yonny

It is sad... but tbf I've not rated their gear for many, many years. Long gone are the classics whiskey/sting/amber attract etc.

On my water they do the job for tufties, coots, moorhens and swans. The mallards aren't bothered but they tend not to cause a problem in anything over around 3 ft depth. I got rid of my laser pen several years ago after I saw how the carp react to it. I was perched in the lower branches of a tree watching the carp that were on my spot just up the margin. A couple of coots were diving on it so I got the pen out to scare them off. Big mistake. As the laser hits the water it refracts, and a bright green stripe akin to a light sabre trails through the water. The water is that much denser than air that it really accentuates the laser.... it looked awful. The carp were absolutely horrified - they immediately bolted right out of the bay I was in, and didn't come back until the same time the next day. It was that bad I literally binned the laser as soon as I got home.

Have you tried a Tufty Torch Kev? I've just got one and it works well.

I'd be after some used Daiwa Emblems for that money. If you want new, then the Okuma's are great value.

This 👆 I tend to split my baits into kilo bags before freezing. When I take them out I'll put in a healthy glug of this stuff, enough to coat them plus a bit extra, and let them soak it up during defrosting. The stuff is stacked so full of salt it actually acts as a preservative so the baits will last a little longer on the bank. It's also a good method of giving the baits that softer washed-out consistency without compromising on attraction.

Me too, depending on what I'm trying to achieve. A decent bait shouldn't need boosting as such imo. If the carp find a decent bait, they should eat it. If they don't, it's the wrong bait or the wrong time of year. For me, the purpose of glugging in hydros is simply to pull the carp in i.e. help them find your bait. To optimise this you want them as stacked full of those free aminos as possible - so they pump them out stronger, for longer. Mixing with water will just alleviate those food signals, and reduce the amount of time those signals are pumped out. There is a place for water for certain applications (such as washing-in with glugs/saturating to prevent or slow down the taking on of silt for example), but for attraction you want it neat imo.

It was discontinued because they bough the TLB+ out. I strongly suspect the TLB+ will be discontinued when the new ATT comes out. Not sure I follow you here. I'm talking about interest in the product from anglers. Not websites or advertising. Loads of guys on the bank are keeping an eye this. Why would you hope the product doesn't succeed?

I can guarantee you right now that they will sell. They've drummed up loads of interest. It is a complete no-brainer to offer one with a speaker. For every guy that prefers the speakerless version, there's one that prefers a speaker. It's a win-win for them to offer both. Their only other remote alarm is based on a design that's nearly 30 years old (TLB+), and even that needs the ATT receiver.

There's plenty of alternatives to putty and yours looks like an acceptable solution, but I'd be asking why it's disappearing in the first place. Are you fishing rivers with big flow? Wind on a lake shouldn't be enough to remove putty. Are there crayfish in the waters you fish?

Believe it or not I can possibly beat that 😅 I have a full size faux taxidermy carving of the ex record carp, Two Tone, fully mounted in mahogany case. The centrepiece of my fishing room. There's a funny story that comes with it too. I came across it on ebay. It was advertised as a carving so clearly not the actual stuffed fish. I bought it, knowing full well it wasn't real, for the fishing room and thought I'd see if I could find some info on it. I posted it on the old Anglers Forum but no-one could tell me anything about it. But, the Anglers Mail got in touch and asked to do an article on it. Me being me, I told them I don't really want to be in a magazine, and turned them down. So rather than just leave it.... they made a story up. They published an article, using the picture I'd posted on the Anglers Forum, that said the buyer had purchased it thinking it was the real thing i.e. the actual stuffed Two-Tone. The cheeky gits. Naturally, I went back to them and called them scum of the earth A) for making the story up, and B) for stealing my photo. Needless to say they never replied. This was maybe 10 years ago but the story was still available online not long ago. I just Googled it and found the image but the link no longer works.

I got a Korda Spring Bow net delivered last week. I have a thing about real decent nets and have inadvertently amassed a bit of a collection. It drives the Mrs mad. A pal of mine showed me his Spring Bow a while back and I was well impressed so I've had a search set up on fleabay/marketplace for a while. The right deal finally came up so it's now racked up with the various Dymags and Chris Brown nets in the fishing room, much to the Mrs' annoyance. I'll use it on my next session out of principle and then decide if it replaces the Dymag mk2 I tend to use most of the time.

Agreed. I'd not even noticed the swivel on the leader on until you mentioned it! Absolutely shocking set-up.

Tail rubber jammed on. User error imo.

Worth having a look at the Rat Bag - it's an air-drying bag made from light chainmail with a velcro opening. Completely rodent proof. They used to be sold by a small independent company in 2 sizes - I got both and they're absolutely brilliant. A little while back OMC bought the firm out and started selling them as an OMC branded product. I'm not sure if OMC still do them (can't see them on the website) but there's certainly still stock available online if you Google 'OMC Rat Bag'.

Me too. On the water I'm fishing there's no way you'd be able to fish a running rig. If the fish takes lines on the take you're halfway to losing it already such is the severity of the weed.