salokcinnodrog

What time of year were they caught?

I got to the river for 8am, first cast with a dead roach on the float paternostered rod, and this chunky double took the bait within minutes, before I'd even rolled my first ciggie. Thinking i'd landed on them I stayed put casting around with smelt, roach and dead trout, but no more joy. Rest of the morning it got colder and colder until with the northerly wind it got quite uncomfortable. Having had a fish I packed up at 12.15. Chunky 10lb pike, todays view and Sky watching the world

It comes and goes. I think Early 70's was a good roach time, then they died off, early to late 80's then they disappeared until the 90's then gone again. The big roach area, fish over 3lb was upstream of Swanton Morley Great Witchingham. A couple of years ago a mate had a couple around a pound again at Drayton. The barbel in the area, was only 3 or 4 doubles, with one being caught all along the 3 mile stretch to a number of anglers between 11 and 13lbs. The majority of a few fish were between 7 and 8lb. I used to catch numbers of pike in that area, now there are less, with a few big ones, but less jacks. I was catching dace again last year that have reappeared. The fish I was catching looked healthy, so I think there are still some good pike around. Last time I fished that swim, again it was one pike, but the mackeral deadbait it took was the same size as the pike... The chub are still around but keeping away from the shallows downstream they used to show on before otters were in the valley in numbers. There are otters, I think the fish are still there, but not being so obvious, moving into faster deeper water.

Other than playing the fish I was able to avoid the worst of it😉, walking next to the footpath which was all ivy leaves. There is a proper wooden walkway under the river cliff The Wensum is up a good couple of feet, that current is really boiling, although to the right is always a slack on the outside of a bend. That area has produced carp and barbel to double figures (not to me sadly), chub to 5, roach to 2 as well as pike. I have also caught some big dace trotting maggots on a stick float.

I can go days, even a week without a ciggie, then I just get the urge for one, normally when wound up and stressed.

Pike hit a bait in the middle, and turn it round to swallow head first. Zander, and perch, hit from behind, and swallow tail first. Always need to use a wire trace for zander, too much chance of a pike taking the bait. A treble sewing up the stomach is a death sentence for pike.

Closer to Norwich, about 10minutes from my daughters house, she lives in Eaton😉

Trip to Norfolk today Today's view, the bite alarm, the float paternostered roach deadbait using stonez on a weaklink, and the 9lb pike caught on smelt on sunken paternoster

I am the person who will rather pay £1.18 for a pen made in Britain over £1 for a pen made in China. I have gotten to looking at environmental cost, to why do we ship or air freight goods from China to UK on blooming great container ships. I have gotten to thinking about those sweat shop factories, and I have gotten to thinking about UK produced goods. Not being funny, but part of this is Brexit related as well. There will be Brexit, we need our economy working, we need to be producing stuff for ourselves, a manufacturing industry. We also need bigger name tackle manufacturers, like Nash, like Fox, Korda or whoever considering the environment and where they manufacture and what they charge the angler for their gear. If they charged a real fair price, then maybe a lot of this 'copy and paste' cheaper made gear would nit be produced to undercut them.

Roughly 80 yards? I think you have discovered exactly how far that is, doesn't sound much, but is really quite a chuck. Probably not what you want to hear, but bag work and chucking a lead a long way I would be going to a top brand manufacturer. Don't think you need to go much above 2.75, but 3 maybe 3.25 will add yards to your casting with a balanced reel. Lot of money, but my 2.75lb Century NG's will go well over 100yards even with a small bag, and they chuck big pike deadbaits out as well.😖😳 They do a couple of higher TC rods in the same range, as well as the longer range SP's. Even better, made in UK😉

