newmarket

Hi Nick mate. Ya know , I literally never got time to have a play with the brolly . setting my rods up first to get fishing really bit me on the bum . Next time I’ll be setting up “camp” first 😊. Time on the lake will hopefully teach me about any particular big-Ger fish locations , the owner appears to be quite transparent and forthcoming with info like that as is his trusty Bailiff so I’ll be working on it , but ya know mate , I’m not one of these people that expect all the work done for them . You probably haven’t read this phrase on here for a while but I’m quite content to do my apprenticeship on this little lake and learn as I go . I’m just so happy to be out of the Essex day ticket rat race . It’s small it’s quiet and it’s local , and I don’t have to dump in a carrier bag .🤣I really couldn’t ask for more at the moment . I contacted Mike Wilmott who advised me to not only try large double hookbaits , slicing off flat spots and mounting two baits together , but also make my own big 40millers using paste . Its the identical paste the B5/Black Snail boilies are rolled from , I just need a bit of guidance when the time comes as to boiling times for such huge baits . I’ll want em hard but not too hard that I can’t hair rig em . You lot have always been a huge help to me in my fishing and I take everything on board and I’ll be trying all suggestions . But as I say , I’m in no rush . Even if I only fish with one rod . With such an empty lake the stalking opportunities will be endless . So far I’ve met one other Carp Angler and 2 pole fishermen in a whole weekend . And I’m told that was busy .

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

I hadn’t thought of that Elmo . At least I’d could find time to eat 😂

Thanks Crus , it’s going to be quite a challenge finding the bigguns that’s for sure . First thing I’ll be doing is shopping around for some huge hookbaits. 24 millers don’t make a damn bit of difference that’s for sure . me and problem solving ? I’m definitely not the one to ask 🤣🤣

I’m not moaning though , just bringing up a topic for discussion. Until now the prices at Essential ( and I’m only using them as an example because I actually know about it) have been the same on bulk deals as they were in 2016 when my final purchase was made pre-sabbatical. I understand from the forum that the price of everything else has been slowly creeping up since then but this appears to be quite a hike , citing not only overheads but Brexit and the massive energy price increases affecting the cost of raw materials… the EA being such an example. And I wondered if it was just Essential or whether other bait companies have followed /are following suit ? Personally I blame that donkey Bojo and his toy soldiers 🤣

Mike Wilmott posted a message on the Essential baits Faceache group today apologising that due to cost of ingredients rising they have had to raise their prices . Fresh/Freezer baits have gone up by more than a £ a kilo even for bulk purchases . I’ll now have to buy 20k of bait to get my boilies at the same rate I was previously getting on a 10kg order and they have temporarily had to stop production of Shelfies due to the rising cost of preservatives albeit they don’t use as much as a lot of other companies. An example given was the cost of Egg albumen . A ton pallet that cost 7 grand eight months ago now costs them £18.5k . Now I won’t defect to another firm , after all when you have confidence in a bait it’s difficult to look elsewhere but I haven’t the freezer space so there’ll be a lot of air drying going on very shortly . But where will it end ? Tackle prices doubling recently on certain items and now bait … Anyone else’s bait company doing similar ?

