ouchthathurt

I just make pop ups using my usual boilie basemix, slightly upping the flavour, use the whites of the egg only, and added egg white powder (from the baking isle in Tesco) and wrap it around 10mm cork balls, they produce baits of 12mm or so. By only using the egg white and added egg white powder produces a harder skin to them, I make them as one egg mixes, which will produce a small number of baits, once airdried in the airing cupboard for a few days, will last in an air tight tub for a fair while. I use bait floss to attach them, they don’t pierce with a needle, (well they will, but a piece of cork may break off and punch a large hole in the bait, plus breaking the skin on the bait allows water ingress which will break the bait down.) I drop each bait in a glass of water as I make them to check their buoyancy.

Yep, you and me both. I renewed nov last year, it arrived in October this year… swiftly followed by a letter from DVLA saying I need to submit the medical forms to renew my licence as it expires in November… 😡😡

I’ve asked for Terry Hearns latest book, that’s all I’d like this year.

I would only lead around in an unfamiliar swim, if I know the spots well, then I’ll whack the leads out to clip up to the spots then use marker elastic to mark the lines. I occasionally use a marker float if I need to find a certain spot or want to double check something, then cast the rods, clip the rods up and marker elastic as usual. Marker comes in and rods whacked out. I don’t usually go for this leading all over the swim. If I’m fishing the margins, I may donk a lead about to get an idea of depth and firmness of the bottom, but a lot of my waters are very silty, so winging a lead all over would give me limited info, a rough estimate of depth followed by a poor drop as it hits the silt. I know my waters like the back of my hand anyway, so I know where I’m aiming and where will do bites.

I’ve got a set of Chesties made by Dunlop, they get used for digging lugworm, wading for bass fishing in low tide, and they are more than adequate for carp fishing. Mine cost me absolutely nothing as my father in law gets his from his job with the EA.

My items I could live without? Hmmm… my Steve Neville buzzers, I had a set years ago, until my ex wife snapped them off the bank sticks in a strop. I replaced them with fox micron Mx alarms, which did the job, (I have absolutely no idea where they are now!) they were replaced with Delkim EVs, which although weren’t bad, I had two out of four that packed up in the rain, although Delkim replaced them no questions asked. I brought a set of nash sirens for my boy, but he soon got the delks as they had too many buttons and options! So I got another set of Steve Neville alarms and I’ve never been happier with them. I’ve got a set of fox torque 12ft 3lb tc rods, which my partner (now wife) brought me to replace a set of sonik sks black rods, (two of which I snapped going for a long chuck!🙄) and they are probably the nicest rods I’ve ever used, they are perfectly balanced and weighted for me, and I think that the tackle has to suit the owner, rather than just buying anything. I learnt that sea fishing. My beach rods are Leeda icon elite match 13ft 10” and I can cast them as I can get them to load properly, whereas stiffer rods, I can’t fully load the cast so lose distance. I’ve coupled the carp rods with fox 12000 reels, again, I can’t fault them. I replaced a set of diawa crosscasts with them, and can’t see them being replaced anytime soon. Smooth action, silky clutch, effortless casting as far as I can throw it, balanced lovely with the rods. I’m a fox convert! My sonik rods and Diawa reels have followed the delks into my sons rod hold-all.

The “beach” area from the haven side is ok, fish to the reeds on the far left used to do bites. Accessing the lake from the lake road car park gives you access to the point, where a long cast will place a bait near the reeds. I used to get bites fishing pva bags 2/3rds of the way across towards the reeds.

slightly off topic, but I posted this a while ago about canal fishing, it might be of some use to you mate I love getting on the canals, always approaching them with the same basic game plan mate. firstly, location is the most obvious thing, however it's surprising how often it is skipped over. Often, canal carp are not as pressured as their lake brethren, so can be easier to see and pin down. You say that one section is relatively featureless? I would hit that with a prebaiting campaign. My start would be with hemp/particle/corn/pellet with a few boilies added. Keep it going in initially to attract all species. As much as I want to stop other species in their tracks, I won't go straight for boilies until I know carp are visiting regularly. Flowing water carp (river/canal) tend to be very nomadic, especially in stretches where there are little in the way of cover or features to hold them, this is where I would attempt to create a reason for them to visit a chosen spot time and again using bait. Once I was happy I knew carp were hitting the spot regularly, I would do away with pellet and corn etc and wean them into boilies to deter the nuisance species and target the carp better. Although flowing water carp are less pressured, they can be spooky - catching one carp off a prebaited spot can spook the others and they often drift away, so I try get as many spots going as possible. Then I can leapfrog the carp on the move and be set up waiting as they reach my next spot. Good thing about most canals is you can follow the carp along the bank. More of my successes come from sections with lots of features and bushes etc, boats and marinas are good places to try. Get a mountain bike and some polaroids and go searching. Carp are always gonna drift from one section to another, unless something holds them. Lock gates, weir pools etc. I find once i am on fish, they're catchable, the trick is to find them first. Find them, feed them, catch them... Rigs wise, I tend not to get too riggy anyway, I believe location and quality bait is key anywhere, especially on a canal or river. Long casting is generally not an issue, so I tend to go for strong and simple gear. My main line is .35mm Shimano technium, (got 20lb b/s on testing it myself) with leadclips or inlines as a lead arrangement. Hooklinks are often just mono or a tough coated braid. Simple knotless knot to a strong size 4 hook. I'm an avid leadcore user, although I'll also use rigtube as happily. I want something tough and abrasion resistant, not all techy and complicated. If bottom debris and crayfish are an issue, then pop ups would be my choice, if I can present a bottom bait without any problems, then I'd go for that first. Backleading to prevent boats/kayakers etc catching my lines is important as well as keeping my gear on the path clear so walkers/cyclists don't run it down! I like to keep light and mobile so I can keep moving onto fish if my present spot isn't producing, before finding a night spot in a quiet stretch to do an overnighter. - this I bait regularly to keep the carp interested. Somewhere a little less snaggy and more open for fish safety reasons after dark. It's ok fishing locked up in the weedy/snaggy bits in the day where you can be on it and in control quickly but at night, I want it a bit more risk free where a run off a clutch won't cause issues. The carp will leave the snags and explore more at night anyway, so you make the best of both worlds. FInally, if you can rake the swims of crud and bait them, then try it - if all you do is clear a load of litter off the canal bed, then it's a good thing! I'd try get as much out as possible, anglers are guardians of our environment, rubbish is an eyesore and anglers tend to get blamed - more flak we could all do without, even if we are blameless. Clear the spots, with the rubbish and the carp gods will smile on you. Canals and rivers are tricky venues, but I love them. They fish through the winter too usually, I've got a little canal lined up this winter... Good luck mate.

