salokcinnodrog

High pressure at work always makes me want to go fishing...😖😆 Seriously, I don't care the weather pressure or even the weather itself, the only way you will catch is if you go fishing. This year I had my best catches in strong south westerlies that brought rain. The bivvy and everything got wet at times, but catching big fish from an unknown water made up for it

Nice little jack from Suffolk, taken on mackeral tail ledgered in 15feet of water from the ressie.

I try to stick to simple! A line aligned, knotless knot rig on coated braid produces most of my fish when I use bottom baits, which is most of the time, although as I can fish 3 rods, I tend to have a pop-up on the 3rd rod. That is a rig ring sliding on the hookshank or D-rig also on coated braid for abrasion resistance, and my pop-ups tend to be close to the bottom, (as per the pic), held down with an olivette at the hook eye, so they are no more than hook height off the lakebed. There are times when a 'higher' pop-up is better, on some lake beds. That did produce a number of fish for me last year in the early months. The fact that you are catching fish, carp and bream, shows you are getting it right. Sweetcorn is one of the best baits going, but is not selective; it will catch almost everything, roach, rudd, carp, bream and tench. To be honest on mixed fisheries I would be happy catching any fish, so sweetcorn would be my 'goto'. It is only if I want to be carp specific that I use boilies. Time comes into it as well. If i'm fishing for the day I will use softer baits, I'm not normally carp fishing for just one day, although occasionally... Big Dave caught far more carp than I did at the start of the year, he was fishing the Method feeder, for all fish. He was happy catching fish from 1lb up to doubles, whereas my approach was aimed at carp with pop-up boilies, I didn't want to be hooking skimmer bream. I was targetting specific areas, close to lilies, or the margin shelf. On a blooming great reservoir I don't want to be wondering if my hookbait yesterday was snaffled by a 8oz roach, so I use big hard boilies.

I wouldn't use a helicopter rig anywhere near weed, I stick as much as possible to rigs below the lead. In most cases I have found an inline tournament or zipp shaped lead gave me the best set-up, that weed actually slides over with no problems.

If you do go back on Earith, Reeds, Georges and Pat's pool were good for floater fishing. About halfway up Georges there was a kind of 'pinch point' where the carp would show in a gap and loved a dog biscuit. In Reeds I would often have 2 rods into Virginia from the causeway, and be flicking floaters into Reeds ready with a third rod if they started taking. Before anyone says that is irresponsible, you are no more than 10feet from your rods in Virginia even if you are also fishing in Reeds. Pats had a couple of massive commons in there that I would put closer to 30 than 20. Obviously I don't know if Ian had to move stock around, but those commons did love a lobworm freelined onto their noses...

I think glycerine in the soak/glug acts as a preservative, and as a hookbait hardener. The glugged baits in the area were often left until there was no other baits left. May be possible that the soak made them different, so as they weren't the prebaited ones, which the carp were searching for and eating, the carp didn't touch them until there was no 'regular' food left. Yet they were ripping the bottom up to eat my normal bait. It is also possible that the carp were leaving any bait, that hadn't been in the water for a minimum of 24hours. On this particular water, at times, you had to leave a cast bait in place for up to 2 days without moving it. I had tried mixing glugged baits in with my normal baits, so there was a mix. It put me off using soaked glugged baits on here, knowing that the normal bait would work anyway. On other waters, glugged baits could be taken before unsoaked baits, as maybe the glug did act as an attractor. This I found best with single baits, using just the glugged baits on the hook, when I had put in no freebies, but possibly over baits other anglers had put in before leaving.

I don't glug baits if I am prebaiting. I want the bait to stand on its own. I found glugged baits, when prebaiting, even in natural liquids like liquid liver, molasses, or liquid yeast were sometimes left over the 'natural' bait. I'm not sure 'find the bait' is quite right, especially after fishing large reservoirs where it can take the carp a couple of days to move into the area. All of my fish have come to baits out of the bag. Same with prebaiting on Earith, even though I knew about glugged baits, every fish came on a plain straight ordinary boilie, and I did try both high attract pop-ups and glugged baits. However I do think a glugged bait can create a feeding trigger or inquisitive take if the carp find one 'on its own'. My largest or personal best river carp of 28lb did take a bait soaked in Nutrabaits Bait Soak Complex, which was I think a mix of Multimino, Nutramino. The session was only 2 1/2hours long. I was using a soaked bait over pellets to try to get a feeding or pick up reaction. From that bait soak I did start playing with natural liquids, occasional natural flavours and glycerine. Liquid Yeast and Liver with glycerine worked best, but even with glycerine as a preservative had a shelf life.

