yonny

Yes mate. I started taking my own powders to my maggot supplier to use instead of the maize/dust they offer. I tried liver powder, GLM, and various grounbaits. I found that nothing was more effective than un-touched maggots. In fact I actually started asking for my maggots un-cleaned, straight from the trays (my supplier is a maggot farm). The dirtier and stinkier the better imo. The article says "as soon as they start sweating, they start getting Ammonia all over them. The fish just veer off them because that Ammonia is a really bad chemical, they really don’t like it". That is a load of tosh imo. Maggots secrete various substances/chemicals including ammonia as part of their natural processes, this imo is part of what makes them so attractive to carp. No processed food/bait can match these natural processes in terms of attraction imo. All those substances/chemicals (which I'm pretty sure are stuffed full of AA's), together with the tiny electrical signals given off by live maggots, are what make them so unbeatable in terms of bait. I do not believe maggots can be made more attractive by adding anything.

Agree. Tackle isn't cheap and the least thing you want is to get the wrong thing.

That's supposed to be for your hookbaits Vik🤣

I'm a bit weird when it comes to whiskey in that I HATE speyside's but ABSOLUTELY LOVE Islay's.

They are brilliant hooks mate. Very expensive, but you get what you pay for.

Why not mate?

You mean the No-Trace Beads? The Helisafe is the jobby that drops the lead.

Totally agree. On a similar theme I chuckle at the "micro-barb" only rules. There is no standard for barb size hence there is no such thing as a micro-barb. Basically you could take the biggest barbed hook going and as long as they say micro-barb on the packet they're ok lol.

Those new ESP Trig-Hammers look the one for long shank ronnies mate.

I would, 100%. They are only sharpened on one plane (opposite the barb), unlike the other sharpened options which are done on 2 or 3 planes. This gives them a very fine spade point which is super sharp but very fragile indeed. I got through a couple of packs in 2018 and every fish I had pretty much destroyed the hookpoints.

You mean the Krank? They don't yet do the Kamakura (sharpened) version of the Kurv (curve shank) buddy.

I'm normally pretty good when it comes to following rules but I will admit that I'll ignore a barbless hooks rule if I think I can get away with it, particularly on weedy waters. Barbless and weed do not mix, it's madness imo.

I totally agree. Rules alone cannot stop idiots.

On most club waters and day tickets leaders are banned due to the standard of angler. Many cannot be trusted to use such items of tackle safely. On most half decent syndicates, that vet their members, they are allowed. I agree. For me it should be the anglers misusing such items of tackle that should be banned, not the items of tackle themselves.

Agree, I'm a cider fan too. When I was a young lad they did this on tap at the local. It's pretty lethal in higher quantities lol.

No mate that's a chod hook. I assume you mean the CVR which can be used for ronnies - but imo it's too aggressive, the gape will be closed to much when fished on a ronnie.

Gardner Mugga. If you want really, really sharp, the Specialist Sharpened Hooks version is as lethal as they get.

Agree.

As said, bin them (or sharpen them) when they're no longer sharp.

Now that is a bargain in every sense of the word mate.

Be very careful there buddy. They increased their prices 3 weeks ago. The law says a price must be held for min 3 weeks before it can be called a reduction/sale. Essentially they increased the prices ready to make it look like a sale for BF when in fact it's the same price as before. WHICH? reckon 90 to 95 % of BF deals are done the same. For the most part it's all a big scam. You're better off waiting until January.

Spot on.

I wouldn't mate. However, if you see signs of activity I would defo keep some whole baits going in. Which ones? The Dynamite ones are just Skretting/Coppens (very high oil) rolled in RR. No good for cold water imo.

The Alivios and Black Widows look the business but they're low budget, low performance products. The shimmys and X3s might not look so good but they will perform. I think swapping looks for performance is a good call. Ultimately it doesn't matter what it looks like.

The Fox rods are better imo. The 10000XTEAs are a better reel but not big pits so worth swapping. The ATT's have a receiver so probs a better deal. The spods are similar. I don't think there's much in it tbh.