salokcinnodrog

To be honest that was my view on the first two programmes, however it did grow on me😉

I have posted above, but I use these. https://www.anglingdirect.co.uk/grandeslam-fishing-scales-50kg Think they are about 5 years old now, been abused and used. The bottom hook I have bent round so do not come off the scales, and removed the top hook and replaced it with a T bar weigh handle. Easy to zero with a standard weigh sling, although I use either a TFG Compact weigh sling or a CarpZone weigh sling.

I must admit I found the first episode or two painful to watch; Bob Mortimer was trying to hard to be funny, and I found it annoying. However as the series went on I started enjoying it. A second series has now been confirmed:

I use a small set of luggage digital scales for my roach and chub fishing. They fit into a small pocket in my stalking bag. They can honestly be a pain, but the small size is the only thing that makes them a positive. Hard to reset to zero sometimes, getting correct measurement between pounds and ounces and kilos is not always clear. Digital scales are heavy, not necessarily the equipment inside, but actually the protection around the sensitive electronics. My dial scales live in my rucksack top pocket, and I know that they are safe. If you do insist on digital scales, I do not know why you would pay: a) carp taxed scales b) inflated Fox prices Fox scales are around £63, yet Korum digitals (another good brand) are around £30. Even Reuben Heaton digitals can cost less than the Fox ones (https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/401577802821?chn=ps&ul_ref=https%3A%2F%2Frover.ebay.com%2Frover%2F1%2F710-134428-41853-0%2F2%3Fmpre%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.ebay.co.uk%252Fi%252F401577802821%253Fchn%253Dps%26itemid%3D401577802821%26targetid%3D475190403299%26device%3Dt%26adtype%3Dpla%26googleloc%3D1006826%26poi%3D%26campaignid%3D1486633653%26adgroupid%3D58571237198%26rlsatarget%3Dpla-475190403299%26abcId%3D1139346%26merchantid%3D116312939%26gclid%3DEAIaIQobChMIsIv2zYLn3AIVh7TtCh0b2gu0EAQYEyABEgKZMvD_BwE%26srcrot%3D710-134428-41853-0%26rvr_id%3D1629155146873%26rvr_ts%3D2d1b52c51650ac1fed251e2dffee545bhttps://www.ebay.co.uk/i/401577802821?chn=ps&ul_ref=https%3A%2F%2Frover.ebay.com%2Frover%2F1%2F710-134428-41853-0%2F2%3Fmpre%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.ebay.co.uk%252Fi%252F401577802821%253Fchn%253Dps%26itemid%3D401577802821%26targetid%3D475190403299%26device%3Dt%26adtype%3Dpla%26googleloc%3D1006826%26poi%3D%26campaignid%3D1486633653%26adgroupid%3D58571237198%26rlsatarget%3Dpla-475190403299%26abcId%3D1139346%26merchantid%3D116312939%26gclid%3DEAIaIQobChMIsIv2zYLn3AIVh7TtCh0b2gu0EAQYEyABEgKZMvD_BwE%26srcrot%3D710-134428-41853-0%26rvr_id%3D1629155146873%26rvr_ts%3D2d1b52c51650ac1fed251e2dffee545b)

Dial scales for me every day of the week. The least electronic kit I can carry the better. They have a tendency to go wrong or misbehave just when you need them. On top of that, I believe Fox digi's don't have an off switch. For dial scales, Reuben Heaton are the ultimate, but Salters (used and tested in a lot of grocers and supermarkets) are also good.

