yonny

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.

So basically, syndicate anglers that see no benefit from license funds are now covering the cost of the EA checking the licenses of syndicate anglers that see no benefit from license funds!!!!! I always get my license and have zero problems with the price when I'm fishing open access waters - clubs for example. However, in the last 20 years I've fished several syndicates and none of them have benefited from any reinvested license funds. No benefit at all. £50+ then seems expensive!

Awesome @kevtaylor.

Tank aerials 😅

That's a good point Elmo. My beast rods (Trebuchet Lite ( 13ft 3.75)) are out-and-out casting tools but they're nothing like the broomsticks of old. The tip recovers mega quick on the cast but they do maintain some playability. Obviously it can't compare to playing a carp on a 2.75 but they're nowhere near as bad as I expected when I bought them. First season using them I ended up playing a 30+ common on a zig with 8lb hook-link. I absolutely pooped it on the take, but they dealt with it easy. Modern rods are miles ahead of where they used to be.

125m is nearly 140 yards. I would suggest that if you're hitting that comfortably with a 2.75 then you are a way above average caster. You need to bear in mind that not everyone can cast that far. It doesn't make them some kind of fashion victim. I myself fish distance a lot but I'm not scared to admit I'm not as good a caster as I'd like. At 140's I'd be looking to use my 3.75's. I wouldn't even use my 3.25's, let alone 2.75's. It's about using the right tools for the job. While I agree on the short rod thing, I don't buy the high TC comments. It makes sense that the 90% of anglers who can only afford or only want one set of rods get a set that can do anything and a set that can do anything has a high TC. Regardless of that, all the of the great blank manufacturers (Harrison, Free Spirit, Century) offer low TC blanks for those that want them. Of course it might be more time consuming getting a set built but what's the point in ordering custom rods and having them built with off-the-shelf components that every man in a shed has in stock. Not true mate. You have these to start with: Harrison Torrix 12' 2.5 Harrison Accurix 12' 2.5 Harrison / Mark Tunley Dark Carbon 12' 2.5 Century Armalite mk3 12' 2.25 Century Stealth 12' 2.5 Freesprit Hi-S 12' 2.5 Freesprit CTX 12' 2.5 Freesprit E Class 12' 2.5 Of course they're buying in the parts after receiving the order. Most of your custom rod builders are a bloke with a fancy shed and they certainly don't have an accounts department. Even Roger Hurst (the UK manufacturer for Free Spirit standard/factory builds) works out of a shed with a couple of young lasses helping out. For sure he'll have standard Free Spirit components in stock but if you want standard components why would you be getting a custom rod instead of a factory build? As mentioned by everyone else.... great quality, poor service. I had a pal that ended up cancelling his order it was that bad. Tbf most of the custom builders are in the same boat.... overloaded with orders, not enough resources. That's no excuse for poor communication though. I sent a set in to a very reputable builder for re-build a couple of year ago.... it took nearly a year to get them back (!) but they were great when I finally got them.

Lines and lead are fine but you need a longer shock-leader. I'd go at least 4m longer. Not sure why you'd use the smaller carp rod set up?

I actually disagree. Yes you'll always come across an idiot now and again but on the whole anglers are a good bunch. Even on day tickets I tend to engage with the lads next door and 9 times out of 10 I hit it off with them and respect is shown mutually. There's the odd idiot in all walks of life but you can't tar everyone with the same brush. On syndi's with big fish (i.e. circuit waters) you'll always have some anglers more driven than others, that's normal. Some are happy to pick a nice spot and sit behind the rods for 48 hrs. Others won't sit down until they've done everything they possibly can to get a bait in front of whatever carp they can find. Different approaches but neither can say the other is wrong as long as rules are respected. On day tickets it's often inexperience rather than a lack of etiquette that causes problems. In these cases some tactful education can go a long way. Club waters are a mixed bag. In my experience they do less to vet members so the % of idiots is higher. But that doesn't mean 9 out of 10 aren't good lads. I was on a popular day ticket water on the last bank holiday. It was rammed. I found some carp and first thing I did was ask the nearest angler where his rods were so we didn't interfere with each other. Next morning another chap showed up and went the other side of me. First thing he did was ask me where my rods were so he didn't interfere. You can't ask for more than that. Respectful lads enjoying some fishing on a VERY busy water. Id' say this is the norm, and the horror stories in this thread are not. Spot on. You pays your money and you take your chances. As long as it's kept respectful everyone is in the same boat.

Sounds like a great weekend 😃👍

Fox don't make reels... they use contract manufacturers in China. Shimano are one the most established and reliable reel manufacturers in the world. Take from that what you will!

