salokcinnodrog

I was posh, I had a battery powered float for tench and bream. Only problem was staring at it in the dark and your eyes would cause the float to 'wander'. It wasn't the float moving but your eyes as you stared at one spot. I must admit ledgering on the river was almost always done with white tape round the rod tip up into the ambient light, and/or touch ledgering. Brings to mind an amusing story with the battery float. I put the batteries in for the start of the season, and went to check the shotting with a bare hook in daylight, a size 10 Drennan Sweetcorn hook. Chucked it in, float went under, "oh puffle, too much weight", reeled in and discovered myself playing a 4oz roach. That night I think I had 4 tench on the float up to 6lb, all males.

Baitrunner is Shimano's registered name, it is a free spool system. A reel with a rear drag turned down to minimum and anti-reverse on can become a free spool, Abu Cardinal style, or even Fighting Drag. Daiwa have Bite'n'Run, other makes have their own brand name. Pricewise you have got me stumped, I would be going Shimano ST range, which are about £50.

Welcome to Carp.com. Upping the test curve does NOT give you more stopping power as those higher test curve type of rods are more tip action, which can rip hooks out, or break line. I would be using a more through action rod in around 2.5-2.75lb TC, but upping the line to 15lb. My hooklinks would also be braided hooklink material, they take abrasion better than most monos. For snag fishing, I would put the rods pointing directly where the end tackle is, baitrunner switched OFF, clutch tightened right up, anti-reverse off. Because the fish can't take line they will arc away from the snag, so you can step back as you strike, pull them away and then play as normal, just don't let them get their head down and go back into the snag. Trying to play fish up a channel with reeds on both sides is not fun, you may need to be able to get in the water, either by wading, (but don't take any risks), or by boat. Basically if you are leaving tackle in fish, or losing more than you land, then it could be too risky to fish.

Any chance for the fish to get used to your bait is a good thing. I wouldn't stick it all in one place though, I would spread it around, on the basis it is a good food source. The fish may not show in the same spots, or possibly somebody could be in there, so spread around, there is a good chance the fish will have tried it.

I think of the indicators I have used over the years, monkey climbers made out of old 35mm film cases, to Gardner bodies, to PTFE climbers on stainless needles with a ball top to prevent the indicator flying off. From those to original Fox Swingers, which I loved, as the sliding weight was, I think, more 'zero' under the buzzer, than the Mark.ll's. Then onto Fox Specialist hangars where I added some extra weight with some setting putty in the base, and put bath chains on them. After that I got some original Solar Quiverlocs, in red, white and green. I really did like the the original clips. After I finally killed them, and fancied an upgrade, I went for the short arm Solar Titaniums, again in those three colours. I must admit I don't like the Grip Clips, so put the IPRO heads on them, which I have found I can tighten right up. The Titaniums can be fished at drop, or as swingers or spring arm, even with the short arm which I prefer. As good as the long arms are, which are probably better, because I often fish as low as possible, that is why I have preference for short arms. The original Quiverlocs I found a bit too long at times. Isotopes, I do. At night I often sit watching the indicators, and sometimes with the buzzers off to keep myself to myself, so the isotopes mean I can see movement, even if the buzzers are on, sometimes a bit of movement can precede the sound. With tight lines I have the indicators level, you can see any movement. My indicators need to be able to be used with slack or tight lines, as I do prefer running leads, but can't always do that. Slack lines and running leads mean the indicator is down at 'maximum drop', or even resting on the ground in the case of the hangars. Tight lines means I can level my heads.

No carp in Alton😖😉 honestly😅 West Stow lost a lot of fish a few years ago, so has had a lot of new stock, it is now NS fisheries, and they also have Nunnery near Thetford. The lake I fished in Cambridgeshire is the same distance as Nazeing.

I can't find anywhere comfortable in Suffolk. I refuse to pay £120 odd for a club ticket which I can only fish a maximum of 2 nights and has only 3 30's in the 3 lakes they run where the total acreage is 30 acres max. Even Suffolk Water Park which has a number of 30's is going to cost me £20 a night, the cost for 3 weekends is the whole season on Nazeing.

