salokcinnodrog

This was a May session 17lb. Despite the grimace, it made me smile, and laugh. I'd only just cast the rod in after getting back with Sky after a walk round the lake when it went off, I was sorting out the next rod, mid PVA bag making. Bait was in the water 2minutes, not sure the PVA on the first rod had even dissolved. First fish on the Shrimp!

I do have a soft spot for Century rods, although I have not used the FG's

I did only just refrain from a lewd comment 😉

We used to place baits by boat at Taverham Mills, and as @yonny says it can look totally different to how it feels. You could cast a marker float and lead out and get absolutely no feeling as the lilies would stop the float rising, yet look at the area from the boat and they were very thin and safe to fish to. The line would cut through them playing a fish. Other spots (as on the syndicate now) I have the float rise up, yet it is thick with weed. It's wading out that has shown how thick it is and a big bundle of weed can be down to a small root system. My marker float is normally used with a 3½ or 4oz lead. Today I waded out after casting out the marker rod, and I was showing 2½-3feet, yet I was up to my chest.

I don't know if you have read Carp Now and Then and Hutchy's Golden Years? He was a 'beast' of a caster as he had spent time sea fishing from the beach. I think your is saying exactly as I do in that in the case of the shorter rods, stiffer is being used to make up for length.

Very much. Word of advice, never wade in without a wading pole; it can help you keep your balance as well as bottom prodding. The silt on my current lake is probably up to welly boot height, and then water up to my waist, so pretty similar, although the stream bed you can add a bit more to the depth. There are also feeding holes which can put you chest deep, and I have been known to occasionally go fractionally over the top of my chest waders, hence the advice on a solid wading pole. The honest answer is the carp feed in the silt. I have found massive bloodworm in the deepest thickest silt, along with massive swan mussels, bigger than my hands. I still use run rings and standard rig set-ups, hooklinks around 20-30centimetres in an attempt to put the bait at the level the fish are feeding at. Lead size I normally stick with 2.5-3oz, but use flattened leads to hopefully reduce sinking in too far, but even dropping a lead in the margins can see it disappear. Funnily enough, in May I cast out a 3oz lead, PVA stringer and snowman bait and I am positive that crashed quite deep into the silt. I had a take within a couple of minutes, and I think that the lead had sunk so far, complete with run ring it jammed as the buzzer was bleeping (Delkims vibration).

I have a feeling that higher test curve rods are needed in shorter rods as the 'standard' lower test curves won't cast as far; using weight instead of length to create the same casting force, just a theory mind, but seems right in my head. Then we have the 'Korda' theory, that they needed higher test curves even in 12ft rods to make up for lack of skill/practice to get distance. I've said it many times in the past that with 2¼lb North Western and Armalites I could get over 100metres, but I spent many hours across the field practicing. Even my 2.75lb SP's I could get over 120metres. My normal casting distance on the syndicate is no more than 40metres, and my 12ft 2.75lb Enduro and Sceptre rods do that and more, to 100metres easily. That's funny, that is quite literally all I do use shorter rods for, along with jungle stalking. Even my clearwater floater fishing rod is 11ft. @crusian if you can get the carp feeding right under the rod tip on floaters, a freelined dog biscuit, or lump of crust just touching the surface on the centre pin is great fun.

My view is that the 10ft rods do not cast as far as a 12ft or even longer rod, even in the higher modern test curves. Much of my fishing is on larger waters (above 20acres), with open banks, and at times I need to cast long distances. Even my lighter rods for smaller fish are 12ft, albeit 2lb test curve. I think that the smaller rods to some extent are tackle manufacturers pushing a new item to sell a new item, create a new market.

I found Baz's Bees honey by 'accident'. I used to fish Alton Water and as I drove through Tattingstone noticed the honesty box next to the bus stop. At the time there was a QR code for direct payments. If I can buy surplus eggs or fresh fruit direct I am happy to support. Anyway this honesty box had jars of honey in, so out came my £5 into the tin. Since then whenever I drive through Tattingstone I have a look see if he has any for sale, and return the cleaned jars. Otherwise I buy honey from my greengrocers or Jimmy's Farm. If you have a local farm shop or garden centre or nursery they might have a supplier who is local.

