courtz

I might be going gillie tommorow if it doesnt ice over Just from mid morning until evening as i've got a few things to sort out first thing. Come along if anyone wants, i want to try and get a carp or two

You managed to blank on the carp front Were you casting into the water, you know that blue cold stuff? was perfect conditions for zigs aswell better look next time

Yeah i've been toying around with them on the club water, not got as much confidence in them though as i used to

Just lie the hooklink out behind you and put the hoobait in a cup, pop up tub etc so it doesnt snap when you cast it. I don't like the adjustable zig to be honest, just because the comics rave about it it doesnt mean it's the lastest wonder rig

May have a day session early/mid feb, are saturdays okay? Depends how things go on my club water, will sort a date nearer to the time

Any pop ups which are bright a fruity, pineapples or tuttis i have done well one. fish the zigs at 10ft in length using a 1 or 2 oz inline lead with about a foot of tubing behind, when casting feather it down and hold onto the line at the reel, just before the lead hits the water so the rig starightens out and doesnt tangle.

I can remember the fish in pics 4 and 9 were pretty pale, especially 9 They were both 17lbs i think?

Your mate's 20 could of been this thing, ball shaped, Definately!!!!! The white fish, could of been that linear i had, looked like a ghostie when i was playing it, that was only 11lb though. Trying to think which one you could mean, may have to have a look through my photo album As of the start of may i'll be back down there with a stalking rod, hopefully have the one or two i want, i knw the areas they seem to prefer now atleast

No mate, 80% of the stock are dark and scaley and about one in three fish is a linear , nice looking fish just a bit small

Lost mary twice, once at the net because i hooked her in the digey side of her mouth. Which linear? the ghostie one from the top lake?

That's only about 20% of the photos i have I can only be bothered to put up the ones i have on my photobucket account at the moment though... Yeh fished it most weekends in 2005 - 2006, good for a runs water but ended up cathing all of the ones i wanted bar one Learnt most of my basics from carping there

Here's a few pics i have on my photobucket account Not sure what on earth this was, went 3lb 14oz though (Ide maybe??) Mug fish Mid-winter upper-double on the ziggies 2nd ever session there The one i want 17lb 27lb My little brother Top lake ghostie

In winter you want to stick to the deeper water, so the car park swims upto the mini island swim which has a bridge onto it, on the other side don't go much further past the first platorm, the one which has a large embankment behind it. Zig rigs are the way forward!!!! Just cast one out towards the main body of water and you're in with a good chance. The lawn swim is pretty productive in summer, but it is easy to get cut off by people fishing the straight section or the other bank. I'll dig out a few photos tonight hopefully I may have a go down there some time, but am too focussed on having a few fish at winter weights in their prime condition from my club water at the moment Tight lines Courtney

Still owned by Tom although his son does some of the baliffing now I am led to believe, good water if you want a few runs. No nights allowed there any more though. I fished there regularly from early 2004 until May of last year, must have caught all but one of the fish in there. The gravel pit on there is worth a go; the match lake has some big fish in but is full of pasties. Not really worth it in the mid summer to be honest gets packed with numpties at the weekends. Other than that it’s a great winter water and definitely worth it in the spring, I was averaging over a dozen in a day last winter. The average fish size is very small now, at around 8lbs which can be annoying trying to wade through them, and there are probably only 5 fish in there worth targeting. Two of which are large dark commons, look almost identical really fat and almost black in colour, look like pigs with fins in the water. One is around 21lb and the other 25lbs, I had the larger of the two in June 06 just before spawning and it went 27lb 1oz, and that is currently the biggest fish in there. The others are a really lean thick set mirror of 23-24lbs and two other mirrors which are scraping 20s. The lean mirror is the one I wanted, having lost it at the net once and missed a chance stalking it early last year. Talking of which stalking is defiantly worth a go here, as they are easily catchable right in the edge. Also better to select individual fish out, I had the big common 6ft from the bank next to one of the big weed beds on the far car park swim. The weed has got bad but luckily that will put off a lot of the people who aren’t confident fishing near to it, use the rake which tom keeps to clear your margin and you’ll have no problem. Zig rigs tear the place apart! I was having a bad winter on there three years ago so gave one a go more out of hope than anything and caught two fish within 20 minutes on the one rod, never looked back. Most people have cottoned onto that now though and it is a method which is used pretty regularly there now so it is not as effective, but still very productive. Fish with bright fruity baits and a hook link of 10ft, cast to the main body of the lake and you’ll have to be a numpty not to catch. In the spring use zigs too, trimmed down pop ups, rig foam or rubber baits well literally anything which floats and spod a sloppy soup mix over the top, I stopped fishing the place when I ended up landing in excess of 35 fish in a day session on two rods using this method. Stopped fishing there as I was only after that one fish I hadn’t caught, but didn’t want to wade through them all again. As for a 30, no chance!!! That’s just Tom blagging it or info from some of the numpties on there who have ‘silly scales’ One group of lads in particular who have pan nets and no unhooking mats and claim all their fish to be about 10lbs bigger than they actually are. Not sure what it is like now it's winter, but in the summer the bottom lake would very often have a group of a dozen or so Asians fish it. No problem with that but they used to put a seat box in every single consecutive peg along the far bank so no one else could fish it, but then they would just fish off those jettys which are on there, meaning the area they wernt fishing still couldnt be fished. Atleast 6 of them on each jetty casting there floats all over the place, yet with there gear taking up the other swims they wernt even using. And god help it if you started catching as they would descend on the pegs either side of you and if you moved follow you around the lake I may give it another go when my club water has its closed season this spring, and hopefully bag my target fish one a few short stalking sessions mid week. Anything else you need to know then just ask Good luck Courtney

