yonny

You'll be almost dead opposite the Evening Pitch there? See anything spooky?

I am loving these posts mate. That is ridiculous↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓. What a fish, and a fantastic shot too.

We've all been there at some point lol.

Very. Titanium brolly pegs and carbon storm poles are my latest weight saving conquests😂

Decent enough. What kind of bedchair was it buddy?

Confidence is everything in carp angling mate. If you believe in yourself you can make it happen. When it comes to approach i.e. tactics and strategy, just apply logic. It's too easy to mess your head up with weird and wonderful ideas when normally it's the very basics that catch the fish. A half decent bait on a half decent rig in the right place at the right time will do the job. It's my 2nd fave. My fave being "it only takes one bite", which also rings true time and time again.

It was just so weedy, these things happen. Three of those losses were hook pulls and one was an altercation with my other rods. Of course I was racking my brain after 4 on the trot but I was using hinge rigs which are difficult to beat in weedy situations imo. I ended up changing nothing and although I did lose one more fish later that year, what I landed more than made up for it as you will see in due course😀

This. The way I see it if you find fish and do everything as best you can, sooner or later you'll catch something. After all, every dog has his day 😂

For sure. I would go with the Daiwa simply as they are so well established as a manufacturer.

Realistically you're not upgrading mate. Assuming the Wychwood's still work you're not going to gain anything with the BW or the Soniks. I'd save up some cash and go for a genuine upgrade later.

So looking back at my catch reports it reminds me that it doesn't always go to plan. Over the course of that July I have an unforgivable 4 losses on the trot as the weed goes mental. I've not bothered pasting those reports here so we skip to the session where it starts to come good again. Only a small fish here but a very cool looking one imo. The report is short and reading it back, I should probs have had more this weekend. Fished the syndi this weekend. Found a few carp in a particularly weedy swim. Spent a while scaring them away with about a million casts trying to hit these tiny, tiny spots but some of them stayed as I had a couple of bites on Saturday morning. The first @ 06:00 I lost to a hook pull (4th loss on the trot 😣) but 09:30 saw a 24.08 lb mirror grace the net . Not the biggest but it was a proper minter, classically shaped with burnt auburn flanks, a black head and loads of tiny pin head scales dotted all over the place. Saturday night saw another 2 million casts getting the rods on these tiny spots but it was looking fantastic coming into bite time; liners galore from 03:00 onwards. Unfortunately with no cloud in the sky and the brightest of sunshine 06:00 saw all activity stop (where I was expecting the bites to start) and by 08:00 they were drifting about on the top in the shallow bays. So a tricky weekend tbh but I'm just happy to get a fish on the bank after a truly disastrous run of losses. I'm back next weekend so hopefully my new found luck will continue.

Same as I'd approach any water. Boilies/pellets until the carp tell me I need to change something.

You beat me to it, I was just about to type that lol.

Pretty much same here. I'll not bother with doubles but I think it's nice to track growth of the future bigguns.

