buzzbomb

Sorry to hear that Andy, it can be tough to save them when they aren't weaned and that young.

I use only running rigs and 3oz leads now. I used to vary weights to have the lightest possible while still holding in the current but have since decided it doesn't matter and bought bulk 3oz bell sinkers from the US to save money. Even if 3oz doesn't help hooking when the fish first starts moving it probably does when you lock down on it. Naturally I still carry a good selection of lighter weights in case I want to do something else, but they don't see much use.

40 years ago I shot an enormous jack-rabbit and when I brought it back to my sister's I told these 2 little kids I'd killed the Easter Bunny. I didn't think they'd take it so hard.....

Love to do this but Canada rears its ugly head again. A-hem! Suffield and most other military preserves in Canada were chosen because they have sandy soil that makes poor farmland but is good for digging trenches and staging tank battles/artillery shoots. It's Godforsaken looking and pool-table flat and can be incredibly hot in summer but driving past on the highway I often see herds of antelope, which is nice. Just taking a dig, Canada is not all ugly. My car broke down in southern Alberta on a hot day once but it didn't matter, I already had a prejudice against the place. Met some nice helpful people though so there was a saving grace.

Good one!

Not for the tattoo!

Oh that's sad Andy, time will heal though.

Nancy Boy is a good petting cat, but not what you'd call a 'great thinker'. He weighs ounces, but can destroy furniture weighing hundreds of pounds. Although he is my sister's cat she says he claims me exclusively.

Lolz

It's a great story - I always wondered if the song Wondering Where the Lions Are is about the old man's dream.

Nice!

I had a Lab that was an ace hunting dog and we hunted ducks for many years, sorely missed.

Yeah right, welcome to the forum!

There must be 5 miles of barbed vs barbless on here if anyone wanted to print it out! I often pinch the barbs back with my pliers, I suppose that would be like a 'micro baeb'. Anyone who has run a barbed hook into their finger can attest to the ease of removing barbless in contrast, (at least on humans).

If it's that bad maybe carp fishing really isn't for you. It's a lot cheaper than golf though, so give it another shot. Look up Socal Carpers and see where they go - seeing how it's done should give you some confidence. Some anglers luck into a fish the first time out and are hooked for good, some have to plug away at it. Sometimes boilies can be an instant bait on wild carp that have never seen them before (was my experience) but all the factors that cause a fish to bite or not are still in play so it is never a given. I'd be inclined to open the field a bit and try other things. If you fish 2 rods put a piece of sausage, or potato, or half a rubber earplug soaked in clam juice..... and a boilie on the other if you like. If you still want to give your gear away pm me!

Cobleyn, it's in the news this morning - someone from Kamloops has bagged one near Chilliwack, 3.5m long, estimated 500 kilos, could be as much as 400 years old. That's the second biggie this year to come out of there. I still think you did alright with those in the pictures.

Well done the catchers! It looks like there may be some 5 or 6 footers in there.

Dung, cows‘ blood and bits of cat; mmmmmm. I think Compleat Angler as period literature is important historicaly and commend you for mentioning it Gary.

You mean chapter 9, Queen of the Rivers? That‘s because you‘re just new. We‘ve been discussing that and posting links for hundreds of years.

It's not abroad, but still nearly 400 miles away - I'll be booking accomodation for at least one trip (possibly two), to the Red River north of Winnipeg Manitoba for channel cats. Besides the cats the place is absolutely lousy with carp. Last summer I saw what had to be about 100,000 carp boshing around right in front of the St. Andrews Dam. 100,000. I didn't see any big ones in that lot but I know that the people targeting them there do catch some lumps.

Hi and welcome to the forum. If they are spawning you'd likely be seeing them thrashing around on the weeds in the shallows. Maybe it's just going to take a little time for them to come back like it did for the other fish.

I tried using 2 or 3 of my soft rubber beads instead of one to get a semi-fixed effect but I don't think it helped my hookup rate at all so I won't bother messing around with it this year. If the hook is sharp as soon as the carp feels that 3 oz's he should catch himself. I agree that slack line will give that first indictor of a pickup (my main reason for going to hi-vis line this year) but sometimes current doesn't really allow it where I fish.

I used a 500ml softdrink bottle, cut the bottom out and carved a piece of styrofoam insulation to fit in the small end. I cut the barbs off a big treble hook and pushed the eye through a hole drilled in the bottlecap and screwed it on tight. Tie your line to that. Coathanger wire makes a good bail and an S-hook tied into your line about 18" up completes the set up. You cast it out, the s-hook falls away from the bail, the insulation floats the small end upwards, the bait falls out and it retrieves with the streamlined end forwards. I only have to bait out 40 yds. max so this is adequate. I'm using a yard sale rod and sea reel with about #30 mono. A broken flashlight (torch to you) would make a smaller, more streamlined spod and probably get better distance. This rig works very well and several times I've had anglers come running to see how I was getting all that particle across the river (spodding nearly nonexistant here in the colonies). The tackleshop owner who's been promoting carping here saw my home built spod and at the next tournament there were a bunch being used.