salokcinnodrog

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.

The Alacarp PVA bags I use are melting fine. I know that I can't afford a miscast or I'm just reeling in a ball of sludge where I've licked and sticked. Must confess I've not used the Gardner ones yet as I've got another 3 or 4 packs from Dave, and I don't want to have to experiment with a different brand.

I avoid Nash PVA bags after an incident years ago when a pack went through a 40⁰ wash in my combat trousers. The plastic bag they came in was full of water after the wash, the bags were still whole, when they should have been a bundle of mush. Never used them since. I have got a Fox Rapid loader, and to be honest, it really only works with the specific bags from Fox, other brands don't seem to be the quite right size. I've tried it with the bags from Dave at A la carp, and it's easier to open the bag, blow it totally open, then drop the rig inside. In the pic earlier in the thread I'm using a Multi rig, but I do also use a short braided line aligner with a sliding rig as well, often with a (wait for it) Infusion Naturalz

Stick them in a bucket and cover in pellets and they will keep.

Not a problem I've seen. I use both my phone and tablet, neither have come up with that problem

The search engine can be a right pig, you have to be specific, and even then... For example 'follow the wind' as your search term, will bring up 7 answers on this thread and 4,400 other possible answers from Catch Reports, to Non Carp Banter. I'm possibly lucky, (or not) that I can remember specific threads so can go back to it using the actual thread name. The other way is just to go back through the pages and pages of threads. I wish it were that simple. Carp are Carp, they respond in a similar manner, so in theory yes you have an average behaviour. Then there is a BUT, the follow the wind happens in so many different ways. In some waters fish follow a North wind in summer, in some it's a southerly, or the south westerly. You may have features that slow or stop the wind or water, gravel bars, islands, maybe snags are the natural fish holding spots. It is not a new book, but the best explanation on the wind and pressure I have ever seen is in Big Water Carp by Jim Gibbinson if you can find a copy. (Look on abebooks, you can pick up a bargain or two). My best advice is to get onto the wind, and try it I'm not sure on pressure and how it affects carp, whether they come up or down the water column, feed more or less. The lakebed is where the majority of food is, every fish needs to survive, so they eat. Fish can feed in groups, or individually. We probably notice group feeding more than individuals, so a single fish cleaning out a patch is possibly just a few bubbles, compared to a massive oily patch of coloured water as groups of fish feed. It is where that food is, in the margins, or in the middle of the lake. Is there a gravel bar or plateau that holds food, either natural or anglers bait? Is the middle of the lake too deep to hold much food? Or is it shallow enough to be a bloodworm fest?

As Framey says, they are the ones that matter. We can give you advice from our experience, but every water is likely to be different, angler pressure, lake shape, size etc, so our advice is right, but wrong, If they are crashing, they are showing, and glad you learnt something.

Welcome to Carp.com, and to winter fishing. I've got the same problem in not catching. You've picked the hardest time of the year to be fishing for carp. Choose your water, make sure you fish a lake that has fish in it, has winter form, and easy to find fish. On both of those, there is absolutely no point in fishing the wrong place, a lake with no fish in it, or a swim where the carp are not present. Fishing in winter is hard at the best of times, don't overbait; you don't want to be putting much bait in, and most pellets, and some groundbaits are too oily to attract in winter. Boilies are not the best bait, at any time, but in winter you will only need a few to last a whole day, quite literally your hookbait plus 1! Low oil pellets, Sweetcorn, worms or maggots may be a better bait. The best carp or any fish catcher equipment you have available is your eyes, look for the fish; tiny shows, rolls, fins breaking surface or even bubbles or flat spots in the waves. Don't think that a 3oz lead cast out on a carp rod is the only method to catch carp. A basic float rod setup feeding a few maggots or pellets every few minutes around the float, or a feeder/ledger rod casting a small feeder or plain lead with maggots or worm on the hook.

Funny thing on my lake, which is roughly east to west, the fish have all been holed up in the western end. The Eastern end is too shallow, they start hradually working their way up there from March