So after the common I was limited to a couple of afternoons/overnighters due to a trip to Cuba with the Mrs, this took us into July. The fish I caught on this trip is an absolutely awesome looking kipper and was a bit dissapointed with the photos tbh (dodgy self-takes) but there you go. Enjoy: Since catching the big common last month I've only managed a couple of overnighters on the bank and while I've not caught anything I've put the time to good use through observation. It's become clear all this hot weather had changed the habits of the fish and while they've been easy to find in the day it's not been so easy to catch them in those areas. I had a pretty good idea of where they could be caught having watched their movements during my short sessions. On Saturday I was able to get out for another overnighter, only one car in the car park when I showed up, lovely...... As usual i found them straight away in a particular area but with the knowledge gained from previous sessions I knew that setting up on top of them was not the one. It really does take a leap of faith to walk away from a swim in which there's clearly loads of carp but that's exactly what I did, instead choosing to head towards the area I suspected they were feeding in. The swim I chose looked, for lack of a better word, completely dead, and I couldn't help but wonder about my sanity as I set up. I took advantage of the absence of carp by having a really good lead about, and after an hour or two I had the swim mapped and found what is probably the best spot I've ever found on this water; it was rock hard, clearly something had been digging around, a natural feeding area maybe? Confidence for the night ahead increased as did the amount of bait I planned to put in. Out comes the spod and 3 kg of boilie and pellet later I whack the hook baits out and sit down with a cold beer. I was a little restless during the day and evening I have to admit, normally I'd be up trees, on the move, looking, searching...... but on this occasion I suspected the hard work was done and I just had to sit tight until bite time.... around 5 - 7 am. As it got dark I saw a few fish moving which suggested that my thoughts on location might be correct. I stayed up quite late and at around 1 am I got my head down having seen the odd fish but not as much as I'd hoped. At 3:30 am the rod on the new spot signals a twitchy take and I'm on it in seconds only to be disappointed that it's a tench. The moon is almost full and the sun is threatening to breach the horizon already so it's light enough to recast immediately. Two attempts and it's bang on the spot. Back to bed. I'm struggling to sleep so by 4 am I'm back out of the bag just having a 'quick look' for carp (one of those quick looks that goes on for the rest of the day lol). I know I need more sleep but bite time is approaching and I want to see what develops. I see very little, a few tench, and I'm getting worried that my theory is completely wrong so doubts start creeping in.... wrong spot? too much bait? etc, etc.... until about 5 am when I see a carp pop its head out maybe 10 yards behind the new spot. And another.... And another.... The next couple of hours is brilliant, I see a bunch of carp head-and-shouldering behind my spot and they appear to be getting nearer. At about 6 am I see one of the real monsters nut out, defo a 40+, and I'm smoking like a chimney trying to stay calm. It gets later, and later and before I know it 7 am is approaching which tends to signal the end of bite time..... and the sightings are starting to slow down. It hits 7 am and I've not seen one for a while, I'm guessing my chance has gone, very disappointing, so I head back to the brolly to see if I can sleep. I lay down and.... BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE..... off it goes! Into the waders and I hit it - straight into the weed and it's locked up. I've just moved to drop off leads however (don't normally like to drop them but a lot of fish are being lost recently so it's mandated) which helps no end. I tease it out with relative ease and pump it back. I have to say it behaves well once hooked and the fight aint spectacular, which I'm not complaining about with all this weed around. Within 30 yards it's up near the surface and I tease it over the absolutely savage marginal weed beds and straight into the waiting net. Sigh of relief, job done, get in! Peering into the net I see it's a proper looker, a very dark double row linear, clearly a male fish, torpedo shaped, long and solid. Good size too, maybe a 30.... It turns out he's one of the oldest fish in the lake, one of the originals, been fished for since the first anglers hit this lake, a slow grower that's been steadily increasing in size over many years. He's a rare one, a once a year fish at most, so I'm feeling rather pleased as you can imagine. On the scales he goes 30 lb 6 oz, the first time it's done 30, which adds to my good mood. The fish looks awesome in the morning sun, black down it's back, rosewood down it's flanks, and an almost mustard shade to it's belly. It's top half is like a fully scaled, as is it's front end and tail, with just a broad area either side of it's belly clear of these big golden scales. They really do not come much nicer that this, I'm well happy, so I take one last look before sending him back. The view of him snaking his way back out through the marginal weed forest is pretty breathtaking. Lovely. I hang around hoping for a late morning bite which doesn't happen so I go home. Job done, happy days, I bloomin' love carp angling........

I also saw this article and it looks like the kind of thing I'd do to save a few grams, but like you, I just assumed it wouldn't save that much.

Valid point. It's not like rigs that get replaced after every bite or session. The leader might stay on all season.

As said above, you need to go for sleeves to fit the beads on. Beads that grip the leader without a sleeve will struggle to get over the splice/knot so you have a safety issue. The Korda ones recommended by framey and dayvid are the ones. Very good indeed.

Yeah everyone that uses short rods speaks of these swims but in 25 years I've never found a spot anywhere in which I haven't been able to fish with a 12 ft rod. I might need waders to land them, but I've literally never found a spot I can't put a bait on with the 12's.

For stalking I just use one of my 12 ft carp rods.

It's 'Nen' where I'm from. As you head East people become more posh and call it the Neen🤣

I've been there mate. Being on fish and getting mugged off is almost more frustrating than not being able to get on fish😂 That lin is like 😮😮😮 Awesome stuff.

Yeah, beat him up mate. That's the one 👍

Absolutely mate. My pal had here at 50 lb last year, looking amazing as usual. Lovely fish.

