salokcinnodrog

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...

There is a lake near me that although it does not ban boilies, fishes best to other baits; bread, hooker pellets, sweetcorn, luncheon meat, and worms all produce more fish than boilies, with carp to double figures caught on those baits. Floating baits also have their day, floating bread and dog biscuits producing numbers of fish. The only reason to use boilies on there to be honest is to try to avoid the skimmers and roach, but if you fish The Method with boilies you will catch them anyway. Fish just off the (hard) shelf or you might get crayed.

Try using the Domhof knot. It is normally used for tying spade end hooks, so actually no need to go through the eye of the hook at all. A matchman hook tyer also helps with tying small hooks. https://www.gerrysfishing.com/product/matchman-hook-tyer/ The other thing is with size 10 hooks, I use 7lb mono on a water with the same rules

@Grodslok do Swedish bait Mechanics still exist? They were run by a chap called Haakan Olsen Bait ingredients and advice might be available from them😉

I did see, years ago, some pictures of some beautiful Swedish carp, but I do know that the Arctic climate of the North of the country is not good for carp fishing, think any lakes would be colder species. I can quite understand why fly and lure fishing is the draw over there. Mind you, the Baltic has a mix of both fresh and saltwater species. Does Sweden get an Atlantic Salmon run?

On Earith the only takes I got were on 'straight out of the bag' baits. I tried a hi-attract or soaked bait ( Nutramino and Multimino PPc) and various pop-ups, the carp refused to take them. It may be that I had prebaited so much the carp were accepting them 'au natural'. I really try to get the carp accepting my bait Don't get me wrong, I have caught on boosted baits, from the river, where the current might take down the attraction, yet rarely on a lake. The exception as said, is hi-attract pop-ups, oh and another, which was down to crayfish, but soaked wooden balls, soaked in the liquid food of my food bait. That same lake, I did also catch, crayfish free areas, on the food source bait. However you could not guarantee that is where the carp were, you always needed some cray proof baits in the bag. If you allowed your balls to dry out 😮😖 they would float again, so were kept in soak until use.

Think I was 14 when I first took my dog fishing... 😂😉 My Shetland Sheepdog back than was very well behaved, she would just sit next to me, off the lead by the river. Sheltie's are very easy and well trained, heck they are sheepdogs, so can sit for ages. My Golden Retriever I had around 2003 was 2 years old, and loved water, but could be a pain if not on the lead. He did jump in a few times himself and pushed me in, although by 2010 he had calmed down but still needed a close eye on as he could wander off, even with his companion the Jack Russell/Highland Terrier cross about. Barnby would just go walk himself, while Douglas's the cross would stay close. Sky, my Siberian Husky was around 9months, but even now she is always on a long lead, she would run and run, and take her time coming back if at all...

I don't. Exactly the same flavour levels for the sausages and round boilies. I use any flavour and essential oils at the lowest recommended level for food source baits. I also rarely use a boosted flavour hookbait when fishing bottom baits straight out of the bag over my food source bait, but I might if fishing a single hookbait on its own. If I do use a single high attract pop-up that is normally boosted flavour, the flavour level for a 1 egg hookbait mix, is what is recommended for a 6 egg normal mix, or I will be using a purchased pop-up. This is where I confuse the issue, as I often fish that hi-attract pop-up as the top bait on snowman set-ups, say Monster Crab or Squid and Octopus on top of a KMG bottom bait. I have a feeling it was Fred Wilton originally. I think Sugar based flavours like chocolate or maple, and flavours from fruit ester and from natural product based, can be used at higher levels than alkali or non-natural based chemical flavours. This may tie in with acidic flavours being able to be used at higher level There is a bit of an issue though as some chemicals, like iso-eugenol, come from natural sources like Cloves. If you are fishing effectively over your bait, I do not think that really there is any need to be using 'boosted' hookbaits. The carp will pick up the bait. I think it was a Ian Chilcott YouTube video who recently pointed out that. Boosted hookbaits may work better effectively as a single hookbait rather than over any freebies.

I tend to work on the same recipe, but as well as circular balls, I also include some 'sausages' which I can cut down to discs or shorter lengths. The flavour release attraction and breakdown from the cut down sections is faster than from boiled balls

My thoughts as well. There is no fixed lead still attached, either pendant or online, just what looks like a bag stem.

I can't see any faults with your base mix; nutrition and attraction are covered. Krill may be an issue, not because it is a bad ingredient, but because it can be very light and make baits float

While I do carp fish mostly I do fish for other fish at times, often pike in the winter, chub on floating baits in the summer and the occasional tench, roach or silver fish session. I would never sell any of my gear, as I enjoy it all. Like others, I wish I had not sold my bass rods, although I might push a marker or spod rod into use...

One of the best boilie mixes going was liquidised squid, liquidised liver and semolina to bind it. Unfortunately you will have to play around with binder amounts to get it to roll. Dynamite baits I think it was, also did a fresh fish range with no egg, just using the fish as the attractor. Various bird foods can be ground up to powder to bind and attract. You can also use chick crumb (young chick feed), and from memory there is a source of fishmeal in there, so don't feed it to sheep or cattle

Armour mesh. Used to try to prevent crayfish and smaller fish nibbling bait away, although I have found crayfish can still get through it. Or you can use it to make a nice parcel of particles like hemp or sweetcorn for bait. Wrap it round your boilies, or particles, tie it off with a twist of 'thread', either mono, dental floss and lighter tag and blob the end.

Chick peas are a good bait. Catapult fairly well. You don't want them too soft, just soaked for 24hour, then boil til if you squeeze they split. You can use tinned as well. If you want to flavour or colour them, add the flavour in while soaking, go with a spice flavour like cinnamon, aniseed or 5drops of is-eugenol.