salokcinnodrog

I don't usually get bugged with scratchy itchy bites, although the annoyance of the little buzz just next to your ear as you are about to fall asleep really does do my head in. Last night I had a mosquito hunt and clapped them for their performance, along with a slow thumb move as they landed on the brolly. The inside now looks like something out of Apocolypse😖❗️ Permethrin can be sprayed on clothing, in fact modern army combat clothing is permethrin treated. If the insects are bad, then I usually use Expedition as mentioned above or Repel 55 as the picture

Recommendations are very important, I have bought a few lines on manufacturers bumpf, some on looks and a few on recommendations. While recommendations or reviews are very important, and the most honest review is usually that on the internet forum, I would say, that because we fish differently, some things just don't work for every angler. Lines I have bought on manufacturers review include Nash Bullet (original), Berkley Big Game, Ultima, and Daiwa Sensor, actually Simon Wheeler, the reps advice. The first three, I would give back to the manufacturer and tell them to try again, they were that bad.😖💩 Daiwa Sensor, I would happily use again at any time.👍 Gardner Pro Blend, I was asked by Richard Gardner to give a test on a spool he sent me, basically test to destruction, tell him the results, and write an honest review on it. I did (somewhere on here is the review) with knot strengths, breaking strain, diameter tests, abrasion test, the works. I still use that line happily. P-line Floroclear, I saw (or didn't) on a stand at 5lakes, being demonstrated in a tank of water. In water the line was not visible; I could see the hook, and bait, the swivel but not the line. It got put on the rods in a successful attempt to get me away from using leadcore* * (See various arguments on it, me now against its use)

I use two lines now, P-line floroclear, and Gardner Pro blend in light or dark to match the lake water colour. I know I can rely on either of them. For years I used Daiwa Sensor in brown, and again, I would know I could rely on it. The Gardner and Daiwa are budget priced lines that outperform most more expensive lines.

Always braid with a shockleader for the marker rod. The feel of features with braid is a whole lot better

Couple of reasons I do it: While I am not a big caster, I have cracked off spods straight through on 50lb braid with a miscast. The lack of stretch means if you do mistime it, or have to stop the cast, the line just 'pings'. I can't remember which fishery it was, but on a friends facebook post, the fishery found the same thing, numbers of cracked off spombs attached to braid only. I have also had braid on a proper spod rod wear grooves in the tip and butt rings. I do also like my fingers, and braid on a miscast can cut deeply. One thing I will say using a standard carp reel, is that using a baitrunner (or even fighting drag) to pull line off the spool as you get your depths is useful.

I use 15lb mono with a 50lb shockleader for spodding. In fact I use 'last years' mono which I wind off my fishing reel onto the spod reel, then tie on new shockleader. As for marker reel, I use the same type of reel for marker as I use for my fishing, admittedly a 7000 Beastmaster, but for years it was an old Shimano 4000 size baitrunner, same size as I used for fishing. That would be equivalent to a modern 6000 size baitrunner.

I'm wondering how much more visible a fluorocarbon coated line is made by a coating of sediment from a lake. When I changed the line on my reels, you could see and feel the sediment on the line, dry and powdery, with a whitish coating. In the water, obviously, it is not dry, but does it stick out on the line? Does it stick in between trips, or does it get washed off, then recoat it? I tend to reel in between my fingers a few times, and give my line a coating of Greased Lightning every now and again, which I think reduces the sediment sticking for a while.

Hence my post about using marker float and lead😉 Years ago, I did a basic map for Suffolk Water Park, all marker float and lead. I did a complete map of Earith Virginia syndicate, strangely enough, which I sent Guddler a copy.

The honest answer is I have never used a fish finder, well with the exception of my own eyes. I have seen Guddler, an old member on here, using a finder attached to his radio control boat at Suffolk Water Park use one to work out the lakebed. That is he got the features mapped out for him on the screen, brilliant, could save a lot of time if you are not marker float and lead orientated. However, it does not tell you where the fish will come in to feed, or even the exact feeding spots😉 I have also had the pleasure of being able to go out in a boat to find features and map a lake, rowing over fish, watching their (occasional non) reaction, even lowering baits in from the boat. For years, pike anglers have been using fish finders on boats, discovering large shapes, fish in midwater, and it can give an idea where the fish are, although a pike resting midwater, it can take a lot of bait finding what it wants, or even watching it ignore everything. Your eyes can tell you so much, from slight swirls, to shows like rolling, coloured water, or even real jumping. Technology is brilliant, but the Mark l eyeball is more brillianter😖😉😅🐟

I don't know what the fault is. On the post section you have a lower section that says 'click to choose files', below that is accepted file types, gif, jpeg, jpe, jpe, png and Max total size 8MB. Click to choose files on ipad and it brings up where the pictures are stored, 'tick' the pics, then 'done' and they will or should upload. If your wifi, data link (phone internet connection) or broadband is slow or pauses, then it can fail to upload. The other way is to go back to third party hosting, having a web site store your pictures, then adding in the picture link as an 'img' link

They can be temperamental. You may need to 'grease' up the stem to stop it 'sticking' to the water. Mind you, casting an adjustable zig rig can be awkward to cast, but definitely less so than an 8 foot hooklink!

