yonny

This is quite normal imo. If we think about it, it would be unusual (imo) for a carp to travel vertically. It will travel head first and normally reach the surface a short distance away from the spot itself. When it's calm you can see this as they will leave a trail of bubbles as they head back down after showing. There aint much quite as exciting as seeing a show then watching the trail of bubbles lead directly to your spot. Bite time.

There's loads of reason imo. Feeding, clearing gills, ditching parasites, regulating the swim bladder..... and I also believe that sometimes they're just playing (for lack of a better word). Head'n'shouldering is a strong indicator for feeding on the deck. Those flicky, splashy shows indicate feeding up in the water (ziggy shows I call them). But ultimately I'll move on to ANY kind of show if I'm not seeing them in front of me. Active fish are normally catchable fish imo.

Yeah, that's the thing, you need to practise, which I struggle to do with my limited time. Once a week down the playing field and I've no doubt I'd get to grips with real big casting pretty quickly.

Well worth considering a lesson mate. I'd watched all the YouTube vids and was pretty sure I had technique dialled. Turned out I was very wrong lol. It's all about weight transfer and timing. Not at all as easy as some people make it look.

Yes and yes mate. Improved by nearly 30 yards!!

Does this indicate you're after a rod capable of big distances? If so, I had a day with Terry Edmonds (record caster) recently and he highly recommended the Shimmy TX2 (less than 100 a pop) and the TX4 (130ish) to my mate.

Set-up should be selected to suit the spot you're fishing, not the time of year buddy. For me, same as any other time of year, but with much less bait.

The Pro Distance is a better caster, the Gardner Pro is better as an all rounder. I'd prefer the Gardner in any situation other than snag free distance casting.

Fishing is not the issue - it's the none essential travel to get there that is questionable.

It's a bit late to start but maybe not too late. I wouldn't go mental on qty's though mate.

You cannot fill a carp, they have no stomach, just a digestive tract. Either of the baits you mentioned will be fine mate.

Everyone should be prepared to chuck a chod out imo. For a while everyone was using them but I don't think that's the case anymore. Imo the chod can never be a "go-to" rig, too many flaws, but it can get you bites that no other rig can get so it's essential it is in your armoury.

Daiwa all day long mate. They put up with anything and everything. Invincible. I used to use an original shimmy long cast as my spod reel. The best reel shimano ever produced imo. Even that died after a couple of years on the spod rod.

I have seen some ridiculous prices on the bay. It's because there is no stock of new stuff anywhere. I saw a TA rig pouch go for 45 quid, they cost 19.99 new. I just got a spare NTXR head. £105 2nd hand ffs.

I spent 6 months preparing some salt-cured hookbaits once. Got hold of proper butchers curing salt, the lot. Took them on a French trip to test them. They were out-fished by standard out-of-the-pot white pop ups 🤣

Glycerin.

I believe Mark Holmes is associated with them now. Personally I like to buy bait from a firm that produces bait rather than reels and gears.

I still have an original Micron M in my bag as a spare. Still works perfectly.

Historically Fox's cheaper options have been very good.

For sure mate. The water I've been baiting is only half hour away but I'm out of the house working 6 am until 6 pm, then playing with the boy until bed time, then having tea, before I even set off to spod for an hour in the dark when I'm there. It's bloomin' hard work.

It's little clues like this that end up as a biggun in the net 👍

I am also doing days only at the moment due to family commitments. Don't underestimate how much harder that makes it. If you're fishing for carp that have seen any pressure (i.e. almost all of them) they'll happily do the off if you show up and cast on their heads. If you can get away with it, pre-baiting can have a huge influence on days only results.

This👆👆👆

No idea I'm afraid buddy. I don't use a front.

I screwed my shoulder big time a few years ago on a French trip. 40 KG at 120 over the course of a week. It took months to heal (didn't help that I put it out again climbing a tree to spot carp a month after the trip). Try using both hands mate, it helps. But also takes some getting used to.