I rarely use distance sticks either, it seems old fashioned, but I will either walk them out if I’ve got the space or use a marker set up to find the spot then clip the rods and spod up to the marker. Whip the marker in and whack them out there.

We all have captures that we will always remember, for whatever reason. What’s yours? It may be a PB, or it may stick in your mind for another reason. Which ones are your favourite captures and why? The first carp was a mirror I caught on my first trip in 5yrs after afghan, I’d hung up the rods and was undergoing treatment, my counsellor told me to get back fishing so I replaced all my gear, rolled some bait and hit the bank. First rod out, 5mins in the water and it was away, it weighed mid 30s and I was instantly obsessed again. second carp was a 31lb common I caught on a session at a local pond, the wind switched unexpectedly in the night and picked up in force and it totally destroyed my brolly! The bailiff was telling me that this carp had been stolen the night before … I was able to send this pic to him the next morning the 3rd common was my personal target for years, I’d been baiting with my own boilies and he hadn’t succumbed… one winter session I’d forgotten the bait in the rush to the lake, so picked up a few pints of maggots. Fishing pva bags with a Medusa rig baited with maggots produced him at 37lb+ a week before Christmas. That left only one fish on my “hit list” which was no 4 in the pics! The mid 20 linear was also an elusive target. He also fell to the mighty maggots! My last two targets and I braced them. I walked off the lake a happy man that day.

The late great Rod Hutchinson!

How did you get on?

Well done fella and welcome back to the fold! Good to get your groove back on, many more to come pal

Onwards and upwards mate! 👍👍

I’ve not tried crimping it mate, but I’ve not had a problem with figure of eight loops. They need to be very well lubricated and tightened down gently. In the end I stopped using it for fluro.

Good luck Elmo 🤞🏼

It always makes sense once you’re there pal, wherever it is, whatever you’re angling for 👍

When you get on the bank it will all make sense mate 👍 ive gone through stages of not feeling it but the bug always comes back. Recently I’ve been hunting bass on the beaches, it suits my current lifestyle as I can get out for a few hours rather than doing an overnighter. A change is as good as a rest sometimes. It’s not been going to badly…

Guilty as charged! 🙄

It will certainly help pal.

I’ll happily fish a pva bag into (the right) silt, the carp are perfectly happy to find food there, I don’t worry too much about the bait being tainted by silt, their sensory receptors will still detect bait in silt, there’s lots of food already buried it it, so it makes sense to place a bait there. If you don’t want it crashing in too fast, then I use a lighter lead and you can use a straw to blow some air in it, tape it up around the straw, then pull it out and lick/stick shut. A few nuggets of foam and/or pop ups will increase buoyancy too. You don’t want them too buoyant as the bag if sinking too slowly may well dissolve before it hits the bottom. Not necessarily a problem in my view as it may give a slightly wider spread of free bait, but maybe not the presentation your after.

I’ve spent the last week in isolation with covid! Thought of the day? I’m glad I’m vaccinated! Still ill, but not as bad as it could have been

I have a set of fox 12000 reels and they are faultless, I love them and would recommend them

I make all my own bait and I routinely use baits between 8-12mm, hookbaits are 11-12mm pop ups hand rolled on 10mm cork balls. Like Yonny said, size isn’t my main concern. I’ve got confidence in my own mix, it does the business, I use these sizes as I get more baits out of a mix! I have hand rolled much larger baits, but I’ve not really noticed a difference in catch rates over the sizes. To bait up at distance with smaller baits, I’ll use stringers routinely and a spomb to hit the spot. To be honest, I often fish marginal spots so it’s just a case of nipping round, baiting the spots then casting the hook bait to it. (Never the other way round if fishing alone)

Those are the ones pal, proper carpy!