salokcinnodrog

Believe me I am disgusted and have signed gawd knows how many petitions, barracked my MP, who is a virtue signaller, against his vote to continue to allow sewage to be pumped into waterways, (then made a newspaper article to clean up the local river, ignoring why its in such a state).

Littering is an antisocial habit, you can be fined for it, ergo illegal. Throwing rubbish on the ground is an eyesore, pollution etc, pick your description, but because dropping the lead is not so 'obvious' or seen in the water it became mainstream advice from various tackle brands. Leadclip's were originally designed for creating a semi-fixed set-up, with the advantage of being able to take your lead off at the end of the session, or change the lead size mid session.

As @framey says, change one thing at a time. It does, it's called littering, fly tipping, pollution... Strictly speaking it is illegal! Personal thought, I do not like leadclips, nor dropping leads, I still use running leads or inline leads and the only leadclips I own are those I have found and retrieved, attached to other people's break-offs, most still had lead attached. I've found 2, 2.5oz, 4 and 5oz leads, but strangely none of the sizes I prefer, 3 or 3.5oz. In weedy waters, an inline distance lead will frequently not catch up on the weed, whereas even an empty leadclip does.

Lots to look at! 10feet 3lb TC rods? That in itself could be part of the problem, even though you say you don't play fish hard. If the rods are tip actioned, then you can be putting a lot of hard pressure on the fishes mouth at short range in the fight. A through action rod could be a better option, or a lighter test curve. A 10feet rod can be very stiff! The same test curve on a 12feet rod could be nicer! Your hooklink braid, what is it? I've used various Kryston braids for over 30years, Merlin, Supernova, Silkworm in 15 or 25lb, no mouth damage. Sadly when Kryston was sold their braids became hard to get hold of, so my stocks are now running low. If you use a mainline braid, that can be a totally different material and could cause damage. Extremely short hooklinks, my minimum is 15centimetres, 6inches. A short hooklink with a lead bouncing around very close to the hook... Extremely sharp, hand sharpened hooks, on soft mouthed silt feeding fish, no need, just an ordinary hook out of the packet, my choice of hooks are Gardner Muggas and Solar 101's in size 4 and 6, only dropping smaller for floater fishing or to comply with lake tiles.

The swim itself was ignored😉, most anglers preferred the bigger double swim next door that had the plateau as its main feature. The small swim was only just big enough for 2 rods, a brolly and bedchair, and even that was tight around a tree trunk. Taverham is still available to fish, under the Anglian Water season or day tickets. It was originally run by Dave Plummer who managed to get some Redmire fish when that had successful spawning year, don't know if any of them remain, but they were cracking fish. I ran it between Brian Hewitt who ran it for Malcolm Schroeder the owner, until Brian left and Anglian Water buying it. It is mentioned in John Bailey and Martyn Page's Carp: Quest for The Queen book.

I used to have one, in the days of Broadland Bait Boats. When I was working at a fire alarm company they used to buy their sealed lead acid batteries from me, so I got a deal... I actually got put off bait boats by how far it pushed me closer to 'dangerous' fishing, too far under trees, at silly long ranges (I used to play with electronics and radio signals, (my dad was a radio amateur and television broadcast engineer) so I had come up with some tweaks). It was physically seeing how far tree roots can come out from the islands, during low water and realising I'd been fishing miles too close. Most of the waters I fish simply don't allow them, so that with my choice not to use them makes life easy for me. Not sure on that though as I try not to fish the obvious features, or even swims. Taverham was a case in point; most anglers would fish to the islands, or big obvious gravel bars, and from the 'usual' swims. I used to prefer the swim to the right of the plateau swim which was the entrance to the backwater channel, and cast to a fallen tree trunk rather than the corner or gravel bar a little further up. On Cowtail point, most people aimed to the corner of the island, but my aiming point was left towards the lily pads, where a gravel bar had a gully across it.