Yeah i put the hook in a cup behind me then cast it out Hooklink - preston reflo powerline in 8lb 15oz b/s Hooks - Drennan Super Specialist Barbel size 10 or 12 For a rig use an inline lead upto baout 2oz with 1ft of tubing behind, and ALWAYS feather the cast down before holding the line just before the lead its the water, as this sends the hookbait forwards straighting out the hooklength so it should cast. It's strange really that i've not properly used a zig in over 8 months, even though last year i had my best ever winter/spring campaign using the method. Now when i cast them out i just have no confidence just because my new water has muchless fish in i cant seem to get my head around using them for some reason, im doing to try and keep on on atleast one rod next session

I like the thinking behind it and have got on well using it, I'm not too keen on the green version, as it seems too green if you get me. I've found that the grey/black blends in to almost all lake bottoms. The exposed braid bit is very supple, as there will be none of the coating holding the starnds together.

I dont used coated braid, a sheathed fluorocarbon for me Rig Marole hydrolink 15lb in black Really rate it

Blunt easily i presume then

The only time i prefer leadcore is with helicopter rigs (or chods), I've used tubing before but on one ocasion had the hooklink swivel sear through both the tubing and the mainline which put me off it forthat rig application. I've tried putting shrink tubing on the last inch of so next to the tail ruber to get around the problem, but then againthe chancesare that it could slip, and it's back to square one.

how do u find this sort of thing out???? Saw an advert somewhere

Osprey angling are bringing out a range of invisible end tackle, next year i think. Leads, lead clips beads rubbers, leads etc. This may be who goblin is already getting them from, not sure?

Yep that's the lake

I'm pretty sure you're talking about the lake which Mick Cooper owns? About 6 acres, an island, the field bank which is pretty open and the snaggy bank on the opposite corner. I've fished there a few times in the winter, mainly just for pike which i've had a few out. Even though i have put a carp rod out on a few occasions whilst piking, i've only had two singles Seeing as it's shallow it normally fishes well through the winter in any mild periods you get, and i've spoken to a few people who have had quite a few out in 24 hours fishing. There seems to be alot of fish around the low doubles mark which provide some action atleast, and also a decent stamp of fish making it towards 20. I think the lake record is high 20s possible a 30, although the biggest fish i have seen proof of is a 26lb common. According to Mick (balliff) it had a little bit of a problem with otters coming over from the river which runs in a field close to the lake, that was about 3 years ago and several of the big fish were killed. You should be able to get some action all around the lake really, with many of the fish from the field bank coming from marks mainly in open water. If you are will do go a little more extreme though the far bank is also worth ago, and is very often neglected, apart from the numptioes you get casting all the way accross past the island (which is banned on the rules) I know in the furthest corner from the car park there used to be a large fallen tree where quite a few fish got caught, and i seem to remember alot more snags all along the far bank which must be worth a try. The most popular swim on the lake seems to be the one directly after the car park, on your right as you climb over the style into the field bank. This was almost always occupied when i've been and i've seen a few fish coming from off the edge of where the lillies normally are in summer. The swim with access to the island on the opposite side from the car park seems to do well aswell, and fishing the channel between the island and the bank has to be worth a shot. Baitwise i'm not sure what doing well now, although there were a few fish being caught on particles and richworth tutti when i got talking to some of the carpers when lure fishing. One bloke had a couple on zig rigs in the winter too If i was you then i'd definately use the car park, as the lay bys around the lake look dodgey Sorry tony can't remember the exact location as it was about two years ago when i last went, and was taken by a bloke i go piking with. It may also be worth try a search on a few other forums as i bete there will be loads of info about. As i'm not too sure how it's fished in the past year. Good luck Courtney

I'll only really use leadcore on helicopter rigs, as i find that using tubing the swivel will shear through the tubin and damage the mainline. ESP anchore tubing in 1.25mm along with as flying backlead helps to pin the rig down just as much in my opinion, and i prefer touse this foor safety clips. As with a few things in the right hands they are fine, but in the wrong hands they can be deadly

I was about to say that, but i think the other one covers hooklink materials as a whole