iambunn

Looking to experiment with a few baits this year, Belachan being one of them. Had a good chat with one of the guys in leslies the other day and he recommended grating it with a real fine cheese grater, then adding it to a stick mix. Does anyone have any recommendations as to how much to put into your stick mixes? Also, how have you done whilst using it? And in what other ways have you played around with it? Bunn

Cheers for the suggestions, I have played around with emmcee's idea in the past to good effect, will have to give the others a go

How would you go about making a rig with a fairly supple hooklink but stiff mono/fluorocarbon hair? I have a couple of different ways in mind but am interested to see what you guys think would be the most tidy.. Cheers, Bunn

Not sure I have the same view here, just to give you something to think about, carp are more then accustomed to feeding deep down in silt as this is where alot of the natural goodness is found i.e. blood worm and other small naturals. Whilst fishing in france this september I was fishing into 3 foot of silt, with single or double 18mm boilie, a 6inch hooklink and recieving more than enough takes You may be able to tell if the carp are feeding in the silt my looking out for any clouded water.. Is there alot of silt around the lake or just small patches?

The first fish of the week Jamie having a prod about a shallow gravel bar in the rain A couple of cool pasties and two twenties, one of which had a pectoral fin smaller than my little finger And my favourite picture of the week, my second biggest at just over 31lb As Jamie said, an absolutely legendary week, and I recommend anyone with a slight curiosity towards fishing france, check out the moorland fisheries website. You won't be dissapointed!

I'll sling a couple of photos up tomorrow! I'm off to bed, and back to reality getting up for work at 5am tomorrow Its an awesome photo that one, cheers for coming round for it!

Nice write up jamie! A quality week with plenty of laughs! Absolutely perfect!

Double 18mm air dried! Also, are you using any particle as spod? If so, they may be really attracted to this as it is small feed, leading them onto your hookbaits and freebie boilies. have you tried going for the big boillie only approach?

What about hemp and parti blend? And does it help to have liquid covering it?

Blaaady good thread this!

Going to be trying out using fluorocarbon leaders. Getting the Korda IQ 20lb I think. Looking forward to giving it a go....not looking forward to wasting a whole 7 odd quids worth trying it over and over

I'm not too sure about this method, as occasionaly the baits will come off the hair and the carp will eat them...leaving them to digest bits of lead wire? Surely not very safe for the carp?

Some people don't publicize what they find a successful tactick as it could loose its effectiveness...or maybe he is still fiddling with it to make it as efficient as possible. Either way, I'm sure he wouldn't want to share it with you now, and I hope you don't talk to everyone in the way that post came across

I'm not a mod but I'm sure they won't mind me pointing you in the direction of the 'catch reports'. Or if its just general photography, go for the scenic pics and wild life

As long as it is made properly I can't see why it wouldn't work. By 'made properly' I mean made so that the cluster of boilies are tight enough not to flex and maybe mask the hook. It should stop a few of the 'small' fish from getting their mouths round it, although to be honest I'd love to be getting the results you are I hope this works for you in the future! I'm sure some of the experienced guys will be able to offer some advice over the next few days. Weekends can be very quiet. Take care dude I really fancy some grapes now

Just opened my cupboard to see 4 tins of beans and wondered if there would be anything on the forum about baked beans! After reading this, I think I am definately going to have to give them a go. I'm thinking mix some sweetcorn and boilies in and maybe use sweetcorn on the hair...but how much is too much? And would it be best to throw all the sauce in too!

I Lost one fish in the snags, which was when I let my crust drift to the other side, and I was so excited that it was my first carp that I really didnt think about what I was doing. The two 5lb carp I had since then were hooked on crust close to the bank and in the net within two minute, clear of any snags. What kind of line would I need for this sized fish around the snags?

The small pond I fish at the moment there are many snags! But once I have built my confidence and move to different waters who knows what I will come across! I think my next move will be Tingrith fisheries

Since I started fishing a couple of months ago, all ive done is use maggot on a simple float set up and free lined some crust to catch the carp. I'm thinking of trying a zig rig (as recommended to me on this forum) as this will allow me to cast closer to where the carp are most of the time. What would be the best/lightest main line and hook length to use if I wasnt sure if I was going to hook a 5lb fish or a 20lb fish? Cheers P.S. I only ask these questions to keep everyone on their toes...I actualy already know everything there is to know