salokcinnodrog

Carp can only put up with or live in brackish or salt water for a short period, they need to flush out the additional salt from their system, and the Freshwater inlet will allow them to do that. Add in the spawning in the stream as well. Although there are carp and other coarse fish in the Baltic, there are also Freshwater inlets, streams and rivers, which they also use for the same reasons.

The hook from an old tent peg does not work, it comes loose (I have a Bosch drill) or bends. Get a paddle mixer/paint stirrer, that works a treat for around 20 eggs of liquids. I have also used a plasterers paddle mixer for larger amounts, about 5litres of eggs and liquids.

Also works like a throwing stick for spread as well. Looks good😉

My ex used to find the tiniest little bit if I ever had a bait rolling session in the kitchen, and the smell of Trigga, Liver Elite, GLM powder and Sweet Cajouser actually woke her up one night. No such thing as a decent bait smell, even cinnamon and peach or eucalyptus and cherry smells overly strong and a bit off when boiling. Hemp has always been done outside of the house, the only good use of a Coleman Peak1 stove...

My view exactly. I have had various baitrunners, the original 3500 GT's, 4000's, 8010's and the DL's. A mate still uses his original 6500 baitrunners. The newer DL's feel cheap and tacky compared to the older models. I have broken a handle on 1 of 3, it fell off my barrow. I am still abusing 2 of my Aerlex 8000's bought back in 2005, they have outlasted other reels. The DL's have been 'promoted' to pike fishing, with braid admittedly, but for carp fishing I prefer my budget range Beastmasters. I found the DL10000's I was limited to around 90metres with 15lb line, the spool is not wide enough to cast further as the line depth drops too low on the spool. A 0.36mm braid will cast far enough for pike fishing, but not for carp fishing, which is why I bought the Beastmasters for carp. You can cast short with a big reel, but not long with a smaller reel. I'm not even sure the DL10000's are as good a casting reel as the older 4000's or 8010's, although I had no need for big casting with 15lb line on them. I did push 100metres plus with 8lb line and shock leader and they felt comfortable.

To be honest I am not totally sure what the DL stands for, but I do not think the DL is totally worth the extra money over the ST baitrunner range. I have DL10000's and other than an extra spool I don't think is necessarily better than the ST range. The build quality of Shimano's mid range reels seems to have gone downhill. Budget ST range or XT top price is the way to go.

Motability disability scooter loaded to the gunnels... Think I need that! Only problem you would need a van or trailer for it😏😂

I'm going to start looking for fish along the river, but will definitely include some chub floater fishing. I didn't even walk the river this close season, I spent non working days on my syndicate fishing.

I found meshing baits would keep rudd at bay. I used to prebait with 18mm baits and fish 15mm on the hair. The theory was that the prebaits would be harder for tench, rudd and bream to deal with, carp would happily take them and the 15mm boilie when actually fishing. This worked fine on most waters, but big (8lb plus) tench and bream would happily eat 18mm boilies on some. Fishing loads of groundbait and particle where bream are present will attract them if on their route; even tiger nuts and big boilies will be taken. I do tend to fish one size boilie now, whether 15 or 18mm. If the carp will take bigger baits I'm happy to fish them, even 2 18 or 20mm boilies or an 18mm and 15mm pop-up on the hair. A lot of my fishing now is trying to get carp feeding, over particles, hemp, maize and a occasionally a few tigers with a boilie hookbait, 15mm with an 11mm pop-up either Monster Crab or a yellow pop-up, (the yellow to look like maize with no fake baits allowed). Sometimes even with fish feeding on naturals they will still take 18mm boilies. As @yonny says, sometimes we over think it

No matter what life brings, as an angler you get the urge when you least expect it. A new challenge or a 'rebirth' is often the spark that gets you wanting to be fishing again. Enjoy.

