salokcinnodrog

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.

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.

Problem is some of those overhanging trees have extensive sticking out roots as well. I've had to retrieve fish from them after anglers boated their gear in and got smashed or snagged. Go round a lake when the water is down, and you can see some of the snags those root systems have become... At Bromeswell I had to remove a lot of branches and roots from the trees, the roots extended at least as far as the branches, sometimes further. I don't like bait boats for that reason alone, but the disturbance of 1 PVA bag or stringer is a lot less than a bait boat and dropping rig and bait. My point of view, fine if you are a disabled angler unable to cast, not for others.

Elliot Symak has banned it at Northey Park: https://www.facebook.com/100005652707984/posts/pfbid02wMTCbyZDW1Eafz1H8E3k8Xje4qxgF1VWaoywXdsPP11ZSxyFrfukgbCgVY3dxZt3l/ That is his personal Facebook video about it

Yes and no, although I don't like them either

I have been using AngryFish 0.37mm 50lb 4X braid myself for pike fishing and spod/marker rod. It does start as a brighter green, but fades as per the pics. It doesn't fray like the spod braids I have used, the Fox one was awful. I did have problems tying the Albright knot, I wasn't comfortable with it and had a few break under pull tight pressure

I'm laughing at this thread, but for the right reasons We've managed to pass opinion on The Twig, and still within topic pass comment and switch to safe leader to mainline tying. I might have to see if I can split the mainline to leader posts away. I also had a look around local waters to me, and I know Ladywood lakes in Nacton have banned The Twig. I have a feeling HWDAC might have also, but I'm not sure.