salokcinnodrog

A productive afternoon making bait, with a base mix that is available without visiting a tackle shop. Even better I picked it up at a bargain price of 45pence for the main base. Chapati flour, liver powder, mackerel and herring meal (animal feed store) and eggs

I did originally post to ask, but then looked at your profile which has it on, so deleted the post.

Not showing as dissolved yet, but that doesn't mean they are still trading as winding up may take a while:

Don't hurry yourself. I might be able to put you onto something. Not been paid since 23/2, so I'm tight right now, but I do know where there is a Morpheus 4😉

Add around 10ml of glycerine in with your liquid ingredients. Glycerine is a long term preservative and bait hardener. When you dry your hookbaits out, you might want to do that until they are totally dry, then drill before putting in a tub. This may take a lot more than 48hours. At this point I then make around 20ml of bait soak, of which 10ml is glycerine and the rest is Seafood Attract, and pour it over them, shake and keep shaking them every time you walk past until it is totally absorbed.

I'd figured it out that you were talking about Earith. Originally Ian didn't think or know there were any catfish in Virginia, but I think at some time Pingrees and Virginia had joined in floods and a couple of cats decided to go for a visit.

On my syndicate the cormorants, old age and natural mortality have taken out the roach and bream. There are the carp, tench, plenty of small perch and pike, with possibly a few small roach. The pike appear to be self limiting. The larger females take out the excess smaller males who also take smaller pike and silvers, these females will also munch on tench. Due to my mobility issues, I didn't do any pike fishing trips on there this year, so I don't know if the 23 I had last year is still around, but I saw only one other 20 this season. I've seen videos of Wels catfish catching pigeons ( ) I was on Virginia wondering what snapped me off after a run I couldn't stop on my SP's. Not long after a catfish was seen and landed on the promontory between the main lake and the SunFun coach company end. My mate Bruce landed a catfish on Trigga boilies from Yew Tree. I was in the swim next door and only had carp.

The XTB version? I'd keep them unless there is a genuine advance or upgrade. I'm still using Beastmaster XTA 7000's which must be 7 years old and were around £60. I had the choice of more expensive reels in the shop, and after playing the Beastmasters were better than more expensive Shimano reels.

Based on Tackle Box being an hour away, go a little further North, or round the M25, Johnson Ross in Hoddesdon are showing stock of both. Free Spirit, custom built lovely, but expensive. Standard build , I recall @sharpy86 getting a set where the tips actually curved to one side, hence my point about seeing them. I think his were online delivery. While in theory 13ft may improve your distance, it is down to your casting style and technique. If you haven't got the style you may be better off with 12ft. I haven't used a 13ft rod for carp fishing, but with 12's I know I'm hitting well over 150 at the moment.

Is there a reason for 13ft rods over a 12ft? Shimano rods are actually very much underrated, and have been for years. Terry Edmonds was consultant when these were brought out, and he was casting them big distances. I'd actually have a close look at the Free Spirit rods in the flesh before buying. Put the rods together and line them up.

Good luck with Prince Albert, a lot of waters on that ticket, and with the 20lb fish. I'm glad that is still a 🎯 to aim for.

When I've bought base mixes in the past I have tended to use flavours from the same brand, although there are exceptions. @emmcee's point about adding extra bits and pieces is a valid point, but some mixes can be improved upon. Years ago I was on Nutrabaits The Biollix, the bait was designed as a 'stand alone' base mix needing no additions, and it caught (one time British Record Carp), although I had a couple of essential oil and flavour combinations that went well with the Multimino PPC I added. 25ml Multimino, Eucalyptus EO and Cherry Nutrafruit or 25ml Multimino, Cinnamon EO and Peach Nutrafruit, both at the lowest level of the flavour and EO to 4 eggs. Those basic additions worked. Nutrabaits Trigga I did tweak with a couple of extra ingredients: Betaine HCl, Green Lipped Mussel Extract, Sweet Cajouser and Liver Elite added to 30ml of the Trigga liquid and 4 eggs. The basic mix and liquid worked, but the additions improved it and gave it my own twist. @brucelait and I really did well on it, I caught on almost every trip. I lost count of the fish I caught on it, with baiting around a kilo a time every week when I left. I have had a look at John Bakers website, although I've not used his baits or flavours myself. There is a bit on the homepage that might interest: Welcome to John Baker Specialist Baits John Baker has been creating specialist carp bait since 1978. Our advanced base mixes and bespoke flavours can be used in total confidence for carp and barbel. We like to encourage customers to personalise their own recipes and we are always on hand with help and advice for all aspects of bait design and tactics. We firmly believe that really good bait is one of the last remaining edges in the field of specialist angling.

the bait bit is now there

Look at carp... Not indigenous to the UK, brought over possibly by the Romans and definitely in the 13th and 14th centuries.