Used them years ago, very handy piece of kit😉

Not quite used it as a chod rig, but used naked helicopters long before it became fashionable. At the time, because the available rings had a tendency to abrade the mainline I came up with various other versions, from Cox and Rawle beach beads, (https://www.gerrysfishing.com/cox-rawle-beach-beads-20pcs-1-packet.ir (do NOT glue them) and have the large holed bead nearest the rod tip), to home made versions. The pics I used are on this thread:

I love my river fishing, for chub, pike, roach and carp. First night of the season I'm often on a chub hunt, and in warm weather chase them with floaters, had a few to over 4lb. I have also had the pleasure of carp to over 15lb on sweetcorn while chub fishing, as has my mate Bruce, and I managed a 28lb river carp intentionally fishing for them.

I must confess I have reservations about pole fishing for carp. The pressure on the mouth constant up pull I think is responsible for a lot of mouth damage, especially when the elastics are increased to 20, even 30 and I recently saw a 50! As a fishery bailiff, and having been on a number of waters, it does seem that match fished pole waters fish do seem to have a fair bit of mouth damage, more so on high stock waters than more natural fisheries. It also seems that carp are more susceptible than other species to this mouth damage, possibly with the exception of tench, which are probably the two hard fighting species. If you must, I know the Middy White Knuckle works, in fact it was a short margin White Knuckle that I first got my son years ago.

It is a really simple job to adapt your Spomb to float. Undo the holding metal pin, and push it back through the hole. I had some floating foam, which I trimmed to size, and push that onto the locking spring pin, then force the pin back through the original hole. You now have a floating spomb which won't wobble on the cast. An added benefit is you fill up the loading bay, and stop overload preventing it from shutting or opening in flight.

I managed to leave my polarised sunglasses at a job last week. Not a happy bunny! I wore them anytime I needed sunglasses.

If the fish haven't spawned, it may well be that they are just mooching, not feeding, just hanging around waiting. Seen that a number of times if the fish start, then the weather and temperatures drop.

You'd get charged Pole Tax...😖

I know the ones you mean, the TFG Super -Tuffs, I didn't like the look of them either😉

It could be the gap is a known 'danger area', where carp are often targetted, so are particularly wary of rigs. It could be that your 'slightly supple' boom is sticking up from the bottom, whereas a totally soft braid could confuse them. It is possible that by going softer your hooklink doesn't stick up out of the silt compared to the coated braid near the knot. (Before anyone says anything targetted is the correct British spelling, single t is an Americanism)

No problem, posts like this are always appreciated. As long as the previous owner looked after them they should be fine. They don't look dated, or out of fashion😉

I think the latest TFG Boots are the same as the Jack Pyke. I got myself a pair a couple of years ago, and have been out and about fishing in some real cold weather, pike fishing in the snow. https://www.fishtec.co.uk/buy.cfm/fishing-boots/tf-gear-primal-ap-extreme-boots/40/yes/37810?Affiliate=4,397&gclid=Cj0KCQjw28_XBRDhARIsAEk21Fh2rgD3t8zeFiIrIxvbV0opGmqKUDCFD7cZPw-T6dwblSrq9wHLWJcaAv0NEALw_wcB For summer I prefer a decent pair of 'combat' boots, usually Hi-Tec Magnums. They are not cheap, but get plenty of abuse, lasting around 2 years, being used on site, walking the river and around the lakes. http://www.military1st.co.uk/m800892-magnum-classic-boots-black.html

I've bought over a post from 'Who Still?' by Chillfactor as this answer really cover the same points on pop-ups as it does on bottom baits. In my quoted post above, I mention Thwaite, as my runs water that produced fish in almost every weather. At times pop-ups were the only thing that would produce, despite trying beds of bait, on what had been a carp match anglers 'paradise' until the fish grew too big in a snag lined lake for match anglers to deal with them. Yet most of the time, from spring onwards, carp would come over bait. 10kg of Vitalin for 24 hours was not too much! As November came on, it was back to pop-up time. Each of us have our favourite pop-up rigs, Multi Rig, D-rig, Swimmer rig, or goodness knows how many other variations. With the possible exception of the Multi rig, I would think that many are based on a final D-rig that is something like 35years old! I am not saying they are all the same before anyone jumps on my comment, although I would like to be reminded of any differences. The thing is any standard bottom bait rig can be used for pop-ups, only thing needed is a counterweight, and usually a shorter hair😉 Have we overcomplicated things or are some of the additions really beneficial?

I love my Beastmasters. I honestly don't know why you need to spend major bucks on a super light, all singing, all dancing £250 reel compared to these. It's not a baitrunner as such, a quick (inner) drag kn ob on the front of the spool. I always tighten up the main drag or clutch, and play fish on backwind, so have not noticed any line twist. Playing power, plenty of guts for dealing with big fish at long range, and they do cast a bit.