salokcinnodrog

Think that says almost everything. Most anglers who walk round a lake choose the middle of the day, yet have missed the first light shows, or have gone before the dusk/dark shows. I HATE mornings, yet when I was fishing Alton Water to find the fish I had to be there an hour before first light to find the fish. Not easy when you finished work at 11pm! However on my late night shift before 2 days off, (3-11pm), I would still walk various stretches looking for fish. On my current syndicate, binoculars are a must, shows can be tiny, just a fin breaking 200metres away, if you don't have binos you've missed it. They could also be a bit more obvious. Another thing, try to find natural food areas, look for 'thick' bubbling, rolling.

Now other bike minded people on here are @welder and @levigsp Frank (levigsp) is also the person with an immense knowledge of carp strains, bikes, and hunting dogs

Welcome to carp.com

Currently I usually have a different pop-up on one rod from my feed bait, one on the same pop-up as the food bait and a snowman of the food bait in 15mm and a 12mm Monster Crab pop-up. Pjpu's are supposedly the ultimate pop-up, nothing coming close in terms of buoyancy and longevity although I have found that most pop-ups I use still pop-up after 3-4 days. The only problem with glugging pop-ups is that you can change the buoyancy. I had some that took on much liquid they sank, so flavour sprays are the alternative, but how quickly they 'wash-off' might be an issue. The only thing that I can suggest is see how long the food bait pop-up stays popped up for.

Be prepared for it though. While the winter was wet, it wasn't particularly cold, so might not have died back. On my lake I don't think that we lost any time due to the lake freezing over, and the weed, (especially the silkweed) is already coming through with fresh growth.

I dread to think how many bedchairs I have had over the years, Lafuma sunlounger, Fox, Bison, Chub, Badger, (actually a good product!), and Solar. I think the usual life was around 6 years other than the Lafuma which was only a year until I bit the Fox bullet. (I can go back to the 1990's and before sometimes sleeping on a mat before a bedchair. The honest answer is that so far the Solar is the best and most comfortable, I haven't had to replace elastic and it hasn't sagged. Believe me it doesn't happen on every lake, or even on mine all the time. If the ground is really wet we stop cars going round past the inlet (all winter), so a barrow trip might be needed. Wow, just checking my references on my bedchairs, and found this, a thread on bedchairs: Strangely enough, I think unless you buy right at the top range, prices aren't too far different or inflated.

I saw @newmarket have one delivered when I visited him a while ago, so when mine died I had it already in mind.

More Nutty bait, another 10kg of shelf life, a new retaining sling to replace the old one that's dying, of age, and more PVA bags. https://rodhutchinson.co.uk/product/folding-camo-recovery-sling-xl/

That's weird! As @kevtaylor has said for Solar to have a problem is a rarity. Perhaps a fault in the frame manufacturing? Sonik items on the other hand i now avoid after cheap rod rings drop inners, and chairs where the extending legs slide in under Nick weight, I'm only 80kg... so they can only be used on a perfectly flat and level bank.

Yes, I have the original Solar bedchair, and yes it's comfy, however the folding legs don't lock in or out, it is you making sure that the legs are fully opened before you get on it, and I have occasionally forgotten to check to my cost. The strap keeps them in place during transport, so it's not a problem. I also use the legs as 'side bars' when it's on my barrow. You have approximately 100millimetres on the full leg extensions so you can get flat and level on most ground. The Springloc system locks as well, it does not slide. To be honest, most of the time weight is not an issue for me as I can drive to most swims on the lake.

It's not just you, I've had totally different forecasts from the BBC to MetOffice.

I'd go Cotswold every day. Any reason for 10ft as opposed to 12ft?

I use Metoffice on my phone as well as the app installed by Samsung as well as checking BBC regularly. All 3 are giving wet weather for at least one day this weekend. I've noticed that forecasts are changing regularly, I can check for 2 or 3 days ahead, then 24 hours later get a totally different forecast.