….and finally , quite a pretty one I thought

Welcome back to more pointless waffle ie a detailed account of my session weekend just gone on my new water , hope it doesn’t bore the pants off you all 😊 I was a lot more organised this time out , all packed and ready to go for when my chauffeur (the Mrs) got home from work. Where we live , tucked away down an alleyway , can be an advantage . No junk mail received or trick or treaters at Halloween cos nobody knows we are here . unfortunatley neither do parcel couriers but that’s another thread 😡. The biggest disadvantage of all though is having a 50-100 metre walk to the car . So the plan is to load up my recently acquired , as yet unused , barrow to get my gear to the car . Well anyway there’s obviously a knack to it as the damned thing kept toppling to the left as I lifted it …. 3 times , despite loading it in various different ways . Therefore I’m sure there’s a method ? Anyway on with the waffle 😉. The lakes like Fort Knox , 2 keyed gates and 2 Combi locks to get not only onto the lake itself but into the actual road/dirt track that leads to it . Good for security obviously though I’d imagine not so good for access after a few Autumn days of heavy rain … we’ll see . Arriving at about 6.30pm I was delighted to discover NO other anglers at all so after a leisurely walk round TWICE I chose a swim and set up . Im going to be posting up a few pics at the end here lads , none in any particular order , mostly of the lake itself . Nick I’m sure you can tidy most of those up for me at some point as I know I can only post a couple at a time . I set up in a swim that not only had plenty of room ( I like to be comfortable if poss) but had plenty of features to fish to , a couple of Islands one large one very small , reeds and lots of pads . There was also plenty of fishy activity but no more than the rest of the lake . It was just beginning to cool down after a scorcher so things looked promising for the evening and nights to follow. As usual I set my rods up first , something I do to maximise my actual fishing time , and something on this occasion I was to live to regret . Using just the two rods initially , if it proved more difficult I could always add a 3rd option later , I tested the water . A couple of Combi rigs , 16mm Black Snail with a pva stocking containing more of the same , barbless hooks as is the rules unfortunately. Action pretty much from the word go . Nothing big , I was warned about the little commons , and so it proved . At first I was just getting the odd beep then 3 or 4 second shrills from my Fox’s and was always lifting into nothing . I was reeling in rigs with half eaten boilies still attached . By now one more fella had arrived , having asked if I minded if he fished 2 swims along from me despite the lake being empty … I didn’t mind as he’d had the courtesy to ask and it wouldn’t have disturbed me anyway . Turns out he knew a lot of the same group of Canning Townies that I grew up with so we shared a few natters and cuppas over the next two days. He suggested that especially whilst using running rigs to sit on my hands until the rod pretty much comes off the bank stick . He said when they go they GO . So I took his advice and waited till these short alarm bursts turned into fully blown screamers and I connected with the very first one . And it set the tone ( pardon the pun) for the whole weekend really . Little common (5-8lb at a guess) after little common with the odd low double thrown in , quite often both rods off at the same time . To be honest after a while I didn’t even bother with the pva attachments , I don’t think they were assisting. I’d switched to 24mm hookbaits a little earlier to try to hopefully single out the bigger fish but these little carp didn’t care they just jumped on them . Any freebies I felt would just be a waste of bait , I didn’t need em neither did the Carp. I was so busy it must have been almost dark before I’d managed to get my brolly up , next time it’s the first thing getting done , going against everything I’ve ever done before . And totally dark by the time I’d had a brew up . Unheard of 😂 Action was steady after dark then got busier and busier. At 3am I thought enoughs enough and pulled my rods in . I’d got up at 03.45 the previous morning for work and I was knackered , time to get my head down for a couple of hours . And a couple of hours it was . Awake just after 5 I went for a mooch about and saw a few interesting things . Can I post videos on here Nick , as I have a couple of Carpy activity I took first thing that morning ? Anyway I got both my rods out again , a bit slower that morning , still quite warm and bright though nothing like the previous day . A few more fish arrived , again nothing big , though I have to say some of them , most of them in fact gave a very good account of themselves and a few of said Carp never gave their size away till right before the net , fighting strongly and staying deep in the water as long as they could . I very rarely knew what I’d hooked until the death . It went quiet mid morning as the sun got higher in the sky and I dabbled with a few surface baits for a couple of hours . I got them feeding competitively quite quickly but they knew which one had my bait in every single time , from the Bakers complete to the fake doggie biscuits , they just knew . Floater presentation is definitely something I need to work on. So I needed a slightly different approach to bottom fishing . This time a spread of B5 and Black snail boilies over the general area of both spots and rested the swim for about 90 minutes during which time I managed to cook both late late breakfast and lunch and chatted Carp fishing and West Ham Utd with my good friend of about ten , er , hours 🤣. This tactic appeared to work as things got hectic again despite the weather deteriorating . So hectic in fact that I never noticed that big storm closing in and just as it got dark … BANG !!!! Thunder Lightening very very frightening ! I doubt I’ve ever moved so fast . Rods in , dived into my Cabrio and there I stayed . I dunno how long the storm lasted as I must have been exhausted and fell asleep . This time inside my sleeping bag which hadn’t even been unpacked it being so warm the night before. The following morning went the same way as previously though after breakfast I even went down to fishing just the one rod . I knew Tracey was coming to pick me up at about 2.30 and needed the time to get packed away for when she arrived . I was happy with my first attempt on my new venue . I know I’ll eventually get the hump with the smaller Carp and will have to find a way of finding out where the upper 20’s and 30’s hang out . My first thought was finding the deeper parts of the lake . The owner has told me that’s it’s pretty uniform 3-4ft deep all over but I’ll be finding out for myself for sure . If it really is that shallow everywhere then it makes it even more of a challenge. In a way , I think , just as much a challenge as fishing a lake with far fewer yet bigger Carp ? These bigger fish are in there , I’ve seen the stocking photos of a couple of 30’s , but to me it’ll just be a natural progression . Size has never been important to me ( just ask my Mrs) , I’m equally happy catching fish of any description all day long or just sitting by the lake waiting for a bite for hours on end . It’s not just about the fishing is it ? It’s just as much to do with the peace and tranquility of a little lake that few people even know exists . No more day ticket circus for me . Hallelujah ! 🤣 there will be a couple of cradle pics added later to give you all an idea of the stamp of fish I was catching ( I lost count after about 30 or so) and one of a fish not all that big but pretty enough to warrant a pic I thought .

