johnplumb

Most of the lake is 4 - 6 ft deep but there are deeper parts You can buy a contour map from these people certainly gives you a head start http://contourmapfishing.co.uk/doc/CEMEX27BR51/CEMEX_Lakes_Yateley_paypal.htm This is a link to some diagrams of the lake, swims names ect . http://www.theanglersforum.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?108746-sandhurst-map&highlight=sandhurst+map Hope it helps , good luck . John

To me your rigs look like they need a bit of fine tuning look at Gary's it just looks neater , not sure what difference it would make but your hair loop looks huge .

Another fan of basic rigs , i feel we will all go through times where we start to question if our rigs are working and look for something different truth is you will not always be on the fish , If you feel your rig is being picked up and dumped then that is different , a pinch of putty a few inches from the hook can be a simple but effective change and of course a sharp hook is critical . Of course hook pattern is another huge factor i have never liked the long shank hooks and favour the wide gape . Might be worth having different rigs on each rod ( slight changes ) see if something starts working . Good luck.

Do you know what i aint go a clue

http://www.fisharound.net/location/public/3859/Highfield-Fisheries Found this , there is a name and contact number

Just looked at their web site one place it says membership by invitation only , in another it gives an e-mail address Mesterscarp@hotmail.com if you wish to enquire about a syndicate place.No mention of prices.

What van are you doing it in Chinky?

All vans will have a cubic capacity rating , i would assume as with most things nowdays a few taps on a keyboard will tell them what the capacity is ( ford connect is over 3 cubic meters ) a Transit or similar will be around 6 . Had the same kind of problem going to the IOW in an Escort van , cost went up because it was commercial

Think that it is called Milton Pools Fishery ,

Good old fashion method feeder has to be worth a go .

http://www.yateleyangling.co.uk/social/news/sandhurst-lake-under-new-ownership Same as here is the link

I haved only fished lake 7 on a 48hr and if you were fishing anything but maggots you were wasting your time , possibly a way to start they did love em.

I assume you have looked at thier web site

For many years now have tied my rigs on the bank , i never know exactly how i'm going to be fishing so to tie them accordingly i feel is the best way. Never keep old rigs but will sometimes keep swivels and kwick links depending on how i'm feeling.

Yes ,but like you i would never "chase" it . I can understand when people say size isn't everything and to catch a nice old english fish is what it's about, but what ever lake you fish there is a fish in there that is the biggest and i do not believe that any of us wouldn't be happy to catch it be it 20lb or 100lb .

I enjoy threads like this as i genuinely believe that i have learnt something and one day it WILL catch me an extra fish or two . I feel you may not be able to re invent the wheel but you can improve it

After watching the 1st Korda video's to me it was clear that hooking a carp was a lot harder than you may think. I remember reading something about a fish that hadn't been caught for years and was presumed dead, it was spotted feeding with its tail right up , feeding this way is going to make it much harder for the hook to take a hold . Whether a carp can learn to feed in a way that helps it eject a rig or it naturally feeds in a way that helps is possibly why some carp do not get caught that often while still putting on weight. In reply to your question i shudder to think how many times you are picked up and dumped , it does tell me that for all the fancy tackle above water all the expensive alarms the matching reel handles don't mean a thing unless you get the £2 worth of bits spot on at the other end of it

To me watching something like this throws up a few points . Is it a good idea to fish a pop up that is totally different to the freebies around it ? Having the pop up close to the hook may well end up in you missing a larger fish , ( larger the fish larger the mouth , more chance of the fish just blowing everything clear away ) That using a bottom bait that has been critically balanced ( drilled and cork inserted ) may be a better than a very buoyant ready made pop up. The way a fish feeds ( and unless you are able to watch this there is nothing you can do about it ) will make a huge difference to how many times it will get caught .

Interesting little vid filming a pop up rig at 1min 30 he has a fish take the pop up , now how i see it the pop up takes the hook high into the fishes mouth alowing it to simply blow the rig out in that instance a longer hair would alow the hook to to hang nearer the bottom lip with more chance of of catching . Make sense?

But you already have a rig that catches 90% (or more) of the fish that pick it up , why would you want to change that ?

Now i am far from the greatest expert on rig tying but when using a stiff material such as fluoro carbon is it not best to use a hook with an out turned eye , the longshank x has an in turned eye . Could this be a possible cause for the pulls ?

How is it possible to know how effective a rig is ?

For many years i have thought that bigger hooks give you a better chance of hooking larger carp , i tend to use 6's and 4's once in while if using a new potato or huge lump of paste a 2.

How about trying a different hook length material , perhaps a coated braid or indeed uncoated,

What rig are you using ?