The past year I stopped glugging my baits. They go out exactly as they came out of the bag or tub, and I'm sure I found a few fish on Alton that took plain straight hookbaits. In fact, I think the only reason I started glugging baits again was using wooden balls to combat crays and so did the same for any real bait. I have caught on soaked and glugged baits, but don't think it is an essential all the time.

I think this is where our individual experience may come into play, causing our slight difference of opinions.😉 I do use a boom, but I will lead and cast around seeing how the marker float behaves and rises or not. The float and lead size we use may have some impact. A large float with a lighter lead will feel 'free and easy' or clear. The lead is being held up by the float, not giving lakebed feel. Increase the lead size or decrease marker float size you can get a true feel. I look at many marker floats on sale, and see the huge body and orange (or yellow) tip and think that they are for long distance fishing. I prefer the smaller ESP Marker floats, with a heavier lead which 'drags' rather than glides across the lakebed, giving me the feel, and if using a used uncoated scarred lead, even being able to see where the lead landed or dragged over when I look at it. To me this brings me onto something else; I feel all the way back from cast impact point to bank, even if I do let the float up at specific points ('my spot' or another feature I have found). I rarely have just one cast. A lot of anglers say that "playing with the marker float is a fish scarer", I am the opposite and not found it so, but again maybe that is down to where and I use it, that word experience drops in again. There are times I will have clipped and know my spots, but I have caught fish still with marker floats in place, not having had the time to reel it in before getting a take.

I'm not necessarily looking for clear areas. As i'm pulling back I can feel weedy or silty spots, both things which may trap a ring or swivel and stop the float rising which is dependant on buoyancy of float as well. Just because it is weedy may mean it is an area I want to fish, especially if the rest of the lake is barren.

Run rings work as well...

Not saying it is a deck chair, but I still often sit up holding the line, or even worse, resort to a bite alarm in the 'screech' of a centrepin. I still use a plummet, or marker float and lead, I don't own a Go Pro or Deeper, and occasionally I still catch. I prefer to 'feel' a water; some I get right, some badly wrong. Those that I get wrong tend to be waters where I am unable to see or understand the fish. I class Nazeing Meads Lagoons as waters where I got it wrong. On Brackens on the same venue I was lucky and got it right, but the lagoons I struggled a lot of the time. Not a bogey water but close to it. However, on most waters, I do use my electronic alarms, my space age carbon rods. Rod technology has moved forward, from cane to tank aerials, to fibreglass to carbon fibre. Reel technology has moved forward, from top class engineering, bespoke on centre pins to our lovely geared 'spinning' reels. Advances in technology has seen 1950/60's electronic bite alarms upgraded to resistors, capacitors, printed circuit boards. You could equally in many cases still use a tobacco tin and coins balanced on the reel spool, but marketing has seen buzzers as an essential. I do agree with both your view, but also with @oscsha; you do need to understand waters, especially the harder waters where carp may be line or rig shy. Things can be done to make life easier, but those who have spent understanding the carp will surely do best no matter which viewpoint.

I totally go against the 'no marker float' or not finding features daily. I have had so many carp within minutes of the marker float being cast in and baited up to. @elmoputney I also did very well on the water you are thinking about spodding to the marker float with pellet, chops and whole boilies, although one swim I confess, was just cast out to with a stringer and put some boilies out by throwing stick as it was long range. The marker float was used as a target to aim at, whether it was over silt or gravel. Sadly I lost the map I made of the water, but every trip I would still double check my swim with the float to be sure. I would do the same on Nazeing, and bait up to the marker with stringers. That would catch me plenty of fish. I wasn't into wraps, but would clip up to features, then walk it out along the bank to the right distance so I knew the spot for the future. Silly things like from the gravel hump to the stick pushed into the ground that would have no meaning to other people. The marker float was an essential though if I couldn't walk it out the distance. Cast as close as I could to it, knowing I was in the right area.

Good memory Mate. Those pellets were there for months, and fish avoided even swimming over them. I was digging around when this 'salt craze' started with my concerns. Now most baits do contain salt, sweetcorn ( tinned is often in a mix of salt and sugar), your boilies will contain salt as standard, often as a preservative as well as in the ingredients themselves. There has been various research relating to adding sodium chloride to the carp's diet as carp are often used as a food source in poorer countries, so best growth is required. I recall finding one from University of Chicago that at 5% of the diet, growth and conversion to protein stopped totally. The University of Basrah did a big study which the optimum amount is 1.5%. It is a pdf file if anyone is interested I'm still not a salt user myself; I don't add it into my particles or groundbait or my boilies. I could come up with various questions like 'at what point is too much?', but that has all been said before. I'm certain that even with undertow not all dips and troughs get flow through them, there is a 'barrier' between the main water and the water in the dip.

