kevtaylor

He's into the aspect of keeping it separate for throwing by hand or catty due to the different weights, makes sense - I will end up having to buy one or two of these, can't have too many buckets. 👍

My mates been banging on about the bucket, looks a good idea tbf 👍

Not knowing anything about this lake I would apply simple winter fishing logic. The sun has the biggest effect on fish so with it rising in the East and warming the West bank shallows first I'd be sure to look there or expect them to turn up there as it warms up through the day. They should follow the sun possibly ending up in the North/East corner - that shallow bay by late afternoon. Wind also plays a part so they could feel warmer on the back of a cold wind OR just follow it for food, can never really say on that one so have to check both end of the pond for signs. They could sit in the deepest hole or completely the opposite, you cannot predict 100% so eyes on the water as much as possible and be prepared to move should you see them.

It's not even cold really is it, not even frosts most mornings - deffo a chance of a fish or two. I have caught what was a lake record at the time during a very cold January night probably -5 it was a surprise for sure, came at about midnight not long after smashing the rods out on singles. I have an old friend who only really carp fishes May - Oct but that's not enough for me. If your comfortable get out there I say, enjoy the quieter banks, any sightings now could lead you to a bumper spring and you could catch a whopper looking prime right now. 👍

I'm sure my grandad had a load of shoe horns, prob all got chucked, would have done the job 👎

I seen you can buy the Nash wader hold open thing now, separate without the waders - gonna buy a pair of those - should help. Hate putting waders on, lost fish and fallen over plenty of times 🤣

I'll worry about that when it happens lol Can get into my waders with the sallopettes on but not done it during battle, my waders have quite a high boots so not ideal.

Yeah mint mate, dry knees and lovely and warm. Wore mine first in Oct and yeah too hot lol For the 2 x dec trips they were mint, just wore my light weight trousers underneath. Good purchase those 👍

No just joggers, tee shirt and normal hoody. Sallopetes would be way too hot and if I fall asleep in the polar fleece I wake up too hot too.

This is my absolute favourite bit of clothing, expensive but if I lost it I'd buy the same again. https://www.geoffanderson.com/shop/52-teddy/288-teddy-green/ However on price point I couldn't ignore the Fortis one. https://fortiseyewear.co.uk/product/tundra-fleece/ I find that if it's dry I only need the fleece over a normal sweater, rarely a coat.

Oh fair enough good knowledge mate was almost right lol. For me the SJ6 is the one because I have brilliant mid layers if needed but yeah for all out cold the SJ9, the SJ12 must be ridiculously hot. In hindsight I didnt need the Tundra jacket coz the Salopettes are so good I was warm enough in a polar fleece and the Tundra salopettes. If I'd have got the waterfroof jacket (Fortis) you recommended to go with the salopettes I could have saved a fortune. But then they weren't out when I got the Geoff Anderson, there was nothing as good at the time.

Snugpak SJ6 for me, bought it in black coz I wanted it as an all round jacket not just fishing. SJ6 is described as spring/autumn but it's good down to -5 even -10. There's the SJ9 and SJ12 if you want silly warm but for me the SJ6 is perfect. I've also got Geoff Anderson Dozer - waterproof jacket, very expensive for what it is but cant fault it tbh, and recently bought the Fortis Tundra jacket but in hindsight I don't need this and the SJ6 is more comfy and less bulky. The original Fortis jacket that you see about is an SJ12. 👍

Used Premier Animos for 20+ years, since swapped over to CCMoore Odyssey XXX - very happy to continue on those 👍 Everything they make is quality IMO - liquids, powders etc etc and good prices

That's probably correct, however if you wear clothing to lets say mid layers you then don't need to have a bed cover, or the hottest sleeping bag in the world, and your ready to go. My mate had his Solar SP Tech Bed Cover over the bag in Sept, fella was sweating and wearing not a lot lol - I've never taken mine out of the garage 🤷‍♂️

Never understood this stripping off for bed nonsense at any time of year tbh, I take off the outer layers: coat, salopettes, polar fleece but still fully clothed in case I get a take and have to be on the rods as quickly as possible. As has been said, quality clothing is everything in fishing and worth splashing the cash on. What are these people gonna do, run out in their pants and freeze to death - ridiculous!

How awful, sorry to hear that. Got a Cobb myself - poor guy, feel for his family and friends.

We had one strutting about like Terry Hearn coz he had a few out the easier lakes, came on the main lake and 30+ blank nights later he's a broken man, and now an annoying sheep 🐑 lol Didnt see him after a while 🤣 Pointed a rifle at my mate on the small lake, not sure how he got away with that one looking back, he's still seething now 🤣

Never heard that or had a problem stripping mate, this must have been a one off. A mate of mine bought a duff spool of berkley whiplash which snapped at the clip every time, you'd never believe it - again brilliant stuff 🤷‍♂️

Might take you up on the Elmo rig, sounds banging! Became obvious on last 2 trips to Kingy that my trusty pop-up rigs were not getting touched, whereas wafters were, then on the first trip realised I needed to be back on the funnel web, so another prob to solve, which I think gets the best out of me Tbh Both trips I was doing rig and lead system trials side by side, loved it, more to come. My initail stiff rig multi trials were going very well for hooking but then the sods used the semi fixed lead to shake it after dropping back, crafty, but I knew that before I arrived, just wasnt expecting it quite so much in Dec. Must have been done on dropbacks at least 6 times over the 7 nights in total and they're the fish you're there for not the stockies who know no better than pick it up and run. By the last night I had 3 matching wafter slip d's, short like 4-5 inch and running lead clips but sadly no activity for the last 48 hours so didnt know if I'd sorted the issues or not, but really I think I had but long wait to test again down there, Dec 2025 🤷‍♂️

We'll have to agree to disagree on that one 👍

I'm not happy with the slip d multi style either now after a little trial. Land a fish and the kicker is off so if you were to get done the rig is left useless IMO plus the impact of the lead is lessened if the hook is able to move. Don't like the faff of steaming shrink tube so not going there. I've continued with the slip D but just tied standard style last trip, but working on a version using the hook clip now but the kickers are not made specifically for them yet, best so far the Gardner Tungsten XL but still not easy to get over the clip, work in progress. Nash ones supposed to be good but no stock. Yes I did say pointless hook clips previously lol I'm fighting with the concept of changing hooks which is great but not if the finished rig isn't as good as one tied standard style, saving materials is not really that important in the grand scheme, I like tying rigs anyway and adapting as I go so this new interest in changing hooks needs putting right down the priorities list for me. Was also using funnel web bags last trip which you cant with a multi and I loved using them, was a blast from the past and something I'm gonna use regularly this year.

That's not right, you need a stripper tool does it easy - great hooklink - the best IMO 👍

That's sad you feel driven away from somewhere you like, don't want to rock the boat but equally want to smash his face in 🤷‍♂️ Bailiffs hey where do they find these trolls? They camp in the best swims, talk BS, sheep you up then try to get you out coz you're better than them - joke situation! My syndi seems to have more bailiffs than members lol

Good luck mate they're so active right now 👍

3 nights on Kingfisher, Bluebell through the high winds and a pressure drop, it kicked off for the guys facing the wind with 15 - 20 fish out over 48 hours. I got as close to the action as I could missed a massive dropback but landed the next take, blank saver. Back after xmas for another go 🤞