kevtaylor

So far my plans have gone totally the wrong way, trying to complete a side job through March - April with fishing in May at the forefront of my mind, it's turned out I should have fished then and put the job off till May - June with the hot-still weather and now new members and other lake members on top it feels like a bit of a disaster at such an early stage. Really think the bulk of my syndi fishing has to be Sept - April, hardcore through early spring when it's nice and quiet. This place is busy May until whenever the weed gets up lol

I was back home by 9.15 pm, lap of 2 lakes, swims I wanted gone, could have stayed and fitted in but thought better of it, going Bluebell Sunday anyway. Wrong attitude but bit fed up with members from other lakes being allowed to fish ours coz theirs is flooded. I can see why a mate fishes a nature reserve with 5 fish in it now, seems crazy but its you verses them nobody treading on your toes 🤷‍♂️

This is what I've realised 👍 Must be an age thing coz it seems that every year I forget what my main meals were on the bank in the previous years, suddenly I haven't got a clue what to take. Going late tonight and it's steak, new potatoes and peas Friday night, then back home Saturday and planning the meals for a 2 night social at Bluebell Sun - Weds. Weathers looking good for the following weekend down the syndi again, westerlies and rain - fingers and toes crossed for that one, gonna be there Thurs night for first dibs on swims for the long weekend 😎

Sorry but 6 for £2.37, looks like an essential tackle purchase to me:

If you ever decide to buy the front bars with bucket holder or just the front bars with shelf to take the weight of a heavy front bag - you're looking for the bigger sized bars as it's the Mk2 👍 Also got wider wheel forks if you need a replacement wheel

Yes I'm well impressed mate, I'd have a set for fishing - deffo good enough, look great too 😎 You could buy a set of 4 of these for less than one Basia! The new Basia I've got look very similar and both reels have the new cross wrap technology, it's almost like they are supposed to go together as a set 👍

I'll take it 🙃😎👍

Sorry it's Fatboy isn't it not wideboy so it's a (Mk2 Fatboy Version 1) - final answer! What do I win? 😎

Sorry mate but quoting you to point out you got this wrong - see my post above and yes you need the smaller side bags and you might find one of the old under bags second hand maybe 👍 I think the Mk2 thing started with thinker bars on the barrow itself, there's a MK2 Wideboy Version 1 and 2 from a particular date. With my recent barrow troubles I had to find this out 👍 I've got some mint front panier bags unused if you want to buy 👍🤣

IMO that IS a MK2 Wideboy, I've got one. I found out there are 2 versions with the later version accepting the drop in bag 👍 They came with velcro on - under barrow bags - which I've still got in the garage, still got the barrow as a spare

I'm now happy to recommend this reel (Daiwa Spod) - spotted currently at £115 as I've been using as the main casting reel - spot finding and baiting for maybe a year or more now. Compact, lightweight, smooth and reliable - a bargain IMO. Bought the same thing, same price range (150 - 200) from Shimano and it ceases up overnight if there's any moisture about let alone rain. Daiwa 18 Emblem Spod 35 SCW QD Big Pit Spod Reel

Never ever bought a ready tied, I've been using a stiff end section multi rig for the hinge rig, the 2 doubled over strands hold the hook well and you can change hook as and when. A little more faffy to put the required bend in with 2 strands but finished rig looks just as good IMO. Some of the pro anglers use pre-tied chods so must be OK - but it's hardly a technically difficult one to tie anyway. 👍

Also switched over to Daiwa reels from Shimano as not happy with their recent offerings, again reliability the issue.

Favourite bit of kit is deffo my Jag 2+1 buzz bars and Fox RX+ alarms 👍 Reliability and carpyness all in one package 😂

I love tying my own rigs, the attention to detail of getting it just right, the little adjustments you make to length and pop-up height for instance - it's all using the grey matter. I will always remember sitting in my bivvy all day trying to work out why my non tangle rigs were suddenly tangling every cast, chucking fast and low under pylons, did my head in completely. That day I came up with huge loops over half the length of the boom effectively lengthening the anti tangle sleeves properties if you like, and giving you a set place to mould the rig putty stopping that ever slipping. By the end of that day I'd come up with better anti tangle properties and more importantly realised that if I tied the hook end section almost in reverse order I had total control of how much stripped braid was left exposed, instead of ending up with whatever you got after tightening the knot. So I tie the hair last if that makes any sense at all - hard to put in words. So one problem ended up improving all elements of the rig I'd been tying for years and years. I thought about tying rigs many years ago for those who struggled to do it themselves, like a complete custom set-up, was a good idea, couldn't be arsed in the end lol same as all my other great ideas 🙃🤣

We all need joggers and hoodies got no issue with that but we also wanted technical options, thankfully we are starting to get some. I do feel partly responsible tbh thank me later lol

Cool - I was looking at the Craghoppers stuff last year and nearly purchased tbh, might be wrong but think the fabric is too closely woven to be penetrated on the stuff coming out so maybe doesn't need chemicals, we'll have to wait and see on that, I spoke to the main guy at a show - gave him the lowdown on what anglers really need technically instead of the joggers and hoodies the tackle companies kept spewing out. You shouldn't have to look to mountaineering, safari or European predator fishing for tactical clothing - carp companies were so far behind I just didn't understand their mindset tbh.

Just ordered the Korda long sleeve SPF Factor 50 shirt for those swims where you have no shade or you're up floater fishing all day. Hopefully money well spent. Fortis look to be bringing out mozzie proof summer clothing - deffo buying this when possible! 👍

Another 3 night blank, new swim, position seemed good for traffic, only one stuck it's head out the whole trip. Did hours of swim improvements/clearance for no reward, out again Thursday night for another go - same conditions 🤦‍♂️ Still nice view lol

It does look good with a curved hook IMO, very much like a shorter version of the Long Shank Nailer as mentioned by Emmcee above. 👍

Good food happy angler! Love my new front barrow bag, fits in so many more treats than the old one 🤣👍

Mans packing heat! Not really just 2 apricot and 2 apple pastries. Great 3rd breakfast - warmed a little in the ridgemonkey. Didnt start the apple pie until today 2 nights deep - no wonder I'm blanking 🤪

The missing link, no not me - apple pie, forgot how much I like these on the bank - gotta catch now! 💪

Thought i'd fill in the blanks from a couple of recent syndi trips. Back out tonight for another go, buzzing 🙏💪

Nice one i've got a few of those smaller buckets and one from Kent particles. Gonna try the big trakker bucket first trip and when taking very little bait will stick a water bottle in the bucket also for the weight distribution 👍