salokcinnodrog

I usually have a couple of books to read when I'm fishing, The Secret Carp and Reel Time ll by Chris Yates are currently in the rucksack, along with my tablet with a couple of downloads and games. Sky gets a 2mile walk round the lake, and it's a slow walk as I combine it with fish spotting. Strange thing though, often if I see fish on the way around, then get back to my swim, I'll see fish there, so be reluctant to move. The nature here is amazing, swans, coots, ducks, muntjac and roe deer, along with owls, buzzards and red kites. I've even seen stoats and grassnakes as well as newts, frogs and toads.

Salt can definitely stop hemp splitting, so if you do add salt, put it in the bucket before you pour your freshly boiled hemp back into it. I prep up hemp and pigeon conditioner for 4/5 day sessions; the first 2 days buckets have no extra water, the last 2 I leave extra water in. If hemp dries out it will float, so the water prevents that.

I don't like or even won't accept being ill, I'm too active. Being stuck pretty much indoors for a week just walking Sky and doing small bit shopping was a nightmare, so Monday on the Wensum was a relief, although I was shattered Tuesday and was in bed by 10pm. Today is off to the syndicate to fish for a few days, best place to recover i reckon...

Well I have had the throat surgery, been good, pretty much isolated myself for 7days. On Monday I drove up to see my daughter and granddaughter and have a few hours fishing the river Wensum. I'm now in the still painful stage of the scabs in my throat falling away, so on the recovery road. Decided to have a few days chasing rainbows on the syndicate. One thing I can guarantee is that having abscesses burnt away and tonsils removed is not as painful as the recovery. Struggled to eat for 4days, but now nearly eating properly although slowly. I do have to regain the 10kg I lost from January to now.

Brilliant!

I have a cheat, one of my banksticks which I use as a distance stick has a Gardner camera adaptor and phone bracket mount screwed into the top. Get the unhooking mat in between the two and I'm normally at the right distance. Add Selfie voice trigger app on the phone, and it is good to go.

25 times 3.66metres is 91.5metres, not big casting in today's world. I learnt years ago that rods are the key, and 12 feet 2.75tc rods will do it. With 2.75lb Century SP's, 15lb mainline, 30lb Amnesia leader and 3oz leads I was hitting over 125metres around the early 2000's. My current 12ft 3.25lb RH The Ones I was going even further with no leader and 3.5oz leads. Look at your rods, as @yonny says.

On the spring nose trigger, turn the clip round, that sorts many problems including premature ej, sorry opening I wish I could replace springs, but I keep forgetting to grab them as I kill the spomb. For me it is the tail spring that pops it open is what breaks, pike teeth don't help...

I must have seen the same reviews, Tackle Box rods definitely worth the money from my recall was the views

The Waveney has benefitted from a 'wash-in' of Ocean pit fish. The two were connected from October to January and part of the bank was washed away, despite there being a field in between. Is Marsh Lane near Carlton Colville? I don't think that there are any Mills between Harleston and there, so all species are a possibility

I've played with various Spods and Spombs, and the honest answer is the genuine Spomb is the best of the lot in my opinion. With braid and a low angle cast the Spomb won't open, it skids not hitting the nose trigger. Get a vertical drop, even at 5 rod lengths no problem. Note, adding a mono leader reduces not opening or crack-offs as the sudden clip hit allows a bit of stretch, not break, and also causes the Spomb to drop straight down. Retrieve is good if you can get it 'penguin walking' over the surface, although pike love 'em. The Dot spod, quality is awful, looks homemade and the spring is not the best it can bend out of shape. Getting it to shut can be a pain. Retrieve is ok'ish. As for the Fox, don't go there, didn't always empty, and it came in like a bag of poo. The Wolf Spod I've not used, bit pricey as I seem to break spods or Spombs after pike attacks and have to keep replacing them.

That doesn't sound very nice. It's amazing how much our ears affect us, not just hearing, but balance as well. I hope it does get better for you.

I put off getting one as I usually manage to position my bivvy so my stove is sheltered just outside the door. The past few trips though, it's been a bit gusty.

