jules007

Finally broke my record long blank and hooked and landed a lovely 12lb common today, while playing it i kept it up in the top layers and it looked a right belter, thought it may go 16lb plus but seems not, good to get a fish, no pic as no one to do the honours

20lb on stiff link

I used to fish Linear maybe 16 years ago, it would be a long drive from west yorks, last time we went we rang a day before and told plenty of room, rang on the morning still told plenty of room so drove down only to find it rammed out, anglers sat waiting for people to pack up, never been back since

gone back on chod rigs i went for 15lb mouth trap

As an update so i ordered Gardner stiff link and just not getting on with it, so now ordered Korda mouth trap, hope i get on better with that

A new common has been added to local water and its a beaut, i really want to get that fish, and would name it if i am first to get it maybe something like Maize

I ended up sending a message and they insisted on full refund so all good

okay its Warwick baits, not gonna complain as the main man has been through a bad patch this last 6 weeks, and he dont need whinging winnie going on at him, will put it down to experience but will look for a different product from a different comany

Don't want to name the bait, maybe they will produce and they not in tackle shops

So i am known for trying to do things on a budget, buying the less well known kit for a lower price, i decided to go over to single hookbait pop ups and ended up ordering 2 tubs of 15mm pop ups from a well known name, sweetcorn and a nut based, these were not cheap at £24.40 posted, they arrived today and 1st thing they are not 15mm more like 12-13mm the nut based smell like damp mould, and very hard to say what the sweetcorn smell of, part tempted to see if i can return them but guess i have to just stash them in a corner or something and buy more soddin pop ups but from a lower priced outfit, out of respect i wont name the brand

Funny enough its ESP Ghost i have from way back and yes its a nice flouro i think i have the stiff rather than soft

Im just gonna buy new, not having any luck catching as it is so no point risking losing a fish should i actually hook one, and would not be good for the fish to swim about with half a rig in its gob

how long would you guys keep hooklink material/line, i have a couple of reels of fluorocarbon that are about 15 years old but they have been kept in the dark so to speak, in a rig wallet so not exposed to sunlight, do i use it or bin it and buy new?

welcome to the forum, good bunch on here that will help with any questions

A lot of forums are being targeted lately and admin and mods have to be on the ball to keep the forums a nice place to share your hobby with others

you did indeed and i should of listened to you, my main issue with the xl i got is storage

My latest i bought the NGT deep XL carp unhooking cradle and totally hate it, its way to big, i have a really nice beanie mat that is perfect for me but my club water is stating from October has to be padded walled mat/cradle, so i either loo for a new water to fish or sell the stupid big thing and find a more suitable walled mat

welcome aboard

Good on you for putting fish welfare 1st mate, some anglers forget the Pike is a bit of a delicate fish in some ways

Otters raiding all the fisheries and now Beavers coming back, i guess next step will be the Wolf as a predator to maintain numbers

Sadly i dont have a dog my old bivvy rat of a Greyhound passed many years ago, and i dont fish for pike, so will just get a cheap NGT cradle

Another new purchase being forced on me, local club lake has decided we all have to have walled carp cradle for unhooking, this is a but of a kick in the plums as i very recently bought a new Beanie mat, now i have to get a walled cradle and basically bin the perfectly good mat, no idea what to get, but seeing as i dont catch it wont get a lot of use so a budget one will do

Its high time i considered a newer mobile, may look at this again in a couple of months as a mate will be selling his mint S23, my old phone is a Huawei P20 lite, its been ace but no support for it now

Decided to check the app, says it wont work with my phone, so its a no go for me, not buying the sonar and then having to get new phone

Nice fish mate well done