yonny

It's the mount. RF for mirrorless R mount, and EF for cameras with a mirror. If you got the 250D you need the EF one. For 200 yards I'd say 300mm is the bare minimum you need mate. 400+ would be better but you might want to consider 2nd hand to afford that. There is a 2nd hand EF 100-400mm L on the Wex website. Pricey, but a lot of lens for the money. Professional level. USED Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 L IS USM Lens | Wex Photo Video

No particular rules other than the more you spend the better you get! How long you talking? Most of the proper long wildlife lenses cost a fortune. If you have a budget in mind I might be able to make a recommendation.

Great result at this time of the year Kev. Well done.

Managed to get a night in on Thursday last week. The weather was truly horrible and by the time I'd dragged all my gear to the swim and got the rods sorted everything was soaked through. A very uncomfortable night indeed. I was rewarded for that horrible night by an absolutely gorgeous Friday morning... cold, but a a lovely bright sunny day. By 8AM I'd actually spotted some fizzing so was happy to spend a few hours scaring the carp off trying to find a spot in the area. Alas, it wasn't to be, so with the forecast telling me I'd be getting wet again I headed for home having originally planned to do 2 nights. Mrs looked worried about me having never seen me come home early in nearly 20 years of being together 🤣 Tbf as I listened to that rain on Friday night I knew I'd made the right decision. Must be getting soft in my old age.

Yup. I have that trip in March (can't wait!) and then a week planned in April so I'm making up for all this lost bank time 😁

All good here mate. The carp went mental feeding after Fridays storm and then this last couple of days headed to the bottom. I think they'll stay there for the foreseeable. I completely missed my Nov fishing session. No free nights until December now. We still have lots to do on the new house so it'd not surprise me if I don't get out again this year.

With the drop in temps the fishing and the forum posts appear to have slowed right down!

Agreed. At 6am this morning I checked my pond (as I do every morning) and the carp were really active. It was 4 degrees and had been raining so I expected them to be sitting somewhere near to the deck, but they looked up for a feed. You just never know innit.

Pressure is dropping and temps are rising by me. I'd not let the rain put me off tbf.

That's the one mate. It's a Gin Rin Platinum Ogon. Quiet a mouthful 😅 I really need to get pics of some of the others to put on here but it's getting more and more difficult with the temps dropping!

No more worrying about leaves...... I spent Saturday building some netted covers. I made 3 in 2.4m x 2m rather than one biggun - A) to give some flexibility in coverage, and B) because a biggun would weigh a tonne. Quite happy with the result and it's nice to know that not one single leaf will be in that pond from now on. The fish are slowing right down now, winter is defo on its way. It's a bit gutting after such a short space of time to enjoy the pond, but at least I know we're in good shape for next year. The water quality is the nuts, the fish are looking very healthy, all set to grow a British record in the coming years 🤣

After xmas imo 🎅

So this weekend was great. I've been doing a lot of work to improve water quality/clarity and on Saturday morning I realised I can now see the bottom in 2m of water. Result. The skimmer I put in is working a treat. A decent weekend all round. Fish are still happy but the feeding has slowed right down in the reducing temps.

Tricky one mate. I never fish as well on a social as I do on my own. When you're on your own it's easier to put 100% into your angling imo. I guess you need to ask yourself why you're not feeling it. In my experience, catching a few good fish is the best way to start feeling it, so I'd go all out to bag a good'n before winter hits. Staring at a 40lber in the net is a sure fire way to get the buzz back and you have the opportunity to do that right there in front of you. If it were me, I'd forget about the socials and get down there with a plan to watch, and watch, and watch, and move onto them at any given hour. Hard work always pays off and the harder you work, the bigger the buzz when it all comes good.

I think snail based boilies are a complete waste of time (in terms of trying to compete with natural snail consumption)... but if I was going to use a boiled bait with snail content I'd be using this: https://essentialbaits.co.uk/products/black-snail