yonny

That's a more serious problem. Are you sure the filtration is up to dealing with the koi? I've not tried Envii stuff I'm afraid.

What matters most is that the line is strong enough to deal with any weed/snags etc. No point in dropping the diameter if you're going to lose the fish and/or tackle. Use a decent leader or tubing to get the end tackle pinned down. Fish the lines as slack as you dare (i.e. very slack with no weed/snags, and less so with weed/snags to deal with). Assuming you can get the tackle pinned down, line colour is less important imo. I wouldn't worry about lead and hook concealment. Get them feeding and they'll take a hook bait at some point.

Yes. The thicker it is the easier it is to see. I've watched carp spooking off lines numerous times. That said, as others have pointed out there's no point fishing with line that's not up to the job. I will always go too strong/thick rather than than too fine for the given angling situation. Just make sure the last few feet are pinned onto the deck.

The only concerns would be A) the rat smashes your koi food, and B) the rat poos in your pond introducing parasites (unlikely). I've never heard of rats having a pop at the fish themselves. Just get rid of it and you should be fine mate.

I have a photo at home of me with Bobby Kerr and Jimmy Montgomery - the captain and keeper from the '73 team. Bobby owned a pub a few miles away from where my Grandma lived so I'd visit quite regularly and often see ex players. The Stadium of Light has a stand named after Jimmy nowadays, harking back to that incredible double save in the final.

I'm just back from a few days away and mine's looking murky. I gave it a real good clean last night but I'll need to do it every night this week to get it back to what it was. They still haven't spawned.......! Any plant life will be smashed to bits unless protected. Might be worth removing the silt altogether then you should just get a thin layer of blanket weed that's easy to keep on top of.

My family moved down south a year before I was born. Sunderland is in my blood (I obviously wouldn't have chosen to be a Sunderland supporter 🤣).

No signs of the koi spawning this past weekend which has surprised me. Water temps are 19+ so should be getting frisky any time now.

I would have preferred to see Spurs go down but WHU will have to do😅 To see my beloved Sunderland go to Europe for the first time in my life (and I'm 47 years old tomorrow!) is absolutely mind-blowing. Still can't quite believe it.

We have a cat. She sits on the side of the pond watching the fish, she loves it. This keeps all the other pests like birds away. I have a fake heron next to my smaller goldfish pond, wouldn't recommend it. The cat couldn't care less about it and I suspect none would. We had a heron visiting this pond despite the plastic one, but not seen it for months now.

Exactly..... I'm a hero really 😁

My pond is raised with a good drop to the surface so not accessible for pests (and so far no issues with herons either). You could try a feeding ring which would keep food away from the edges but the koi might take a while to get used to it. The floating hexagons might work if they keep food away from the edges. It is defo worth keeping pests away. If they come to the pond to feed they'll end up pooing in the pond and that can introduce parasites.

Persevere. Koi will generally be slow to accept any new foods (although mine loved boilies straight away too 😅). Once they're used to it, they'll be fine. I chatted with a koi keeping mate about my koi's reluctance to eat the dried shrimp/silkworm and he said they'd take a while to get onto it. They have done now... they love them all of a sudden.

Quick night on the local day ticket on Friday. Managed to get on them easily enough but a bit disappointed to just catch the one. I put a bucket of bait out about 30 yards in front of me and got continuous liners on it from about 9pm until 3am. Bizarrely, the only rod to go was the one chucked under the bush in the near margin. I can only assume my hinges were not the one..... should have put bottom baits out. Still, better than a blank and a very pretty little patchy common. I'll not get out again until the end of June which is a killer.

I remember baulking at 20 quid..... then 30...... I agree 40 notes just disappears as soon as you walk into the tackle shop.

Just renewed the license..... 55 quid. I can't be the only one who resents paying that. Can't think of a single way the funds reinvested have benefited me.

On Saturday we got the koi out one by one to measure them (koi size tends to be expressed in length (cm) rather than weight which I struggle to get me head around!). We have 4 over 70cm, biggest 75, 5 x 60s, 5 x 50s, 4 x 40s and a couple at 39 cm. Weight wise, 31 and 30 lb are the biggest. It was actually a bit of a stressful operation. When you net the white ones you can see them going pink as the blood vessels expand with stress. This just makes you want to get them back as quick as possible. Obviously you don't see that when you catch a normal carp as their colour hides the pinkness. The koi are in a right mood after the ordeal. They're feeding but nowhere near as well as they were. I even bought them a load of dried shrimp/silkworm as a treat and even that stuff's not getting them excited. I suspect it'll take a few days for them to get over it properly.

What a session. Well done to the lad. Yesterday I went for a walk around a water on which I have a ticket starting in June. It's an awesome place, nearly 90 acres of water in a massive nature reserve/SSSI/SPA. A proper big pit with everything that you could hope to see..... bays, islands, snaggy margins, massive sheets of water that go on forever, a really impressive place. I actually fished this water ~25 years ago when I was completely out of my depth. I caught one carp, to this day one of the best I've caught. Would you believe it..... I walked into the swim I caught from all those years ago, and there were loads of gulls diving on a huge hatch. I persuaded the Mrs and kids to stop for 5 mins so I could check it out. Straight away I spotted the carp popping there heads out feeding on this hatch, well within casting distance too. All that water and I found them straight away. Couldn't believe it. Law of the sod dictates I'll not find another chance like that once my ticket starts but it certainly got the blood flowing ready for June!

Because I think I could tell the difference with a leading rod.

This👆 Nah...... not feasible imho.

The best stuff is called Saki Hikari and 2kg costs 45 quid or 50 quid for the all-seasons version! 😂😂😂 The Orchard Fisheries stuff you just bought is not a million miles away in quality but a fraction of the price. You should see great results.

I had to Google this but you're right that will 100% be where they got it from!

I had an angler mate round on Saturday. Probably the first other proper dedicated carp angler to have seen my koi. He put 33+ on Whopper (the big white one) and 30+ on Big Bad Barry (a big white mirror with plated black scales who, like Whopper, was named by the kids 🙈). I can't wait to get them all weighed next weekend to find out. There's a big common in there too which 2 local koi pond experts have told me is a chocolate coloured Chagoi. I'm not convinced.... I'm pretty sure it's just a dark coloured common carp (and a proper banger at that). Looking forward to finding out for sure.

This was driven by a certain Mr. Pomeroy! For anyone genuinely interested in lead-free weights, check these out: Weights – Evolve Tackle Not cheap at nearly 3 quid a pop but they do look decent.

Correct 👆 The guy is trying to get lead banned for one reason only $$$$$$$$$$$$ I disagree with the unnecessary dumping of leads. However, I believe the safest rig is the one that lands the fish safely and efficiently, and on many waters I've fished dumping the lead plays a part in that.