kevtaylor

Like it - can I borrow your dog mine would run the other way lol It was amazing hearing the Coot alarm calls sounding around the lakes - I will remember that for a long time. I think 99% of the anglers around the lake were completely unaware.

I'd agree with this - sounds like an otter unfortunately. I was on one of the busiest waters in the country a few weeks back on a full lake, had to call the bailiff first night as an otter swim past my rod tips at dusk, spent the next 3 nights on watch. Whilst I didn't see him second night the Coots gave his presence away by calling out to one another in turn around the lake - then the next lake and so on until I had a 360 degree chorus. It was a real Terry Hearn and the Fox and Pheasants moment. These hand reared otters have zero fear of humans, every swim is taken, many anglers have dogs yet here he is bold as brass!

'Storm Overflow' - the legal dumping of raw sewage into our rivers. Said to be a measure for dealing with rare weather occurrences, but water companies have been seen to do this for six months non stop, utter disgrace!

Taken my son Pitsford twice now - both times we struggled for perch, he hooked the only one first trip and a pike took it near the boat - landed neither. Ended up with a few Jack's each first trip. Second trip zero perch, more Jacks and a few rainbows. Great fun - I love it Good luck with your session 👍

I should add: most of the time I keep the distance the same, if it's shallow the bait will fall a little behind the rods which is good IMO, only if it's deep I start subtracting a little for the spod.👍

If you want the distance the same for the rods and spod then the spod will need an extra foot adding when wrapping up coz the rods are different lengths. On deeper lakes you need to have the spod a little shorter to allow for the swing back on the rods. If the lake is 12 foot deep I subtract a third from the spod, so 4 feet less than the rods. Distance between the sticks can be anything - 6 feet, 10 feet whatever, but should be consistent each time you go. I lay the spod rod on the floor and put the sticks in the ground at each end of the rod, 12ft for me.

I had the Greys 12.6 Distance Marker, gotta say I hated it from day one, so tip heavy, completely unbalanced. Spod wise I recently replaced my old Greys 12ft Spod with 'The Tackle Box's' Spod rod after reading a price bracket rod testing review, it won the mid and top end groups. Cost about £160 - not used it loads yet but like it a lot. 👍

Thanks mate - I can't tell you how excited I was at seeing my mates 3.15lb Perch - I nearly went overboard lol

Had a fantastic day perch and Zander fishing, no perch for me but I did manage 3 nice Zander and upped my PB in the process, what a buzz! Everything aches after a long and active day and still felt like I was on the waves afterwards at home but can't wait to get out again 👍

Taking my son perch fishing on Pitsford Monday - obviously been buying more lures oh and rods, reels....., cant wait to give these Westin Crank Baits a try (plugs to us oldies)

Like it- I'm with you on most of that - as for the human part, well if I ate McDonalds now it would be out quicker than it went in - but that's not always been the case, hence my chicken and veg comments on another thread, so my body knows or just cant take the richness - problems due to age lol If baits are everywhere and fish eat them all then yes I can relate to what you're saying - how would they know which one was good for them and which gave them the squits so to speak. I hear all the my bait is best this and that, it's a minefield, I was with Premier using Aminos for maybe 30 years and no complaints whatsoever - caught everywhere and would continue to do so forever no doubt. Since leaving a syndicate I've been on Bluebell, targeting ideally Kingfisher if I can get on, arguably one of the most pressured waters in the country. Lots of evidence of uneaten bait and lots of comments backing that up, so for me I've had to think - is what I'm using as attractive as the best baits that have gone in there? - so I switched to xxx because I like the GLM content, because of that it's not a cheap bait to put together. I have also looked at smaller companies such as Asylum with the same thinking in mind, but opted for CCMoore as they seem to do great liquids too and I can get everything from one place with some confidence. If however I was fishing a highly stocked venue such as Drayton Res, a real runs water, I am certain those thoughts wouldn't enter my head, any bait would do and better bait would probably give zero advantage, where volume would. 👍

OK Rich, well I don't know anyone who uses or bigs up Nash or Mainline except someone who gets it free or is paid to say so. What I hear is cheap contents, effective liquid attractors. Like you say carp eat any old rubbish but that doesn't mean other baits aren't better for the fish and will be recognised as such long term. I read up about bait contents not listening to who shouts loudest, mass production is never as good as your smaller producers who worry about quality not saturating the market. I would pay double what I pay if I believed it gave me a real advantage. You asked why is there cheap deals on - IMO the answer is partly because it can be, whereas expensive to produce bait cannot be. 👍

Fair play mate stick to what you like - however baits you can get in a shop are never as good as smaller outfits in terms in expensive additives. Look at Asylum Baits for example - using only the best of the best ingredients. I'd rather pay for bait contents than packaging 👍

Exactly - good deal that, gotta say I've gone on XXX this year having been on Premier for many many years, just for a change really. Well the GLM content is very noticeable - that's not a cheap bait to put together for sure, seems proper quality to me.

Pretty sure you could get 10k of CCMoore or Premier Baits boilies for a little less than that normally and the quality difference I would of thought is huge.

Yes I believe it would be possible. Obviously better to do it all yourself blah blah blah but you have your reasons. Look at Korda and Fox they immediately come to mind. Also the new Korda basic range worth a look for anyone starting out wanting to tie their own.

I don't think any decent branded bait would be counter productive they are all good enough to catch fish and have some beneficial ingredients, expensive baits just have more.

Blimey 7 nights is more than enough for me - 4 nights too many if I'm honest 😁

Yeah it's a shame if some venues go, no doubt about that - fingers crossed things pick up for those businesses 👍 UK scene will settle down once furlough ends in Sept and there have been some new waters crop up which will also ease the numbers on the waters I fish, so it's looking good. Not sure what you mean about less East Europeans stealing fish, not something I have experienced, Otters are the big threat here. If I ever fish abroad again and I have nothing on the horizon - it would be flying to Italy, now that does appeal, maybe in a few years 😎

I would have thought they would be good enough for your situation, they have nothing to compare them to anyway. However, if boilies were commonly used I would then be looking for the best I can afford not the cheapest. Good luck

I'd like to think that it won't take too long for the EU to notice an enormous reduction in income from UK holiday makers, sure a small minority are straight back on it but the amount of adverts tells it's own tale. They say the customer is always right so I expect them to crack first and lessen restrictions. As for UK syndicates the problem started way before Brexit - far more carp anglers these days and the great videos we all enjoy just highlight all the waters that proper carp anglers have been wanting to fish for years, now known to every-man and his dog - I spoke to a guy on Swan, Bluebell who only started fishing that year after watching the vids, wrong on all levels, whilst I was polite I was shocked, stunned, horrified.

Think we'll see a good few French venues being sold due to the lack of UK custom in 2020/21 and moving into 2022. Never seen so many desperate adverts, whilst UK fisheries thrive move then ever before. Might be a few bargains to be had - watch this space!

No idea but you can have orders delivered from UK companies OR European ones. Sticky deliver to Italy I've seen it arrive

Nice mate, I've always loved watching the float, who doesn't and they don't spook from a vertical line - seen lots of evidence of that. If I was on the right type of water I would give it a go straight away, always have a couple of floats in the tackle box but my waters are gravel pits that mostly have shallow margins, gradually getting deeper and often have surface weed to 10-20 yards out. Give me a farm pond, float and centrepin and I would be well happy 👍

Oh and only if it's a wholemeal pitta lol - sad times, can't forget that bit 🤣