jules007

I do get where Blue is coming from, i am old enough to remember the early days of carp fishing, this is before the bivvy as such was invented so it would be a small bell tent that would leak like a sieve and let a lot of the wildlife in, rickety camp beds or sunloungers and bait was bread, corn meat or worms, this would of been around 1970-73 there must be a lot of truth in that if early anglers had not stuck with it the carp scene would not be what it is today

Sticking to my plan and fishing little pool till start of May, then get on specimen lake

not allowed to name my local water but they were proactive with otter fencing, but when tarka is determined to get a carp they find a way in, we lost about 5 carp while fence was beefed up and now there are camera`s and more fencing but still has to be checked pretty much daily

Having had yet another blank on main specimen lake i have decided to call it a day for a couple of months and just fish with some old school gear on the small lake, its about time i started to catch something and carp go to 18lb on little pond so not bad on light tackle

My 9ft Wychwood rods with the new DAM mini pit reels on, very happy with both the rods and the reels, i forgot to bring the rear rest hence tips up, still failed to catch

I would be happy with any fish, just dont seem able to catch any thing at all............ consistent as ever, good luck with a bedchair

Quoting myself for an update, i have found cheap Tesco sliced white bread, crust cut of and the slice lightly flattened indeed rolls very nicely to be able to hair rig with a pellet band, yet to try it at the lake but this may give me an edge for carp that only ever see boilie

At least all sorted

it was a fail, no bites

Yes keep it under observation dont be afraid to go to docs i had pneumonia about a year back was nasty, im one that never goes to doc unless a leg is hanging of so to speak but i knew i had a major chest infection took doc seconds to diagnose antibots cleared it up but still dont feel 100%

Good to see ya still about mate

Nice fish mate, proper common

I have also ordered same band expander but the plan is to use rolled white bread in the band on the hair

I am a big believer in doing things different i will prep chick peas but soak them in marmite water to boost them i have caught on pickled onions, sweets and various meats, im a big big fan of Pepperami proper forgotten old bait, but never used prawns, need to give them a try, another half lost bait is a huge chunk of bread flake fished under a float, can be a simple killer trick

rather tempted to sell all the main carp gear and just stick to fishing old school, seems when i want to fish main lake with the big guns its closed for one reason or other

I do a similar thing but just using 2.5 kg bait bucket i put maybe 1kg of boilie in bottom and have some small plastic tubs with maybe a different boilie in one and pellets in another

Knowing where they are coming from the quality will be excellent

nice to hear of decent after sales

Very good advice from the other posters, must say i cast out and tend to leave them for about 3-4 hours before recasting if its very quiet maybe i should recast every 30 mins if no fish showing, never to old to learn lol

overall opinion seems to be i just dont need the 6ft so for once i will heed the good advice and give it a miss, the 9ft rods will do just fine

Funny enough its the NGT im looking at, dirt cheap but seems worth the low asking price

we are able to wander round looking for the fish but rules say we have to fish from a designated peg

So keep thinking about getting a 2 piece 6ft 3lb stalking rod as i plan on being very mobile on the lake come the better weather, but my main rods are 9ft, i keep going to order the 6ft and then think do i need it, so do i just say sod it and order one

Simple, DO NOT USE ANY KIND OF FUEL HEATER, fil a hot water bottle for sleeping bag, also consider a rechargeable heated vest thing

I just got DAM quick darkside 4 6000 size mini pits and they are stunning if you could find the same but 8000 they would be good