ouchthathurt

Ive looked at them mate, but my local tackleshop stocks mainly trout/predator and sea fishing (we are about 2hrs drive from the nearest sea mark!?!) gear, their carp gear is limited to say the least so i make do with what i can find. They any good mate?

I find soft ghost to be a lot easier to use that more traditional stiff links, it knots well and straightens well and does the job. Ive never had an issue with it. I also got a spool of old school amnesia for more "stiffer" applications and boom sections on hinged stiff links, that i used to use a lot. Im looking into crimping at the moment but have a few reservations at present.

Looking through some of these threads a lot of the hairs on the rigs are quite short..?? What are peoples thoughts on hair lengths? My hairs for my bottom baits have always been on the long side this is a size 4 curve shank on blowback rig and braided hooklink for a 14-15mm bait. this is same rig with bait attached although something is lost in the photo, it looks shorter now?!?! I think a longer hair encourages the hook to turn and prick in the lip better, i think also as it is not so closely linked to the bait, it is more "unstable" during ejection. I also think it is something different at the majority seem to fish far shorter hairs. I could get two baits on a bottom bait hair that is designed for one bait. However i think with pop ups, a shorter hair is more effective. What do others think?

A delightful pic of my tackle box, its 2sided tool box i use, sorry no pictures of carp adorn my tackle box. The other side. all very chaotic but it works for me. I mainly use helicopter rigs, as i use leadcore often (have for 14+yrs) and think the helicopter rig is safest. basic helicopter rig arrangement with spliced loop. If i get snapped off then the hooklink will slide away like this. you may note thati dont have any tubing/shrink tube on the leadcore to temporarily affix the top bead in place, nor is it altered or doctored in any way, for instance, not threading the bead on sideways! There is nothing in which to impede the movement of the top bead if required. the 100% most important most imperative thing is that the bead and hooklink swivel ( with big bore ring) must be able to pass over the spliced loop like this. then the 'core with lead attached is now seperate to the hooklink.

Photo copy of cr##py carpers.com all rights reserved. To place an order for the "karp-level" (the real spirit in angling) call 0-1 2-1 do one and this excusive piece of carp fishing equipment can be yours... The karp level only £69,99p rrp (limited editions signed by an essex wide boy with a quiff and polo shirt will cost £99.99 only 10,000 of the deluxe levels will be available to those on a first come first served basis. Stitch em and legget tackle specialists have the "karp-level" on offer at £39.99p to the first 100 buyers. To complement the set stitch em and legget will throw in the "karp kruncher" a 2lb mallet for getting those pesky polished stainless onto hard banks... Or B&Q sell them for a fiver, but there are no pictures of a carp on it...

I'll definiatley check the website out mate, cheers! Im on the hunt for work at the moment, wanting to go back to the NHS but its not as easy to go back to the NHS as i thought, nor are they as "enthusiastic" to hire us crazy army medics... I blame the repeated "PTSD" paramedic storyline on casualty myself... (yes that storyline does my head in!! How many times can they rehash the same thing over and over? Some of us have developed PTSD, along with physical injuries but we get over it!) I need to get it squared, the work is out there, i just gotta find it!

Ih jesus!! My rigs have to be 100% spot on; but my tackle box?? Er.... Lets just say it could do with a visit from the cleaning fairies...

I am currently in the process of being discharged from the service for wounds sustained in afghan. I would love to go, but am in that horrible grey area between your military life and scary old civvy street!! Not able to make many plans. Ever thought of talking to soldier magazine? Ive seen carping events advertised before now mate.

