dayvid

Back to basics again today, free lining dog biscuits for three more chub, 2lb ish (which I didn't weigh), 3lb2oz, and 4lb2oz.
 
I got stung to pieces, and wet feet, but when they look like this the biggest, who cares?
 

 
Just noticed my unhooking mat,

I have one as well , bought in the USA so i believe the range is slightly better , ,i dont use it that often ,but when i do its a great bit of kit , saves hours over a marker , oh and i also tie it to the back of my microcat ,saves all that casting lark.

It was subtle but there was buried deep within the post that now no longer resides these hallowed pages an inferance that you might should someone wish to buy and you sell a certain Barra which you have in your possession.
As per the rules it should be of no surprise it got erased, But that's just my humble opinion

How much do you want to spend ,
 
I would suggest the Shimano total protection mat
 
https://poingdestres.co.uk/carp/unhooking-mats/shimano-olive-protection-unhooking-mat

Try cutting some aluminium foil with the scissors you want to sharpen. Repeat until sharp enough. Usually does for me.

This is what i have and have had for years and nothing has bust.
http://www.anglingdirect.co.uk/chub-vantage-5-star-holdall

Made me laugh

Just because.....

Well we have got a proper menagerie taking shape here .
Couple of months ago she came home , unannounced , with these ffs ....
 

 
Then a couple of weeks ago THIS appeared as if by magic ....

Note what it left on the carpet
 
 
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C'mon Cyborx, say what you feel, it isn't healthy to keep those emotions bottled up. [emoji3]

the carp anglers of the whole world could protest but! and here is the crunch, the austrailian government would no more take notice of us than it would to a hippy trying to smuggle a kilo of weed in thru the border.
the white population of that unfortunate country are the only blot on the landscape, they have absolutely no clue about conservation or preservation, they spout on about none native species but here is an abbreviated list of animals, insects and plants that have been introduced purposefully by humans into that otherwise pristine environment.
PlantsBridal creeper Patterson's curse Koster's curse scotch thistle MammalsWater buffalo Dromedary Deer Donkey Ferret Brown hare Brumby House mouse Northern palm squirrel Polynesian rat black rat brown rat european rabbit  BirdsCommon pheasant Common myna Common starling Eurasian skylark Eurasian blackbird Eurasian tree sparrow European greenfinch European goldfinch Feral pigeon Hill myna House sparrow Mallard Nutmeg mannikin Spotted dove FishAsian carp Brown trout Common carp Common roach European perch Mosquitofish Rainbow trout Rosy barb Rudd Tilapia Tench Weather loach ReptilesHouse gecko Arthropods Argentine ant Black Portuguese millipede Western honeybee Red imported fire ant Yellow crazy ant ·European wasp
Echinoderms Northern Pacific seastar there are many more not listed including deadly virus such as myxomatosis to control the (introduced) rabbit population, the cane toad to eradicate the larvae of the cane beetle and the list goes ever on. so sign a petition? why waste my time on the ignorant overbearing ausie bureaucrat that is so self centered that they even tried to eradicate the native Aborigine. so, sign a bit of paper for the convict crocodile hunters to ignore? waste my time i wont :twisted:

Well are you back yet ? How did you get on ?

Myself and a couple of mates fished their for a couple of nights around 6 years ago...... The more Boillies we put in the more Carp came out ,cant see how they would survive without them. 

Got back from my 5th (and last) trip on 09/04/16. Last trip as we're moving on to new (to us) waters.
Cretelakes is a fine, well run complex, but getting too busy for my liking but understandable due to the quality of the fishing.
I fished Lake 5 - peg 52.
Found a line of gravel right across the swim about a rod length wide at about 60 yards, fished on this with all 3 rods for the whole week and fed 30 baits per rod to begin with as the guy who fished the previous week apparently only had 2 fish, so started with caution. The baiting was increased as the fish started to feed and be caught to about 100 boilies after each fish and the same amount each time the rigs were repositioned.
Bait was Mainline Cell & Essential Cell (10 kgs of each). All my hook baits were chopped and mostly fished 3 half baits on the hair coated in pineapple goo.
One rod fished with half bottom and half pop up baits and all tipped with yellow or white plastic corn stops and coated in Almond goo.
Throughout the week, i had mirrors of 29, 31, 22, 26.8, 29, 34, 21, 26, 24, 26.12, 43, 39, 20, 24, 29, 24, 37 and commons of 23, 24.8, 30.8, 32.4 
1 x 40, 6 x 30's and 14 x 20's. Total of 21 fish with only 2 lost fish, one due to me messing around trying to get my boat back before the gale that was blowing sank it , the other was basically an unstoppable run as soon as I picked the rod up it was at full pelt on the clutch, came off after about 3 seconds lol !
My mate had the biggest fish of the week off lake 1 - peg 9 at 66lb 6oz.
Only 1 of our 7 group members failed to catch with the others all having some nice fish between 30 & 46lbs.
 
