kevtaylor

If the sprays do nothing I'd be surprised, one of the Nash bug spray smells just like squid boilie flavour, I'd confidently say it is just that, but could be wrong. Nah Does it do anything, well the zigs still stink when they come back in maybe 12 hours later and all my zig bugs still stink years later. Squid's a strong smell it lingers fact. I'm more confident on a sprayed zig than I would be using plain unflavoured foam.

Thecarpcatcher - Steve Whitby, the original blogger and probably the best.

Best of luck Chill - hope you have a great time 🙂 Lake looks very nice

http://www.olivemeadlake.co.uk/ I found this last year when my mate was looking for a little social venue, we didn't go in the end but it looks good to me.

I think this is the same issue as people just dropping rigs from a bait boat on a slack line, not knowing what they landed on or how it landed and thinking that's OK, which it isn't. A skilled angler like Mr Hearn tightens up before releasing the hopper and feels the lead down and will not leave it if he didn't get a good drop, to me the same applies here, tighten up before turning the spoon over and feel the rig down. Bait up with the spoon afterwards IF you got a good drop.

This is nice - Avid make great kit https://www.avidcarp.com/Products/Luggage/Ruckbag Also I'd back up the Aqua @sharpy86 suggested 😊

Look at Cotswold Aquarius - not sure if they have a rucksack that suits your needs but still - nothing is carpier!

I've used their Equinox boilies last spring, coated them in the glug, bit like cola. I found them to be great, caught some belters on them - I'd use any of the baits on offer. Reliable pop-ups too

I bought an American 9ft lightweight sea spinning rod, said to be great! I snapped it on the cast - clean break so a manufacturing fault, happy days!

Both 😊

Well they seem pretty smart for pea brains at times, doing the one thing you don't want them to. 😊

Letting them run depends on the swim, closeness to snag/weed and the angle being fished from. In this case I got it wrong - knowing that is half the battle. In hindsight letting it run along the clear gulley could have given me the chance to get it up off the bottom, whereas in this case it did the opposite. Choosing the right setup for the scenario is key. I got that one wrong, was in the habit of locking up and didn't listen to my own doubts and reasoning. Better luck next time 😊

Was using tubing mate and the fish only moved a couple of yards but it was stuck fast. If I had let it run I probably would have landed it but because I was locked up it just dived into the weed to the right of the spot. Noddy mistake imo 😣

I thought 20lb sensor was snag line - tough as old boots, but still not enough, can't use snag leaders.

Yes and if you take that further you can see that those baby mussels that are hiding in the weed through summer, cutting us off, drop into the silt gullies in the main bowl in autumn and get feasted on, which IMO is the main food source when we struggle Sept/Oct.

I was cut off whilst using 20lb Sensor. There's plenty of sharp mussels in that weed. Still gutted - know it was a beast!!!

Simply because it's un-carpy!!! You said it yourself 😊

Get the T4, I bought the double the price Trakker version and can therefore recommend the T4. Doubt you'll have any complaints - and only around £20 odd

Catfish and the Bottlemen - best band I've heard tbh truly rocking!!!

Or Harrison Toŕrix TE Special 😊

I get that and the same applies to me, travel, food, bait, tackle, syndicate fees its a very expensive game. However, when I needed extra yards on my casting and wasn't happy with the overall accuracy of my casting when giving it some, I realised my old rods just didn't have the backbone required and needed replacing. I could have bought some Grays or Soniks but with custom built Torrix TEs available at £280 each I saved up and got them instead of buying budget rods. Have I made the right choice, hell yes - TE's are right up there and for the money, represent good value IMO compared to other inferior rods at a much higher price. Depends how you look at it, my mate bought a £700+pod and would never spend decent money on rods coz he doesn't see the point, whereas I would never spend that money on a pod that does nothing more than look a bit better than its cheaper rivals. Good rods actually give you something tangible for the extra money and you can feel it, see it, benefit from it I'm not saying your choices are bad, far from it, but just making the point about aiming higher with such an important purchase if you can.

Neither! Gotta be Harrison so get saving lol

I bought a set of Chub long pegs for wet winter ground. I thought they were expensive at about £18 or thereabouts. They aint blue and that's a good thing IMO

They look good and the sales speak sounds good, I was considering them but went for Delks instead at the time. Are the user reviews any good?

I think they just sound a bit naff lol when your used to hearing a screaming Fox alarm. No idea on Delk reliability - not had them long enough, feel a bit flimsy if you know what I mean but no probs yet. Me and my mate were on the mill with new Delks, he gets a take and doesn't recognise the sound so we are saying, go on then someone hit it!!! By the time he realised it was him, ran to his rods and lifted into the fish it fell off - unlucky for your first take from a venue - we'd only been there a couple of hours lol I did the same in France, didn't recognise the sound as being anything to do with me.