Most definitely not, 😖😅 I'm sorry if this seems disjointed, it is my head running at breakneck speed again to get everything down. Vik has probably described his thoughts exactly as mine are regarding leads. I have been through loads of lead set-ups in my time, from semi-fixed leads, as helicopter, inline and pendant ( lead hanging from the line) to bolt rigs and running leads, run rings and inline running leads. Leadcore fished with helicopters, inline and pendant leads. Leadcore originally as leadcore flyline to the current braided leadcore. In that 30 odd years I have noticed how fish can use the lead in their favour to eject the rig, how twitchy takes, even indication are effected by the lead and how tight or slack the line is. I used to fish a small water called Thwaite where I could experiment with various set-ups as I wasn't happy with indication on tight lines. I was able to get the fish feeding in close in my margins, or far bank and could lower my rigs in, with someone on my rod as I lowered it in on the far bank. Straight off I found helicopter set-ups gave reduced indication, whether with a tight or slack line. The fish could move a long way, up and down the line, as well as around the area that the chod style fished rig could reach. Pendant or inline semi-fixed leads also gave reduced indication, and at 50metres range that lack of indication could see the lead moved 5metres with no rise or fall or sound, unless you had Monsieur Delkim at maximum sensitivity. At Even longer ranges like 150metres, Le Delkim could be silent as vibration is absorbed along the line. The answer was to switch to running leads and preferably slack lines. Indication was vastly improved. The problem was with any water movement, undertow or currents, you could find the line being moved, being pulled off the reel and a constantly rising indicator. To counter this you had to go back to tight lines, and depending on how much current, increase lead size. Imagine a 2acre water with floodwater coming in, and an outflow into a stream, even on Thwaite going up to 3oz leads from the 1.5oz I preferred to use on there. Lead set-ups are a compromise, misunderstood and misused. To get the furthest distance casting, helicopter leads work best, with pendant leads a few metres behind, and inlines a couple of wobbly metres behind that. Yet those set-ups fished semi-fixed give reduced indication. I have had, and seen other people get takes, where that semi-fixed lead has been moved as far as 20metres with no indication. I moved onto Brackens at Nazeing and stuck almost exclusively with running leads and slack lines. Most other anglers fished tight semi-fixed. Whether my baiting or slack lines were the main contributor, I landed a higher percentage of carp to rod hours than most other anglers on there. No undertow, lines mostly along the lakebed, even if you did have to allow as much as another 10metres of slack as the gravel features could be so high off the lakebed. Imagine fishing a 7feet deep gravel feature, in 20feet of water! Playing around at Thwaite came up with something else on the occasional broken line. A helicopter lead set-up, if you cracked off or snapped the lead must not come off the line. It was the lead still being in place that enabled the rig to be ejected off the line if a fish took. If the lead was ejected the line basically folded in half and the rig could not come off either end. Unless somebody can come up with a way of attaching a lead with no link clip or swivel, a helicopter must have the lead stay on if the mainline breaks, unless it breaks directly above the lead, and everything can slide off the lead end. My next pet hate is the misused lead clip. It's original use was so the lead could be taken off the rods at the end of the trip. I don't know what was wrong with link clips which were available long before the lead clip, those link clips obviously didn't work properly on either pendant or helicopter set-ups😖😮😆 The lead clip has become to be all and end all. Lets dump the lead if the fish gets snagged, lets dump the lead on a take, not hang on I shouldn't really be fishing here it is a bit too close to the snag, or, in a weedy lake an inline lead is actually best to reduce the weed hanging around the line. The lead clip catches weed, tubing catches weed, leader knots catch weed, and hooks catch weed. Even more amazing, a fish with its head and eyes covered in weed often just gives up. @spr1985 think we'll have to start getting your thoughts that are developing. I reckon it could be an interesting post as you put your analysis and ideas down.

Strangely enough, other than sneaky trips, I rarely rough it nowadays, even in just the brolly. Sleeping on the ground doesn't really agree with me now, i'm too old for that! A comfortable level flatbed bedchair, brolly and wrap, and I have room for everything. More room under them than I actually had in the EasyDome! I have room behind the bed for chair, some of my tackle and a Sky. I honestly think the biggest advancement in comfort is not necessarily the bedchair. I was comfortable on Lafuma spring surrounded mattress, as long as I could get it level, but the best advancements are waterproof bivvies and sleeping bags. Having to put up with a thin sleeping bag with a stuck zip, sleeping in 10 layers to try to keep warm.

I'm sure I've posted it before, the pic of when I was doing sneaky nights on the park lake and didn't want to draw attention to myself doing overnighters. It was gravel rash in my case. Not the nicest shelter to get caught out in a thunderstorm!

