ouchthathurt

I've been using premier baits for nearly 20yrs, I've never seen the need to change. I use them for all my basemixes, oils, additives etc. I use a different flavour company though, purely as premier don't do the flavour that I have been using for the last 14yrs for my baits. I roll all my own baits and pop ups, and have nothing but praise for Tony and the guys at premier.

I've used maggots quite a bit last winter and had a cracking few sessions on them. I found that it was best to split them into smaller quantities as a lot of maggots all wriggling together creates warmth that caused sweating. Keeping those that were not for immediate use in airtight bags with the air squeezed out put them into suspended animation and keeping them in a cool bag allowed them to be stored for a week session quite comfortably. When exposed to air, they soon woke up again. To be honest, I always had better success using a small pva bag of maggots and a magaligner rig rather than spombing the granny out of it. Most pva bags will take several handfuls of maggots easily which when placed on known feeding areas, produced bites far more regularly than a huge carpet of germs. Usually, for a 2night session 2-3pints were ample. I had carp to 37lb+ on pva bagged maggots and a magaligner/medusa rig arrangement.

Couldn't put it better myself mate. Pitting our wits and experience against a living creature that is capable of its own process of thought and learning by association. This sport never stands still after all. I've moved onto a new venue, several rivers and drainage dykes all meeting at an EA pumping station, and it's like starting from scratch, the buzz of walking the river banks, wondering where the hell to start is awesome.

Well experience comes from trial and error, I have rigs that i am happy with, I reached this conclusion as a result of going through the trial and error phase in my formative years as a new carper years ago. Simple thing was there wasn't really anything in the way of dedicated carp mags that were available when I was trialling things, I remember early issues of carpworld coming out and devouring those, but other than that, if I wanted to indulge in rig information, it was reading books or talking to other anglers on the bank. I used to have junior anglers who would ask me to teach them rig tying, and why not? I learned how to tie a hair rig from an older carper who showed me on the bank. I also get confidence from choosing the correct venue, I have two club books that I fish. One lake fishes better in the summer when the other is choked with weed, yet in the winter when the first pit dies a death and the carp seem to vanish off the face of the earth, the second pit is now far less weedier and the fishing is coming into its own. It fishes well right through the winter and into spring. Knowing where to target and when is also key to catching regularly.

My next river target!

Confidence is a funny thing really, and I have found that the more you learn the more things appear that can eat into your confidence... If I could give an example of what I mean... when I first started carp fishing in the mid 90s, I used to fish a local water and go down with a couple of mismatched fibreglass carp rods and a couple of scrappy mismatched reels, precariously balanced on a couple of bent and wobbly wire rod rests with hair grips pushed into painted corks for bobbins. Hooklinks were whatever the reel line was, terminal tackle was a few random bombs, swivels, beads from my sea tackle box and hooks being drennan super specialist hooks. All arranged in a running rig. Bait was flour, water and vanilla food flavouring mixed together and baked in the oven! I would bury a hook in this baked "thing" and toss it out into the pond. In my happy "ignorance" I sat in supreme confidence and caught my share of carp. roll on the times and I still go to this pond of my youth, with my youngest son carp fishing, so do I set him up with baked dough on hairless hooks and mono running rigs? No! He uses tubing, lead clips, coated braid and boilies... Why not the dough balls? Because I wouldn't be confident in catching, yet logically there's no reason why it wouldn't work. I used to use a primitive zig arrangement using bread crust - popped up 2-3ft from the bottom and caught lots of carp, yet now my confidence in zigs is zero. Why is this? Simple, my fishing hasn't used zigs for years and as such, I am not experienced in their use. When I've chucked a zig out on a slow day, it's not produced - damaging my confidence in it, yet in reality it was the angling situation or the angler at fault, not the method. yet my confidence comes from my experience, I've fished some difficult waters over the years, lakes, rivers, canals, ponds, inland seas (all UK waters) and can now happily sit on a difficult water waiting for weeks for a bite, knowing it is part and parcel of this type of water. I have developed a bait over very many years, using the same base mix since 1996 with the same flavouring, additives, etc. I make my own baits, and now I have so much confidence in my bait, it's not a consideration for me. It works, it's never let me down, it catches and has lasted the test of time. What more do I want? Rigs are the same, I use the same basic rigs, tweaking them to suit the situation, I don't look at the mags, don't get hooked up on the latest wonder rigs, I just use what has worked for me, so it's another thing I don't need to worry about. I have rigs to go to if need be, but why complicate things needlessly? For me, it's cutting down the variables. If I know my baits and rigs are going to work, then I don't need to worry about them. I can therefore put those considerations to one side knowing they will work, so I can concentrate on location and the task in hand of looking and locating carp. Once that is cracked, I can plan the way to fish the swim, knowing my baits and rigs will do the business. If I'm trotting up a string of blanks, then I can cast my mind back over years of success using the baits and rigs, so I know that they work, rather than having the latest bait or wonder rig on the end that I've only used for 5mins, which will eat away at me, is it the bait? Is it the rig? Is it just that I'm fishing a water that only does a few bites a month to a syndicate of a dozen carpers and I need to keep the effort up to get a result? Confidence for me is making my own baits, using rigs that I know works and working on the most important aspect in my mind... Find the fish in the first place!