Not practising my long distance casting is one skill I've lost. I'm not as proficient as I was at Nazeing, where long casting was the norm or his best mate, and that is without a bait boat! I don't know if you have seen it, but I did a hand drawn map of Earith Virginia, Reed Lake and Pats Pool, with as many features as I could find; islands, the gravel bars, overhangs, plateaus and even the surrounding trees, shrubs, bushes and reeds. Everything was found with a marker float, and it took me around a week to work my way round the whole of Virginia and Reeds, along with a sneak along the Drove bank. Pats was easy, although I did only ever floater fish it. I guess feeling everything and getting depths with the lead and marker float was my biggest skill, and it's one of my still in use tactics. I can still remember various favourite lakes in my head; gravel bars, shape, particular swims and features from as much as over 30years ago! SCARY!

I wonder if those of us don't use bait boats for whatever reason 'develop' or use other skills? I learnt to get very tight casting to my marker float, the cast wasn't good enough unless I splashed the float with my lead, and I rarely clipped up back then. At Taverham, one 'identified' gravel spot under the corner of the island used to actually be quite silty, but regularly feeding bait got it lovely and clear, down to 'bedrock' gravel with no silt on top as the fish fed on it. To start with you'd get a donk through the silt onto the gravel, and as it got clearer you would get less pull back on the marker lead, and get that real billiard ball bounce. After a few weeks of pressure it switched off until the silt came back. I did have that advantage of using a boat usually every week or so as I did regularly go out for the occasional overcast lead or spod in a tree, and a couple of hot summers between 1991 and 1994 saw shallow gravel bars reach the surface as the water level dropped.

Lots of trees have roots like that on lakes, willows are especially bad. It was roots growing out like that that caused a number of snag-ups on fish that I had to rescue at Taverham. I removed a number of roots growing out into the lake at Bromeswell, within a few months they've regrown. I wonder how much bloodworm is actually in that silt? Might actually be a good place to put a bait! I must admit I don't think that bait boat sonar would show those things up, the drained lake pics are far better I did have a CD with pics on when Brackens Pool at Nazeing was drained. Some massive gravel bars and plateaus, rising 15-20 feet from the lakebed in one swim. To be honest, you aren't even going to find them all out with a marker and float

I prefer a brolly system as well, although mine is the Rod Hutchinson Cabrio Hybrid Brolly and extension porch. It's massive, I can actually put the bedchair from under the spokes to the feet end being by the door. That gives me room for everything along the side with a walkway/chair space in the middle. I've tried it the other way round, but end up with a rain drenched head... The groundsheet is an umbrella section, with a 'fill-in' front section for the extension, which I don't always use in summer, unless I'm over goose or sheep doo. I'm debating switching from my The Ones to 2.75lb Enduro rods, mostly because the varnish is starting to go on my The Ones. Already bought them, they're just sat waiting...

Amateur, should have nicked his sweets as well. Something about taking candy from a baby springs to mind...

A spod tends to be 'heavier' on the retrieve than a Spomb because you are reeling in water and the spod is often under water where the Spomb skips or penguin walks on top most of the time. I am using a Shimano Aerlex on my Spod rod, and a Shimano Beastmaster 7000 on my marker/spod rod. Both stand up to the abuse. The thinner braids may be a problem with crack-offs as well, it took a few attempts for me to find a decent one; Angry Fish 0.36mm 50lb 4 is what I use, for the marker/spod rod and pike fishing. Over 3years the colour has faded, dye worn off, but the braid is still strong.

Kinky! 🤭

@andywilson123 you are opening a big can of big worms! There are devotees to Fox, to Steve Neville, to Gardner Atts, Nash and of course Delkim. What matters is your alarm buzzes for you on a take, whether you use mono or braid. Not all roller wheels work with braids! Your alarm must buzz on line being taken or on dropbacks, your indicator should show you which, not really much need for a tone difference. Now I've used Delkim ST alarms since 1993 or 94, and had the same set from 2000 until last year. (The first set was stolen). In fact, they are still in use for pike fishing. I replaced them with the new TXI'D which I also love. I never had problems with water ingress, no funny bleeps, no faults, and believe me my gear really does get used on all weathers, from boiling hot to freezing cold, to mega thunderstorms and monsoons. Reasons I don't like Fox alarms, I have had to return many to manufacturer faulty within warranty, on occasions before they even left the shop. The new models released every couple of years; Micron, Mini Micron, replaced with Micron R, Micron S, then MR, MX, MXR, NTX and so on. Get it right first time, not need an upgrade (or cynical) to convince anglers their old alarms aren't good enough, so have to buy new. I actually liked the original budget Mini Microns, a perfect day only alarm (no extension box or receiver). Now I'm certain that someone will probably tell me about Delkim false bleeps, there will be hearsay that 'Fred couldn't stop his bleeping, or rain got in', and some may well be true, but with many there is always an amount of user error. I mean we all read the instructions correctly for Delkims, our washing machine etc don't we, so not reading them leads to things not being right. Actually I do have a slight Delkim gripe, I prefer an on/off switch rather than simultaneous double or triple button press, but it's a minor nuisance.