My thoughts exactly. Brolly erection, unscrew boss protector, put up, replace boss protector, then put on storm rods or poles. You can set it up in a minute or so and keep your gear mostly dry while you sort your rods out. Then put on the overwrap and peg it down. The stormpole sleeves on the TFG are velcroed, so you don't need to remove the poles to put the bivvy overwrap on. Every few years Fox, Nash, Trakker, JRC et al all replace models, and as Yonny mentioned earlier in the thread, often make an inferior product in the process. I look at this years Fox EasyDome, and I think what an abomination. The inner capsule may have needed enlarging, so put the extension frame pole section on the front, not the back, as you can then use the space inside and still have a useable porch. The 'flat back' does not improve the bivvy. If I was to buy a Fox shelter it would be the Easy Shelter! It is strange how shelters have evolved since I started fishing, from homemade plastic or canvas covering an umbrella to overwraps, then domes, tents, bivvies, and back to brollies and overwraps.

The shelters I have been through over the years...😮 Home made overwrap over a brolly, Steadefast 50 inch brolly, Jekh shelter overwrap, Fox EasyDome original, Hutchy Apotheosis, JRC Roamer Dome, Nash Outlaw Hurricane shelter, Fox EasyDome again, TFG Hardcore Brolly, TFG Oval brolly and overwrap. I might have missed some out in that list. I never bought into the pramhood bivvy being the best, I always thought they were too big and heavy. The EasyDomes and Apotheosis bivvies are the best I have used in winter, but are standard camping style tents just in a green colour. The Apotheosis packed away smaller than the EasyDome, but the EasyDome was quicker to set up, although the inner capsule was quite small. The JRC Roamer dome was ok, but I didn't like how easily the fibreglass poles delaminated, its replacement the Nash Outlaw is still around, although my heavy handed treatment has broken an aluminium pole, which a sleeve fixed. The TFG Hardcore brolly didn't like being put up facing into winter winds, and while massive inside, no overwrap meant it was quite cold. So we go back to the various brollies with an overwrap. I honestly think now after years of fishing they are the best option for my fishing. The current TFG Oval provides the room I need, it does seem bigger than the 50inch and Jekh shelter, either that or I have gotten tidier over the years.😆😉 My biggest gripe about bivvies from many manufacturers is the cost. Fox, Nash and the like now do charge premium prices for gear that is not necessarily premium gear, hence my preference for some other brands I like B.C.'s post, especially about looking after your kit. I use and abuse mine to destruction, and often find when I need to replace kit there is no perfectly suitable replacement. I have got some kit I simply can't replace as the more modern version is not suitable.

That confidence really does make a lot of difference. What a start, that confidence really has paid off.

Sorry I couldn't be more positive about it. I don't like putting down products without adequate reason, but Shimano Aero line just didn't work for me, and I can't be dealing with using dodgy gear.

I kept my wife happy, so we split up...😖😱 Don't leave any unpackaged PVA in oily pellets, it will slow down the dissolve times, and if left long term, can actually prevent dissolving totally. Obviously keep your PVA dry, so my advice is always keep it in sealable plastic bags or containers. You may find different manufacturers or brands of PVA have different dissolve times.

I fished a water where putting bait out by catapult or spod was banned, every free bait had to be put in by PVA mesh, bags or stringers. A number of times I was casting PVA's full for 30 minutes or so to get bait around my hookbait, be that stringers etc, and a number of times I had takes within minutes of the last cast of my hookbait and stringer. Stringers as large as 30 boilies! Century AK47's had a 2.75 tc I think, two tip sections, a 1.75 and a 2.75 that fitted one butt. Quite an old design now! With heavy bags you may find a gentle lob is better than a full on whack cast, and as said it may pay to drop down a lead size or two.

I have caught 2 8lb commons that were companions of a big mirror that was in my local park lake. One was a short dumpy fish, the other long and lean. They seemed to test every bait before the big mirror, which was rarely caught, almost 'sacrificing' themselves to spook it away.