So now we're going back to June '17 and a memorable session fishing for a common I'd seen drifting in and out of a weed bed. This is also the session where I saw the mole swimming which I'd mentioned in another thread. I'll never forget the take I got off this common, I very nearly pulled the hook bait from under its nose. Enjoy: The water I've been fishing this last year holds some wicked fish and I've been lucky enough to land 2 of the three mirrors I really wanted, but there are some awesome commons too. There are several old original Nene Valley commons swimming about (some of the best commons in the country IMO). Three of them are biggies, each of them beautiful in their own way, topped by a very, very long, dark chestnut whacker that's easily recognisable by some old damage to its tail that makes the top of its upper lobe appear almost perfectly flat. A better common you cannot imagine believe me, but unfortunately it's also probably the least frequently caught, quite a rare fish it is. Not a problem; I'd be over the moon with any of these incredible old commons. So I showed up early Friday afternoon having blagged my way out of work early. It was warm and sunny so I hoped there'd be the odd fish milling about on top giving away their location but a couple of hours walking and looking didn't give me any clues. I kind of knew roughly where I wanted to be as the lake had done a couple of fish recently and I knew where from. I had a choice of two good swims to jump in and changed mind regards which to choose several times over as I went to retrieve my gear from the car. I eventually chose the most central of the 2 knowing full well it'd give me a decent view of the lake later on when they'd likely give their location away. The conditions looked good, bright and sunny with a decent ripple and the odd brief shower that came with a slight drop in pressure. It took me a while to set up, 3 spots found, rigs positioned, baiting with the spod. I was particularly pleased with my rods and it was now a question of waiting and watching for the signs that would hopefully come. The day flew by as it always does when you're enjoying a session and before I knew it the clock struck around 8 o'clock. I was sitting on the edge of the bank and starting to get a little worried I'd not seen owt when in the distance a couple of hundred yards away I saw what I'd been looking for. A carp popped it's head up out of a weed bed, then a few minutes later another did the same. Now I wasn't about to move for just two sightings but the area was noted for future reference. I got an early night and set the alarm for 4 am which IMO is the time you really figure out what the score is. Alarm goes off, out of the pit, kettle on, Fag rolled, sitting watching. There's still the odd shower, clouds rolling over, yet still warm, it looks PERFECT which is worrying as I've still not seen owt in front of me. I keep a close eye on the weed bed down the way and around 04:30 I see one smash out. Then another, then another. I make my mind up to sit it out until after bite time and make a move. By 10:00 I'm packed up and bringing the rods in, I load the barrow and wander down to the swim that looks to be holding some fish. I dump the gear in the swim and go for a wander to see my mate way over the other side of the lake. He's had a stonking common of 29 lb, spawned out yet looking healthy, black as anything, a proper looker, and I want to congratulate him. The sun is well up now, it's proper hot, so I'm in no particular rush to get back fishing too soon. I drink tea with my mate before we go on a wander. We spend the early afternoon watching a couple of stockies ghost in and out of a margin spot taking snails off the floating weed, beautiful sights. We see, and I swear to God this is true, a MOLE SWIMMING! I had to google this to confirm we weren't imagining it. Yes, turns out moles can swim. Who knew? By 14:30 I'm back in my swim and getting my fishing head on. I have a couple of casts with a tiny lead, the weed out here is nothing short of savage, It's completely solid, but I do find one spot out in front at 36 yards and one spot to my right that I found last year, maybe 30 yards out. Both spots feel a bit special, I can get a drop with a 2 oz lead so it's clearly presentable and they're both surrounded by forests of weed. Pukka. I suspect the fish are held up in these weed beds so there's no way I'm spodding, it'd be the kiss of death. I chuck my little white pop ups on the spots and put a couple of pouch-fulls of baits round each one, maybe 30 baits per rod. Easy, quiet, effective. I sit back and hope as the day goes on I'll spot them showing. Well, I didn't have to wait long, because by maybe 17:00 I've seen them, even in the afternoon heat a couple have popped their heads out and I tell you what; they look bang up for it. I'm looking at the right hand spot, I can see the weed that's up to just under the surface rocking as a fish or two are clearly moving in and out of it. Then, silently, a massive, dark, stunningly beautiful common comes right out up to its anal fin before sinking back down. WOW! It then does it again to confirm I'm not imagining it. I'm speechless and a little nervous, not only is there a big common on the dance floor, it's clearly one of the big three..... and it's just feet away from my hook bait. I continue watching subtle signs as the weed is moved by whatever is down there. They've started showing near my other spot too and all of a sudden this is looking bang on for bite. I've now done 5 nights this spring and this is the first time I've really been on them and as you can imagine I'm pretty excited. The bailiff shows up, he's moving in next door, we share a beer and we stand watching the signs of carp for a while, he agrees it's looking good in here. We finish our beers and he goes to get set up telling me to grab him if needed for any photos. Likewise I say to him. I sit back, it's now 18:00, the sun is still well up, it's boiling hot in fact and it's no surprise I aint had a bite off the deck I think to myself. I make the decision to put a zig out for a few hours next to the weed bed on the right (the big common spot) in the hope that the common takes it on the way in or out of the weed. The rods are 5 paces away. I take one step and look up over to the area, see nothing. Two, three steps and I'm looking at the rod. Fourth step and I'm reaching out bring the rod in to put the zig on. I take my fifth step, my hand is literally a foot away from the rod when...... BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.............. It absolutely rips off!!!!!! I lift into it and it's like lifting into a brick wall! I can't believe it, if I had got up 10 second, 5 second.... even 2 seconds earlier I'd have pulled the hook bait from under it's nose!! 