Fair enough mate, I've been using premier aminos for 20yrs now, used to add robin red myself, now just order premier aminos RR base mix off the premier website. I've got complete and absolute confidence in it. It costs £55 per 15kg (£67 with VAT + postage) and will last you months if you only make bait once a week. Buying in bulk may be cheaper pal.

It is the bad times that make the good times good mate!

I spent 13yrs in the army... One thing I've got left over from those days is an entrenching tool (a mini fold up shovel) I'll leave the rest to your imagination! I did a few courses over the years where you would use a sheet of cling film to catch the "deposit" before wrapping it up and putting it in a nice Tupperware box to take away with you! I tend not to rely on that method these days...

Is it just me? Or does anyone else feel that these things like hook sizes is driven by an element of fashion? It seems that 10-12yrs ago, size six was a big hook and a size four was for the continent! Or is it just me? I use 4s now for 90%+ of my fishing and have done for several seasons, yet I forget why I changed...

That's not to say small hooks won't work, I think any hook with enough separation between hook and bait will do the job, some anglers believe smaller hooks bury deeper. It's confidence in what you're doing with decent tackle and effective rigs that may be the key. I use what works for me.

I remember to smile sometimes! I don't really put pressure on myself, angling is my escape. I just love being there. If I lose a big fish or blank or have a bad session, I can usually shrug it off and not think about it again. I once fished wraysbury 1 for a whole season every weekend, I had one take after a whole summer and into the colder months (from a carp as opposed to tench) and lost it about 3yards from the net... Bizarrely, I burst out laughing! (I still find it amusing even now... Work that one out, because I cant!!)

It would seem I tend to go for the "monged zombie" look... No alcohol or narcotics were used in the taking of these pictures...(unbelievably!)

I found over the last few seasons that I lose the buzz on and off, usually it was seasonal - as I learnt the water I was on, it became obvious that they had shut down for winter. I was wasting my time. I had another water that I lost enthusiasm for during the summer months as it was so busy. I only had two of the "A team" to catch - a 35lb+ common and a 21lb+ linear. But the lake, which was only about two acres, was always packed out which I didn't enjoy. I brought a cheap club ticket with a new pond on it and that got me going again. I had a new challenge and it fired me up to get the rods out until the winter when the two acre lake was empty of anglers. I returned for a two night session on the two acre lake, had it to myself and caught the common at 37lb 10oz and the linear at 24lb as a brace in a 4hr spell, both on maggot rigs. (I haven't been back) It's easy to get stuck in a rut and if the venue isn't calling you back each time, then maybe it's time to bid farewell and look for a new water to fire you up again? mind you recently, I've not been getting on the bank as much as I could, although I want to be there when I cant, when the opportunity comes up, I can't be bothered! Unfortunately, this is down to working long hours and not having the energy to get going!