Funny you should mention that, as I ebayed myself a new Stove Windshield this week. Then we have another 10kg of Rod Hutchinson The Nutty Bait in 18mm, yellow 16mm pop-ups and another tub of Monster Crab pop-ups in 15mm.

Mine have been with very short Multi-rigs, either size 4 or 6 Solar 101's or size 4 Gardner Incizors, made up with Kryston Jackal or Merlin, and around a maximum of 150mm. The Multi-rig is a doubled up length of material, no knots other than the hooklink swivel knot.

Fishing gets in the blood

Out of hospital at 5pm yesterday, and stayed the night at my mother's house so she could Childmind and Sky-sit. I did have a typical reaction to morphine in the middle of the night, made me physically sick. Had to get up, get downstairs and into the bathroom in a hurry, not fun. Then of course that upset Sky, so after I'd sorted myself out I put her on the lead and took her into the garden so she could pee. Poor dog, from about midnight until 5am, I was waking up, every hour at least once, so she simply did not know what to do.

Not just me then.

Are you trying to light it with any wind or breeze? Has the sparking plate gradually been eroded away over time? To both of the above on my Bulin, I tend to use a lighter nearly all the time. You replied just as I was composing my answer, so the spark plate is likely to be no. As for gas, most are much of a muchness, in terms of lighting, Coleman, GoGas, Primus, Sunngas and CADAC

The Shot on the hook posts I have split into UK Rig Tying

Thanks. Strange thing is I was never prone to tonsillitis as a child, despite being asthmatic, yet my brother was. I'm rarely ill, or wasn't until 2020 and Covid, since then any cold or flu and I'm struggling and my right hip joint started to break down. I keep saying that I didn't know how serious it was or is, and didn't realise such a 'minor' problem could be life threatening; sepsis or blood poisoning from any insect bite with the abscess filling up. Then the unable to breathe if it swells, possibility of breathing in the gunk if it bursts. I've been on and off antibiotics since April, visits to my doctor, A&E, Urgent Treatment Centre, Ear Nose and Throat clinic at the hospital with a couple of overnight stays.

Wow, where has this year gone? My sessions this year have been interspringled with illness, this poxy quinsy and hospital visits and a few fish and one good session. When I have fished it seems like I got mostly gremlinned... Anyway, today is 1st September so who will be starting us off?

I've gone back to Century's Big Bertha which I got around 2007. She is still a beast! I've found: a) Avid and Sonik Spod and Marker rods have awful rod rings, with liners falling out and the frames bending easily. b) after replacing them, the rod just doesn't have the life or grunt to put out a medium Spomb much above 60metres. Neither is a bad rod for a marker but despite being hybrids, not Spodding. The Tackle Box Spod rods do get good reviews.

Did you try the Gardner kickers I suggested? I've not used them myself, but most Gardner stuff is spot on. Rusty hooks seem to be a thing on some lakes, like some (usually) silty lakes do seem to be hook point blunters. I have noticed that out of the packet Muggas are good for a few fish before getting blunt enough to need changing. Not caught anything on the Incizors to say anything about them compared to the 101's on Multi-rigs. I changed the last 101 hook I had last week, not had a pick-up this week. I'm annoyed I can't get hold of standard 101's, I did like them! I think that is a problem with spinner rigs full stop. The Ronnie/spinner was supposed to be as good as a 360, but I have not found it so, despite fishing them side by side and losing fish to hookpulls on the spinner, but not on the 360. Losing fish on my syndicate is not a pleasant experience, it could be anything from 15 to 50lb!

I used to cook Sunday dinner for around 1pm, and got to take Levi for a few hours on the whip for silvers after lunch while Liz washed up. He loved it. Then it got to the stage of I would carry Lily and Levi's gear and rods to the park while they cycled up. When they got bored fishing they'd leave me with the rods and go for a cycle, then come back for a bit more fishing. Hard life being left in charge fishing... He soon learnt to trot a freelined dog biscuit downstream for chub as well as I could, and on days I couldn't hit a bite he would manage chub to 4lb. That was on my rod and reel as we'd just take the one between us and the other would land the fish. I might split the 'children into fishing' to a thread of their own back in Carp Fishing, so if some posts disappear, please don't panic and I promise to try not to delete them😖