Not every fish spawns at the same time, some don't at all! My personal view, is just don't fish for spawning fish. On Ardleigh back years ago, I had a 13lb heavily scaled mirror from the mouth of a small bay where they would spawn, I had seen other fish splashing along the bank. 2 hours later I caught a 24 battle scarred warrior from an area 100 metres away, middle of the reservoir that had not been in the splashing fish. The 13lb mirror was munching on the spawn, there was no dripping milt or eggs, the 24lb mirror was built, but again was not dripping. It did not look empty, but was eating. At Brackens I caught a 20lb male that was pouring out milt, yet I know that they did not go into full spawning mode as mid afternoon just after they started, the weather turned cold with severe thunderstorms. 3 weeks later with no more warmer weather around, 12 fish went belly up, spawn bound after an oxygen crash. I've watched fish spawning, and despite getting heavily battered, scales etc, within a week, most damage is healing. The best person to ask is @levigsp

Essentially I would agree with you Blue, but sadly some days I struggle with sciatica and hip pain, so putting the gear on a barrow keeps me balanced as well as being able to walk faster. The days of carrying everything are gone. I carry only what I need, that does include chest waders and life jacket, I've not been conned into extras. I don't have bivvy table, but my floater rod may need setting up so spare hooklinks and hooks are in my tackle box. Go through that I don't think there is anything I don't use! I don't often take cooking stuff on summer days, but winter pike fishing a hot coffee is a big bonus, really warms you up, and tastes a whole lot better than flask coffee. Day times I often do pasta dishes (leftovers from dinner) which I can eat hot or cold.

I always have my barrow in the car. Carp Porter Porterlite. I can't drive to every swim and Sky's food bucket and my 5 litre water container seems to be the tipping point (not literally) for carrying gear to the swim. I have the massive Rod Hutchinson unhooking mat, which makes a good barrow carryall for my food and bait bags, along with another unhooking mat for Sky to lay on rather than damp ground. Even pike fishing this winter the barrow was used for getting round to the dam wall swims, only a 100metres or so, but it makes a lot of difference.

The fish in my lake spawned 2weeks ago, then this week a few went again while I was there. The rain soon stopped them Friday though. I know some have moved right away from the area, I did see a few right up the other end of the lake.

Sonik do a marker/spod combo rod😉 To be honest my original Centuty marker rod was a 2.75lb test curve, and lasted for years until I felt it had softened a bit, and I lost feeling with braid. I picked up a Vader spod/marker rod to play around with, but for the past year or so I have been out in the chesties, so haven't used it, leaving a pole marker in until I have taken my bait out by hand. Sometimes you simply won't be able to get a drop if the weed is that bad, so it has been used pretty much just as a tool to take away some of the 'loose' weed.

I do think summertime many day ticket or even smaller club venues can be busy all the time. I have gone to fish a club venue, the park lake, Suffolk Water Park and Hintlesham midweek and found no available swims! Compare that to my syndicate, where the most I have ever seen is 10 anglers on 45acres.

To be honest I clip up before reeling in, but I have positioned the stop knot directly under the rod spigot when it is on the buzzers. I have allowed for the bow caused by the wind or drift, so it always goes back to the same spot.

Learn as much as you can before fishing it! In my case it is find the features, not forgetting the margins. Some margin spots may be obvious, slopes, rushes, snags, others not so like undercut banks. I get the marker rod out, and map the lake as best as I can, and Google Earth can show up some real treats, as does an Internet search. I had some lovely hand drawn maps of Virginia Lake at Earith, some Google maps of Nazeing, with gravel bars and distances to the bars, weed beds etc. As has been said, other angler's can be useful. Don't 'pump' for information, but generally swapping info can get you a head start. Other angler's may have favourite swims and spots, might be all fishing the same, so doing what they do might catch you fish, but being different can catch you more. Going back to Brackens pool, most angler's used very little bait, there was a rule of no baiting by hand, catapult or stick, so I went in heavy with massive PVA bags and stringers, often casting in as many as 30 bags or 30 bait stringers as I could in 30minutes or so, all ready tied.