Use the right indicator for the situation! Mega tight lines at range, you might want a tension arm (Springer) indicator. It basically keeps the line tight until a take, then either 'pops off' as line is taken, or springs back down on a dropback. A light bobbin could be perfect for fishing at short range or with running leads and a slack line. Fish slightly further out, you could need a heavier bobbin to counteract possible undertow with tight lines. The original Fox Mark 1 swinger was brilliant, I think the best version, you could go from zero weight to maximum weight and get extra weights on them for pretty much all fishing. Now I use Solar Quiverlocs or Short Arm Titanium indicators which mostly cover me for all situations.

Strangely enough, I have actually just retrieved a small Spomb attached to braid straight through. I've not looked at how much braid, it's attached to a football sized bundle of weed. Looks like whoever smashed off at the clip and couldn't retrieve it. That is my exact reason for a shockleader

With and without a photobomber, or without and with...

Welcome to Carp.com I try to keep my fishing as simple as possible, a simple coated braid rig attached knotless knot so I can fish either pop-ups, bottom or snowman baits. Bait Tight to the hook for pop-ups, longer hair for bottom or snowman. You are catching on the feeder rod, start there: you are catching. In other words that is working, that is the right approach. Fish exactly like that but upgrade it, maybe bigger hook, bigger bait. On a purely personal note, I hate leadclips. A run ring is a whole lot better than leadclip system. You can fish the run ring with the line slack or tight. Slack it becomes a proper running lead, tight it is a bolt rig.

Therein lies the problems. Reviews for a tackle item, magazines might get the prototype or a full specification model, that when released has been downgraded with cheaper zips or material. If the magazine doesn't give a positive review they can lose the advertising revenue from that manufacturer or brand. How much money did Nash, Fox, Trakker or whoever pay to the magazine for advertising their products? Fishing tackle is a Niche market, as are fishing magazines, so they need to make money from advertising as well as magazine sales. 'How to tie a Ronnie rig' is an article designed to sell bits and pieces, be that Nash, Fox, Gardner and again whoever as most articles include the anglers sponsors, although admittedly Gardner aren't as heavy in that as other brands. I'll say that hand on heart as Richard Gardner asked me for a breakdown on Pro Line, and he was nice enough to send me a few spools to test, which I did so honestly. A lot of magazine articles are 'I kept baiting 'swim a' for weeks while moving around the lake then decided the time was right to fish it and on the second night I had Lucky Lucy at 46lb...' I think the current breed of magazine writers are numbers orientated for only big fish, moving from water to water to catch only Lucky Lucy, The Big common from Bluebell, The Pet, The Chestnut, The Big Lin etc. Every baiting pattern, groundbait, particles, Spombing/spodding, PVA stringers, bags or mesh can only go round in circles. 'Real carp fishing' where the average angler can only fish waters within his catchment area, or waters where the carp might only just reach 25lb if he is lucky are ignored by most writers, with a couple of exceptions. Don't get me wrong, it's been going for years, from the days of Kevin Maddocks and Carp Fever, even Jack Hilton wanting to fish for Big fish, but they were exceptions rather than the norm, and carp fishing was in its infancy. I actually still read my Carp Fever and The Carp Strikes Back, they can be reread, many modern books are read and shelve. The modern angler in many cases is a parrot rather than a thinker, they follow fashion, and I'm equally as guilty. **'Lucky Lucy', I did pick that name out of the air, but if a carp is now named that I will plead accidentally. I honestly couldn't tell you the names of most of the big fish around the big waters now.

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.