Hate to say to Elmo but I was expecting this post! There is no substitute for well engineered gear! 😔

Agree. Pre-baiting is a thing of the past on many waters nowadays. Certainly on busier ones.

Springback is just the recovery of elastic deformation (you even get a little after plastic deformation). The fact remains that yield/tensile strength of steel has to be exceeded to straighten a hook and this prevents recovery of deformation. Ok so we're now saying it didn't straighten and spring back into shape which I guess makes more sense. Although I'm very interested to know how you determined that the elastic deformation was just enough for the fish to slip the hook? Close-up slow-mo camera or a tiny tensile tester hooked up to the rig on the take? I believe you're mistaken Nick. You need as much elastic deformation as possible in a hook. More or less than optimum and the hook will either bend or snap.

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1CrSmFwTBJ/

They've been demoing them at the carp shows. Due out this year.

You're mistaken Nick. The laws of physics prevent this. There is no mechanism that makes it physically possible. I was the Manager of every lab and quality function in Europe for one of the worlds biggest metal-forming and heat-treating organisations in the world for 17 years. So I know this. Modulus of elasticity of steel is a constant. It is slightly different for different grades of steel but all in the same range. It is a physical property of steel that can only be altered by heat treatments: - Under-treated steel has a lower yield point so the hook will be subject to plastic deformation more readily, making it impossible for a hook to regain shape after straightening. Over-treated steel will lead to embrittlement which means tensile strength will be exceeded more readily (which means a snapped hook). Again, impossible. There is no characteristic in steel that can feasibly vary from batch to batch that can result in the phenomenon you think you saw. Perfectly feasible and I expect most seasoned anglers will have seen this at some point. But a hook straightening out and springing back into shape is not possible.

I nearly bought a set of these to use as fishing reels for my distance rods. I ended up going for the Emblem Pro, which is basically the old Emblem Spod (predecessor to the 35 SCW QD) but grey instead of black. Absolutely love them and I'm sure the 35's are equally as good.

That's not accurate. Hooks are made from high carbon steels and heat treated (sometimes referred to as spring steels). While it's true that a finer gauge wire or hook is more prone to straightening (obviously), elasticity (or Youngs Modulus of elasticity to be precise) is a physical characteristic of steel - there is no 'may' about it. A hook is essentially a spring - it is critical that it can flex during the fight (this is known as elastic deformation), otherwise it would just snap because it would be too brittle to deal with the loads applied to the steel. However, it's not possible for the hook to flex to the point of straightening without the yield strength of the steel being exceeded. The yield strength is the point at which the steel deforms under load permanently (this is known as plastic deformation). So yes, a hook flexes (to a point) but no, a hook cannot straighten and then spring back into shape. The physical properties of spring steel do not allow it. If a hook straightens, you know about it.

I couldn't bring myself to use a ready tied rig. Hooks aint sharp enough for my liking but more to the point, imagine losing a special one if the knot went.... you'd never forgive yourself.

What for fella?

I was taken aback by how good it was tbh. Never really liked the look of it but needs must. It cast well (although I was only baiting ~30 yards out) and opened every time. Seemed quieter than a spomb. Really impressed.

Got out for a night over the bank holiday. The syndi is closed for spawning so I visited a day ticket down in the Nene Valley. It was absolutely rammed as one might expect given the timing, but I managed to find a few carp in a quiet corner. It was dead hot, so I flicked a couple of zigs out just under the surface. It was clear the carp were just sunbathing, so I was expecting to have to wait for the sun to drop behind the trees for any action. So it proved with a take around 19:30 which resulted in a lovely grey linear. Onto the deck for the night and I realised I had a problem – I’d forgotten the spod rod! I found one of those Wolf X-Spod jobbies in my bag (bought it ages ago and never used it) and bodged it onto one of my carp rods. It worked a treat…. those X-Spod thingys are great! I put 2 on the deck and left one up in the water. At 02:30 I was away off the baited spot and a nice little cricket bat common was landed. Re-did the rod and 04:30 saw an awesome chestnut linear landed - worth a pic this one. Photo’s done, I was half expecting that to be it but at 09:00 the zig rod went. It kited to my right past several other anglers and the hook pulled when I over-gunned it trying to stop it. Still, a good sign. In come the rods on the bottom, zigs on all of them, and back out they go. About 10:30 I get another take and another cricket bat common is in the net. I planned to stay a bit longer after that but as the heat increased, I decided I was happy with what I’d had so called it a day. A great little session in the end.