I do recall a friend of mine used to take his boxer dog with him to Rib Valley

I'm not sure on the effectiveness of most fishing tackle brand winter clothing, as most are not outdoor specialists in the clothing range. I prefer army surplus, hunting or shooting clothing. My cold weather clothing is from army surplus, and Hoggs of Fife, along with Merino wool socks. Top half is usually t-shirt, Norgie or UBAC with a standard fleece on top, and a Hoggs Strathmoor jacket on top, (look at current outdoor shooting or hunting jackets), or a DPM wind and water resistant smock on top. Bottom half is combats with Hoggs overtrousers, and the Merino under my combat boots. For the neck I do have either a snood or my shemagh. That is cold winter wear!

Ooh no, you don't need a bivvy heater. A decent sleeping bag for night, and good clothing for day. Too many 'accidents' with bivvy heaters, burnt down bivvies, and deaths from carbon monoxide poisoning. Even using a stove in the bivvy is a risk. Years ago a mate I used to fish with had a run while his stove was on to keep him warm, he only burnt a hole in his sleeping bag, but other mates have destroyed their whole bivvies and woken up in A&E.

@yonny Nicely said. One thing I noticed when air drying baits to get them rock hard, is they took on water (or other liquids) and got softer quicker than baits straight out of the freezer. It meant they could actually have a faster breakdown time than frozen or 'normal' boilies, which could be an advantage at times. Ah, the washed out baits concept, supposedly making the carp think they are safe as opposed to freshly introduced. I never noticed an advantage over freshly introduced straight from the freezer, although I did occasionally have a fish that took a bait that had been in the lake for 2 days untouched, unmoved and left in place, fish that I think were wary of new bait, even the disturbance of putting any bait on the spot. One particular example was on a 3 day trip to Brackens Pool where the left hand rod produced 4 or 5 fish to 20lbs, all on stringers fished to the treeline opposite. My right hand rod produced only 1 fish, a 30lb mirror that was previously uncaught at that weight, but I had left it alone for 48hours after lowering it in to the tree line to my right. Now mixing @framey and @yonny's quotes, when bites come hard to get on your food bait boilies, it can help by increasing the amount you prebait, or put in at the end of the session. I think carp can get used to and avoid just a few baits and getting hooked on your hookbait. By increasing the amount of prebait, and potentially the free bait when you fish, you reduce the chance of them inspecting and checking every one. That inspection of baits is why rigs get developed or changed, because the carp can learn to avoid a particular situation. Some is because we simply can't afford to put in more bait every trip, so need to come up with other answers. The more you can afford, the more the fish rely on it, and a basic inefficient rig will still catch.

I'd probably be going to 8lb maybe even Kryston Jackal in 20lb. Sounds heavy but for a coated braid it is very thin.

I have little experience of explicit fishing tackle insurance, but I do know 'cheaper' insurance companies will try everything to prevent payouts in the event of theft; security not good enough, replace with cheaper items etc. Always go for the best insurance possible, and not always the cheapest. Go through the small print (the boring bit) to find out their complete policy and best way to protect yourself. Sadly fishing tackle is both sentimental and personal, so to replace a pair of Century rods with Sonik (for example) does not cover like for like.

For years I have taken baits out of the freezer as I pack my gear into the car. I've rarely gone to the 'faff' of adding extra liquid or defrosting a day before. I'm not saying defrosting before use does not work, but I have caught on baits that have been put on the hair still part frozen, and sometimes within minutes of casting in.

How many times have I said updates and upgrades are not always better? Nor me. That's not a mark 2, it's a mark 2.5 or 3. I hope you get it sorted, you can always use the return of item as not suitable for use described. It is one you could win especially if you got Trading Standards or CAB involved as the description is not clear.

I think the longest cast was around 40metres.

No, cast it, along with about 20 others all with the same amount of baits on. When there is a rule saying 'free bait may only be put in by PVA' I can use stringers to my advantage when everyone else is fishing single baits...

You mean a 'Nick stringer'? Done that on 2.75lb Century NG's and SP's