yonny

@elmoputney you're exactly right mate. Being on them is the primary key to success.

It's defo a bit busy elmo. If you use everything then who knows what's working and what's not? I'd go for a simpler approach i.e. hemp 'n boilie/pellet, or hemp 'n nuts, or hemp 'n maples. Plus the bird food to bulk out/keep the price down. Tbh my first port of call is as simple as it gets - boilie bulked out with pellet. There's not many places this wont work imo.

I'm not a fan of the welly type boots (Muck/Baffin etc). I've been through loads of different boot over the years and actually found decent leg wear makes a bigger difference than most winter boots. Keep the legs toastie and they feed the feet warm blood. That said, the boots I'm using at the moment are the best (i.e. most effective) I've come across. They're North Face Tsumoro's.

You've been fishing long enough to know that using the words shall and will is not the one in carp angling lol

I have a pal that rates it big time and he certainly catches them.

There is truth in this elmo. You had a spicy one and a creamy one. You now have two pineapple baits lol. I always try to match the Goo to the hookbait (e.g. pineapple on pineapple, tuna on fishy peach, almond on a creamy/nutty one etc) so you still have a clear and sensible change if one isn't working.

Don't go too mental with the stuff Elmo. The trick is to apply little and often - so put a little bit on and let the baits absorb it. Then apply more and repeat. Basically they should be an ongoing process rather than a one-off drowning and leave them, if you get my drift.

@Pete Springate's Guns I can totally relate to that. I fished a lake down south and was getting bites from an area that once I'd seen it from the boat i wouldn't dream of casting there. Drops felt ok but the Canadian was 2 ft deep. I was using 8 inch hook links. God knows how that works. Sometimes you're better off not knowing lol.

This👆 The way I see it rock hard clean spots have already been harvested, there's no grub there other than what you put out. In the softer areas around the clean stuff, or spots that are just beginning to be harvested, there's natural food so they'll be more inclined to feed there. Supplement that with bait and whallop, party time. Of course, thousand and thousands of carp have been caught off clean gravel and some of the best anglers I know of still target rock hard clean stuff, but for me I find dirtier areas are more productive.

For sure mate. What I'm saying is the reel has hardly any influence (as long as it's a big pit reel). It's the rod that gets the distance.

The difference between the best and worst casting reels (assuming they're both big pits) is a few yards. It's all about the rod and the technique really.

Al/Ti require machining which when compared to moulding is a completely different ball game when it comes to mass production. A cheap Al/Ti reel is just never going to happen mate. Magnesium can be cast which is why they use it for the top dollar shimmys. They are mate. If you look at the flagship models the Shimmy Tech Mags have a Ci4+ rotor and the Daiwa Basiar rotor is made from Zaion (both Ci4+ and Zaion are carbon composites). On the next models down (Ultegra Ci4 and Basia 45 SCW) they have Ci4/Zaion bodies too. I'm not a fan of these composites. They're sold as weight saving but they just feel cheap. They don't make them like they used to.

I'll happily use a stiff D if the substrate requires it. It'd have to be pretty clean though and I tend not to fish the cleanest spots.

🤷‍♂️Who knows mate. I was certainly convinced it made the difference at the time (it was like flicking a switch when I started using it). I've been convinced on other waters since, but at the same time I've fished waters where I couldn't see it made any difference whatsoever. My go-to is to fish a corkball the same as my freebies but I'll normally have one Proper Job out there glugged in something or other (normally a Goo). If that one starts to go more frequently I'll switch them all over.

Not sure what's in it Elmo but it does have a little bit of onion EO about it. It reeks whatever it is.

The 'No Name' Goo is the one if you're going to get stinky winky 👍

I agree they're the best for glugging in anything.

Your choices are decent ones mate. I've used all 3 of them. The pink almond is the best imo. The tuna one is decent too if you're after a fishy one. Pretty much mate. I do use Goo now and again. Reason being an experience I had several years ago now. I was fishing a water in the Valley and doing OK but I was getting out-fished by a close mate of mine. I was wracking my brains as to why and I ended up asking him straight out what he was doing. His answer was Goo (I'd never used it at this point and tbh thought it was a load of rubbish). He was Goo-ing his pop ups in the pink almond. I ended up Goo-ing a pot up and carrying on as I had been but with the pink almond pop ups. Long story short I had it right off, catching all but one of the fish I was after in a matter of weeks including my main target kipper, a very special one (see below). Now it could have been coincidence that it all came together after I started with the Goo, but with each capture came confidence and with more confidence came more captures. I don't use the stuff all the time (I believe it's more effective on certain waters than others) but I can say that using it appeared to make a difference on some of the waters I've fished. If that's what Goo does then I like it lol👆

Imho at this time of year you've already missed the boat. If you can bait through autumn into winter you can keep them moving all winter. But if you start baiting after they've shut up shop you'll just not get there metabolism going again. Of course, if you're fishing somewhere that's being baited by others it might still be possible to get something going.

Not me, but I do have a day planned next Friday, assuming there's no lid on the local res.

In fairness this problem with taking bait to France is nothing to do with Boris or our government. It's an EU law that was bought in when we were part of the EU. Those rules apply to anyone outside the EU. If we want to blame someone we'll have to find someone that voted out lol.

I use this stuff. It's possible to get .40 line through the 0.5 but it's a ball ache. It's much easier to go for the wide stuff. Go for the brown, not the green. It disappears on the deck even though it looks a bit bright and garish out of water.

Pretty much mate. Add a load in for the soak and leave until they swell. Then add a load more and boil. They go mental for them.

Fenugreek peanuts 👌 I agree. As Nick said, some are naturally buoyant so make sure to check the rig in the margin to see how it's sitting.

There's a proper underground scene over there nowadays. Very cool. They have their own US version of Subsarface called American Carper. Strikes me that it's similar to the UK carp scene 30+ years ago. Quite hush-hush if you get me drift. An exciting time to be a carper over there are the moment. So much untapped water.