Nazeing fish can be a bit difficult, they will stay in the sluice area for months at a time, feeding almost solely on daphnia. As the natural food dies down, (bloodworm maybe being an exception), they come out into more of the lake. Nazeing carp don't necessarily follow wind, a southerly puts them into the sluice area, the area that gets the most angler pressure as the swims are car friendly. The sluice inflow is more oxygenated, so a (warm summer) northerly wind would not necessarily move them into the south end outflow area. The causeway between the Central and South may also break up the wind flow, even though there is a 15metre wide bridged channel between them. I've been thinking my way back through sessions, my largest fish was caught on 6th December, at the time of capture, my largest common, was caught in February. At Earith, two of the four blanks I had were when the lake froze over. One of the others was a session in June, and the other was when I was having a 'mare; a 5 day trip that involved a couple of hookpulls, me in an absolutely awful mood and just not able to get my head out of my bottom. I have caught in some real blowy conditions, proper gale force winds, on occasion having to hold the bivvy down while playing a fish, Being in the right place before the wind started, and able to tie down and strap the bivvy with cup hooks into wooden staging and swim boards. I'm not that keen on fishing small lakes in thunder and lightning in the summer, whereas autumn I am. On those smaller waters, Summer thunderstorms seem to lower fish response, maybe oxygen levels in the water, and they can switch off. Heavy thunderfree rainstorms though, love it!

It is often November through to the February I do best. Maybe it is down to lower levels of natural food, maybe I can be more selective, less anglers, so able to get a better swim or on the fish. I have caught well in December, personal best fish as well. I have noticed that smaller or sheltered or tree lined waters do not respond to wind as big lakes do. Even big lakes, angler pressure can change the way the fish respond. I don't get to choose the weather I fish, so I have to take what is offered by the weather god, so I try as hard even in less perfect conditions.

I think using a Deeper Pro does take away to some extent from natural ability. I can use a marker float to map a swim, and see the fish, that is my ability. I could cast out a Deeper and get the lake mapped in half the time, but it just doesn't get me 'the feel'. Technology has supposed to be an advancement, and make life easier for us, but at the same time I think it also kills or dulls the natural touch.

I have a local water that the majority of swims are on jetties, and you have to bivvy back off them. If the water level is up, you could be wading through a couple of yards of soft mud before reaching the jetty. I have seen anglers sit waiting on the jetties, and the disturbance they create. Every movement, every bottom roll as they shift on the chair, all create waves, vibration and noise. Brackens has a swim called Boards, I have blanked when bivvied up in there, it is big enough for a bivvy. Back to the video, awesome. Long distance from the rods? I think my comments above sum that up. We are commenting about him bivvying up, and his 2/3 hours, but a simple question has been missed. Is he sleeping with his rod out? Or is he casting at first light? If casting at first light then he is not sleeping, but sitting where he creates least disturbance.

The lowest row of scales look different and the scale count and pattern just above the ventral fin is different, so in my opinion they are different fish. I would love to see those fish in daylight side on pics, you'd only get accurate identification that way.

I split some of the Stanwick Lakes posts off into their own thread (https://www.carp.com/topic/24684-stanwick-lake-from-bedchairs/?tab=comments#comment-326884), so sorry if this is now a little disjointed. That is my biggest gripe about the 'top range' bedchairs, a lot of money for the foam mattress. Quality is not necessarily any better than some of the budget ranges. Stick a £20 mattress on a £90 TFG Deluxe bedchair and you have the comfort of a Nash or Fox top price sleep system. Not being funny, but I do like being able to take the sleeping bag off, and this summer sleeping in just shorts and t-shirt. A sleeping bag underneath leaves me dripping with sweat. I mentioned earlier that I have looked at various bedchairs over the years, and none of the bedchairs I have owned have cost more than £130. I had a Badger bedchair that cost me £50, and that lasted for around 6 years. Only fault is elastic springing dies, and it gets easier to buy a new bedchair; Bison was its replacement, and again, that lasted 6 years or so. I think that cost £80. The most expensive was one of the original Fox bedchairs, a simple centre elasticated section, with the canvas cover going around the frame at head and feet, and back in the 1990's that cost £129.99!

Been through a few makes over the years and checked and tested them in tackle shops I worked in. Strangely none were better than the original Fox bedchairs I had around 20+ years ago, and I am not made of money, no way can I afford current Nash or Fox prices. My current bedchair is a few years old now, the Chub Vantage 6 leg Flatbed. It is comfortable and wide enough and at open, 2.15m long. I may only be 75kilos when wet (11 1/2 stone I guess), but there is room. Do not get the Outkast version, it is around 18centimetres shorter head to toe, and not as wide. The central padded mattress keeps you warm and because it is not elasticated round the outer frame, it does not sag. Proper mudfeet, and non slipping extendable legs. It also folds up with my sleeping bag inside. Shop around, prices vary down as low as £125 comparred to the £185 rrp.

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.