My run of bad luck continues… The Chum mixers I ordered online arrived today, next day delivery, very impressed. They are TINY and I mean the size of 3mm pellets … Thatll teach me to read the advert description properly 🙁

Yeah I’ve messaged the seller ( only had em about 4 weeks , never been outta the box) , they said they’ll “try and source some adapters” and send em on . I told em not to bother . Ive sourced 2 lots of adapters , one off Amazon One from elsewhere. Both have promised delivery Weds-Thursday so or providing they work it should all be good thanks fellas . I don’t want to order a set of 2.5 mm dongles it’d be cheaper to buy a set of Delks 😂

Hello mate thanks for taking the time to get back to me so quickly. Yes that’s the TYPE of thing I’m after but , ya know , I think I may need the adapter the other way round ? I HAVE 3.5mm dongles I need to fit into 2.5mm sockets and I’m not sure which of those on Amazon is which . I’m a proper Dinosaur when it comes to anything like that and I’m thinking the link you posted above is to turn 2.5’s in to 3.5mm’s ? Maybe I misunderstand though . They seem to be the only mono ones on there though . your last paragraph re the stereo ones looks like Hieroglyphics to me 🤣 Dunno why but I was under the impression Gardner sold the adapters but evidently not 🙁

Hi fellas just a quickie , I recently upgraded my receiver & dongle set and only just opened the box to find that the Kumb skull tackle shop on eBay has sent me 3.5mm dongles to fit in my 2.5mm (fox) Jack sockets . Yet again I’m not a happy bunny with an online tackle shop but as it’s been a while since I bought it it’s a bit late to do anything about it now except try to get some adapters on the quick so I can use it on Friday . And guess what ? Can’t find em anywhere . Can anybody suggest somewhere that sells these things so that I can contact them and get em sent out by special delivery or similar on the hurry up ? appreciate any help you guys can give me here as I’m running out of time ….

Lucky boy Frank , I bet there are some stories to tell …

Seconded . And if you shop around even cheaper . Got my 46inch for less than a nifty .

Agree . If you’re going down the non-fluorocarbon route then Gardner Pro or Daiwa Brown are the go to for me . Too many good reviews to look elsewhere, nearly everything has a dodgy review if you look hard enough for it but those 2 not so much.

Weather forecast is for sun & heat so I’ll probably be doing a bit of stalking and floater fishing by the looks of things , especially if it’s quiet . In the mean time I’ve ordered some 24mm hookbaits though I fear they may not be big enough . still , first time will be a learning curve .

All good info Nick , cheers .

It does Yon , thanks I’ll have a little look now .

Yes mate Boilie only to my mind though I’m not sure it’ll help with the stamp of fish to be honest . There aren’t many Bream in there at all by all accounts but plenty of Rudd & Roach which has never bothered me as just about every day ticket lake has them anyway and they are easily bypassed. Having said that I had a 2lb+ roach help himself down on the Stour a few years ago now 🤣 No I’m more concerned with the tiny Carp and Tench . By all accounts they’ve tried getting rid of them but no dealers are interested. The most common suggestion has been to net it and bury em in a hole in the next field ! That hasn’t been entertained of course but that has been the attitude of the dealers and fish farms so I’m told . So I’m going to have fight my way through em by the looks of things . Not that I mind a bit of action per se , after all it’s not camping but I do like to get my head down at some point knowing that , well if the receivers goes off then it might be something decent . Ive been thinking the huge hookbait approach but that’s no guarantee is it ? He says remembering the double figure Bream on a 28mm meshed XXX Boilie on the North a few years ago 🙄. Cant seem to find any nowadays looking about … do you think it’s worth emailing Mr Wilmott to see if they can knock some up special at short notice ?

Sounds very familiar Elmo 😊 Oh yes mate the whip is most definitely the way to go . My Arthritic digits really appreciated his ready made rigs . Seriously .

Never heard of it before but yes , good site I feel 👍🏻