salokcinnodrog

I merged your later posts into one, I know with pics it only allows a certain size.
 
Blooming heck, when you phoned you said it was a tight swim. Never figured on not being able to get round both sides of the brolly.
Glad you like it.
 
Result on the bait, and fish, and getting that 'thing' back in. It looks awful! At least one fish is saved. 
 
Sounds silly, but a tent peg over the base of the pod to hold it down might help, or a screw and guy rope.
Something else, every bivvy door, roll it up around a bankstick when you want to strap it open
 
Hope your next session is a bit more smooth.

Well I’d been away from the scene for about 6 years and you’ll tell from some of my posts since I came back to the forum exactly how excited I was to get back in the game .
Ive invested quite a few quid upgrading certain stuff and replacing other stuff that has gone walkies over the years , more stuff in fact than I’d realised .
I had gear in the loft , some in the shed and plenty in the spare room and no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t keep the stuff I was taking down to a bare minimum…and it wasn’t really organised at all ..all mixed up , the old & new and a bit chaotic .
My plan was to spend the week before organising things so that when I got in from work on Friday afternoon I could throw my gear into the wife’s motor and off for the weekend. Things didn’t exactly go to plan….
Unfortunately work has been pretty demanding recently , particularly the few days leading up to my fishing , and I was having to work 12 hr shifts , getting home at 6.30pm eating , washing up , getting done family stuff that has to be done and getting into bed by 9 for a 0345 alarm which , quite frankly, meant that my fishing gear remained exactly where it was .
Now on the Friday I’d managed to wangle an early finish (2pm) and I was going to get all my gear together and be off to the lake for tea time and giving myself plenty of time to get set up for the night but one thing led to another and by the time I arrived at the lake and I’d had a walk round it was virtually 8pm . I’d had to plonk myself in the only swim left available by the time I’d arrived , it was the tightest swim I’d ever found myself in in 50 years of fishing , I had a new (to me) RH Cabrio brolly that I’d never set up before (restrictions on space at home) and it would be dark within the hour . What was I to do ?
I rang Nick 🤣 who I knew had the same brolly.
He kindly talked me through it and I managed to get the shelter up and my 3 rods set up before it got dark and then my problems started to pile up .
My swim was not only as tight as a gnats bottom but the ground was a kind of broken tarmac/gravelly type of surface and single banksticks , my preferred option were just not happening so I had to use my pod . I detest using it for reasons that will be revealed shortly .
The battery in one of my alarms was as dead as a dodo and as I reefed around in the dark looking for my spare batteries I discovered I’d got the wrong ones . I needed LR1’s and I’d mistakenly brought some G11a’s . I was exhausted already and wasn’t watching the rod all night so I decided to just use the 2 rods and review the situation at first light .
I made up a couple of small pva sticks , a mixture of B5/Black snail stick mix , attached them to a couple of basic knotless knotted rigs , Black snail bottom bait on one and a RH snail wafter on the other with just a couple of handfuls of Black snail and B5 16 millers loosely around them . Fishing room was tight as it was , I wasn’t going to start leading around in the dark with so many other Anglers in close proximity , the corner of the lake I was stuck in had another Angler on the opposite bank approx 80 yards directly in front so the margins it would be at least till the morrow. I also baited up a third line under a willow tree close by in preparation for the morning when a 3rd rod may go out.
All was quiet through the night but I awoke at 4.30 am to see a few fish showing in my albeit lightly baited area where my Snail wafter wafted . I decided to leave that area alone for obvious reasons , baited up my other spot and launched my now available 3rd rod onto the margin area that I’d baited up a few hours earlier . It was very hot during the day , nothing showing even in the upper layers and even if they were a ridiculous no floaters no zigs ruling was in operation and tbh I was a bit stuck for what to try . I had been cleaned out by tufties on the 2 baited areas , I’d noticed a succession of Coots etc diving and helping themselves to my Black Snail boilies … so much for Black boilies making themselves difficult for the bird life to find 🙄.
As the sun went down and the temperature cooled a tad I considered pulling in my other rod , the one with the single snail wafter hookbait . Before I could pick the rod up the fox alarm squealed and I was into a fish, a fish which appeared to give me a proper battle , admittedly I was a bit out of practice, 6 years and all that , and indeed it turned into a battle . I landed it ok but not before it had wiped out both my other rods and the Pod in the process . Then it hit me .
Id been rushing around so much prior to the session that I’d completely forgotten to make any sort of Photo provisions . Good job it wasn’t a personal biggest fish or anything .
So I just unhooked it in the net , took a quick pic with my phone and returned it to the water .
I now had the job of resetting up for the night the two rods I would have out during the night , no easy task in the dark for an old shortsighted arthritic codger with the ‘ump 😄.
As I say it was dark so after untangling the rods and pod … did I mention I hate rod pods ?…I baited up both rods with a Hutchy Naturalz snail wafter and fired out about half a kilo of Black Snail and B5 freebies over each .
An hour later the same rod as before kicked off , this time it felt to be a bigger fish , plodding around in the margins until it saw my landing net , the sight of which made it shoot off into the middle of the lake . Then everything went solid . I thought the fish may have found some sanctuary in a weed bed I was unaware of but then I remembered .
Where this area of the lake is very narrow ,  there’s a wooden sign bang in the middle reminding the local numpties not to cast beyond this point etc . Anyway , this fish had swam around this post/sign and obviously spat the barbless hook (another silly rule imo) at which point I had to pull for a break 😡
SO , after tackling up AGAIN and casting out I decided I’d better get my head down as I couldn’t see the swim producing again after all the commotion but within the hour (2am by now) the same rod was off again .
It WAS a bigger fish this time , I never weighed it as I was too busy picking my other rod and the pod out of the water 😡as this one had again caused carnage . It wouldn’t have been fair to the fish to retain it anyway though it was well over 20lb in my guesstimation.
I released it straight away , threw my tangled rods down in self disgust and went to bed . The following daybreak I tackled all 3 rods up again and continued fishing . I wasn’t happy with the drop on one of my rods so I retrieved it , feeling resistance whilst I was doing it . 
I reeled in a length of leadcore with a “ safety” clip which appeared to be glued together . Indeed I was unable to separate the components . I enclose a photo of it below and handed it to the bailiff later on . Idiots eh ? 
Anyway it peed down with rain for the rest of the day . My Mrs came to pick me up mid afternoon and it took me an hour and a quarter to get all my gear back the 300 yards to the car . Why you ask ? Because my Fox explorer deluxe barrow that I’d received a few days previously was still sat in its box at home where I’d not had time to put it together 🙄.
so all in all , it was good to finally get some alone time back on the bank , I have to call it a success as such due to the nice 2 fish I did manage to catch but an absolute disaster in other ways .
Things I learnt ? I need to be a lot more organised. Take a look at the mess in the pics lol , I can’t be rushing around like that again … mistakes get made , important items get forgotten and it makes it all hard work when it’s supposed to be fun.
I need to find somewhere quieter to fish , somewhere a bit more exclusive . I’m only able to fish at weekends and I need to find somewhere quieter to fish somewhere I may get a choice of location instead of being forced to fish where I can . 
 