I suppose its the way its going these days, everyone wants an instant result and are not willing or prepared to wait or put in the effort. I waited 8yrs for my 1st 20lber, and i can still remember the sense of achievement when i hooked it on freelined bread flake and landed it after stalking it from a pokey unfancied swim. He weighed a humungously massive 21lb and made my entire season. I caught my 1st 30 about 5-6yrs later, a 35lb common which was caught using the acclumative experiences of the preceding years. To think that i could replicate this in a far shorter period of time? Would i prefer it?? Definiatley not. Ive served my apprentiship and have the experience, success failures and scars to prove it. I watch an increasingly high number of anglers, "direct access carpers" who expect instant results and dont have any idea what to do when its time to ring the changes. I once watched a young lad who fished the exact same swim every weekend, using the exact same method (pellet/boilie in biggest pva bag he could find) he would fill a carrier bag (you get the idea, lol!) sized pva bag with pellet and boilie, bait it with a fishmeal bottom bait and turf the whole lot in the lake as far as his rods would cast. Then he would blank for the weekend then go home. He only knew this one method and it had once caught him a carp out of this swim so he returned time and again trying to replicate the situation convinced he'd replicate the result but he never did. I was standing in his swim teaching him some basic knots/rigs etc when he asked why i thought he hadnt caught anything (i had at least one fish a session during the same time period - which was real good going.) i pointed out that the carp in this lake were very cadgey, and fed a lot in the edge - also that they often spooked off the big pva bag approach in the 1st place. I got him to reel in and took him to each swim and pointed out what he should look for, following the wind, choosing a swim on the day rather than just heading to the same swim each time. carp rolling/bubbling/topping etc. He found a few carp grubbing in the margins of his swim when he returned, feeding on his old baits he threw in when rebaiting. So i told him to gently lower a baited rig (with an old bait on it)'into the water at his feet and wait. About 20mins later, he's smiling away with a nice upper double mirror. After that, he used to fish the near margins all over, as well as set up near me so he could get more "on the bank" lessons! I have started take a look at canals, around the frimley/aldershot area, seen some lovely fish but only done a few short sessions for a hookpull so far. Now its the close season... A lovely venue though with that all important magic to it.

Close up of my bottom bait rig, curve shank size 4 hook on braid hooklink using blowback principle. Note the darkness of the braid? This is lead putty rubbed into braid and excess removed. I like a pretty long hair. Bait is 15mm fishmeal/robin red boilie.

When i used to make my own cork pop ups, i would only make small batches of 10-20 at a time. I would take a length of shockleader line or a cocktail stick and score a shallow groove around the middle so once boiled and hardened off, i would have a groove to tie my floss in. Just be careful not to make a groove right through the boilie paste and expose the cork ball.

I prefer to tie my pop ups on as any piercing of the bait will affect its boyancy over a period of time. I also find that the boilie skin over the pop up integrety is damaged, then water ingress will soon soak and split the skin as well as leaving it open for small fish to have a peck at it.

Does this not work then??? Whats all this about changing hooks?? Seems a bit wasteful to me... Lol!

Guilty as charged... Im not as bad as getting the ruler out but i can happily measure by eye - the end presentation must be neat and tidy, if i'm not 100% happy, its binned immediatley. I have my favourite rigs, but also have those i dont like. The "chod" for instance, not a fan!!

I would like to have another session on wraysbury, to watch the sun set over dredger bay and the birds coming home to roost in their 100s while a boeing 777 comes into land... Just to see if the magic is still there.

Your right! Wraysbury was a tip! Scooters fridges etc adorned the margins, you only had a 50/50 chance of getting back to find your car in one peice, the pikeys boats and general locals were a nightmare so yeah, it was no picnic!! Lol!! What kept me going back was knowing you were on a slice of history, i loved the sound of the place too, it appealed to my nature. Yet if it was not as famous as it had been, would i have fished it?? I walked around kingsmead but didnt like it, too busy and quite over pressured, although the lads were sound, however one look at wraysbury and i was in love, warts (fridge!!!) and all... I moved onto it straight away without even knowing the stock at the time, i just loved being in wraysbury!! Would fish there tomorrow if i could.

Sliding pop up rig short shanked wide gape beaked hook size 4 with pop up mounted on sliding rig ring on shank stopped with float stop pop up on the left with cell boilie in situ - had 2 20's in the last two sessions. Rig on the right is my bottom bait rig - blowback rig with long hair and size 4 curve shank patterned hook. Both rigs tied on short braided hooklinks with lead putty to ensure it sinks. Happy to use this with inline lead arrangements or helicopter rigs (most common as i use leadcore regularly and helicopter rig allows hooklink and lead/leader to part company. never use leadcore with inlines)- will fish snowman rigs with same set up. photo below shows position of hair/bait (hopefully!!) when blown back by feeding carp. at least thats the plan... I like a slightly longer hooklink to my bottom bait/snowman rigs, my speccie water all fish come out to pop ups (bottom covered in thick stinking silt which taints and trashes bottombaits to the point that they can sit there until the cows come home) so the sliding pop up rig is the one i use, on my "big" water 37acres, there are many big bream which demolish pop ups and single bottom baits so i started using snowmans and caught a double figure common within 30mins of trying, so a good start! I have been known to reject rigs that look "untidy" or not as neat as i can get away with, i like a really subtle finnessed rig with small, neat rig componants. With bottom baits, i like a long hair. With pop ups i subscribe to the small pop up big hook approach, but it all has to be 100% perfect, putty, right swivel for the lead, right hooklink for the bottom substrate (how many anglers use the same hooklink regardless of the bottom fished over?) sharp hook etc the hardest part is to get the carp to pick up the bait in the first place, without losing it through complacency

