yonny

HOOK..... LINE...... AND SINKER. Fair play 🤣

Hate to say it but I'd be somewhat upset if someone set up floodlights in the swim next to me.

In 2024 I visited the worlds largest cork producer in Portugal with work. It was amazing.... saw all the processes from harvesting of the bark down in Lisbon (they even let me have a go!) all the way through to production of wine stoppers and everything else they make up in Porto. Was one of the best work weeks I've had. Those trees take 12 years to get to the first harvest then once every nine years after that. It takes nearly 50 years to get to the quality required for natural wine stoppers. Some of the trees were 150+ years old. It makes sense, having seen all this, that the price of decent cork balls has gone up so much. They have something like 4 million acres of trees and in the middle of one of these huge plantations they had a reservoir providing the water. I was standing there watching the water (as you do as an angler) and a big common whalloped out. I pointed it out to my host, their technical director, and it turned out he was a carp angler too. He had this reservoir full of massive carp in the middle of nowhere that only he could fish. Incredible.

I'd just grab the first lead I could find. I don't think at such close range it makes any noticeable difference. Maybe some prongs if you want to check for specific debris or silk weed.

There are a couple of things you can try. The UV is the primary protection so make sure you replace the bulb at least once a year (about now is perfect as the first 6 months it's most effective.... less important in winter but critical in summer). You could also go for a bigger UV filter.... the bigger the better basically. You can try to block out some sunlight..... it's the reason I installed that parasol thingy. Less sun = less phosphates = less blanket weed. There are several treatments available. The one below works in low temps so good for early spring: AQUA SOURCE BLANKET WEED RESOLVE 1kg WATER TREATMENT BLANKETWEED POND FISH KOI | eBay UK Lastly, you could add a plant to consume the nutrients that the blanket weed needs to grow. Prevention is always better than correction so I'd focus on the UV filter first👍

Swings and roundabouts innit. Most decent syndi's now are 600 plus. Many have now exceeded a grand. Last year I fished ~5 nights on my syndi - for 650 quid. Add your bait, fuel, food etc... and we're talking maybe 200 a night. Makes a 30 quid day ticket seem cheap! I'm dropping the ticket this year. Just can't justify the cost for the time I get.

Of course not. But tbf she knows that whatever I tell her it costs, she has to double it then add some 🤣

Made me chuckle. That's what the mrs calls it when I show up with a bunch of those little packets 😅

Yeah that's a massive no-no! Very dangerous, could easily wipe out the fishery.

You can, mate. As long as it's not a commercial activity (i.e. fisheries) its perfectly legal to rehome carp and koi etc. Obviously can be risky due to biosecurity but perfectly ok legally. Edit: They're basically pets so same rules apply.

A real good 10mm cork ball will be ok but it's tricky to get really good cork balls nowadays. It's a lot safer bet using 12 mm cork balls for a 14 mm pop up.👍

Good point.... it's 30 years+, not 20. A quick Google finds it's mentioned on pretty much every angling forum out there (not just carp) from 20 years ago through to present day. It's available from all the major tackle shops. A season mixing with lads on any proper distance water will tell you it's quite widely used. As @salokcinnodrog said:

Greased Lightning is brilliant, works really, really well. I used it on a water that needed big chucks and I reckon it put 10 yards on easily. Coupled with 10 lb line and a shockleader it felt like I could cast anywhere I saw carp! It's good for your line too. Eh? It's been a go-to for distance casters for probably 20 years or more!

If it does, it will be negligible imo mate. A wetted (not soaked) line will cast further as there's less friction on the rings. I honestly have no idea if a soaked line would cast further.... the extra weight might offset the reduction in friction.🤷‍♂️

It is probably the biggest factor other than the rod (and technique) that will influence casting distance. Has a huge impact mate. You will, 100%.