I learnt that my new CTX rods are a dream to use compared to my Berkley’s and I thought THEY were lovely .
Im impressed with my RH Cabrio brolly system , SO much room I really am pleasantly surprised . I never saw fit to use the wrap , there wasn’t enough room to get it out of the bag let alone fit it but once I finally get the brolly extension I’ll be living the life on the bank 🤣
I learned that carp like RH Naturalz wafters and I learned that very slack lines , light running leads and simple rigs still work and I must have been doing something right as not a lot else was caught from what I could tell . 
 
If you’ve got this far , thanks for reading , hope it’s not been a waste of your time so thanks for humouring me . It really felt like I was a beginner all over again at times but I’m sure it’ll be better next time if I’m better organised . Need somewhere better to fish 🙄

*cough* *cough* *scratch* 
Nasty mods will kill a site, and I've experienced that myself. You guys are pretty nice, though. 

At one point it got very nasty, so the other Mods and I got really strict. I was so strict on it for a while it killed the site.
Swears, Threats and insults flying everywhere. Sadly it meant I had to add some words into the censor, which on their own are nothing, like the shortened form of Richard, but it was used as an insult.
 
We do get a Bank Holiday special every now and again, someone joins or rejoins, starts off alright, then contradicts himself in further posts, gets upset and rude to people pointing this out and fires off.

Just got back from a great 3 night social at Trent View, 2 nights in the Bay pegs 6/7, last night in the Hut Swim.
The first day was a slow steady set up including  cook/social tent - the full works lol and enjoying some good bbq.
As evening drew near an unexpected weather front moved in and that spelled the end of our chilled vibe and the start of a run of frantic action.
It rained all night and the action never stopped - I got zero sleep but by midday we finished up with 15 fish, 11 for me - I was truly knackered but buzzing we had both caught.
We spent the rest of the day wowing at the results so far, prepping and hoping for a repeat the following night.  Whilst I lost a fish to a hook pull early evening - that was the last of the action - the fish left the bay soon after not to return and we actually got some sleep but by morning we were disappointed that the second night was a bust - but hopeful that a change of scene would restart our little run.
The last day in the main bowl started with confidence with a big S/W wind smashing in - we were on fish again and over all rods but as the temps dropped they backed off us and did the off.
Overall a great trip, fab venue,  will be back for sure!
Somehow I have no pics of the first 4 of my fish and the quality of the remaining pics of mine were so bad that I ended up sacking the cameraman completely and doing self takes, fortunately the last few fish were the best. 🤣👍

First one of the year for me. Only small one at 17.04lb but most welcome. Rod was only in the water for 5 mins. 

Strangely enough, one of the guys who manages the syndicate has been comparing pics of stocked fish to my 23 this morning.
We have come to the conclusion it is one of the rare 'Quarry' fish that rarely get banked, (don't think this one has been caught before) so it looks like the rig has confused it from the norm into making an error.