I found over the last few seasons that I lose the buzz on and off, usually it was seasonal - as I learnt the water I was on, it became obvious that they had shut down for winter. I was wasting my time. I had another water that I lost enthusiasm for during the summer months as it was so busy. I only had two of the "A team" to catch - a 35lb+ common and a 21lb+ linear. But the lake, which was only about two acres, was always packed out which I didn't enjoy. I brought a cheap club ticket with a new pond on it and that got me going again. I had a new challenge and it fired me up to get the rods out until the winter when the two acre lake was empty of anglers. I returned for a two night session on the two acre lake, had it to myself and caught the common at 37lb 10oz and the linear at 24lb as a brace in a 4hr spell, both on maggot rigs. (I haven't been back) It's easy to get stuck in a rut and if the venue isn't calling you back each time, then maybe it's time to bid farewell and look for a new water to fire you up again? mind you recently, I've not been getting on the bank as much as I could, although I want to be there when I cant, when the opportunity comes up, I can't be bothered! Unfortunately, this is down to working long hours and not having the energy to get going!

I tend to stick to size fours all year round for my fishing, unless using maggots, then I use a magaligned 6 widegape. For ronnies, I use a size 4 curve, same hook for blowback rigs on braided or coated braided rigs with long hairs. Flurocarbon bottom bait rigs and hinged stiff rigs I use fox stiff rigger hooks also size 4. I get good firm hookholds with size 4s although with bottom baits, prefer a decent separation between hook and bait to allow the hook to drop/turn and do it's job. (I use soft braided hairs on bottom bait flurocarbon rigs for this reason.)

No worries mate, it's worth it, personally I always get more of a buzz catching carp from a canal or river than lakes now. It's the element of the unknown, having to work at it, I get a sense of achievement from a canal carp weighing mid doubles that I probably wouldn't even weigh or photograph out of a lake. Very best of luck pal.

I still have the original batteries in my nevs... The [censored]s never go off... When I finally get a take, I probably won't know what the high pitched wailing sound will be...??

Dan, When it comes to prebaiting, I would definitely aim for the spots that you have seen carp already, plus spots where you know they have been caught from before. If you've had a few, and you can tap up the local tackle dealers or bailiffs etc for info, then it gives you something definite to start with, as opposed to hitting a "virgin" canal without any sightings or prior info to work on. You hooked two on maggots? Then you're on the way to a decent start mate. You seem to have a good idea where to look and start from, which is the part that puts a lot of prospective canal anglers off when carp hunting. We are all guilty of dropping into swims and venues, blanking a few times then giving it up as a bad job! If you're happy that you've found a few to target, then I'd start there with a view to either building on that area or stretch, always keep an eye out for further opportunities or something to move onto if it doesn't pan out. In reference to baiting a particular area, I like to initially spread it over a reasonable area, maybe if I'm aiming at a far margin, then spreading it 2-4 rod lengths over a potential feature - say a bush, sunken branch, a boat, weedbeds, reeds, lillies, ledge etc etc. If I had a choice, i would always look for a stretch with lots of overhanging trees and shrubs to provide shade, shelter and cover for the carp. With rivers and canals, you can often find a deep central channel for boats etc and a distinct marginal ledge near and far margins. They would be the areas I would aim for as the central channel can often be weedy and choddy, plus with canal traffic and the absence of cover, make these areas a lot less attractive than the margins. Just remember to backlead into the central channel to keep your line pinned down away from boat props and dagger boards! Initially when baiting I want to introduce something that's going to stop a nomadic carp on its travels and want to feed, so I spread it fairly wide to give me a better chance of intercepting them. Adding maggots, bread, hemp, corn, pellet etc is a good tactic initially as small fish activity will attract the carp and also help clear spots in which to present a rig. Once I was happy that I had carp feeding regularly, i would personally want to cut down on the small fish food and wean carp onto boilies and rivers etc, reduce bream and other nuisance species from destroying my hookbaits. It's a personal thing, I know when I've got them feeding on boilies, then fishing a boilie over the top should increase the chances of a bite being from a carp. Fishing maggots or corn etc would see me being breamed out! Once I was happy I had a spot that will do me a bite, i would start fishing it, trying different spots until I located areas that produce more carp than others, the hotspots along the marginal shelf. Then I would narrow my baiting down to those areas, to keep the carp coming there over and again. If you have spots you can visit on your way to work, so you can keep trickling bait in, that's ideal. As always though, it's best to keep several areas ticking over as if angling pressure moves them from one spot, you have others to move onto and try, if you only have one hotspot to go for and that spot goes dead then you're a bit stuck and have to start again from scratch. With a few spots dotted up and down the stretch all getting bait, they will get used to finding your bait and seeing it as a good food source, making them more likely to eat it again when they encounter the spot with a rig on it. Also if spot A blows and fishes badly, you know spot B is primed and you can move on there, then spot C, D etc. I would only bait the featureless sections if that was all I was faced with to be honest. I have a local stretch of river that has a lovely common in it. The river itself is a drain, the bottom is largely silt and featureless. The banks are bare for miles, any decent shrub or tree is blown down by the sea winds or eaten by cattle! As a result, I watched the river and spotted him rolling in the same area several times. A quick lead about with a marker rod found nothing other than miles of flat slit as far as I could check, the only variation was the marginal slope. Which was exactly the same depth and variation all the way along, nothing worth noting as a reason for the carp to visit one spot over another. The carp are extremely nomadic and range up and down the river for miles, so I wanted to bait the spot I had seen the common roll heavily and regularly to make my own feature on the bottom, lots of free food all the time! If they're on the lookout for food and I can give them what they want, there's a bigger chance of getting them to stay in the area. Think of foxes and rats, they purposefully hunt in towns as they know it's easy free food, as humans we have educated a wild animal to come to our kebab shops after closing as we as humans leave lots of free food for them to eat every time we put the bins out! I would love to post a picture of the "rolling common" but... I didn't catch him... best laid plans of mice and men etc... had a few lovely little mirrors though, which no one had seen before, so it worked I suppose! as for rigs etc, yeah strong and simple mate. If you can fish safely with a loose clutch, then it's ok to do so. If you need to fish locked up, then make sure you have strong bank sticks and a rear rod rest that really holds the rod in place, I find when fishing locked up, as you need to be on the rod straight away to prevent the carp reaching the snags, they can't build up a head of steam to yank the rod in anyway - you should be on the rod before that happens. Just keep the rod pointing directly to the rig to minimise the chances of the rod being pulled to the side where it is more likely to jump off the buzzer. Snag ears are a good idea too!

