yonny

The sightings on the water I fish are very, very ziggy already. The place hasn't done a bite off the deck in 3 weeks now. Although it's not done a bite on zigs either like.....🤣

That defo sounds like an otter to me. Imo there's no way a mink will take a double. A single yes, but not a double. A fox would eat the whole thing. Your description of the kill screams otter to me. They tend to go for the really nutritious stuff (e.g. liver, heart, kidneys) which leaves the corpse looking just as you've described. Could go either way. If it's a small water they/it could well stick around for easy pickings. I'd assume it's a dog otter doing the rounds and it could come back and empty the place but not necessarily. All you can do is keep your eyes open and think about a fence.

There is no reason you couldn't use tigers throughout the winter mate.

Completely depend on what you want to do mate. If you'll be baiting lightly at 30 yards you'll get away with a small spomb on your carp rods with mono. If you're filling it in at 100+ it's time for braid/leaders. I personally use 40 or 50 lb braid straight through for anything up to 100 yards. Dead easy. You really don't need to get too fancy unless you're planning on going mega long. I'm with some of the other in that if I can get away with the catty or stick I will. I'll only use the spod if distance requires it, the type of bait requires it, or if the spot is too tight for using a stick. Unfortunately the water I'm on at the moment means that I have to spod every session. Bit of a ball ache tbh.

Agreed.

Likewise. Our own fault too. I saw this addressed on another forum. Due to Brexit we had a supply chain issue of treatment chemicals so the govt were allowing private companies to dump raw sewage into our waterways. The govt just voted to keep it going too.

D Rig aligner is basically an alternative to a hinge or ronnie/spinner. Best for pop ups imo. Blowback/German best with a bottom bait/wafter imo. Similar in terms of mechanics I guess, although you'll need to be more careful with hookbait size with the wafters than a pop up (imbalance can aid a pop up rig but balance is important for baits on the deck). All will catch fish on the right spot. Don't overthink it buddy. Blanking is rarely down to rigs imo (assuming those rigs are presented ok).

That's mint.

Same here, tighten the drag on the other rod and land the one I'm playing. All you can do innit. You're brave lol. That could end up an expensive bite!

Depends largely on your budget and your technique mate. If you want to spend money and are well voiced in big casting then the Harrison Trebuchet is a monster for distance work. If you want to spend money but not the worlds biggest caster the Trebuchet Light is much easier to compress but still capable of massive distances. If you want to save money the Shimano rods (TX2, TX4 and TX7) are supposed to be very capable in the high test curves and available at much lower cost. Ultimately any long stiff rod will get you distance but as with most things budget makes a difference.

a million miles that should read 🙈

There's a few that bring back special memories but if I had to pick one it'd probably be a low 20 mirror I had 20+ years ago. It was from an 80 acre park lake which held very few carp. I was a million out of my depth at the time and fished it for a year with nothing to show for it but I had a take in the autumn and landed this amazing chocolate coloured mirror. Obviously not massive but to this day it's one of the most beautiful carp I've caught. It sticks in my memory because it was that year that taught me the difference between chucking a bait in the water and waiting, and proper angling (observing and acting on what is observed). I learnt that you could easily waste you life away "sitting it out" and that if you want to catch special carp you need to put the effort in. It was significant as that capture gave me the confidence to target harder waters with bigger fish so ultimately it set me on a path to catch all my other favourite carp. I used to have a snap of the fish off an old disposable camera but it got chucked out by my Mum in the late 00's.......😭😂

I had one of those ages ago. I think it was even cheaper back then. Great rod for the money 👍

No, sorry. The Century is quite an old model and the heavier duty Century rods do tend to be quite beefy so I expect that might be heavy but very good quality. The Daiwa is a more modern blank so I'd expect that to be lighter. Also decent quality.

Nah but I have used the Greys GT Extreme Spod which I believe is similar but in 13 ft. Heavy, but puts the spod a long way.

Very nice Kev!

I used to use it a good while ago now. Never crimped it but found it was OK knotted. Can't recall any failures mate.

Almost certainly mate.

Different principles imo. Pellets are awesome for attraction but they breakdown so quickly that they cannot elicit the same type of feeding response. They'll get them grubbing around on the spot but they'll not get them moving around picking up baits. I think using both is the best option.

Yes mate, decent choice. The best snag hook I know of is the Cap R Us Centurion 2000. If this pattern can work with your rigs it's also a very good choice. https://www.carprusdirect.com/product/ats-centurion-2000/

🤣🤣 Mate what a sesh! Well done 👏

Bit late there Framey last I heard he only had 200 copies of the reprint left and that was a good week ago.

Where have I taken a swipe at you? My first post on this thread was as follows: I find it very surprising that you've been fishing for carp for 50 years and don't believe decent bait makes any difference. Especially given how much thought you clearly put into the subject. For me, bait is second only to location. It is nothing short of critical imo. I have commended your thinking and merely expressed surprise at your conclusion. Are you for real?🤣🤣🤣 I'm not bothered about the "last word" mate so fill your boots.

You're possibly the rudest chap I've ever seen on here. Carpbell wasn't trying to be write from a scientific perspective. He was writing from an anglers perspective i.e telling you about observations he's made on the bank. And your response..... copying/pasting the very first thing (🤣) that comes up on Google when you enter anything about the nutritional requirements of carp... is absolutely laughable. Made me chuckle. You call that scientific writing? A 4 year old can copy/paste from Google. So to invite you to dig your hole deeper, I'd like you to tell us how your copy/pasted passage about the nutritional requirements of carp supports your claims that a rubbish bait will catch as much as a decent one?

Are you taking the mick?🤣 I give up. We bow to your superior experience, knowledge, and intellect. Good bait is a myth. We're all wasting our time. Thank you for saving us👍