salokcinnodrog

I must have met you there! That's when I fished it. PigPen was probably my favourite swim, but I caught from most swims. I missed Sam's, Rocky and Digit, but had some of the other 30's. A lot of big fish from such a small water.

I am not a fan of Korda hooks! I found the standard Kranks were blunt compared to a Gardner Mugga. At Brackens Pool I had been using Muggas and an identical shaped Gamakatsu pattern with no problems, landing plenty of fish to over 30lb. One day I ran out of ready tied rigs so pinched one from a mate, identical to mine, but tied with a Krank. I kept on getting bleeps, but no proper runs. I reeled in and put on a freshly tied rig with a Mugga, recast to the same spot and had a proper run within minutes. When I got home I compared the hookpoints, sharpness. I balanced the hookoint on the ball of my thumb, with a 3oz lead I was able to lift the hooklink and lead off the desk. I tried the same with both the Gardner Mugga and the Gamakatsu's and could not even lift the weight of the lead. I did put pics on the site here! It may have been a bad batch, but it was not just one hook in the pack, every one was not as sharp. I have never bought another Korda hook since. Pretty much the only hook brands I trust now are Drennan/ESP, Gardner and my last few Solar 101's and Gamakatsu GP204's which went through a stage of not being available or in case of Gamakatsu no longer made.

Try attaching the PVA bag to the lead, basically moulding it around it, leaving the hooklink outside and nicking the hookpoint through the corner in and out. It stops or slows the lead sinking deeply into silt as well. I do frequently test my PVA after the issue with the Nash PVA bags that didn't dissolve in the washing machine. Brands change suppliers, or I can't get hold of a brand so at least one bag from every batch I buy is tested. I do the same with mesh for the same reason although Gardner mesh is consistent.

That is the reason I nearly always make mine fresh just before casting. I do use a mix of pellets for bagging and meshing; halibut, CSL, bloodworm, koi/coarse and GLM in various sizes. Note, the Crafty Catcher bloodworm and GLM seem to be oversprayed. I managed to leave some Nash bags in my trouser pocket once, I was quite surprised that they were still undissolved after an hours 40⁰ wash. The plastic bag they were in had allowed water in, but the bags themselves were still almost intact.

I use both PVA bags and meshes of boilies and 'bits', and I hate blobs of PVA on the hook. When I use bags, I push the hookpoint out of the bag in the corner so it doesn't catch on the contents. With mesh I often don't knot the end and use the hookpoint to close it and have noticed I don't get a blob of PVA as it was the knot that took longer to dissolve.

That's almost how I managed to pick up the second set of Beastmasters, although in my case it was Ebay. Someone selling a set of 3 for around £50 each, when new they were £59.99. I knew that they were decent reels having used them for years. Not that I am in a hurry to sell them, but I still wouldn't lose money if I did. Possibly the best of the budget range Shimano reels, better than many more premium reels from them.

Big hike? Not being funny, but a big water I'd stick with 12ft rods. Ardleigh and Alton reservoir, 160 and 500 acres respectively, even Nazeing Meads Lagoons, around 65acres, could be some long walks to swims, and 12ft rods do give you better casting range. Sounds simple, but co-ordinate your barrow and tackle you carry. Do the standard take out non essential stuff that 'I might need one day'. I use a Carp Porter Porterlite (original), and I can take the gear for 3 days in one trip, and the 12ft rods and bivvy on top of the barrow.

Fish with what suits you! I have Shimano Beastmaster XTA 7000's on both my 12ft 3.25lb The Ones and my 12ft 2.75lb Sceptre's.

It's blood type O that is most susceptible to bites, I did have to check it up. I did look at my Jungle Systems this morning and I know that they have moved away from DEET. It used to give me a real headache, and took print off t-shirts. Skin-so-Soft was good, but apparently the amount of citronella has been reduced, and I could only get the original from Avon Poland.

I have hardly even had to resort to the Jungle Formula or Lifesystems this year, but the majority of the swims I have fished are tree or bush free and quite open. I do hardly get bitten though compared to other people, something to do with blood type apparently. Just my luck, I can't even pull a female mosquito 😒 😅 I have seen plenty of chironomid hatches, seeing and hearing massive clouds of them above my bivvy. I'm wondering if the long dry warm weather possibly reduced numbers as boggy areas, streams and ponds have been dried out, and what has hatched recently on the occasional rainy day is facing increased competition to reproduce. On the occasion of being bitten or stung, I do have Savlon antiseptic cream in my rucksack. Stung: In June I was bivvy free opposite the island at the shallower end of the lake and woke up to something crawling just above my ear. Without thinking I attempted to grab it, it turned out to me a wasp and stung me on the head.

Shame I didn't manage to include the carp that leapt just after I took the original picture.

When my son Levi was around 10 we used to build 1:72 aeroplane kits together, me supervising unless he got a particularly fiddly bit, and he had them hanging from his bedroom ceiling. On the modelling front, I normally avoid Airfix for WW2 German aircraft as they don't include the swastika tail plane decals. It's history, for right or wrong, but model kits are classed as toys, so apparently it's illegal to include them. Any German aircraft I tend to get are Tamiya models kits which do include the correct swastika decals, and there is sometimes 2 spare, so I might occasionally get an Airfix model as I can get the markings right. Every model I end up researching for correct markings, camouflage and the like as box art or instructions are sometimes incorrect. I did spend a lot of time researching HMS Hood and the Battle between Bismarck and Prinz Eugen. Airfix and the scale models built which were photographed on Hood, all had red anti-fouling paint on the hull. Research showed she actually had grey anti-fouling.

Your best bet is probably a very good search through Ebay, hoping someone has obsolete stock, or is selling one.

Hard to believe she is 11 now

Welcome to carp.com We do have a specific section of the forum devoted to American Carp fishing, although it has been quiet (https://forum.carp.com/forum/16-north-american-carp-fishing/) and a moderator who actually lives and fishes there. I know North America is big, but hopefully he can point you in the right direction.