yonny

I don't use bivvy heaters, electric blankets, hot water bottles, groundsheets, and I use a brolly all winter. The secret is decent togs and a decent bag - I mean really decent - spend some money. Bass layer, micro fleece, hoody (sometimes), but the insulated jacket/salopettes with down/softie filling are what matters. Same goes for sleeping bag - pay the price to get real quality. The Snugpak stuff is a good place to start and not that pricey compared to some of the other outdoorsy stuff (Rab etc). Avoid anything from fishing brands - most of it is overpriced tat.

Same. Just baiting up is hassle, let alone making the stuff 😂

This. I used to price up mixes regularly and I always found that for a no-holds-barred super mix I'd struggle to get ingredients for less than a tenner p/kg all in. Add to that your time which even if you price at minimum wage sends the cost of the bait through the roof. Bait rolling is, imo, a labour of love. There is very little saving to be had any more. For sure making your own bait is an edge - but the true cost is much higher than most realise.

Fair play to you for getting out in that fella.

I just use the British Army ECW socks. Dead cheap, dead warm, last forever. Although I must say that the best thing for keeping feet warm is keeping your legs warm. A decent pair of thermal trousers keeps the warm blood circulating and the feet toasty.

No-one's catching owt with rods that aint level.... you know that Elmo!

Even if you caught it, it wouldn't count if you'd used a magnifying glass to tie the rig. Back she goes without a photo 😜

Of course I was!🤣

Have a look at the Solar A1 aluminium ground pod fella.

He's after something "rock solid" Nick. That RH pod is about as solid as a strong cup of tea. @The woodcutter at low budget you'll be looking at something like a Fox X Pod (probs 50-100 notes second hand on ebay). Cheap and not the best quality out there, but certainly solid. If you want to spend more the world is your oyster - just let us know the budget mate.

What's your budget fella?

Main difference lads, GTHD is prestretched so great for casting but less abrasion resistance. Hydrotuff is the all out snag line so crazy good abrasion resistance, but still manages to cast ok and is still responsive. Gt80 somewhere between the two. All great lines.

Yes mate, a bit firmer than the frozen baits. Perfect for the stick.

That venue (Euro Aqua) is the worst of the lot in terms of "force feeding". The owner drops hundreds of kilos of particles in every day around markers. You get 100kg of particle included in your ticket, and it's not unusual for anglers to put 100kg of hemp PER DAY (!) on their spots to compete with what the owner is doing. It's no wonder the place is full of monsters. Not my bag at all.

Tbf I would have preferred this.... would have got some oxygen in the water. With such little rain and wind round these parts, a few places have suffered with low dissolved oxygen. Add to that sub zero air temps and a load of snow to get the water temps down...... I can't say I'm expecting it to kick off 😂

Well it looks like winter has arrived early lads. My kid are at home building a snowman! My monthly overnighter is due this Friday and I can't wait, regardless of conditions. No point in having all this fancy thermal gear if it's not put to good use. Anyone else out this week?

He openly admits he stocked it with fish taken from the reserves in the early days. He even posted it on FB not long ago. All stockings since about 2007 have been 100% kosher though. Some of the old ones that were obtained through questionable means are still in there (the zip lin in Island being an example).

That's correct mate, your 'contract' is with the shop you bought them from. Get rid mate, send them back.

That's just bizarre. Is there an obvious burr or sharp edge on the clip? It looks fine in the photos.

In that case it's the braid that's dodgy. I've used all sorts of combinations in the past and I now just use 40lb braid straight through. Dead easy, no issues.

They've always had that bro. It's just that very few people realised.

Luckily, the places I tend to fish are run by anglers, for anglers, and boats are banned on all of them. I cannot see myself fishing a place on which boats are allowed unless there's something very, very special in there and even then, I'd be happy to take my chances against those that need a boat to place a bait.

Do you mean the Emcast? The Emblem is £160+.

@elmoputney I was a skater up until my early 20's when I smashed by ankles up. To this day I wear a lot of skatey stuff and I have a lot of Palace bits, including a couple of Palace vs Adidas bits. When this vid came out I was speechless.... talk about a colliding of worlds. Couldn't make it up!

Mate.... Nash haven't released anything of good quality in 15 years +.... imo. At the price point you're looking at I'd be going with Okuma.