I have some sympathy for British manufacturers, who design and build in this country, but too many big name brands have gone to the Far East, to get gear made while keeping the high price. Its also an environmental, human rights and other concern, the cargo ship coming all the way from China, the fuel to bring it that way, the risk of your container being one of four to fall into the sea every day. The child workers in the factories in China, at minimal wage, tuppence a day. I could quite happily see a couple of brand names slip from the tackle market! Some factories 'sell to the highest bidder'. One factory may make tackle for Fox, Nash, JRC etc. The brand that pays most gets their bedchairs before the next payer gets theirs. It is why sometimes there can be a shortage, as well as brands purposely holding gear back to create interest. You have as Yonny says, tackle brand owners making big profits in their own pocket yet not wanting to put money into R&D. Updated tackle, some of the new advances in tackle is a step backwards, some original gear is brilliant, yet newer models are frankly awful. I have a TFG oval brolly, I think it was £80, yet why should the same thing from Fox or Nash cost £200? Why should a Fox bedchair cost £300, when exactly the same from JRC is £150? The items are essentially the same, in some cases just a different badge! Carp tax, fishing line is fishing line, sea line is the same as fishing line, (example) yet the Fox, Korda brand is £20, compared to £9.99 for Sea fishing line. It is the same stuff!

Frank, Do the colder winters where the carp are under the ice and warmer summers affect the growth rates in any way? I recall or seem to think, some of those countries its ice covered, then almost 2 days later ice free, and up in the high teens degrees Celsius. Also in that our English method of carp fishing as it has emigrated across the globe has given rise to bigger carp being able to be landed? Or is this my imagination running wild...

Must admit I preferred the Mk.1's to the Mk.2's. Didn't like the line gate on the Mk.2's, and I found the weight could not be 'zeroed' like the Mk1's. I used Solar Quiverlocs for years, loved them, but a heavy handed (foot) moment saw me break the carbon inside the arm of one of them. It still worked as a swing arm, but as a tension arm it didn't, so I went to the Titaniums. I switched the line clip to the original line clip as I prefer that to the current fashionable ones that are around. Mostly because I really need to tighten up with the undertow at times, and the new line clips won't hold. The Ipro heads do look rather good with an isotope in. While the isotope is not a necessity, it does mean I can be sure my indicators are level, which is not for fashion, but so I can see which rod has twitched on any movement without necessarily looking up at the buzzer, honest... I use them for carp fishing, and when I'm after big roach or bream. Basically one indicator does all. If you want a Solar stockist to go into: http://www.solar24-7.co.uk/page/find-supplier

Oh, its getting touchy, not argumentative, but we are touching on issues within angling as a whole, and opinions are split both ways. In 'natural' waters, nature finds a balance, between silver fish, tench, bream, pike, carp and perch. On the whole we have created carp only waters, and carp only anglers, in the process taking out other species. There are so many lakes that are carp only, from match fisheries where carp are used to build big winning weights, to 'specimen' carp only waters, big fish, loads of carp from say stocked at 10lb to biggest fish going 30lb+. Any fishery owner that creates or owns a fishery now is a complete norbert if they do not put a fence around it if it is at all possible. The cost of a fence is cheap compared to stock, however it goes missing, otters, other causes... However as has been mentioned, other nature can't go through a fence either, foxes, deer, badgers, which do not predate on fish, but use the water for drinking, or hunting insects, rats, or if a fish does die and get near the bank, scavenge it. I think B.C. and I are the same sort of area, I won't join CAPS, because there are so many carp anglers. A non carp angler may struggle to find a swim at the weekend. I do disagree slightly with B.C. though as grouse moors, which put money into a business are actually managed, and create more nature within the environment, however a fishery where money is king, other species are losing out. Anyone can create a fishery, dig a hole, get change of land use document, fill it with water, stick £10000 worth of carp in, and there is a day ticket lake that will make money. Otters are protected, over protected in my opinion, and partly because of that numbers are higher than they should be. Carp I do not think are as good as avoiding otter predation than other species. Carp mostly, do not shoal like roach or bream, which protect themselves in numbers. Add to that, a 20lb carp, likely higher nutritional value than a 1lb roach, less effort to catch the carp than the roach or bream. Yes all species are at risk, but carp more so.

