salokcinnodrog

No! I can turn my bite alarms off. Cast out, put the rods on the buzzer, set indicators, turn bite alarms on. If I'm faffing with a fish, and it touches or catches another line, no matter what, I can't reach or have the spare hand to hit mute or turn it off.

My limit now is Carpology articles that pop up on my Facebook feed. I don't get interested in podcasts, there is no 'structure'. I still prefer the written or printed artform of a paper magazine and for me CarpWorld is or was the best with no competition. I do still get my printed Pikelines magazine from Pike Anglers Club, and have written a few articles for them, which have been published. Also the PAC Facebook page is probably the best angling FB page about. No room for big egos, everyone is equal and everyone tries to help, like we try on here

Sadly it's true, a few fish have been found of various species with plastic baits blocking the gut, pike, bass, carp. I will try to find the post mortem results, but it is fact and not fiction.

Totally agree. I hate being in a swim I've got no chance of catching from, and unable to move because I'm 'booked in'. Regarding the original point of pellets or particles, yes I can understand the frustration of having to buy fishery provided pellets or particles, but in theory it should be so we are not using high oil pellets or unprepared particles. The frustration for me is that I do prepare my own particles and rarely use high oil pellets like trout, salmon or halibut, and stick to coarse fish pellets except on rare occasions when I use a hookbait only halibut or salmon pellet. Sadly I have seen it happen, it only takes a piece blocking the gut and it's a dead creature. I know a number of pike anglers including myself, who have stopped using plastic pike poppers after a few were found dead and post mortems were carried out. A popper attached to the deadbait was ingested, somehow the popper had broken free of the trace. In terms of carp fake baits, if a hair breaks and the corn is ingested there and then, or even if it floats away and is picked up... I don't mind a fake bait ban, again, I've stopped using plastics, although my crayfish resistant wooden balls would come under the heading. There are carp safety rules, and match angler rules, some are designed to reduce carp anglers interest in a water, then the carp safety rules are designed or in place to protect fish and cover the idiot factor.

Glad you had a good session, not just the fish, but the whole thing. Beating the rain makes packing up bearable. That slimming down thing, it's easier once you work out what is a definite need, a possible, and an 'I might need in a blue moon'. I still find that I do carry a few 'might need' items, but most of them are now out as I've learnt to do without them. I still carry 2 barrow loads of gear, but of that it's essentials, books, extra water and Sky food. A few bits of I might need do stay in the car permanently, like my boat landing net, extra stainless sticks. Must admit, being able to offload and load behind the swim helps. I have actually carried everything over to the car when I left the barrow at home and the ground was too muddy to drive over. It took 2 of us, and at the end I did actually crash out spark cold fainted, don't know if it was pain, exhausted or just head rush.

They very quickly got banned on my syndicate. The angler who used it kept his ticket, but hasn't been back since.

Another water has added it to the banned list: Broome Pits on the Norfolk Suffolk border https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid032t6k3runzWZr4GXEox5sS9f2VuHTLiTszKYQ1UNbPPL9bHgDEsfQyNYjw5j1ghehl&id=100057395951471&sfnsn=scwspmo

I know that Shimano made 2 different types of spools for their DL baitrunner range, a metal spool and a plastic one. The ST's (the budget version) only came with 1 spool, where the DL had 2. You could also purchase spare spools as an extra, so you ordered the metal or plastic. The spools fitted the ST and the DL, they were the same. It may be that Wychwood do the same. Personally if I had the choice of an aluminium or alloy one and it fits, I'd take them over plastic.

That sounds like real fun. Like you I'd be absolutely chuffed to bits catching from there, although obviously that 20lb fish would really be the icing. Never believe you will fail. Every barrier can be jumped or climbed over. The harder it seems to do, the more you enjoy every reward.

Something else that gives particles a bit of boost is the spice pack that comes in 'flavoured' noodles. As the noodles are plain and you add the pack as cooking, I don't add the spice pack as most of my cooking is already seasoned. Instead 1 spice sachet gets added to 1kilo of birdfood as I soak them.

Aye, don't fill it up, leave around a ⅓ of the bottle empty to allow for expansion.

I often 'save' that liquid for my Vitalin or Molassed Rabbit mix; putting the particles in first then baiting over the top with the groundbait.

I've fished waters where bait boats were the number one method of getting end tackle in the water, including under trees. At Taverham Mills while I was bailiffing it, there was a bay on the island that from a particular swim people would frequently use a bait boat to put a bait under the overhanging trees. I had to go out a few times in a dinghy to recover and rescue bait boats from under the trees. Carp rarely visited the spot, it was absolutely foul stinking silt. While fishing that swim I'd found that out by watching the area, casting and dragging my marker float back, boat journeys and wading confirmed it. Most anglers using a bait boat do the same thing. Rig and bait in hopper, send out to feature, nice pile of bait around the hook. Without a bait boat, you may think of alternative options, that 2 bait stringer, a spod or 3, a bag or mesh. That bag or mesh can also be used to give a clean drop through the willows... Don't forget, I did used to use a bait boat, but my ethics probably bit back. This sonar searching may give you some idea, but sonar only tells you weed, not what type. Eelgrass has holes or clear patches, that will not necessarily show up with a bait boat and sonar. Then some other weed like the dreaded blanket weed may show up clear, or as a fuzzy layer, but a layer on the lakebed may make your hookbait disappear.

From tap to kettle, boil and pour on particles. Or from pasta into bucket and freeze. Defrost and pour on particles to soak them.

You haven't seen my casting. That's how I used to cast on Earith, and on Nazeing aiming towards the corner by the inlet Frank Warwick style (I'm sure Google can find you a video on that, I've seen it pop up on my FB feed). Even if you have to 'creep up' your casts; cast, clip, cast, creep, allow a bit more reclip etc. Another way of doing it is with a particular lead and a certain number of baits on a stringer, knowing it will drop in nicely. In fact towards the inlet corner it was nearly always a stringer, stick too many baits in and you'd only get crays. I did also have my maps with distances marked with my bank reference points. Problem is as always, the idiots cast their baits too far. Idiots are idiots, whether they own a bait boat or not.