yonny

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.

Used Fox alarms for 25 years. Switched to Delkim for a season but that didn't last long as all of them suffered with water ingress issue in the first winter. Back to the Fox's.... still going strong.

Yeah nothing from OMC allowed onsite 😆

This. The safest set-up is the one that gets the fish in the net without problems.

Well as purchases go they don't come much more exciting than a new home and a return to my beloved Nene Valley. Carpy in more ways than one; I'll be 3 miles way from the Valley itself and there's also koi to 30lb+ swimming around in the back garden! Offer was accepted on Friday so now I just pray that nothing goes wrong and we're not waiting too long.

Proper savage that mate. It's just fishing!

Even more tricky. Was fishing from that swim an option?

Tricky one that mate. I think if the choice was fish the spot or walk away, I'd have just fished it in front of the guy. I don't think it's fair to ask him to move, but maybe when he saw your lines were cutting the bay off, he may have decided to move himself anyway. Sure it gives the spot away, but it's better than having to walk away imo. Very frustrating. I'd fully expect him to pop round and ask where your lines were in that situation. Poor show.

Managed to get over to the syndi this week. Tough going but I managed to get on them eventually. Spotted 3 of the bigguns so was pretty excited. Had to wait until an hour before home to get the bite..... a little fully about 10 lb 🤣. Chucked it back without a pic. Just on pack up I got another take.... lost it in the weed🤦‍♂️. Such is life. Roll on next month for more punishment.

That would be my first port of call. Find a proper, clean spot, near some carp. Fill it in, present over it. There's 200 carp in there. There's a massive hit to be had somehow.

Take what you will from this. You might say that the bailiff should not be ignored, after all they know the water as well as anyone. On the flip side, doing what others suggest takes away from what really matters which is figuring the place out. I have to say that not using a rig because it's in vouge is completely illogical. By all means try to be different, but if you're going to avoid using a rig at least have a good reason for it. This makes it even more important to find them. Chopping and changing isn't likely get you anywhere until you understand what your problem is. There are a million things you could change but it could take months to find the right one. Your best piece of tackle is your eyes. You need to be changing what you do based on what you observe, not just a whim or a hunch. You've not mentioned on this thread if you've been on feeding fish on your sessions. That's the first thing that matters. You have a half decent starting point in that you know what doesn't work i.e. what you've been doing. To be honest, based on what you've said so far, I strongly suggest that finding a few spots is all you need to do. A good spot can turn a difficult lake into an easy one so you just need to know where they are.

You're doing something wrong mate - you just need to figure out what it is. You mentioned earlier in the thread you were chodding it. Have you considered getting down there for a day and marking up properly i.e. find proper, clean, fed-on spots? They're just carp mate, they are catchable, you're just missing a piece of the puzzle.

Only time I'll recast at bite time is if I know I should have had a take, but it's not happened. I love to see this personally! I make sure to have any spodding/baiting done in the early afternoon. If everyone else starts doing the same in the evening I just chuckle as the fish are pushed to the only quiet spot on the lake i.e. in front of me! It's not uncommon for me to bait up then go on a wander or chat with other members. As long as the rods are clipped up ready to go I'm happy to keep the swim free of lines for a while.