jules007

Cheers elmo, the tackle box test is good info, now the lake is pretty weedy but does have a lot of hard bottom snags like bits of concrete and stone, maybe a case of doing some feeling about with a lead to find a good spot to fish with a thinner line and i think your right about the 0.40 being to thick for my spools

Small update from me, so the 42" landing net that cost a whopping £12.70 with stink bag and spreader is spot on, super pleased with this item, now for an interesting development on the NGT line, so at first i re spooled with NGT 0.30 15lb line, it loaded onto reels very nicely, but then at lake was told really should be on 18lb main, so stripped the NGT and loaded ESP basic 0.40 18lb, now this line is just not sitting on the spools so well, i can see me going back to NGT but in the 18lb. Also got an NGT boilie chopper coming will see how that is

Well, i was all set to go with Trent baits but a good deal came up for Dynamite "the Crave" and as i have been using this bait already i did a bulk order, looks like im sticking with this bait, get it established in the lake im on

Guys thanks for the replies i have looked at the Trent baits and could be a good call, a load on the lake swears by them, i did wonder about Kent particles they used to get a good review but i think i need to drop on a half decent bait and get it established in the lake

I am looking for a decent shelf life bait, the plan is to get on a bait that is proven to work and then stick with it on both rods pretty much, i cant do freezer bait, so what would you guys suggest looking at

I get what your saying but im just about done with getting kit now, however my reels are about 20 years old and starting to get corrosion on parts, but they still work perfect but my daughter is asking what to get me for xmas, also i need a one man shelter for wet weather, not a bivvy as im not doing over night stuff

TBH im happy i got the Diawa`s my last 12ft 3lb were same rods and they were right nice to use, i did think the old 11 footers were just to old and under gunned, just cheap glass fibre rods, but will still use one of them on the smaller runs lake as fish only run to 15lb in there

Sorry no pic but my new rods arrived today these are the Diawa D carp 12ft 3lb TC, typical Diawa they look ace, super slim blanks in matt finish and very understated logo just the "Diawa" name in a slightly darker colour, super slim with short Dupron handle paid £29 per rod and have to say they ooze quality

I think i may have to sell of some of my RC cars and rock crawlers to ruddy well fund this return

Hmm, return to carp fishing lots of old gear in loft, no ned to buy new stuff, oh how wrong that last part is.... so new line 15lb not strong enough so new line 18lb use old rods, no to soft so a pair of Diawa 3lb 12ft rods ordered Reels are okay for now, just odd bit of corrosion on them and alarms working okay new landing net, new day shelter, hard to put up so new brolly, not large enough hooks, hooklink material Boillies, pop ups. Next item might be a carp chair, using a folding camping chair for now..............but getting there

My very old Zebco 11ft 2.5tc rods, they are not up to modern carp fishing so about to be replaced with 12ft 3lb rods, reels are old but very good DAM quick 850, super smooth and still capable

So yesterday my hooklink snagged bottom when reeling in, lake has a policy of trying to avoid pulling for a break, so another angler had a try on my rod and politely told me of for having rods that are to soft, he went out in the boat and got it free, so i have now ordered a pair of Diawa 12ft 3lb TC like i used to have

Hmm, might have to send you 4 spools from my reels with return postage ha ha just been trying to take line of by hand, not happening

i did stumble on these after i posted, but gonna wait till early new year and make do with the rods on the go for now

In an ideal world i would like to upgrade my old 11ft 2.5tc to shiny new 11ft 2.75 or even 3lb and get sexy slim blanks but seems nothing about other than some iffy 3 piece rods

cant vote as not caught a carp in 17 years...by eck that was a long blank

general opinion is in favour of 12ft rods so when im ready i will go 12 and keep my old 11ft rods as i do like them

Little update i got some Dynamite Crave 15mm shelf life and the Starmer 15mm sweet corn shelf life, have to say the Starmer bait seems better quality, the aroma seems very natural not chemical as such, and very uniform im a tiny little bit disappointed with quality of the Crave

i think Diawa do black widows in 10ft this might be something for me but i have 11ft at moment, maybe i was there first with the shorter rods

0.30 diameter i also got a new 42 inch landing net from NGT and for the price its spot on

So having made a return to carp fishing i will be using my old budget 11ft 2.5lb rods to start but plan on new rods early next year, looking on ebay i keep seeing a lot of 9ft 2.75lb carp rods, and have to wonder is this a new trend for short rods or are these more like stalking rods

I have just loaded my reels with NGT 15lb camo mono line, it looks nice and has a low diameter (my old line i took of was about 17 years old oops but had not been used in all that time) i was a little concerned with thin diameter so cut a 2ft length and put a loop not each end, hooked one end to door handle and other on digital scales pulled for a break and it snapped at 12.5lb, the old ESP Crystal 12lb snapped at 5.5lb

have to say in all the years of fishing i have never been checked but when i decided to return to fishing after a long break, first thing i did was go on .gov and buy a 2 rod course licence, and that arrived yesterday

no that was a little lake in the Nene valley i was on and it was a very big common i was chasing, it was the Nene valley lake that kinda broke me did 2 seasons and zero carp out just a few bream and Tench

Bloomin heck so im in process of joining up a local club lake i used to fish back around 2008 and an old mate is still fishing it