'CONCENTRATE' I think to myself. I know it's a biggun, no head shaking, no rapid movement, it's just slow and heavy. It slowly kites to the left away from the weed bed which I'm amazed at then it seems to realise that it's making it too easy. It heads for the weed bed, directly to the weed bed, it does not pass GO, it does not collect £200. It gets right in there and before I know it the rod is completely solid. 'Right then' I think, in all fairness this is exactly what I expected. I'm fishing with 18 lb line that's tough as old boots, I'm as confident as I could possibly be with the tackle. I apply side strain for the next 5 minutes and can still feel the odd kick but there's no way it's coming out like that. There's an old log next to the swim, I climb on top of it and get a better angle from above, and I can feel the fish coming up in the water, perfect, long fronds of weed clinging to the line, I reckon I'm gonna see what I've hooked here.... but just like that the fish clocks what's going on and shows me what it's capable of..... It hammers out of the weed to the left, it flat rods me, kites across the swim, taking line off the spool like the reel aint even there, 40 yards it runs, through both other rods completely wiping them out and into another weed bed. 'OK'...... So I'm back to square one here so I continue as planned. Heavy side strain which has no influence on anything but again, I feel the odd kick. I apply the same method as I did before, I'm over the other side of the swim now and I'm on tip toes holding the rod as high as a I can. Again, I can feel it coming up in the water, brilliant, and once more the fish clocks what's going on. It kites out of the weed, more slowly this time and as it passes in front of me maybe 20 yards out its back breaks the surface. I would get banned from this forum if I told you the words that went through my mind at this point. It's big, it's long, it's covered in scales..... it's the common.... and I begin to shake. As it sinks back down the tip of its tail breaks the surface and I swear I think I see that it's flat. Jeez. Now I don't know about you guys but I honestly prefer not to know what I'm playing, especially if it's a good'n. It just makes me panic and I struggle to concentrate. I'm now thinking of the three PB commons I've lost at the net in my life time and wondering if it could happen again. 'CONCENTRATE'! The fish heads back down into deeper water and over into the original weed bed. I am overjoyed to say the lines from both other rods have pinged off so I'm in direct contact with no obstructions, very lucky I think to myself. I don't fancy letting it get right in there again so I tighten the clutch and give it some stick, knowing that I must have a good hook hold, but at the same time considering the pain I'd feel if I lost it. To be honest I'm really not enjoying it, I know it's the common, I'm shaking, there's weed all over my line, it's just too hairy for my liking. But, it starts to tire and it's coming closer, it's out of the weed bed now and it's within 10 yards of me. It still makes couple of spirited runs even off the tight clutch, it powers down into the depths, but can't stay down there for long and for the first time i think I might actually land this thing. It's on the top again, kites to the right and to the left but much slower now, it looks amazing, dark, as long a fish as I've seen. It gulps air and I know it's almost over, my legs have completely gone, I'm shaking like a leaf. And then just like that it rolls over the cord of the net. I kneel down and reach down through the weed that's everywhere now and feel for the tail, find it, and gently lift it above the surface..... It is flat...... it's the biggun. My jaw hits the floor. I unhook her in the net. She's very well hooked, I was never losing her, all the worry was for nothing. I secure the net and let her recover and try to roll a Fag, it's very difficult as I'm still shaking. I smoke it then have another look at her. She has been as big as mid forty's but I can tell she's not that big. She's clearly spawned but she's still looking in fantastic nick. In fact I actually thinks she looks better down in weight, proper carp shaped, doesn't look empty in any way. I guess around 40 lb. I pop round to get the bailiff. It was less than an hour ago he was sitting having a beer in my swim. 'You got one' he asks? Yup? 'A good'n'?? Yup! I tell him which fish it is and his jaw joins mine on the floor. Like me, he momentarily loses the power of speech before coming to his senses and saying he'll be round in a minute. I go back to the swim. I have another look. It's the nicest looking common I've ever caught by miles and it's my biggest common too. It's a dream fish, a true blue, original Nene Valley, rarely caught, stonker of a common, blacks and browns and chestnuts and golds..... just absolutely stunning. I'm joined by the bailiff and he's blown away too, he agree it looks 40 and I still think that when I lift her out so it surprises us both when it goes 38.12 on the scales. Am I complaining? I'll give you one guess. The hair on the back of my neck stands up when I peel away the mesh, it's an incredible fish. We do some photos, into the pond for some water shots, and I hold her until she's strong enough to power off out of my arms. Party time! I chuck the rods back out, get pretty poor drops, don't care, get the Churchill Cuban cigar that's been waiting in my kit for this moment out, and sit back with a beer. There's still carp in the area and in all honesty I should have had another but I'm just happy to be watching them under the affects of that big fish spell. The rest of the session flies by and before long it's time for home. The pics have turned out amazing, some of my fave photos ever, and I'm still checking them every few hours now. Mind = blown. This is why we do it fellas. Happy days!