Hope this helps

Good luck ,I think as it gets closer to nesting time your chances may well increase ,more so after the Robin has chicks,
 
That one almost landed on my boot a couple of times.

labs in my opinion are the best dogs ,all dogs are loyal if treated well , labs are extremely well behaved round kids as in they don't  eat them,  keeping them from eating the contents of bins , fridges, freshly cooked food ,sheep s##t and other dogs s##t can be a struggle ,
ive watched 6 grow up from pups in my lifetime the latest is 4 years old !
jumping up can be a problem round kids getting scratched faces especially when they are pups, they just want too lick your face ,they soon understand what a no means when said firmly with a push down .
Some listen too you more than others,we had 1 that would always be on the lookout for an open door and would race off to the local river for a swim given half a chance another that was well trained but would love to sneak off upstairs and snap one off in your bedroom in less than 30 seconds ,you would have to sprint off after her to stop her,
you would not believe what they eat , I once found an action man arm sticking out of a dump in the garden once and another time she ran into the house with a ball of sewing wool trailing from her butt which she was dragging behind her,we had to cut it off luckily it all came out the next day ! 
we got a call from the local butcher once that our dog was grabbing things out of shopping bags when leaving his shop and a neighbour once spotted her running up the street with a trail of sausages hanging from her mouth,
they read you via your body language and your facial expressions and a few learnt words these are your best way of communicating with them , they will have you sussed before you know it just make sure its you that's boss !
All their personalities have been very different our latest loves playing with party balloons she will play keepy uppy with her nose and carry them round gently so as not to pop them ,quite a sensitive dog with a lot of patience ! only needs telling once .
one we had 20 years ago would go to girls who wore a dress and lift their dresses up with her nose and would then give everything a good sniff and would get giddy when they jumped in the air  !
cant emphasise how much they love water,if your taking her to some carp waters she is going to be gaggin to get in there. Summer or winter !
treat em right and you have a pal for life !

Ill just batter them , although I have yet to see any evidence of this.

I fish it the same way nige, which I why I couldn't understand the issue.
Having read beanz' post it makes a bit more sense though.

When I fish a heli lead arrangement, be that a chod or hinged stiff rig etc, I have no bottom stop. The rig can just slide down the the lead and sit against it. There is less movement from the lead this way than on a lead clip.

I know this may spark off some controversy/debate but its an attempt to show my thinking in making leadcore slightly safer to use
 
This is just for use for Helicopter/Rotary Rigs, incorporating leaders.
 
Firstly we come to the personal decision of whether its better to dump the lead, leaving the hooklink and leader tethered to the fish, or, using the weight of the lead to pull the leader free of the hooklink, just leaving the fish with the hook link to get rid of.I favour the latter, to my thinking, surely the quicker a fish can get rid of the leader the better.
With this in mind I set about trying to create a safe a leader as possible, but this presented its own problems.
A lot of the kits available now don't work as effectively as you think. Shrink and Silicone Tube aren't fixed and can both be slid up the leader with the bead connected. Yes we are told to moisten the bead before its slid into place but don't forget the leadcore/leader also soaks up moisture making it more slippery.
One of the best kits out there is the Korda kit, because the bead is split, it has a much better chance of slipping off, freeing the hooklink, but the kit can still slip up the leader.
 
Which has lead me to trying to create something that doesn't slip at all, leaving the bead as the only movable point.This is where I came up with this idea, tying a 4 turn barrel knot using the leadcore/leader itself. 
 


 
This can not move, which puts all of the pressure on to the bead. After tying the knot I shrink a piece of heat shrink tube over the top to facilitate the bead coming off.
 

 
The lead inner has been stripped out of this bottom section of leadcore to the top of the knot.
 
This is the presentation in its entirety
 

 
All I can say, before you comment, try it, and try the lead theory I have mentioned, try getting rid of the leader without the lead, then try getting rid of the leader with the lead and you'll see how much better it is.
To my thinking, the fish being able to get rid of the entire leader has to be better than towing it around.
Another point to make, these beads have a taper, with the larger hole facing away from the lead. This helps the bead to slip over the knot connecting the mainline. 
I have also found, the heavier the lead the better, and instead of using a ring swivel which has been problematic I would suggest using a big eye swivel, with the larger eye pushed over the leader.Plus I have adopted using barbless hooks with this particular presentation, on a just in case basis and my mainline is strong, 18lb to be exact.
 
The main reason for using Leadcore lately is because of its stiffness, Leadcore does not follow all of the contours of the lake bed as once believed, this is due to the Lead Inner, which is specifically why I am using leadcore.Other softer, lead free versions do follow the contours, and my pool is littered with very sharp debris.
The leadcore predominantly lies on top of the debris without coming into contact with many of the razor sharp edges where a softer more supple leader would drape over these edges.I would like to make it clear, that leadcore wasn't my first choice, but it is the better of two evils in my situation.It goes without saying that you should check the condition of your leader and mainline before each cast and make sure everything works just how it should.
Accidents happen, crack off's, loosing fish during the fight, but to my thinking, I have made this presentation as safe as possible, using the lead to pull the leader free.
 
As you see a lot of thought and testing has gone into this rig and I know it may spark off some debate, but I feel perfectly justified in my decision for using it.