I know honey itself is one of the healthiest substances available. There are a few c&p's coming: Due to honey's high sugar concentration and acidic pH level many microorganisms cannot grow in it Honey is a folk treatment for burns and other skin injuries. Preliminary evidence suggests that it aids in the healing of partial thickness burns 4–5 days faster than other dressings, and moderate evidence suggests that post-operative infections treated with honey heal faster and with fewer adverse events than with antiseptic and gauze.[103] The evidence for the use of honey in various other wound treatments is of low quality, and firm conclusions cannot be drawn. Antibiotic Honey has long been used as a topical antibiotic by practitioners of traditional and herbal medicine.[108][109] Honey's antibacterial effects were first demonstrated by the Dutch scientist Bernardus Adrianus van Ketel in 1892.[110][111] Since then, numerous studies have shown that honey has broad-spectrum antibacterial activity against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, although potency varies widely between different honeys. Sorry about the Wikipedia numeric references left in place, but Wikipedia was the easiest place to confirm my own understanding. Mind you I WILL NOT be covering hookholds in honey, I love it too much on toast or with peanut butter in sandwiches, (blame my daughter Lily for that one). The other thing with honey is that supermarket honey has been found to be 'fake', so I always get mine from a local supplier; an honesty box in Tattingstone (Baz's Bees) or greengrocers who have another local supplier. Would set or runny be better for hookholds?

I was reading through the thread that I think Andy ( @crusian ) started on Carp care treatment and recalled the advice not to use them from a scientific perspective. If anyone is interested here is a link to the webpage: https://www.ukfishingschool.co.uk/post/carp-care-liquids I must confess, I did stop using Kryston every time as I was wondering about whether it worked as 'it says on the tin'. I have had a couple of recaptures, and spoken to other anglers who have caught fish I had caught and I can honestly say of those fish there is no apparent mouth damage, and a few of them have been out regularly.

The lack of etiquette now does seem to be more commonplace on all waters. I grew up fishing a club venue in Suffolk, as kids we knew the serious carp anglers, or were social specimen anglers ourselves and everyone gave each other respect. It may be that the club rules were strict enough to avoid conflict, although match anglers ruled the roost. The early 1990's I fished Taverham and although day ticket there was no major trouble. I didn't notice any problems until I fished Weybread and first met a particular person who still has a reputation even today, despite his big fish record. In the 'That Guy' thread I mention the courtesy that is on my syndicate now that someone is no longer a member. The 'swim jumping' has pretty much stopped, and there is less back biting than when that person was a part of the syndicate, and the occasional numpty gets nurtured. It may be that as I tend to fish weekdays I avoid those numpties, but when I have done weekends, 5 anglers on 40odd acres with spread out fish mean there are few conflicts.

I said if you were lucky! It rained heavily all day, and I had to resort to putting my ski jacket over the top. That pike was 18lb and was caught on 12ft North Western 2¼lb rods. I think that the smile says everything for a wet day in the late 1980's.

I've moved this into UK Carp fishing as I think it's worth more than NCB. I can go back to carp fishing in the 1980's when 'the rise' was on it's way. From Mitchell reels that were easy to clean and re-oil, to Daiwa Ab1350's which I won and used for float and tench fishing, and onto Abu Cardinal Ultracasts, the rear drag made fishing 'spool runner' possible, then the Shimano Baitrunners. North Western rods, which I would prefer over many more modern available brands, Century Armalites, mk.l and ll. As for brollies, making your own overwrap from a tarpaulin and then being able to get a proper branded overwrap to go over a 50inch umbrella. Clothing, life was cold in winter, although most of my winter fishing was for roach and pike. A tanksuit, that if you were lucky was actually waterproof. What irritates me is the lack of courtesy and etiquette in fishing now, and it has become a 'sit behind the rods' at all costs, often missing out on stalking and floater fishing. A rise in commercialism, waters and media I think have killed the mystery. As for tackle shops, as much as possible I prefer to go into the shop, although if I do have to order tackle online I prefer to use Tackle Box in Kent and Johnson Ross in Hoddesdon, both of which I have been in. I am lucky though, I do have 3 very good tackle shops within 5miles of my flat.

This was Shingle Street last Wednesday. A high tide at 23.09 so I arrived at 5pm so I could set up in daylight, and see the low water mark. I normally aim to fish until 3hours after high. As you can see it is a high, deep, shingle beach, no real need for long casting, although I do put a big bait as far as I can 'just in case', and that was the one that produced the thornback ray on prawn and squid on a size 5/0. The short range rod, at probably 50metres produced a few dogfish, a tiny smoothhound and the conger eel all on ragworm and squid. No bites until around 10.30, the first doggy, the thornback came just after high, and the last fish around 1.30.