ouchthathurt

There are loads of hidden gems in health food shops and supermarkets. I often look at baits I would use regularly that were brought from Tesco’s (other supermarkets are available...) that were cheap, easy to use and did the goods. Chick peas soaked in whiskey was a cracking bait, I still buy egg white powder from the baking aisle, back in the day, a lot of boilie ingredients came from health food suppliers, baby milk formula, muscle building powders etc, we are spoilt with our ready formulated base mixes these days!

When’s the book/DVD out? “Elmocarp Inc” lol! Can I pre-order a copy?? (Signed preferably) if I want to subtly mash up some bait on the bank, I reach for my trusty boilie smasher... otherwise known as a mallet!* Now THATS modern carp fishing! (* I don’t really!!)

Yes, I believe that’s how it works!

Well looking on metcheck, I can expect sunshine and clouds with 11c temps, I’m feeling optimistic about my chances.

That would be my concern, the boiling process could negate any of the vitamins and minerals found in the additive, you may be able to use egg albumin to firm it up and keep boiling times to a minimum, this may help protect the colostrum. There are probably other vitamin and mineral compounds that would be easier to use. It’s worth a try though, milk proteins and milk products are obviously successful!

Many thanks mate, I’m just praying to the weather gods now!

I don’t know what i would have done without fishing, especially after the ptsd diagnosis. I’m itching to get out on the bank again, just seen the weather forecast for next week, it’s going to be mild with temps around 12 degrees... gonna get out Monday!

My go to curve type pattern is the Nash fang x pattern, they are sharp out of the packet and I just give the points a polish rather than trying to sharpen the granny out of them, I do worry about making the points more brittle. I have used the Korda kurves in size 4 for Ronnie rigs, but regardless of wether I catch on them or not, they are discarded at the end of each session as I’ve noticed that they don’t hold a point either. I’ve not tried the kamakura sharpened patterns, so I couldn’t comment on those patterns.

Very many thanks pal.

My ex hated me fishing, to the point that I only used to get in maybe 1-3 overnighters a season! If she relented and gave me a fishing pass, I had to be home within 3-4hrs, even then you could cut the atmosphere with a knife. The destruction of the fishing tackle tipped it over the edge really.

Yonny, how does that work mate? Does he have the main patterns “pre-sharpened” which you can place an order for? Or do you specify the make and pattern etc and he source and sharpen the hooks before sending them out? He is the Jedi master of hook sharpening.

I use the files and finishing files sold by Nash, they’ve lasted a few years, I need to get a vice really, holding the hook with a pair of forceps in the bivvy is a bit fiddly! Sharpening takes practice, I ruined a few hook points before getting the hang of it.

I’m sorry to hear that highy mate, I’m lucky, my wife now insists I go fishing, she knows that it’s my therapy. I hope you can get it all sorted pal. Best of luck.

That’s some runs water!

Actually... she did! I’ve been an emergency medic since 2005, it’s mostly instinct now! It’s better now then it used to be, but the whole covid situation is putting strain on the whole healthcare industry, I’m lucky really, I pick up/drop off, it’s the nurses, doctors, healthcare assistants, physios, porters and the rest of the hospital workers who are working 12hr shifts day in day out on covid wards as well as looking after the 1000s of non covid patients that come in and out of hospitals daily that deserve praise. I wheel my patients onto wards or A/E or an ITU and every time, I see the nurses and doctors working like Trojan’s non stop and I thank my lucky stars I left nursing to go into the ambulance trade.

How many of us sharpen our hooks? I have a set of files that I use to touch up my hook points, but I don’t tend to go mad, I use a finishing/polishing file 90% of the time. I check and discard any hook that doesn’t meet my expectations and change my hooks after every fish or every (blank) session anyway, but giving the hook point a “tidy up” makes me confident. I rarely cast a rig out that I’ve not touched up the hook point first. Yet with modern chemically sharpened hooks, and the price paid for them, shouldn’t they be sharp enough straight from the packet? What are your thoughts?

My late shifts end after midnight, my early shifts start at 7am... we are “exempt from working time directives” apparently... shifts are between 10-13hrs long, I do 4-5shifts a week. I’m looking for a new job!

Sorry EX wife...

My wife once twisted all the eyes off a pair of century canon carp rods, snapped a pair of Neville alarms off the bank stick and slashed at the spools of my bait runners cutting all the line to shreds, then tipped the contents of the tackle box into the bin...

So long as you enjoyed it mate, that’s what matters at the end of the day!

For real?

How old is your son? When I take my boy, (he’s 11) I use my own oval brolly and he goes in his own wychwood overnighter shelter. I chuck them up side by side and fish like that. We’ve used these arrangements since he was 8/9yrs old and he loves it. shame he sleeps through his runs at night, but hey, I suppose a delkim EV on full volume is pretty quiet... not! yes, I’m “that guy” with a screaming alarm on full volume...

Fair play mate, you got the right venue for this time of year! Lovely looking carp too. I’m gonna hit a runs water (in the summer anyway!) and see if I can bank the first fish of 2021 on Monday hopefully, only got 3-4hrs but it only takes a second to get a bite!

Hopefully gonna get the rods out on Monday.

Definitely mate, I’d be on there like a shot given the chance, we may not be able to do overnighters just now, but you could start baiting it and prepping it ready for when you can hit it properly.