I  replied to one of his posts, then read all 20 posts and reread them.
 
He fell foul of the swearing rule...
If it was a slip on one post I might have ignored it, but it was on four or five with edits that I wasn't going to do.
 
 
 
 

Buzz bars for me every time, or genuine single sticks.
In fact a 2 rod Buzz bar, and a single is handy for playing fish around, although my 3 I can step into the middle quite easily with slack lines, or if the tips are high if it's the middle rod.

sounds good, we try a few different waters as still finding my feet in all of this, have gone from float and method feeder set ups to learning to tie my own rigs it has been huge fun. still set up one rod on float for tench/bream but have now started sticking out a carp rod away from my daughters pole rig and very loose catapult and caught a few good size carp.
i have to admit it is fun getting an indication and watching the reel go nuts

Buzz bars for me every time, or genuine single sticks.
In fact a 2 rod Buzz bar, and a single is handy for playing fish around, although my 3 I can step into the middle quite easily with slack lines, or if the tips are high if it's the middle rod.

Picked up 3 Jag Lackdown in Small Black, with 9 inserts for each Lockdown.
Swapped a mate my Pod for His Buzz Bar setup....which do you guys prefer 🤔 
Standard....

Singlez Setup

 
 

Mine came through last week, I do love his artwork. He has appeared on BBC Countryfile (as has my syndicate😉)
Mine are all saved in my wallet, but i'm looking to get them framed, along with a few other pics I've taken.

Definitely different to your usual approach Nick. I think Adam Penning did something of a similar theme with a stiff boom connected to a Multi-Chod section via a short braided section. By all accounts worked really well. 

I can remember making 12 vane discs to fit in Optonics, cut from the base of an old 35mm film container
 
Let me know what you think of the brolly itself.
I do love mine, better than a standard brolly and wrap.
The TFG brolly with stormsides and wrap was OK, but always a bit tight for space, and if you didn't put the wrap on and it started raining... ruined a camera and phone when the wind and rain came charging down the reservoir and got under the brolly.
Even a 50inch brolly and Jekh shelter was tight compared to the Cabrio Hybrid system.
Only thing I do struggle with is the spoke protector skull cap thingy. I quite frequently leave it hanging...

I like my rump steak blue, and sirloin rare. 
Rump should never need a sauce, it is the tastiest, even though the cheapest🤪, yet sirloin (or the other more expensive steak cuts) might need a sauce with them as they are drier.
I always have a bag of dried pasta in my food bag; after boiling it I can prepare the vegetables and meat.
Couple of weeks ago I did a carbonara, admittedly bacon, with ready grated parmigiano, dried basil  and the egg with tagliatelle.
 
My lunches recently have been chocolate brioche dunked in my black coffee.
I am still on porridge and coffee for breakfast.
 

A Naturalz Wafter , the Snail one , produced a mid double for me this afternoon Nick .
Over a small bed of Black Snail & B5 freebies . I think it’s something a bit different they haven’t seen before , especially here.

I think that until spawning is out of the way boilies are often the last thing carp are wanting to eat, even more so or especially on richer natural lakes.
I do like a mix of small items in my background feed, Vitalin, crumbled and crushed boilies with a few small pellets, even (fresh) molehill soil, which is often rich in wormy goodness.
I think it was @JordanNW who asked about PVA mix, my mix is on here
I use it as my baited patch and for my bag or mesh mix. 

Only reason I ordered the paper copy is the David Miller artwork on it lol! I still have the full set since he started doing the art and plan to frame the lot when they stop doing paper licenses. I reckon a full set will be worth money one day.

I think I posted on the same question a few months ago, but it could be longer...
I have switched to the same rod for both, so occasionally even old dogs do learn something.
 
 
50lb Angry Fish braid, I have a run ring running on the shockleader, with my lead link attached to a Breakaway Spinlink Clip, at the end of the leader is an oval ring attached to a ball bearing swivel.  
 
When I'm leading or using the marker float, the marker goes on the oval ring, and lead on the spinlink.
When I spod or Spomb, I remove float and lead and clip the spinlink to the ball bearing swivel.
I'll try to put pics up, but signal in the swim I'm in is awful.
Just to get any Internet access to check my emails I've had to go up the other end of the lake.
 
Hitting the clip with braid can 'flatten' the Spomb so it doesn't always open, so at shorter range you may need to lob it.

REEL TECH based in March, Cambridge. Great service at a VERY good price. You'll find them on FB.

PROPER REELS!
I would get them serviced over buying new current models.
 
If you do decide to go new, of all the current Shimano range have a play with the current Beastmasters, but shop around for price. I think they are much better than anything over the £85 price range, including the Ultegras. 
That's from working in a tackle shop.
 
https://fish.shimano-eu.com/content/fish/eu/gb/en/homepage/Product-detail.P-BEASTMASTER_XB.html/
 

Liberation, how I got at least one of mine.
 
Doesn't take much to ring from the church nearby to ask for directions...

I just can't walk past a headtorch without at least trying it for size. I own seven or eight of them.
Ian.