Welcome to Carp.com. Sadly this is over 2 years old and nothing else has come up yet. The fact you posted may get some up to date info as it is now in the top page of the section

America also has more scavengers as well, so you honestly don't know whether there has been fish taken or not. Wolves, foxes, crows, eagles, bears, you name it, all will scavenge a carcass to nothing left. The UK has maybe rats, foxes or crows, but I have seen otters actually stop a fox from coming into their territory. I have also seen otters constant movement around an area, and the rats disappear. I'm the same as Kev, if the big fish are lost i'm gone. Brackens lost Digit and Sams fish to oxygen crash and spawnbound, I have fished it once since, that was with a mate, as a social. If 16.11 went, I would be going elsewhere. Although on the local I fish, they lost those two doubles, quite possibly the biggest in the lake, I have not fished it in 9months.

Even on fenced lakes, if there is a break in the fence, or a tree falls over it, an otter can get in very quickly. One night and in the morning I found 2 dead carp, both doubles. This is in a lake with crayfish, which I would have thought would have offered an easier challenge. I know a lake near to RAF Fairford lost the majority of the carp stock, and some big tench as well. Andy52 is the one who got me up to date on the place when I mentioned I knew a very cheap fishery in that area.

After diving and collecting loads from the water...😉😅

I emptied a kilo of leads out of my box a few years ago! Now I carry a maximum of 10 leads with me.

Couple of ways I do it, but it does depend on the size of the eye of the hook, and what material you are using: Mono and dental floss, even whipping thread, I can tie to the eye, whipping it down the shank, and going through an overhand loop to hold it on the shank where I want the hair to leave the hook, usually half way between barb and point. I then fit a line aligner or kicker with shrink tube. It stops the hair moving, and protects the knots so they don't slip The other way is I often use a sliding rig ring on the shank of the hook, which I stop from sliding round the bend by a mini rig stop, or 2 sleeves of mini shrink tubing, one on top of the other. The advantage for me of the sliding ring, is I can change hair length, or material without cutting the rig down. I think you should be able to see both methods

Don't forget as well, you will attach that loop to your link, so it will sink. Never thought of oil from my hands changing the characteristics of the material that much! I do have very dry hands though, regularly having to use hand cream😘😳😖

Welcome to Carp.com. I must admit that while I appreciate your situation and location, I don't think you would necessarily need to go above 12ft rods, absolute max 3.5lb TC. I presume, but only because I don't know, a fair amount of your colleagues boat their baits out? If you cast with the 12ft 3.25 rods, I know you can get baits to 150metres. My advice look at Century rods if you can, SP's will definitely hit the distance, or even Rod Hutchinson rods.

I use a few hair materials, continuation of the hooklink, (braided), Kryston Samson, Merlin, dental floss (buy unflavoured from supermarket rather than tackle shop), mono or even (got to say it, though it pains me😳🙄😆) Korda Armacord. (Somebody dropped a pack on the bank, I was lucky enough to find it❗️😉) With mono, while I am happy with 4lb mono, I have found crayfish can cut through it with their pincers, so the others are crayfish proof. As I use PVA almost every cast I hold the hair in place on the cast with the stringer or mesh. If I don't use PVA then a dissolving corn nugget around the hook holds the hair in place.

Old line for me as well, although I sometimes do put a layer of insulation tape on top of the old line, more so I don't have to feel for knots next time I change it. Longest cast I made at Ardleigh was from Wick Lane end, bank to bank. If you know where the small stream inlet is, I was opposite that when I saw a fish roll in there. I guess about 125metres

It was years ago when I first played with fluoros myself, around 1995 when I first started in a tackle shop. Sufix brought a few breaking strains out, Carp-r-Us brought out theirs, and I was sticking with a blood knot, or a Uni knot and having problems. I think at the time Dave Chilton was saying the Uni knot was a no no with fluoro, and I know with the blood knot I was getting crinkles. Fluoro has improved no end since then, and what I use now seems a whole lot better, but that may just be I understand its use now, being more careful with all my knots.