Yes, but only at short range when you can see what is happening.

Really sorry for that, they aren't pets, more friends and family.

Oh yes, those big winds can kill a lightweight bivvy, especially if you are silly enough to face directly into the wind... I have had winds veer round and destroy a TFG Hardcore brolly, and a JRC Roamer Dome. The Hardcore was repairable with restringing or rewiring the spokes but you do lose a bit of faith. I let a mate have it as he does mostly days. The JRC fibreglass poles delaminated totally. Nice for a small water shelter but out of touch for reservoirs. Strangely the TFG Oval despite having a few big southwesterly winds blowing into it has stood the test a few times. Exactly, and all for our own reasons. I've been through brolly, brolly and over wrap, dome, and bivvy and found that the brolly and overwrap system format suits me best. I can even get (in fact have) an overwrap for the Cabrio Hybrid Brolly, but this winters shenanigans meant that I did not use it.

Easy way to get further first is to reduce the diameter of your mainline; 20lb is 0.40mm or so, so go to 0.35mm or 15lb. Most 15lb lines will go that distance and have the strength to do it. Your lead is too small to consistently hit the distance with 2.5oz. Your rods will be able to handle 3 or even 3.5oz, but you will need to be smooth with your style. The increased lead size should reduce line bow in any cross wind. Flat leads can also reduce distance, standard pear or distance leads will improve how far you can cast. The flat leads though, do stop or reduce lead movement on slopes, or even if you get undertow. I have had 3oz distance leads move in a severe undertow on a 60acre lake when the lake inflow from the river relief channel rushed in along with meltwater.

I have been using a TFG Oval brolly and overwrap for a number of years, superceded last year by a Rod Hutchinson Cabrio Hybrid Brolly, although for day sessions and pike fishing in winter I do still use the TFG Oval. The RH brolly can be used as a plain straight brolly, with a zip on front, or even with a zip on extension and front. With the extension it is like sleeping in a tunnel, it is massive. Stick on the front and floor, you are fully weatherproof and it is dark in there. Either system fits in the rod holdall, although the tension bars for the Cabrio do have to be strapped to the outside of the holdall with the rods. I have done week sessions under the brolly and overwrap, under the Cabrio and in proper domes like the Fox EasyDome or RH Apotheosis. The honest answer is all are comfortable, all gave me the room I needed. In fact I found the EasyDome probably the tightest for space inside the inner capsule. What you think is big enough for you is entirely down to you. If you take enough gear for comfort that fills your bivvy, then you need that bivvy. I will say, and this is personal experience, sometimes in a big bivvy you simply can't be bothered to tackle down and move if the fish are elsewhere. An umbrella or brolly system can be quickly packed down, slung on the trolley and move. I remember with the EasyDome moving 4 swims up the bank at Taverham, only around 150metres, but it was a 'mare. Although the bivvy was a quick lock, it was a pig to fold down with all the gear. Any of the systems from the EasyDome, brolly system and overwrap are big enough for me and my dog(s). Personal choice for me is that I do prefer the brolly system bivvy as opposed to bivvy type.

I normally only use a shock leader if I am really pushing for distance. 15lb line is normally OK with 3oz leads, but really going for it, I would go with a leader in weed and snag free waters. Like you I tend to stick to around 10lb per ounce of lead, although 3.5oz I stick with 30lb Amnesia and I have not had it give yet. I was using 40lb Grey Greased Weasel for years on my Spod rod, with a medium Spomb, and found that the Amnesia could cope with that. However I would go back to the Weasel if I started using the big one again. If I needed to drop to 10lb line for distance I would be fishing a leader

I simply step into my trainers at night. The laces are tight enough to keep them on, but loose enough I can slide them on with no hands. I have tried boots, wellies will work, but anything lace up is a pain at night, unless you loosen the laces totally and put them inside the boot. Mind you in winter that can be best...