kevtaylor

At the end of the day mate there are still going to be special fish in all the waters your concerned about for sure. I've seen pictures of incredible fish from canals, rivers and unknown waters that shows there's still hope. I guess you've got a really good chance to go out there and catch these fish whilst everyone else has gone onto new waters because of these concerns. I'm a bit doom and gloom just because I don't want waters all fencing it looks pretty ugly but it's necessary. My mate showed me canal carp that we fed like pets last year so of which I would love to catch so give it a go I say 😊 If I wasn't in a syndicate I would see this as poop or bust time go catch them sharpish before the numbers dwindle more.

You put a positive spin on the issue and that's great because most other people like me are a bit doom and gloom, I'm a big fish angler so me and the otters are after the same fish unfortunately. You can have a special 40 in a lake full of 20's and doubles and I will fish it, loose the 40 and I'm gone full stop. If there's no chance of beating a PB of some kind or getting the killer trophy shot of an absolute stunner why am I there, yes I enjoy fishing and catching any size carp but there HAS to be the potential to make my year worthwhile with that one target fish. I know you'll hate that but it is what it is, when I started a 20 was massive and where I live they were very few and far between, times have changed and I now have different expectations. If I'm going to blank it will be fishing for dream fish not run of the mill that I've done a thousand times before.

OK CM I hear what you're saying and thats true they don't eat every fish necessarily so the lakes may well hold fish and find a balance of some sort, HOWEVER they usually take the biggest fish which in business terms is immediately enough to kill their business or clear their waiting lists. Once the main target fish are gone the lake is dead anyway IMO, and we all know they are usually the first to go!!!

An old boy on one of my old waters used to sell leads to us for about 50p each. One day he showed us ones he had made from a sea shapes ice cube set, crab shapes and all sorts hilarious! Looked pretty good lol and he always called me Steve! Great times 😊

Amazing success hey - fair play to him!

I carry about 20 leads, have some in the car and a shed load in the house. I don't have a problem - just like buying leads!!!!!!

The smaller spaniels are good fishing dogs IMO Cocker and King Charles. Mine doesn't go in the water, doesn't wonder far and makes the fishing trip fun, I wouldn't want to go without him.

Then you should probably be looking at Northants, lots of waters.

Mick? No matter Watch the footage if you can find it - pretty amazing tbh

There's drone footage from Bluebell's Kingfisher on their site - unreal fish, epic!

Mate I was almost in tears - walking like I'd been bent over by king Kong. That's Kong! 😂

Yes they do mate just an open pocket to put a bit of bait in.

I had neoprene ones before and I ended up ripping them and putting little cuts all over them walking round my old snaggy water. Even when new I can't remember them actually keeping me dry, damp and warm more like. Do lots of walking round in them and they rub badly. Sore walk back to the car. Bad times! 😂

I bought the cheaper ones with white in the straps not yellow, no complaints at all - the best waders I've owned. The one with the yellow straps look good don't know the specific differences as to why they are better- don't think you'd be disappointed with any from the range. Heard the ocean ones are good to.

I'm a bit lost here. If you're getting 90 yards with your 3.25lb test rods, work on your technique, you might be able to get 100+ with them and not need new rods, its not much further is it really. When you start talking about proper casting rods the price goes well above your budget, but your talking about much bigger distances. I'd practice with the Sonik rods you have - they should be able to do more than what your getting. Look at the line, leads, lead-setup, shock leader, casting glove etc etc first and foremost. Then if you really need new rods start saving up for some proper jobs.

Think you need both tbh Pods for hard ground, stage stands for wood and singles for soft ground or well spaced rods. There's no fix all unfortunately

I'll try that - thanks for the tips mate

Great thanks for that chill My mate is suggesting a single hook and hair rigging a half roach. Where he fishes it's all zander so no trace needed whereas the stretches I grew up on were full of jacks but it could well have changed, there were no zander then anyway lol getting on a bit. Walking my dog along my old haunts I've seen one area that gets fished a little by a couple of sprat bashers so that will be where I start. Never had a zander they seem pretty Carpy!!! 😊

Hi, I want to target Zander on my local canal. On my stretches I believe there will be more jacks than anything else, which leads me to question traces. a) am I right to think a trace is a must in this situation? If the answer to this is Yes b) How light a trace will I be able to find and how should I set it up for float fished deadbaiting? Cheers

IMO if you want a casting tool - take the word value out of your question, you get what you pay for. Whats the budget?

Well they are Abu lures from before it became Abu Garcia, he's mostly got people from Europe watching, Swede, dutch etc, think they know a lot more about these lures from the 60s than we do - gonna be interesting, I will pm you a link to them if your interested in seeing how it goes

Lol - your like my mate selling stuff for a profit- love it well done, you saw him coming! Used gas bottles for sale! 10 quid😂

You did alright there fella - nice!

My mates selling some vintage pike lures this week gonna be very interesting he's got 20 odd watching so it's likely to be exciting, can't wait

Fishing kit usually sells cheap 2nd hand - does anyone pay the 70 for the old version or is that just what the seller wants. I wouldn't pay more than half price if it were me, just saying