ouchthathurt

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)

Well done lads, good drills!

Those are the ones pal, proper carpy!

Well done fella, lovely fish.

I fish a small park lake of about 6 acres and it’s always full, I started scoping out rivers and recently broke the beach gear out to get a little peace! I have miles of coastline where I can always find a deserted beach quite easily. It’s easier than finishing work, heading to a lake and finding all the swims packed out, which is fairly common, especially with furlough.

I haven’t noticed an increase in hookpulls using sharpened hooks to be honest mate, I wasn’t out and out snag fishing admittedly, but I was hitting and holding to stop carp kiting into a corner (which made landing them more tricky) on the take and if anything, a touched up hook increased my hooking ratio, I only had one hook pull out of 20+ fish and that was a single figured fish trailing a large branch it picked up on the way in, I was destined to lose that fish regardless of whether the hook was sharp or not I think, a branch attached to the hooklink isn’t helpful! I thought I was into a monster until it surfaced! 🙄

If using braid, make sure you use a finger guard. Wet braid slipping over a finger on a big cast don’t half sting!

I have to agree, whereas pendulum casting is commonplace on the beach scene with distance in mind, (although with the current trend of lighter, longer 14-15ft beachcasters, a simple overhead thump can achieve plenty of distance and the pendulum is not as common) such casting practices, such as the full pendulum, half pendulum and OTG (off the ground) casts, designed to “pre-load” the rod tip by causing it to compress into its casting curve before the angler provides the “power stroke” (ooh err missus) which sends the lead further. I’ve used half pendulums and OTG casting styles, and with the multiplier in the reel down position, I could get the lead to really fly! But that was with a 13ft beachcaster, with a t/c of about 6lb! (Rods are rated 4-7oz casting weight) such casts should really remain on the beach, a carp rod, regardless of t/c is not designed to take such high stress/forces that such casting styles put on a rod, even some beachcasters are not recommended for such casting styles, the continental rods of 14-15ft would snap under compression, as would a carp rod sooner or later, that’s if the line didn’t snap before hand, these casting styles always call for a 60lb shockleader on the shore. Most swims wouldn’t have the room for these casting styles anyway I would have thought!

I use 12ft fox torque rods in 3lb t/c with fox EOS 12000 reels, I use the heli leads 90% of the time, when fishing at long distance at shearwater, if needed I would step up to a 4oz heli lead if required, however I would advise a bit of caution here, I snapped two rods under full compression going for a big chuck. (Those rods weren’t fox torque but another well known brand) the 3.5oz leads with a 3lb t/c are capable of distance in the right hands, as with anything, practice makes perfect. Just ensure that you make sure that there is no one opposite you that could be at risk in the event of a crack off, a heavy lead without line attached will travel a long long way! Check the tip ring and butt ring for tangles or “frap ups” (where the line wraps itself around the tip eye) and ensure the line is free to travel, check the bail arm is fully locked open and clear and you’ve got a good firm stable stance, then work your way up to it. If I’m going for 110yrd casts, I like to “warm up the carbon” by having a few 80-90yrd casts to bed the line and get it nice and wet before blasting the big un. With correct modern tackle, distance casting is achievable, it’s all down to technique and practice.

Couldn’t agree more, I use an oval brolly with storm sides, it’s lightweight, quick to put up and pack down and for a quick move, I can just pull out the storm poles and collapse the brolly, chuck it on the barrow and move swims as needed. I find when I had a bivvy, I was more reluctant to move, with a 50inch brolly, it’s so much easier. I’ve done week long sessions under a brolly quite happily.

When casting distance, with 12ft 3lb t/c rods I use 3.5oz leads, to be honest, I use 3.5oz regardless of range! Even under the tips I use 3.5oz leads.

Well after some thought (not much I’ll admit) I tracked down a pair of Diawa 7ht millionaire multipliers and ordered a pair of sonik SKS black 13ft beachcasters. Dusted off the beach stand, cleaned out the tackle box and sorted out the lug pump. Ordered the rods on priority delivery (next working day) still waiting for them... only ordered Thursday though so should be more patient!

We were issued with gortex socks in the army, they were rarely worn because your feet just got hot and sweaty and then cold, I just took an old pair of wellies and cut them down to slipper size. Luminous green crocs whenever I can get away with them, however I have gracefully deposited my backside in a puddle a few times as they have a sad lack of grip...

Of course Area 51 has drone busters, I mean look! The alien is right there in the top left of the YouTube video pic!

I’ve got a 12 month collie, she didn’t take to fishing too well, she didn’t like being hemmed in a swim (they were “dugout” type swims at the bottom of a steep bank with a footpath running along the top) and got quite anxious - she’s a nervous dog anyway, she didn’t like other dogs walking along the path and staring down at her, I called the wife to come pick her up so she didn’t feel too stressed. She’s far better on the beach.

I’m a big fan of the helicopter rig and use it almost exclusively, I usually fish tight lines and pin the line down behind the tubing or leader (dependant on venues and their rules on leadcore/leaders) with the smallest flying backlead that I can get away with. Despite the craze for slack lines, seemingly at all ranges, I never felt that confident with bite detection, on my waters, it’s all marginal work, casting up to 80/90yrds to far margin hotspots, (at these ranges, no flying backlead) a lot of bites (maybe 6-7/10) are full on drop backs as the hooked carp bolts off the marginal shelf into deep water, so they’re heading back towards me, and I don’t think slack lines would show up these bites so positively. If I’m fishing right under the tips with the rigs tight to the near margin, then I would consider slack lines, but to be honest, I’d usually fish them with a flying backlead and allow the mono a few minutes to sink and settle before gently tightening up to the backlead, then use the smallest lightest bobbin I have.

Best of luck to you both.

I did a 12 month blank once... I was never so happy to catch a 10lber!! Of all the carp I’ve caught from this venue since, that one is still in my top 2 captures.

I’ve used the crimp system and on the correct hooklinks, it can form lovely neat loops, with the wrong hooklink it will come undone on the lightest of pressures. They are useful for spinner booms and making up combi rigs, but to be honest, I’ve just gone back to knotting it! Using the domhoff (don’t know how you spell that!) for combi rigs and figure of 8 loops for spinner booms. I tend to favour a semi stiff material for the lake beds I’m fishing over at the moment so crimping isn’t an option for me right now.

Looks lovely mate, could be a fresh challenge to get your teeth into?

Of course if you continue to talk about such inflammatory and distressing subjects as giving up carp fishing and becoming a match man, I may have to ban you... 😛😛😛

I would have to agree with the other comments mate, I’ve got a small range of coarse gear, enough to go out and trot some maggots down a river if the mood takes me, but I couldn’t give up my carp gear, they say a change is as good as a rest mate, after a few float fishing sessions, I’m soon craving a carp fishing session. Once your gears gone, it’s very hard to replace. I sold all my beach fishing gear as I didn’t think I could use it again after my shoulder injuries, but 3yrs down the line, I walk along the beach wishing I could chuck a few rods out or stand in the surf with a bass rod, the sun setting, gulls screaming around me and I bitterly regret getting shot of the beach gear. Yet I can’t afford to replace it right now so I’m stuck. Don’t make the same mistake I did!

B’jesus! How much?? 😳😳

Just remember to soak the braid and have a few casts to bed the line in before going for the animal chuck mate.

Lovely fish yonny, well done fella.