I loved fishing wraysbury at the time, fired up by stories of old, but the target fish was king fungus, one of the old fungus mirrors that were considered stockies during "marys gang's"reign. The truth of the matter is that the old historic lakes with bazil have gone, the lake is there but the fish have gone, for now at least, we never know what the future will bring, the carp in wraysbury may grow to epic proportions and inspire the next generation, same as bazil and mary did for me. After all, mary started off as spawn didnt she?? The new wraysbury fish could grow on as well as she did. Look at conningbrook, it was "the" carp water, then two tone died and for some, the dream died with it. Yet now elphicks seems to be doing a big lump yet its sern by some as a wrong un... The wheel keeps turning and big carp come and go, the historic waters as we knew them have gone in terms of big famous carp but the waters themselves are still there and the carp may well grow on in years to come. If you keep looking back you cant see where your going!!

I heard that 500 carp had been stocked into wraysbury, for my part, wraysbury of old was what lit my carp fishing fire, if i ever losse some enthusiasm, i will read "an obsession with carp" by dave lane, the chapters on wraysbury are what inspired me to fish there. However, time marches on, mary and co are all dead, they need to keep the lake going and yes, bearing in mind its over 110 acres in size, 500 carp is not exactly heavily stocked!!

Unfortunatley our regt in the last few summers have done BATUS, HERRICK, BATUS, BATUS, BATUS now prepping for another BATUS again. The regt has not had a summertime at home in the last 5yrs!!

I used to hold a ticket and did a season on this fabulous water in 2006-2008 . i know the older bigger carp died out but im hearing that it has been fully restocked and is more of a runs water? Anyone know anything about it? Wouldnt mind getting back to wraysbury and getting a run would be novel!

We need them all, its each to their own but i dont like the korda films too much of an advert for my tastes. I love "a passion for angling" its the true essence of angling, that show. John Wilson is the king of fishing shows, he holds the crown for so many reasons. The carp crew with jan porter were watchable as it was so hippy and laidback, dont know why he was swapped with kev green halfway through (anyone know?) that ruined the series for me. The tips and tricks on the show were nothing groundbreaking or technical, but it was watchable.

As an ex A&E nurse, ex TA, current serving soldier and qualified ambulance personnel, im not sure im eligible...! Love to do this but Canada rears its ugly head again.

How is wylands now? I used to fish the kell lake all the time and hold (or held at least!) the main lake record common of over 26lb. Some from kell. Keith the baillif still there? I was a member of hastings and bexhill club, fished a lot on buckshole as well in the late 90's early 00's had a few out too. Always look back at buckshole with some affection.

I used to fish wylands regularly, I hold the main lake record, (well did anyway!) I caught it under the rod tips using richworth banana ester readymades. I fished Kell lake Mainly, fishing singe hook baits in the near margins about 1/4-1/2 a rod length out, choosing to instal myself in a swim about 1-2 swims down from my chosen spot so i'm not fishing right over my baited area. Any decent frozen boilie will do, I used premier aminos base with blue cheese flavour, which you could buy from AR tackle in Hastings. Keep the noise down as the carp get right into the edge and will spook easily. I found that simple rigs with a good quality bait score well. I would often fish down the furthest end of the lake the widest end, right to the trees on the no fishing bank, or along the tree bank from the no fishing end to the large oak. Don't over feed, PVA bags and pellets never worked for me, just a single hook bait with half a dozen whole and broken boilies scattered around the lead by hand, in the near margins. Backleading is a good idea. I averaged at least one double a trip from the kell, my average session lasting about 24hours. I've fished most lakes on the complex, but mainly house lake, main lake, where I had the 26lb+ lake record, (then) and my favourite lake, kell lake. much trickier than the other lakes but far prettier and rewarding. Especially if like me, you love quiet under the rod tips fishing. Most of my takes late at night or early hours. PM me if you like mate