Jealousy: Those who blank due to their lack of effort, watercraft or skill will sometimes break rules to try to make up for it. They can also be the first person to complain about someone breaking rules. Rules themselves Some are in place for fish or angler welfare, some are misguided, some for genuine reasons. No particles, no peanuts and tiger for instance could be to prevent incorrectly or non prepared baits, overuse/ too much going in. It can be to stop inexperienced or ignorant* anglers using unprepared particles, and potentially damaging fish. *Ignorant in this case is used as someone who does not know how to prepare them, not as someone who simply doesn't care. All fish captures must be recorded or given to the syndicate manager, on the website or Facebook group. This one can be open to interpretation and is one I'm used to, as it is in place on my syndicate. We have to put pics up, but we are given a 'time', of the end of the fortnight. We do tend to stretch it as much as we can as if you have baited and worked a swim up, you don’t want a swim jumper going off your hard work. Some people can recognise a particular swim on a lake by background features, if the picture is straight on the site they jump in as soon as the successful angler has left, stopping the successful angler getting back in there. My own pictures I might put straight on my FB newsfeed, I've got angler friends who might be interested in my catches, but I can hold onto them to put them on the syndicate page. Not everyone in the syndicate is on my friends list, although some are, (the ones I trust). The syndicate manager is also aware of this, so gave us grace as long as he knows about the capture. No plastic or fake baits. The obvious worry of using a bait that does not break down in the event of a break-off. I've seen fish tethered from picking up plastic baits still attached to a length of line. At least a real bait can come off or break down. Plus the pollution from a piece of plastic. I can't claim to be innocent as I am sure, no positive, I have broken fishery rules. For example on Nazeing there was a 'No wading or swimming' rule. I broke that a few times going in to retrieve snagged fish or end tackle. One fish I had to play out from an undercut bank to my right, the only way was to be in the water. The Bailiff actually saw me, but his view was that the fish was not left wrapped around tree roots and possibly tethered. A syndicate is only as good as its members, one member who is a troublemaker can spoil it for everyone else, or just alienate themselves. My advice, avoid or ignore them. If you have to keep to yourself, be polite, just don't give anything away, or don't tell everything. That may mean cutting out background on your pictures, baiting up when no-one is around, or occasionally passing on a blind lead. Passing on a blind lead; a funny one. I was pre-baiting a new swim as I left when someone I knew who was a swim jumper was on the lake watching me with binoculars. I swapped buckets and Spombed in a bucket of floating dog biscuits in molehill soil to take them to the bottom. By the time I had gotten back to the car park with my gear he had jumped into the swim. Sadly he blanked and got plagued with ducks...

There have been reports of catfish getting into The Broads system, and I know after a bank collapse after floods some got into the River Gipping, but were quickly retrieved.

Welcome to carp.com. My plan to enjoy what fishing I can do.

Welcome to carp.com Your float rod sounds good for mixed fisheries. If you have problems with small hooks, try ready tied hook to nylon hooklinks. I use them quite a bit when I'm fishing for smaller silver fish, a size 18 is usually on 1.6-2.6lb line, for better presentation of smaller baits like maggots. I tend to have a rough guide of hook size to breaking strain hooklink although what you are fishing for will make a difference: Size 16 2.6lb Size 14 3.6lb Size 10 and 12 5lb This is for mostly silver fish and smaller species, although with carp, chub and tench I might well increase this, depending on the water, if its snaggy, or bigger fish regularly expected. I also use a minimum of 8lb when fishing for carp to double figures.

@yonny I would not claim to be an above average angler, just one who takes time to practice casting. I've cast measured casts of 125metres with a 2.75lb rod, 15lb line and Shimano Aerlex reels, and 3oz leads. Admittedly it may have helped being tutored by Roger Mortimer and John Holden, but they just tidied up my 'bad points'. Most anglers can improve with practice and possibly a bit of tuition. The Daiwa Longbow X45's are not low price point rod, nor are the Daiwa Whiskers, which I know in tests have hit over 150 yards at Harleston and Wortwell clubs Ocean Pit.

Believe it or not, 3lb TC rods should be hitting around 150metres, although it is very much technique. For years I was fishing 2.75lb TC Century SP's at ranges from the margins to 130metres, and now I'm using 3.25lb TC tods from margins to 160metres. One set of rods. Any rod, since the advent of carbon in rods, you want around a lead or total casting weight close to 1/2oz above the Test Curve rating in pounds. So a 2.5lb TC rod, 3oz is about right, 3lb, 3.5oz and so on. Stiffer rods are strictly for casting, definitely not fish playing.

I just tested the https://www.alacarp.co.uk/a-la-carp-shop/Terminal-Tackle-c107009585 mesh in the margins of the lake, no residue, and a breakdown time of 2mins 20seconds when full of dry Vitalin in a squash ball sized lump.

Gardner tripod and Dinmores pole roller rest

A PVA bag, with everything in, hook, bait, rig and , then filled up with boilie crumb, breadcrumb and ground Vitalin. I could have packed it a bit tighter, but it's only a 40metre cast, so that's plenty good enough.

I'd actually check your PVA. If you've had it over 3months or more, test it. If it has got damp and redried, or been infused with oil it will not melt immediately and sometimes not at all. Even storing in a bucket with pellets, groundbait or chopped boilies will change it. A basic example for you, is the open pack of PVA bags I have in my Bag mix of chopped boilies, breadcrumb and ground Vitalin, each bag is not as easy to open as a new bag from inside a pack in my tackle box. They are more sticky than the box ones. The packs are resealed after I have got the bag out, but the damp (I presume) environment in the bucket changes the bags. How many times have we heard of PVA mesh not dissolving when stored in a bucket of pellets? Some brands are not the best at dissolving, different dissolve times. It is these reasons why I refuse to pre-tie PVA bags, meshes and stringers. Saving 5minutes time on a recast is not a time saving if the bag or mesh is still there 5 hours later, (sorry @Highy) In fact to be honest, the only reason to time save, at least for me, is in a carp match. It is not going to hurt to take 10minutes to make up a PVA mesh or bag when you arrive. It won't hurt on a daily recast or just after you've caught to make it up at the time. There are times I'm sure that I've had takes even before the PVA has melted, on stringers and mesh.