Sorry, I split the moon phase section out of the Rotary letter and bite times, because it interests me, causes confusion, works and then doesn't work. I know a few years ago now Tim Paisley wrote about big fish being caught on particular moon phases; I think he worked out that Lee Jackson caught Two Tone from Coningbrook on the same moon phase as other big fish were caught around the country. I know that the gravitational pull of the moon creates 2 high tides every 24hours and 51minutes, a lunar day, not an earth day. It is this time as to why high tide times change from day to day. What I don't understand is the spring and neap part of it, why spring tides are higher than 'normal' tides, I think it is to do with the particular phases of the moon, as the moon cannot change its gravity, it is to do with how close it comes to earth. From all of my big fish very few dates come to mind, apart from 2 fish, one a 33lb mirror caught on the 6th December and my river 28 simply because it was date stamped, so sadly I can't confirm or deny moon phases. I know Simon Crow 'pooh poohs' the moon phase theory, because I recently reread Tim Paisley's 'More From The Bivvy', and it is referenced against a chapter in there.

Looks like I am buying up a number of Spombs then. I have used the Fox once or twice, and handed it back to the owner very quickly, grabbed a spod from my tackle bag and went back to using that. Add to that when I was in the tackle shop, we had a large number of Fox Impact Spods brought back broken, pins, hinges and doors that wouldn't stay shut. It also means that likely the Fox Impact will get taken off the market. Fox are owned by someone else, nothing to do with the Fox family anymore, think it is a Korean company. Something else just came to mind, if Spomb didn't have the money to defend it's patents against Dot Spod, then with Fox's backing there is a large amount of money now available. Fox vs Nash...

Only problem is I can't see the black topped one, so it is sat waiting for a tip top of blaze orange paint. I find my marker rod invaluable. On Brackens I could be looking for exact spots on a feature, and the marker float gives me something to aim at with bait, spod or Spomb. (Or massive stringers) I also find, while I can do Yonny's method of counting the lead down, (roughly a metre per second), using a marker float on a link, I can find clearer patches in weed. If I just cast and count, I may not know exactly where the weed starts and finishes as I can't see it, whereas carefully dragging it back I can feel the clear or clearer spots, and then count the float up and down. I have lost count of the fish I have caught after baiting up to my marker. I can do 'wraps', or mark my line, but sometimes on a large inland sea, the marker float is extremely useful, especially if as I did on Earith, you map out the whole lake with exact depths. This week, the marker float served another purpose, it kept idiot sailing boats and safety boat from going over my line❗️😉 To be honest, I have been using a marker rod and spod rod since the 1990's, and they are both a necessity to me.

Shimano Aero, used it for testing a couple of years ago, discovered how easily it broke, took it off the reel and binned it.

Yonny, Mike Wilson and The Baiting Pyramid, he did it long term from memory, continually feeding and using maize, but it does work on shorter spells. Match anglers regularly feed, feed, fish, feed and keep feeding and checking/fishing a spot until the bigger fish move in.

It is not the first one I have killed like that😖😅😳

As good advice as that is, I do actually aim at my marker float, so need to use both spod and marker, hence my preference.

And standard green is the brightest. My last ones are around 20years old, and still bright enough to see at night, but I replaced them with Solar ones just to fit my IPRO heads.

Personally I have found I can feel features better with my marker rod with braid and a mono shockleader. I tried using a spod rod years ago on Ardleigh, but to get any feel on the lakebed I had to use 5oz leads. That and retrieving a spod meant the braid wore a groove in my tip and butt ring; since then I only ever use mono with a shockleader on my spod rod. I am putting loaded medium Spombs over 100metres, ironically further than I can now cast with my 2.75lb Marker rod as it has softened over the years. I have also used a 2.5lb fishing rod in the long distant past, but with the advent of braid, which I do not fish with due to my concerns on my waters of needing a leader to prevent damage to fish, I came to get a proper marker rod. I will say that with the increased size and buoyancy of modern marker floats, you need a larger lead. My found Korda marker float requires at least 4oz to feel the lakebed, as the float is so buoyant, compared to the 3oz of my last ESP Mini Marker, which I could see at range until I smashed it with a cast actually hitting it. Other large marker floats are the same, although if you can buy a decent bottom end pike float, it is a whole lot cheaper than carp taxed 'proper' marker floats. Personal choice is a designed marker rod, spod rod and my fishing rods.

I know what you are saying, but when nutritional need is fulfilled they can stop eating and go elsewhere to 'chill'.