Day off Monday, I will get to the Post Office!

Same here.

I treated myself to a Carp Porter Porterlite. I had asked Ian @welder to see if he could straighten the handles on my freebie Theseus one, but after finding myself fully employed decided to get the Porterlite. If you shop around £105 carriage free is possible, or a local tackle shop might just price match. Saying that, I have just looked and many places are out of stock. I might still get Ian to straighten the handles on the old one, and then donate the barrow to a good cause, an angling charity or youngster, but I'm concerned that I have worn some holes in the carrybag with regular heavy use.

You could well find that there are plenty of bloodworm in the area, and even in winter there could be the occasional hatch of insects coming to the surface.

The inserts are not sold separately. If you find someone who has some, they have popped out of the rod ring😉 A new ring is often available through your tackle shop and is a fairly easy job to sort.

As the rods soften with age, you won't notice it, you will feel them as normal, you are 'in tune' with them. Your regular casting and playing of fish will see them softening at roughly the same rate on each rod. Certain rods will take longer to soften, dependant on quality of materials and production, and Greys are one of the manufacturers who use high quality equipment and materials, although I don't know if they autoclave the rod blanks. The best way to find the current test curve is gradually adding weight to find out at what weight will bend the rod to 90degrees from butt to tip. This will also give an indication of the action, you should be able to see it. Just sticking them on a spring balance may mean you don't find a true test curve as it is very difficult to stay in the same position on the rod butt and your colleague on the rod tip. Another way possibly is to go across a field and find out what casting weight is best for distance; if it is a 3oz lead, then the rods are around 2.75 lb TC, 3.5oz, then around 3-3.25lb. Personally I've landed fish to 33lb on 2.75lb rods, with no problems. I think the action is often more important than the higher test curve.

Happy Christmas everyone. Hope you all have a good one.

August to October really brought my fishing back to life this year. @crusian with a conversation we had made me realise how my fishing had become stale on Nazeing. It wasn't helped that it was a 70mile drive after work, and with my shifts I am often shattered so go first available swim, and often slept for 24hours out of 48. Alton Reservoir is 5 miles away from my flat, so it is easy to pop down for a quick dog walk round a section, maybe pop a bit of bait in, although in 375acres... I did enjoy my fishing on there this year, so hopefully it is a case of the same, a bit of roach fishing, some pike, possibly tench hunting, and probably carp hunting next year.

I've been waiting for that to happen, knew it was going to, it was which name went that caused any doubt. A bit sad that the Shakespeare carp rod name went as they used to make some very good under-rated rods. A mate of mine, his first rods were SK's I think they were, back in the 1990's. I always thought that the three/four rod names under one business was diluting the market, especially as Greys were the top brand, and the original JRC and Chub were more budget range, albeit very good brands. You also have Chub and JRC likely to be no longer competing in the bedchair and bivvy market, where Chub produce some very good bivvies for a good price.

Like the others have said, Fishing tackle is personal, you really need to know exactly what he wants, and it is too easy to get wrong. The only way my family buy me any tackle is if I have told them a stock number, model number, and I don't want an alternative!

I have kissed a few fish over the years, Usually blank savers. I can remember a week at Taverham Mills where for some reason I wasn't catching on the static rods, while Bruce in the next swim round had at least one fish every day, between 10-18lb. We were freshening the spots every day, yet for some reason they were ignoring mine, and going straight round into his area. I had had a few smaller fish during the week stalked during the day, or on floaters, but absolutely nothing on the 'overnight' rods. On the day we were due to pack up the weather totally changed, from dry and bright to typical wet and rainy Bank Holiday weather, I was wet, the bivvie was now wet so I was in a 'couldn't care less' mood, I'd had enough, just wanted to get away, just because I hadn't caught on my bottom bait rods. About 2hours before we were due to pack up I decided on a 'last' recast, and within 30minutes I had a 15lb leather, 14lb mirror and another. The 15 did get kissed as a 'blank' saver from the bottom bait rods. I also have pucs of a 30 that forced me to kiss it. I was at Nazeing and hooked a fish from the right hand margins, about 2metres away from the rod tip. I played it away and netted it very quickly, so it can't have been totally tired out. On the bank it became a wrestling match to get pictures, as it tensed to flip, I pulled it towards me so I could 'drop' down onto the unhooking mat. The guy taking pics managed to get one as I was mouth to dorsal. 😱😆 Freudian slip typo left in place😉