Quick question, when experiencing these drop backs, where you striking immediately, or reeling down until you took up any slack before striking? If it was a take and the fish was moving towards you then immediately striking will just cause you to strike up the slack and not set the hook properly. I always reel down and "catch the lead up" before striking. If it's liners, then depending on severity, depends on whether I reposition it or not, if I feel the lead has in any way moved, I'll redo it. or else braid and a 8oz uptiding grip lead will sort them out... (Or maybe not try that one! Lol!)

This could be down to the moisture content of the bait, if the boilie mix was firm to begin with, then as they dry prior to freezing, they may crack. Freezing causes ice crystals to form in the bait, (funnily enough!) Ice expands the bait as it takes up more mass than water. This may cause cracking if there's excess moisture - I found this with fishmeals on rare occasions, especially if not allowed to cool before freezing. Conversely, coarse basemixes such as birdfood bases would allow the baits to dry out quicker, freezing would remove moisture from these baits making the bait more brittle and liable to crack. I like to air dry my baits overnight before freezing, that solves the problem. Still can't seem to escape freezer burn though... I use freezer bags with the air squeezed out to store in the freezer, then transfer the bait into an air dry bag when taking them out for use to prevent them sweating in a plastic bag.

Why the 50/50 basemix? Are you looking for a short term bait or something to stick with season after season? go to a large high street supermarket (Tesco and Sainsbury's both sell this stuff), look in the home baking isle and buy egg white powder, it's otherwise known as egg albumin - a good ingredient to add in order to harden up baits. I use it in my baits, it can reduce boiling time and produces a firmer bait with a tougher skin. They come in small sachets for about £1:50 for 6 sachets, then you can experiment with how many sachets needed per a 6egg mix to get the required result.

I always wear crocs once in set up on the bank, get everything sorted and set, then perch on the bedchair and my boots go to the back of the brolly and its time to rock the croc... (That is NOT a metaphor or innuendo!) My crocs are proper carpy too... luminous lime green... Love em...

I had a set of 4 EVs for the last 3 yrs, I noticed that on occasion, the led would stay on for longer than 10secs, never caused an issue though, to be honest, I had to return them as they always packed up in the rain - 3 out of 4 packed up when wet. I don't know if I was unlucky, but I found giving them a damn good soaking in wd40 and letting it dry solved the problem for a few months. I've gone back to nevilles, they're as simple as I am... My son has the delks now, he loves them, which he should really, they're good alarms.

Whilst on the bank once, I forgot I was supposed to be going to work...