jemsue5

Just read that Bunn has had the lake record common at 44lb 14oz, well done mate.

Counting down the days to our trip now, must get the gear sorted new line etc loaded on the reels. The place owe's me a decent cat so this year that's one of my main targets along with a 35lb+ carp. Also going to try and catch a 20 on the float as that would be fun

Nice to see a bit of honesty from a lake owner for a change instead of you need loads 30kg for a weeks fishing. Last year on Rushes i used about 15kg but no particles or pellets. Reason for this and i know Iain knows how i fish is that i feel the boilie only approach sorts out the better fish with less interuption from the smaller fish. Now i know others have done very well fishing over pellet and particle on the water so perhaps i'm a bit blinkered in my approach but it works for me. Rushes is a water that responds to a methodical simple approach, use decent rigs and a decent bait and just keep the swim topped up and you wont go far wrong. One thing i have found on the water is that it responds to having a little rest with no lines in from time to time, always give them a bit of grub before tea and have your rods ready for a quick recast ie. baited up and pva bags tied ready to go straight after tea. Numerous times i have had 2 or 3 good 20s on the bank within minutes of getting back to the swim after tea.

You can have a good week on Rushes with 15kg of 20mm boilies, yes they do like a bit of grub but remember you can always add some more bait but you cant take it out.

It certainly aint easy, if i remember right i had 7 fish with the best being a 20lb common. Malc had his 29lb 14oz common a few weeks later when we had a mini social. Like all waters it is better mid week when it's a bit quieter, at weekends when it's rammed it is always going to be difficult. Try something a bit different from the standard boilie, stick mix approach. All my fish came on a large bunch of worms, approx 12 on a hair. Malcs big fish came of chickpeas both tactics which aint exactly in common use.

Larford specimen lake

We have just booked another ferry crossing, going to bring the van and the car instead. Actually works out cheaper than hiring the minibus which was going to be £650 for 9 days.

I would contact Vosa and your insurance company for a start, from what we were told it was european legistation that will be coming to the UK soon. PS. Kim did you get my pm?

I aint sure mate but as Kim say's above if you are using it for hire or reward i would be careful about it. All i know is that we were planning on hiring a minibus and that aint happening now due to the fact neither of the drivers me and Mach3 have a tacho licence and i sure as hell aren't going through the rigmarole of applying to Vosa and attending training courses to get one.

I've just been informed by a hire company that you need a Tacho licence if taking a hire minibus to the continent.

Enterprise tackle, they are brilliant for all running rigs. http://www.enterprisetackle.co.uk/terminalhtm/snagsafelead.htm

Would the bead slip over a sinker Jez? Not seen one in the flesh. I suppose it's not too much of an issue if the rig will 'pop' over the bead anyway same size as float stops just a bit heavier

Nige, just a thought for you. I use basically the same set up but instead of the float stop i've started to use one of the new Korda hooklink sinkers. Bit heavier than the float stops and they help to sink the line a little bit.

Just tied a few up with 15lb drennan crystal, nice and limp and seems spot on to me. I feel that if all we ever used was mono we would still catch the same amount of fish but we've been brainwashed into using braids etc and spending loads of money i mean look how many rigs you could tie from a £3 spool of 12 maxima

Yeshttp://thecarpsociety.com/ just scroll down

It most definately isnt as safe as any other leader. Best knot is the moores knot or a needle knot as far smaller and neater than a loop to loop. Best to use it with a helicopter or running lead rig as far safer than a leadclip. The loop to loop knot is the easiest to use and does make it easier to change leaders but i dont like it due to it being harder for beads etc to pass over it and for the loops to have a tendancy to clog up with silk weed etc making it even harder to eject rig components.

Not fished it, picked up a leaflet about it in my local tackle shop.

http://www.commonwoodfishery.co.uk/

Have a look at this one, not been myself but it does look ok. http://www.commonwoodfishery.co.uk/

There has been a syndi on Weston for a few years now, price is £650 a year if you get an invite.

Nice fish for the bottom pool, well done.

Nice one

No a good debate is needed

I've been to France to catch French fish i dont want to catch French Fish in this country especially fish that carry disease that are a threat to our english carp. Places such as this are a time bomb waiting to happen.

Let's be honest its not hard to take a rubbish bag with you and use it but i'm afraid what has happened at Merrington is a prime example of all that is wrong with carp fishing nowadays. Like you Ian i fish for various species and other than carp waters and carp fishing you never witness or see that type of behaviour.