salokcinnodrog

What irritates me is that the mk.2 or 3 is frequently not as good as the mk.1, or is having to fix the faults of the mk.1 as in alarms. I had the original Fox Easydome, good bivvy, up in a couple of minutes. I even got a mk.2, nice, (thanks RichardF), it actually came with an improvement of an additional rib to push the porch out instead of a couple of clip-on bars as per the mk.1 and the skull cap had better coverage because of that. Then the mk.3 was awful, they extended the inner dome backwards instead of to the front. The mk.1 was my goto bivvy on Taverham in the 1990's until it was stolen. The mk.2 was my goto bivvy around 2007 or 2008 for another few years until I split up with Liz and lost it somewhere between housemoves.

Nick has no idea what is happening to it now. I lost interest after seeing 6 otters playing around and had numbers of the fish. It's one of those places, I fished it, caught fish, not really interested in going back.

I see more animals hit with crossbow bolts than I do with a catapult! Saying that I used to see a pest control officer using a Barnet Diablo or Black Widow for rats, and at one time they were a carp anglers best boilie pult. I really don't understand the logic of some people, those who are trying to ban a legitimate use of a catapult for groundbait or boilies, or those who aim for animals. As a kid I made longbows, catapults and other arrow launchers, and I am positive that not all were used legitimately, kids play fights, pigeons or rats as targets or the occasional school window... As for the police, if I misbehaved, I'd get a clip round the ear from whoever caught me, and if I was stupid enough to tell my mother, another when I told her, or if I was caught by the village Bobby, no matter how fast I ran or cycled, how many shortcuts I took, he was stood at the door talking to my mother when I got home. We have lost education, from one or two misbehaving children in a year group to one or two well behaved children in the year group.

Those mirrors are impressive looking fish.

I don't think that the weight is the problem, nor the packing away time. I can't do with sleeping on Ravishing Rachel, sorry the airbed anymore, it's too low, not that my bedchair is particularly high, but I can't get up from the floor easily. Comfort and space. I can do without the porch extension, but with it does mean I can sit on my chair when it's raining and keep dry. No matter what when carp fishing it is guaranteed to be 2 barrow loads, Sky has a bucket of food and a couple of stuffed hooves for daytime chewing. I got really lucky years ago, someone put a Nash Hurricane Outlaw Bivvy dome and overwrap on ebay and I picked it up for £10 including carriage, they made a spelling mistake on the listing, 'bivy', so no-one else bid on it. That lasted years, in fact I still have it, and that's been through a few storms. It's only my preference for an umbrella that made me switch from it. When I was homeless, it was home!

Funny you should post as I have a pan of maize simmering on the stove for this week. I get mine from Gladwells at Copdock Mill. It's definitely big enough to drill and put on the hair. I must admit I gave up on plastic baits, both for lake rules, and my peace of mind environmentally. I became concerned about leaving plastic baits in the environment should I crack off. The last few pieces I have found and retrieved are actually smaller than real grains of maize, and fake sweetcorn is smaller than the standard piece I use for bait. I do tend to trim a standard yellow (Nutty Bait) pop-up for use as a hookbait. I'm too tight to buy additional specific hookers...

I was using a Sonik Spod Marker Hybrid, but after rod rings losing liners I switched back to Century Big Bertha for the same job of leading around and the Spombing. I'm more confident in the Big Bertha for the weight of a full medium Spomb than the Sonik which didn't like big casts. I normally cast out and pull the rod tip to vertical or slightly backwards and as it hits the clip the rod pulls forward. That's almost exactly the distance I was fishing this week in a 20mph easterly, which was a 'cross tail' wind, coming at around 45⁰ over my left shoulder. That reminds me, I must give the Aerlex a dose of Rocket fuel, it developed a squeak this week on winding in. Means I will be cleaning up the 7HT's as well.

With braid and the Spomb you really want a straight drop down rather than 'skidding' it in as it hits the clip. I also use a 30lb Amnesia leader. I still get the occasional non opening, but that is when I tend to punch it rather than aiming high and dropping in. The Nash Dot Spod is supposed to open every cast, but I have found they seem to lack a bit of build quality (and class) and do appear cheap. They can also be a pain to push and click shut.

There are some baits that will work no matter what. Maize, corn, sweetcorn, bloodworm and other worms, even maggots are instant. Boilies are not the instant answer as it can take time for fish to find them, not every fish will eat boilies, or even will test every one because it is different. In terms of protein percentage 30% is almost perfect, the boilies and recipe look good. The location you put them in may be wrong, you may have put too many in for the conditions, long and short term. I don't know the weather or season where you are, it's spring in Northern Hemisphere, but round Asia to Europe, current temperatures are widely differing, some still close to freezing, some reaching 25⁰C.

Oh gawd, we're getting into the nuances of the English language, wind and wind, spelt the same only pronounced different. Whined knot... Because I will moan and whine after getting one...🤪

Or bad retrieve knot, when the line goes loosely onto the reel and as you cast comes off in a bundle and tighter knot than I can tie. I hate unpicking the darn things, and they usually happen for me when it's windy and I am mid way through spodding bait in.

1litre of water is 1 kilogram, so yes, that's a fair weight. I do always keep water in the car, a 5litre container for Sky so if she needs it on a walk or drive she has it available. That's my usual backup when we are fishing. Stupid thing is fresh water in the bowl is often ignored, and she has a preference for lake water.

That's in Norfolk, sorry Narfock

If I am barrowing my gear to the swim, yep, The Monster Cabrio mat definitely does make a good tackle carry on the barrow, but with the back and hip problems lifting fish up causes so much pain as I have to reach over and down, so the standard Chub mat is the one. I said that, then when I tried to go to just 'essentials', or the 'never know', I suddenly found that I needed them, so back came the tackle box. You know the one, 'I've got spare identical rigs in the rig bin', so you rely on them, then run out after a few fish, or blunting hooks, so you retie some more on the bank. Then there is the occasional of 'I'm sure they are sussing it', so you tie something completely different.

And send in free swans...