.anglingdirect.co.uk/trakker-sanctuary-oval-crib?msclkid=63f929b61a401ca5db94751664e6130f&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Bing Shopping&utm_term=1103400093193&utm_content=All Products

Youll have to take it all up and insulate between the pallets 🤣
Good job though ,not often you can see into a millionaires garden.

Youll have to take it all up and insulate between the pallets 🤣
Good job though ,not often you can see into a millionaires garden.

Not bad for 4 days work...
Day 1..few pallets home from work and layed a level base.
Day 2 & 3...25 x 3m decking boards gone on with facia too.
Day 4 (today)...3 coats of No Nonsense decking oil...
Below is what will be going back on..

Just watched the Video , seems an excellent mat , does what its supposed to , if I needed one id buy it .
Cant see you would be disappointed if you buy it.

salford park/aston reservoir, great course and carp lake, id say less than 20 carp in the lake, some run upto 30ib now, you will struggle to catch them, the lake is very pressured with fishing, can be a bit dodgy fishing the lake, alot of idiots on there alot of the time but still a great lake if you like he urban scenery, 
plantsbrook nature reserve, great pike fishing, think there might be some carp lurking in there too, hardly fished, very quiet, is pitch black on the night times, and quite eerie, ive chucked a marker out and got depths of 22ft on the big lake, used to be run on a membership years ago but doesnt exist now, council run, 
sutton park, blackroot had some big carp in but has been pressured for the last 10 years now, plus i think they have all but died in blackroot some will still be lurking but nothing over 20ib, great lake, great scenery, no hassle or trouble on the nights, waters run by the sutton park rangers but never come round, you wont have to pay, although i think its a few quit, very silty, rather shallow due to extreme silt dead leaf/trees ect, ive never found over 7ft on the whole lake.  longmoor lake has no fish in, its got a depth of around 4ft max, bracebridge is a good course lake never heard of any carp took from there don't know depths of that lake, the lake by the wyndley leisure centre you cant fish it, but ive heard that its a stock lake for a handfull of fisheries around brum. powells pool is good pike course lake, quite deep, ive chucked a marker at 200yards and got around 14-17ft, ive heard off a few lads theres a 40 in there. sutton parks probs best for security and piece of mind, 
st margaret's estate great barr, the two lakes, amazing pike fishing there, very very overgrown you will have to chop your own peg out, very deep but lake is extremely weedy, top lake is covered more of the time in summer, bottom lake doesnt go over 6ft in depth, top lake if found 12.14 on the marker, ive seen big pike roll on the dam walkover aswell, very eerie lake to fish especially if you read its history
 
shard end lake, and the kingshurst lake have good carp in there, rough lakes though i wouldnt fish them on the nights, 
frankley reservoir, good course fishing, nothing special in carp terms in there, 
upper bittle got drained everything took out
lower bittle is good course, not so good carp fishing, 
brookvale lakes witton, had fish disease around 10 years ago, theres fish in there now but nothing of size due to the fish deaths, 
upper witton lakes, iver never fished it i wouldn't recommend fishing it at all, proper rough area
perry park alexander stadium, i found news article a few years back of some foreigners pouching the carp there, doubt there is anything in there now, 
forge mill lake, again was poached alot years back, no big carp in there now, sandwell swan lake got poached again nothing in there im certain, plus wouldn't recommend night fishing it
avoid small heath park lake, cannon hill lake, edgebaston pool, edgebaston reservoir, handsworth golf lake, pype hays lake, babbsmill, shard end, lakes, there all rough, i wouldnt fish them, 
great pike fishing around the canals in brum, especially around the tyburn road, back of fosters in great barr, and all the way along the canal to brum, 
dont fish the river teme, its got nothing in, highly polluted, very shallow, id class it more as a brook than a river, you will get ebola fishing it
id reccomend best places to fish would be sutton park, blackroot, bracebridge, and powells 
 
 

The second pic does it for me , the thought of a float rod fishing for Tench up to those Lilly's even the lighting makes that photo look magical place.
look forward to it ,especially as yonny says "They capture the magic we felt as kids"